The moment Jing Lian finished speaking, the wind on the island stilled for a beat before resuming its flow.
The baby shark had long since retreated to the side, keeping its distance.
He Xiaoshang and Fan Xiaoche dared not approach her lightly, so the little shark went to nuzzle up to the beautiful sister Xi Yan.
Xi Yan stood still, letting the little milk ball clutch her skirt.
No one made a sound.
Their instincts told them it was best to remain silent at this moment.
Everything was quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Jing Lian's eyes grew a little colder, his tone still calm, "Are you still not coming out?"
"Do you want me to make a move?"
The silence on the island transformed into a third person appearing.
Jing Lian raised his hand, fingers slightly spread, as if holding a ball at his fingertips. As the ball slowly spun, the previously empty space in front of him on the island finally showed some change.
In the faint dust light, a giant python materialized.
If Jiang Ye were here, she would definitely recognize this silver giant python as the one that suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared in the novice trial instance.
So, all of that wasn't just her hallucination in the instance.
The silver python appeared, looking somewhat displeased. It flicked its scarlet forked tongue with a hissing sound, and its tail impatiently slapped the ground, as if conveying its dissatisfaction to the person before it.
The silver python's vertical pupils were the same color as Jing Lian's eyes.
Indifferent to the point of emptiness.
The few small figures on the island silently took a step back.
Only Jing Lian seemed to ignore the giant beast's anger.
"What's with the tantrum?" Jing Lian looked at it.
"Hmph!" The giant python, which should have been terrifying, now acted like a spoiled child, turning its massive head and being stubborn.
"Didn't I give you the Tomato and Egg Rice Bowl?" Jing Lian said.
"Hmph hmph!"
"Speak."
"I am a snake, I can't talk," the silver python sulked.
"You're speaking quite fluently now, aren't you?" Jing Lian smiled.
"You shouldn't have appeared." Jing Lian's smile was like a snowflake under the sun, fleeting and impossible to capture again, "You know why."
"But since she awakened me, she is my master!" The silver python flicked its tail. "This is as it should be, there's no 'should' or 'shouldn't'."
"You two are not fully bonded yet, and do you really think she can be your master?" Jing Lian's tone deepened. "You know your responsibility. Possessing you might not be a good thing for her."
"I don't care about all that," the silver python whined. "I just like her."
"Her spiritual power is like the ocean, it's very comfortable, I like it!"
After saying this, it hissed twice happily.
"Don't really think of yourself as a snake," Jing Lian frowned slightly.
"Why not?" The silver python proudly admired its beautiful pointed tail. "Snakes are also good."
"There's no need to talk more with you," Jing Lian changed the subject. "Since you've already recognized her, why haven't you appeared?"
"Because..." At this point, the silver python became a little shy. Two cute little red clouds floated on its face, pink and tender, looking completely mismatched with its massive body.
"Because I'm afraid she won't like me." When it spoke again, the silver python was a bit embarrassed, wriggling its body as if someone were playing a suona, coaxing it to twist into an S-shape.
"......." Jing Lian was probably a bit speechless and remained silent.
The giant python, however, seemed to have found its voice and started chattering non-stop.
"I remember when she first came to the island and encountered a sea snake, she was very scared. I think she might not like snakes. And I also think she doesn't like you very much. So-"
"Why doesn't she like me?" Jing Lian asked.
"Oh." The giant python stopped wriggling. "In short, until I'm ready, I don't plan to appear right away."
"As you wish," Jing Lian dropped these two words.
"I want to work hard to become mini and cute before I appear! Then she'll like me!" The giant python excitedly imagined.
"......."
"You look unhappy, what are you thinking about?" the giant python asked Jing Lian.
"I'm thinking, why did I create you?" Jing Lian said coldly.
"Perhaps, I've always been a part of you?" the giant python said.
"Then I'd rather cut that part out," Jing Lian replied.
"You're so cold, that's why I don't like you, and she doesn't like you either, hmph hmph!" The giant python flashed and transformed back into the appearance of a pet egg. "In short, I've decided on her. Before I hatch, unless she actively rejects me, I'm not leaving."
After leaving such a harsh statement, the pet egg also disappeared.
Jing Lian raised his hand and pinched his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
"My rebellious child."
The situation was becoming increasingly complicated.
If he didn't sever the bond between Yi Ye Zhou and this egg, then he couldn't delete Yi Ye Zhou's account. Because at that time, along with Yi Ye Zhou, this pet he created would also disappear.
This one pet that determined everything.
Unique, even he couldn't create another one.
After much thought, Jing Lian felt he had only one option: find a way to make Yi Ye Zhou voluntarily give up this pet egg.
Exchange it for other precious items with her?
Or perhaps... do nothing and let events unfold as they may.
Jing Lian stood still, contemplating for a long time, and finally turned into a wisp of smoke, disappearing into the seabed.
He still chose to use enticement to negotiate with Yi Ye Zhou.
Letting events unfold...
Although it was interesting, he thought that the person in the Tongtian Tower would go crazy.
After Jiang Ye logged off, she was unaware of the conversation between the NPCs. She was busy explaining the situation to A Xing.
He had also seen the recent live stream.
"So, that's how it is," Jiang Ye laid it all out. "Probably not long from now, I'll create a new account and start playing the game again. Yes, I'll start from the novice village. I'll have to rely on you to guide me then."
"That's definitely no problem, we're practically family, right?" A Xing readily agreed.
"But boss, does this count as washing your hands of gold and starting over?" A Xing asked curiously.
"No." Jiang Ye smiled. "All the data in this current game account can be transferred."
"Except for anything related to the sea island."
"This works too! This is also good! This way, we can truly play together!" A Xing comforted Jiang Ye.
"But I still feel a bit of a pity about this," A Xing shook his head. "I haven't truly seen that island yet, and I didn't expect it to disappear."
"Don't be discouraged," Jiang Ye suddenly patted A Xing on the back. "When I reach the late game with a new account, we'll definitely be able to see the sea island again!"
Although she spoke with ease, Jiang Ye still felt a little sad.
While waiting for the game update, she and A Xing sat on a discarded tire, looking up at the stars in the sky. They had bought a few bottles of beer, and the two of them talked under the moon, clinking their glasses.
Midway through drinking, Kun Wu arrived.
Jiang Dongyue, like a little follower, trotted behind him.
From afar, Jiang Dongyue saw Jiang Ye and called out clearly, "Sister!"
Jiang Ye popped open a beer tab with one hand, looked towards the sound, smiled at Jiang Dongyue, and raised her beer can to her.
For a moment, she almost mistook her for Jiang Li.
"Why are you drinking?" Kun Wu jumped onto a giant tire, sat down, and turned to ask Jiang Ye and A Xing.
"We're in a good mood, so we started drinking," A Xing chuckled.
Jiang Dongyue followed.
She lacked strength and jumping ability, and was wearing a skirt, making her unsuitable for monkey-like climbing.
Unable to help herself, she could only stand below, looking up at Kun Wu.
"Brother Kun Wu, please help me. I want to come up and drink too."
"What is a child drinking?" Kun Wu took the wine A Xing handed him and said to Jiang Dongyue, "Go play by yourself for a while."
Jiang Dongyue hummed displeasantly twice, but unable to resist Kun Wu's insistence, she turned to find fun elsewhere.
"Is she your sister?" A Xing asked curiously after she left.
"No," Kun Wu shook his head. "She's a friend's."
"Then where's your friend?" A Xing asked.
Kun Wu remained silent, tilted his chin, and looked up at the sky.
So, no more words were needed.
"Let's toast," Jiang Ye raised her hand, holding a beer can in one hand. "To... these stars all over the sky."
"To these stars all over the sky!" Kun Wu and A Xing said in unison, then clinked glasses with Jiang Ye.
"To these stars all over the sky!" Jiang Dongyue, who had returned at some unknown time, secretly took a can of beer that A Xing had placed below from behind and joined the fun, shouting.
"Hey!" A Xing called out helplessly.
"Dongyue," Kun Wu flipped over, jumped down, and snatched the beer from Jiang Dongyue's hand.
"What's wrong with drinking this?" Jiang Dongyue looked at Kun Wu unhappily. "Sister Jiang can drink it."
"How old is she, how old are you? What's her situation, what's yours?" Kun Wu looked at Jiang Dongyue.
"She... she's at most eighteen!" Jiang Dongyue replied weakly.
Jiang Ye was amused by this remark.
When the drinking session ended, she walked to Jiang Dongyue's side and offered her the beer in her hand, "Want to take a small sip?"
Jiang Dongyue looked at Kun Wu's retreating back and quietly said to Jiang Ye, "Sister, I've actually had some before. I was just deliberately teasing the big guy."
"Oh right, Sister, are you playing some kind of game? What game is it, can you tell me? I want to play too."
Jiang Ye felt there was nothing to hide about this matter, so she told Jiang Dongyue.
Jiang Dongyue happily said thank you and then chased after Kun Wu's distant figure.
"Wait for me, Brother Kun Wu!"
The man, who had been walking with large strides, gradually stopped upon hearing this.
Jiang Ye watched this scene, raising an eyebrow slightly.
After not drinking for a long time, Jiang Ye felt a little groggy and soon fell asleep in her room.
However, just as she fell asleep, everything about her was going viral on the Star Network.
This all traced back to "I'm Super Fierce."
Because it was Jiang Ye's last live stream, "I'm Super Fierce" was very reluctant and recorded the screen. While the game was updating, she edited clips and posted them on her personal account.
She herself is a well-known writer of melodramatic novels on the Star Network, with many fans.
Everyone collectively paid attention to the clips she sent.
At first, everyone's focus was on "So, the author also plays games?" "I'm going to play this game for the author too," or on "Why does this streamer look so strange?" "Wow, this ocean is so beautiful!"
But soon, this video was reposted by the official Weibo of the Dalibik Marine Research Institute.
The official Weibo stated: The streamer's understanding of marine animals is beyond expectations.
Normally aloof, the official actively inquired with "I'm Super Fierce" if she had any other archived content, and even posted a plea on the Star Network, asking if there were more streamer clips and if the streamer could continue broadcasting.
They wanted to use this game content for some marine research.
Even the entire institute publicly sent a request to the game company, asking if members of the institute could participate in the game's internal testing. This would not only help the game company improve and perfect the game content but also allow researchers to interact with marine life more directly and vividly.
If not, at least don't shut down their broadcast, let everyone watch.
No one expected the normally aloof and unreachable official to so sincerely request something!
The matter continued to ferment, and the popularity kept increasing.
It not only hit several hot searches on the Star Network but also attracted more and more people who were not interested in games to start considering playing.
The live broadcast content, which was originally only played within the game, was released on the public Star Network, attracting too much attention.
As a result, during the game's server shutdown for updates, the game company's customer service consultation lines were constantly flooded.
Almost everyone was asking the same few questions.
"Can you really see the ocean in your game?"
"Why did the streamer stop broadcasting? Can she keep broadcasting?"
"Can the broadcast be made public? Can people who don't play the game see this broadcast?"
At first, when receiving calls, customer service thought it was just a few isolated cases and didn't take it seriously. But later, when their hands were sore from answering calls and their mouths were dry from replying, customer service realized that none of this was a coincidence.
That player named Yi Ye Zhou, her marine live broadcast, was a hit!!
It was a complete and utter hit!
Almost the entire internet was shouting at the producer and developer of "Carefree Wanderer": Don't let the streamer lose her job! We want more marine live broadcasts like this!
"Carefree Wanderer" is produced by Xie Group.
The current head of Xie Group is Xie Jue.
When he received the report from his subordinate, Xie Jue had just finished dinner with his mother.
"I heard Xiao Jue is doing something with a game recently? That kind of thing won't make any waves. Give up early, stop doing it, and come back to help your elder brother." His father said this to Xie Jue before leaving.
Xie Jue's fox-like smiling eyes curved. After bidding farewell to his mother, his eyes drooped.
He got into the car and saw the data report and live broadcast clips sent by his subordinate.
After quickly browsing the data, Xie Jue clicked on the live broadcast clips.
As the only person in the entire company who knew the real situation of the game, he knew better than anyone that the current situation was extraordinary.
"Go to the company," Xie Jue said to the driver in front without looking up, still staring at the light screen in his hand.
The driver nodded and turned the car at the next intersection.
Ten minutes later, Xie Jue arrived at the game company.
He had unimpeded access and reached the core technology department.
In front of the heavily guarded main gate of the technology department, he stopped and underwent a full-body scan from the system.
"Identity confirmed, permission granted, please enter."
After the mechanical voice reported the situation, the large door in front of Xie Jue slowly opened.
The moment he entered, the door behind him closed tightly.
Inside the room, a faint shimmering light, like dawn, enveloped everything.
And on a square research platform, a strange fragment was suspended. Although it was just a piece of stone, it inexplicably emitted a warm glow. Looking at it for a long time made it seem alive. The light emanating from it seemed to come from a distant planet.
"Are you there? I have something I'd like to discuss with you." Xie Jue took a step forward, cleared his throat, and spoke to the empty room.
The energy stone flickered slightly, but no sound was made.
Xie Jue was not discouraged.
"It's about the player Yi Ye Zhou," he continued to say what he wanted to say.
The energy stone flashed rapidly, emitting a strong light that enveloped Xie Jue, wrapping him entirely.
Under this strong light, Xie Jue had to close his eyes.
He felt two forces pulling him, dragging him in completely different and opposite directions.
At this moment, he felt like a clay figure, being molded and shaped by others.
Just as Xie Jue felt his soul was about to be torn apart, he lunged forward.
Xie Jue opened his eyes and saw a person in a blank space.
"Maoyue?" Xie Jue asked cautiously.
"I am not him," the man smiled slightly. "You can call me Jing Lian."
"Hello," Xie Jue was very adaptable and immediately changed his address.
"What problem do you have regarding Yi Ye Zhou?" Jing Lian asked.
"It's like this, Yi Ye Zhou's live broadcast video has now gone viral across the entire network. Many people have already seen the existence of the sea island map. I find it very strange. I remember when the game was first created, it was mentioned that this mode shouldn't exist in the current situation?" Xie Jue replied quickly. "I wonder if there's been any uncontrollable situation."
"There's a slight problem," Jing Lian replied. "But I will handle it soon."
"I will have her delete her account as soon as possible and stop broadcasting," Jing Lian assured Xie Jue.
"No, no, no!" Xie Jue quickly waved his hand. "That's not what I mean."
"Hm?"
"I wanted to ask, if the current situation does not affect your plans, can Yi Ye Zhou continue broadcasting? It would be best if you could authorize me to release the game live broadcast content to other platforms, so that users who don't play the game can also see it," Xie Jue stated his plan.
"Why?" Jing Lian frowned. "A bug has occurred, don't you want to fix it?"
"But..." Xie Jue smiled helplessly. "But this bug can make money."
"I know you didn't create the game for money, but to make this game available and run it according to your requirements, I've invested a lot," Xie Jue explained to Jing Lian. "Yi Ye Zhou's broadcast has brought unprecedented attention and new users to the nearly stagnant game, and it has also saved the company a lot of marketing expenses."
"I think if her existence doesn't have too much of an impact on your plans, I wonder if you could consider my request just now."
"Keep Yi Ye Zhou and let her continue broadcasting."
After listening to Xie Jue's words, Jing Lian immediately understood Xie Jue's intentions.
"Of course," Jing Lian replied. "However, if she continues to broadcast and other players have questions about it, that is something you will need to resolve."
"No problem, absolutely no problem," Xie Jue said, patting his chest as he saw Jing Lian slightly loosening up. "We can use the current excuse, stating that she is a tester assigned by the game company for the new version, sharing test content with other players."
"Then, what about salary?" Jing Lian asked softly.
"What?" Xie Jue was stunned for a moment.
"Since the game company assigned her to do this, from your description, her actions are entirely beneficial to the game company and serve the game company," Jing Lian looked up at Xie Jue. "I think as the boss, you should pay her some employment fees."
"......."
Xie Jue thought, why is this clone so stingy?
The one he met last time wasn't like this.
Did he get infected?
Xie Jue's thoughts raced, but outwardly he had only one choice.
"Of course, of course, there's no problem with that." Xie Jue agreed readily.
Doing so would please this person and achieve his goal; it wasn't much.
Xie Jue had already intended to hire game streamers for promotion later on.
Isn't this equivalent to finding a streamer in advance and paying them to promote?
It's not much different.
To Xie Jue, it's all just about paying money.
As for who the money goes to, he only cares about the benefits it brings, not the identity of the recipient.
Whether she's Yi Ye Zhou or Liang Ye Zhou, any boat that makes money is a good boat.
After Xie Jue settled this matter with Jing Lian, he withdrew from the light's embrace and left the room.
He walked out, picked up the light brain he had placed outside, opened the light screen, and looked at the still hotly debated broadcast content, a slight smile appearing on his lips.
"Hey, stop sleeping. Get up immediately and write a draft stating that we have renewed the contract with streamer 'So Poor Won't Chat' and will continue to broadcast sea island content later on," Xie Jue ordered into the phone to the person in charge of the publicity department.
Unfortunately, the head of the publicity department, who had finally taken a vacation and was dreaming of eating steamed buns, was awakened by the boss's relentless calls.
She repeatedly said yes into the phone.
After hanging up, she immediately started cursing.
While cursing, she furiously drafted the article.
After finishing, she submitted it to Xie Jue for review, and upon receiving his approval, immediately sent it out.
"I'm Super Fierce," a keen surfer who was constantly monitoring things, saw this news and jumped for joy, almost hanging upside down from the ceiling, transforming from a cat into a bat.
Her movement was so great that her landlord upstairs complained loudly from the balcony, yelling at her, "In the middle of the night! What are you going crazy about!"
"I'm Super Fierce" ignored her and meowed happily.
"I told you not to rent to people with pets. Look, it's still meowing in the middle of the night," the landlord's husband also chimed in unhappily.
"She gave more money than others. Weren't you very happy when you got the money?" The landlord, who initially had opinions about the tenant, immediately shifted the conflict to her husband. "What, are you blaming me now?"
"Is that what I mean?" The husband was speechless.
"Okay, then tell me clearly. If you don't mean that, what do you mean?" The landlord, hands on her hips, started arguing with her husband on the balcony.
"I'm Super Fierce" couldn't be bothered with the nosy couple.
She chose this place to rent initially because, after running away from home, she happened to see it. It had good sunlight, nice decoration, and was spacious, suitable for her occasional parkour.
She didn't care if the rent was expensive; after all, little cats have plenty of money!
At this moment, she, a rich cat, was immersed in the fact that her favorite streamer was going to broadcast again!
As a natural night owl, she couldn't sleep at all now.
Because her brain was too excited, "I'm Super Fierce" decided not to sleep.
She opened her light brain, took out her physical keyboard, and her cat claws flew across the keyboard at lightning speed. Her speed was so fast that only afterimages could be seen.
And as she typed, the words appearing on the light screen were the title of her new book: "Host Comeback Guide."
"After a heavy rain, that woman is back! This time, she's returning to the streamer world to reclaim everything that belongs to her!"