"This flying rat, it looks like a rat but has wings, capable of short-distance flight, with a mouth full of sharp teeth, and is very fierce," Isabel read from her phone.
"Isn't that a bat?" Jiang Ye asked.
"What's a bat?" Isabel was taken aback.
Cen Yemeng also turned to look at her husband with a confused expression.
"A bat, you don't know what a bat is?" Jiang Ye was extremely surprised. "Have you seen Batman?"
Isabel and Cen Yemeng both fell silent.
Cen Yemeng took out her phone, searched, and read from the screen:
"Bat, an extinct ancient creature, is an animal belonging to the phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, and is the only mammal capable of true flight. The Galactic Empire's gene bank contains 16 families, 185 genera, and 988 species of bats. They are characterized by their use of echolocation."
Isabel leaned over to look at the bat photo. "Hey, you know, it really does look a bit like a flying rat."
Jiang Ye sighed. As someone from ancient times, he had encountered such situations many times and was already accustomed to it.
"How does this flying rat coexist with the Cloud-Treading Bird?" Jiang Ye asked.
"The flying rat normally shelters inside the Cloud-Treading Bird, sleeping peacefully and remaining still, like an organ," Isabel continued reading from her phone. "The flying rat has an umbilical cord connected to the Cloud-Treading Bird, receiving oxygen and water supplied by it."
"The Cloud-Treading Bird has poor digestive capabilities and weak tearing ability; it lacks strong teeth to cut bird carcasses. Therefore, after the Cloud-Treading Bird preys on a bird, it opens its large mouth and exhales. The sleeping flying rat, sensing the airflow, awakens and crawls out of the Cloud-Treading Bird's esophagus to feast on the bird carcass."
"The flying rat can effectively digest bones, beaks, and claws, but its meat digestion is insufficient. After eating, the flying rat returns to the Cloud-Treading Bird's body to digest and excrete nutrient-rich feces, including digested bones, beaks, claws, and partially digested meat paste. The Cloud-Treading Bird survives on these."
Jiang Ye blinked. "So, the flying rat is equivalent to the Cloud-Treading Bird's digestive system? Except this digestive system is a living creature?"
"Approximately," Isabel nodded. "The setting states that the flying rat and the Cloud-Treading Bird were originally two different species that gradually coexisted. After about five million years of evolution, they became bound together. The most interesting thing is that the flying rat's lifespan is five times longer than the Cloud-Treading Bird's."
Jiang Ye was stunned. "Then what happens to the flying rat inside the Cloud-Treading Bird when the Cloud-Treading Bird dies?"
"It's regurgitated to the next generation," Isabel said. "Cloud-Treading Birds lay many eggs. When the young Cloud-Treading Birds grow up and their throats are large enough, they will regurgitate a flying rat to their offspring. The more offspring they have, the more flying rats they regurgitate. When a Cloud-Treading Bird is about to die, when it's on its last breath, it will regurgitate all its flying rats to its offspring."
"So the flying rats inside a Cloud-Treading Bird could be from its parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Yes," Isabel nodded.
"Oh my, this setting is quite inspired," Jiang Ye exclaimed. "As a father, I can relate to this."
"I can relate too," Cen Yemeng nodded. "I feel like Wanli Star referenced human habits when creating this setting, with parents wholeheartedly leaving their accumulated wealth for their children. But then again, this behavior is common in the animal kingdom, so the setting is quite reasonable."
Isabel pouted. "I don't feel as strongly as you two. I'm not a mother yet."
"Right, are you planning to get married?" Cen Yemeng became gossipy.
"I want to get married! I've been married!" Isabel said. "Jiang Ye even knows my ex-husband."
"Oh, right, right, right! Look at my memory!" Cen Yemeng chuckled. "So when are you getting married again?"
"Only heaven knows that. I can't just marry anyone randomly; I need to find someone I like," Isabel sighed. "You two push all your work onto me, and I'm so busy I can't even leave my desk. Sometimes I hold my urine to handle urgent documents. How can I meet men with a life like this!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, fate will surely come," Jiang Ye said. "Fate is a marvelous thing. I have a female superior officer who was a complete non-believer in marriage for the first eleven months of her 24th year, vowing never to marry. In the last month of her 24th year, she suddenly fell in love with a dessert shop owner. The dessert shop owner also liked her quite a bit, so they had a whirlwind marriage after only twenty days of dating. Surprisingly, it worked out. They've been married for fifteen years now, are very affectionate, and their two children are already in high school."
"Jiang Ye, you're just drawing me a pie! Keep drawing me pies!" Isabel rolled her eyes impatiently. "I can't even go to a dessert shop, I haven't been out to play in a long time. Even if the matchmaker tied me with a steel rebar, it would break. I can't expect my husband to fly through the window and smash onto my desk, can I!"
Jiang Ye felt a little awkward. Isabel was quite sharp today, seeing through his platitudes.
"Hey! No more chatting! We're starting our descent!" Jiang Ye looked out the window, suddenly and joyfully changing the subject.
"Then we'll talk about the setting later. I'm going back to my room to pack my things," Isabel said, getting up.
An hour later.
The spaceship finally came to a stable stop at a star station on Zhigao Star. After post-flight checks, the cabin door was opened.
Passengers, pulling their luggage, filed out.
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng only had a small suitcase, containing some classified documents and communication equipment for work. Daily necessities could be purchased, so they brought nothing.
Isabel carried a handbag, also traveling light.
Xu Yan and Su Yueming were in a worse state, pulling oversized suitcases. The suitcases had electric wheels at the bottom, allowing them to follow automatically on flat ground. However, they had to be carried down from the spaceship, which exhausted the two girls.
Su Yueming's suitcase was packed with tens of kilograms of classified documents and office equipment, none of which belonged to her; they were for several leaders. What Xu Yan's suitcase contained was unknown and mysterious; perhaps it was commercial secrets, or perhaps just throw pillows and small plush toys.
A special vehicle was already waiting, a floating vehicle as large as a bus, almost like a small spaceship. The company logo of Deng Zixin Biotechnology was printed on the vehicle's body, and the license plate also bore the company logo.
It was clear that this company had significant influence. On Zhigao Star, a place where the elite gathered, it didn't even need a license plate number; a company logo was enough to grant unimpeded access in most areas, a privilege of privileges.
Passengers boarded the vehicle one by one, with dedicated staff counting them, like tour guides.
Once everyone was on board, the vehicle immediately lifted off. It first left the star station at low speed, then accelerated violently, speeding through the city at a clearly illegal pace, cutting through blocks like a sharp knife. It passed by patrol hovercars multiple times, but the police cars showed no reaction.
"This company has some clout," Jiang Ye nodded, looking out the window. "The money was well spent!"