Chapter 56

He clicked into another post about the ocean. This post was made a few days ago by a netizen named "Xiao San Shisan," with the title "What Exactly Happened in the Depths of the Pacific?" According to the information he had gathered, in recent years, the catch of marine fish in the Pacific has become increasingly scarce, and the frequency of maritime disasters has increased. Just last year, hundreds of fishing boats from various countries went missing without a trace. Now, shipping through the Pacific has significantly decreased. It is said that even in Japan and as far as Australia, people who go out to sea often report sightings of sea monsters.

Li Pu, who had lived by the sea as a child, thought about it and felt that this was indeed the case. Seafood products have been getting more expensive since a few years ago.

Many netizens with similar information replied to the post. One netizen named "Illusiome" replied, "The Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines of the United States are pretty impressive, but now they don't dare to roam around the Pacific. Do you know why?"

Illusiome left a cliffhanger, and a netizen named "Yiri Laojie" immediately followed up, "Do you have some inside information?"

Illusiome replied, "Hehe, I do have some information. At the end of last year, an Ohio-class submarine of the United States went missing in the depths of the Pacific. The Americans went crazy looking for it, but the ships they sent out didn't find anything and ended up missing as well. It was even more serious than the 'Thresher incident' back then. Officially, it was said that they encountered a current that caused them to lose control, but what really happened, only the Americans know."

"Is it because of the starship crash? Could it be that the alien spacecraft leaked some kind of pollutant that caused some marine animals to mutate, like Godzilla?" a netizen named "Unicorn2" speculated.

"I went to the main American forum a while ago and saw some information. It is said that after the starship crash, something might have fallen into the depths of the Pacific. The Americans and Europeans have been investigating it," a forum moderator named "Yinglong Huang" also joined the discussion. "It's probably this thing that caused the changes in the ocean. Both the American government and our own government are definitely hiding something."

A netizen named "Nai Jin Ren Gan" immediately agreed, "I think something big will happen sooner or later. Everyone should be prepared. I've stockpiled a lot of supplies at home, just in case."

After that, the forum netizens started to come up with all sorts of conspiracy theories, becoming increasingly bizarre. Even Li Pu felt that he might need to stock up on some supplies and keep them at home, just in case.

After reading the post, he opened the page to create a new post with the ID "Time Traveler" and titled it "Don't Panic, This is Mr. Douglas' Guide to the Stars." He thought for a moment and wrote "New Year's Gift" as the first sentence in the content.

【At the beginning, the universe was created. (Note 1)

This made many people extremely angry, generally viewing it as a bad move.

Many species believed that various deities created the universe, but the Gatrawatides of Vettvordel Six believed that the entire universe was actually a sneeze from a creature called the "Green Giant Yack Twitch" that came out of its nose.

The Gatrawatides lived in perpetual fear of the moment they called the "Arrival of the Big White Handkerchief." These little blue creatures, each with over fifty arms, became the only species in history to invent spray deodorant before the wheel.

However, the "Green Giant Yack Twitch" theory was not widely accepted outside of Vettvordel Six, so the universe continued to remain a mysterious and unfathomable place, with various other explanations constantly emerging...】

Li Pu quickly posted an alien book from the "God Warrior" inheritance database in Chinese on the MeninBlack discussion forum. He posted about 50,000 words and then closed the page.

MeninBlack is a multinational website about alien culture. Chen Xian, who had previously come into contact with the "God Warrior" and was interested in aliens, had a good chance of being on this website.

If this alien book could attract enough readers, Chen Xian might see it.

As long as she saw this humorous alien book, she would certainly remember the ID "Time Traveler."

Even if the forces behind Di Tianxia could intercept phone calls, physical letters, and internet emails, could they still completely block communication if it was through anonymous encounters on the internet? Li Pu was very curious about this.

Moreover, even if they traced it back to him, it would just look like he had written a science fiction novel on a whim. He chose this one precisely because it seemed super unserious and humorous at first glance, making it almost impossible to connect it to the real starship legacy.

"Let's see the reaction after a while." Li Pu walked to the window, and the clock had just struck midnight. Outside, the world was noisy with fireworks and firecrackers. He looked up at the moon and stars, raised his hand to the vast night sky, and slowly spread his fingers as if trying to grasp something.

"Hi, Happy New Year." He said it with a lonely and gentle tone, not sure if he was addressing his childhood friend far away or the alien races billions of light-years away.

——

In the following days, Li Pu, who didn't need to go around paying New Year's visits, stayed at home. Besides more in-depth and meticulous internal strength cultivation and some "small plans," he continued to live according to his usual routine. About ten days later, he attended a gathering of Qin Xia'er's classmates as agreed.

The gathering wasn't very interesting, but it wasn't unpleasant either; it was just a bit rowdy—like all teenagers on the cusp of adulthood. When they said their goodbyes, the boys and girls split up in groups of three or two, and before they knew it, only Li Pu and Qin Xia'er were left on the bustling city streets.

Perhaps it was the neon lights or the alcohol they had consumed earlier, but the girl's delicate face was slightly flushed.

"Li Pu, you've become even more introverted than before," she said, tilting her head. "You didn't talk much just now."

"Because I'm not that close to them."

Li Pu smiled. At the class gathering, unless someone asked him directly, he basically didn't speak much, keeping a low profile.

"You say you're not close to them. I think you just find the classmates boring," Qin Xia'er complained. Suddenly, she asked, "When school starts, it will be our senior year. Are you going to continue?"

"Unless something unexpected happens, I should finish my senior year."

Li Pu replied casually. He could cheat with the "All-Seeing Eye" mode or use the data records and reading mode of the "God Warrior" AI. His academic performance had been mixed over the years.

As for occasional truancy, well, who could blame him? In the first year of high school, he had, by chance, caught the principal in a compromising situation. The principal would probably break out in a cold sweat at the sight of him, let alone try to manage his attendance. He would only pray that Li Pu wouldn't expose him...

Li Pu didn't really care whether he could go to college after high school. Of course, if he wanted to continue his education, Feng Kuzhan was waiting for him to agree to transfer to a prestigious and high-end military academy to serve the country.

Hearing that Li Pu would continue his senior year, a pair of dimples appeared on Xia'er's face. She chatted with Li Pu for a bit and then brought up a new topic, "So, what do you want to do after graduation?"

Li Pu glanced at the girl beside him and chuckled, "Didn't you always say, go work as a bricklayer?"

"Eh?" Xia'er stomped her foot in embarrassment, "That was just something we said in anger when we were kids. You still remember it?"

"Alright," Li Pu thought for a moment, "If I can, I want to be a hunter."

"A hunter? That sounds like something you'd want." Qin Xia'er laughed, "I remember in elementary school, you really liked the 'Holliday Adventures' series. So you want to be an animal hunter like the brothers in the books? It's a romantic job, traveling the world and having adventures. It really suits you~"

You're thinking wrong, I want to be a "space hunter." Li Pu just smiled and didn't explain further. He asked casually, "You're definitely going to college, right? Fudan or Tsinghua? Or maybe study abroad?"

Xia'er's grades had always been top-notch, and her family background was excellent. Whether it was Fudan University, Tsinghua University, or even Cambridge and Stanford abroad, these dreams that seemed out of reach for ordinary students were practical options for her—just a matter of choosing which one.

"Of course, I'm going to college," Qin Xia'er said with a ladylike gesture, "But... I haven't decided what I want to do in the future yet."

——

Note 1: The description in the brackets is from the beginning of the second book of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe." In the book, Douglas Adams is portrayed as an alien bard, best-selling author, and troublemaker, with his magnum opus being the massive "Don't Panic, Douglas' Guide to the Stars"—similar to his real-life identity.

——