A new conflict arises between the underground guide and Jiang Sili.

"Where is she?" Lin Changli stared at the dejected Phoenix in front of him, his face devoid of any smile.

The phoenix reverted to its original form, and beside it lay a giant octopus torn to pieces. Its disgusting tentacles, suckers, eyes, and brain hidden within its tentacles... had all turned into a lump of mud, covered in scorch marks.

The surrounding area was a mess. The forest, which had not yet grown properly, had been subjected to a mental storm and phoenix flames that even the seawater could not extinguish. At this moment, the surrounding seawater was filled with charred debris.

Lin Changli knew he was asking a question he already knew the answer to. When Xiao Wutong cried for help, he had already shared the view with Phoenix. He clearly saw how everything happened, and he also clearly saw the moment when Sangye was swept away by the school of fish and disappeared into the distant sea.

Without a master, a spiritual entity cannot fully unleash its power.

Phoenix was entangled by the octopus, and before anyone could react, Sangye was swept away.

Lin Changli arrived late.

It's pointless to blame the spirit.

Lilybett was covered in bloodstains, and she was clutching the terminal that Sango had dropped—she had tried to pull Sango out of the school of fish, but had failed, and only the terminal had slipped into her hand.

But this makes Kuwano's situation even more precarious.

The terminal is an instrument that can decompose and provide oxygen, and it also functions as a locator.

She disappeared into the vast ocean, her fate unknown.

but......

In Lin Changli's mental image, Little Wutong shouted loudly: I'm still alive! She's not dead, go find her quickly, go quickly!

*

Everything happened so suddenly. When the slimy tentacle lashed out, Sangye alerted herself, but she underestimated the significant drain on her mental energy, and her swimming speed slowed down.

Kuwano was swept up by the frenzied school of fish, whose rapid movement consumed the limited oxygen in the space. When Lilybet rushed over and grabbed her, she pulled away the terminal, making Kuwano's situation even more critical, as large amounts of icy seawater rushed into her lungs.

The school of fish swept her away like a sharp sword towards an unknown distance.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, images of her entire life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. She never dreamed that she would die in such an undignified and hasty manner.

Compared to the last time, when the people of Shifangwu activated the great formation and destroyed all the invaders, withering away along with the spiritual veins, this was far too weak.

And where do people go when they die in the interstellar era?

Is there still heaven, hell, or underworld here?

So when she opened her eyes, she looked around to figure out where she was.

But there were neither mountains of knives nor boiling oil pots, nor angels with halos before them.

Yellow sand filled the air before me, and all around me were dense, but withered, yellow trees with overlapping branches.

Kuwano couldn't tell what it was.

The sea goddess, stranded beside her, hiccuped.

Seeing that Sangye had woken up, the sea goddess excitedly licked her.

"Did you save me?" Sangye touched its big head, which was wet and covered in yellow sand. Noticing that its skin was a little dry and wrinkled, he immediately pushed it back into the water.

As soon as she entered the water, the sea goddess let out a loud vomiting sound, expelling all the sea fish she had just eaten.

These sea fish are radioactive, and the sea goddess would never eat them unless absolutely necessary.

Sangye looked around. She was now in a river valley nestled between two mountain ranges, where seawater had flowed in, forming a U-shaped valley. It resembled the fjord landscape described in books, but in a sandy desert.

The two mountain ranges extend inland without end.

Before she could look any further, she suddenly heard the hum of a warship overhead, unlike the roar of an ordinary warship.

Kuwano initially thought it was a base warship, but upon looking up, he saw that the warship was painted with black paint that could absorb light and sound, and its hull was engraved with totems that Kuwano did not recognize at all and had no recollection of.

Sangye felt uneasy and signaled the sea goddess to dive down until T's figure could no longer be seen with the naked eye.

She then hid in the yellow, withered woods. Subconsciously touching her wrist, Sangye realized that her terminal had detached, and she was now completely cut off from the base.

The sea goddess might know the way back, but she had no chance to speak now. She instinctively turned her gaze to the now calm sea.

But jumping into the sea was not an option; she couldn't breathe underwater.

Kuwano could only refocus his attention on the warship. Unlike the cumbersome base, this warship was clearly not designed for combat; it was obviously more for concealment and light-duty travel.

To Kuwano's surprise, the warship quietly descended into the sea, landing in the area where the sea goddess was hiding.

These are not base warships, nor are they Imperial warships. They would never be handled with such caution.

Kuwano didn't know if the sea goddess had left. She held her breath and waited.

A hand gently patted Sangye's shoulder, accompanied by a gentle female voice and a mental invasion: "What are you waiting for?"

Sangye was stiff all over and unable to move.

*

The sea goddess saved Sangye, but also exposed his whereabouts.

The visitors were clearly very familiar with the habits of the Sea Goddess. They even knew that the Sea Goddess would only come to the shallow sea with the Tide Sea Clan and never show herself in public.

So when they found the sea goddess lying obediently on the seabed, they realized that there were people on the shore.

Their mental strength level is clearly stronger than Sangye's, and Sangye is currently in a state of excessive mental energy consumption.

"How did you end up hiding here?" The guide behind Sangye meant no harm. After subduing Sangye, the other two also came to their side.

"...I am the base's guide. I was swept here by an underwater current, and the sea goddess saved me." Kuwano revealed his identity, but did not choose to reveal everything.

"Lying." The guide, who had been gentle and kind, suddenly hardened her voice as she grabbed Sangye's long black hair. The scratches on Sangye's wrist were clearly visible—the claw marks left by Lilybet. "These are marks left by the Tide Sea Clan. The base and the Tide Sea Clan are on good terms; such a conflict would never have occurred. Who exactly are you?"

Her previously sweet smile suddenly vanished, a change she could control with ease, making her all the more terrifying.

“If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll take you away right now,” she gestured for Sangye to look at the warship anchored on the seabed. “No one will know we were here, and no one will know you disappeared here. The sea goddess doesn’t speak…”

Before he could finish speaking, Sangye interrupted him.

“I’ve planted a mental mark on someone, and he’ll know.” Sangye withdrew his hand, returning the same cold look. The sycamore tree in the mental landscape was trying to connect with the other side, but now there was only a vague sense of life, only knowing that they were both still “alive.”

Mental markers need time to develop; the longer they develop, the more they can do.

Kuwano knew that the current mental markers couldn't achieve the level of sharing thoughts, but the people around him didn't know that.

“You’ve guessed so much, now it’s my turn.” Sangye regained the initiative. “You came stealthily, clearly not wanting to be discovered. The warships are coated with a special coating that absorbs light and sound, and I guess it can also block signals, to avoid the restrictions and access monitoring of Black Tower Star. You are the guide, and the two people behind me, two sentries, are obviously there to escort you.”

“The Empire’s guides don’t need to be so secretive,” Sangye continued. “So you’re an underground guide, invited by the tribe to risk coming to Black Tower for money. If you’re discovered, you’ll face imprisonment, or even being ‘forced into the army.’ That’s why you’re in such a hurry, wishing you could silence me.”

Seeing the woman's threatening expression fade and her expression turn serious, Sangye knew she had guessed correctly.

“If you had run into a Sentinel, you might have had a chance. But it’s too late now,” Kuwano threatened his opponents. “I’ve already passed all this information to my partner, and he’ll find me soon through telepathy. Are you sure you still want to kidnap me?”

The phoenix tree did its best to infuse Sangye with spiritual power, keeping him in an extremely calm state.

“We can pretend we’ve never met,” Kuwano suggested, “and neither he nor I will tell on you.”

Sangye bets they wouldn't dare take the risk.

Just as she expected, the black-haired woman in front of her stared at Sangye expressionlessly, like a predator reluctantly giving up its prey.

The black-haired woman stood up, her lips pressed tightly together, clearly displeased.

"What are you doing here?" Just then, a familiar voice came from behind them. A hovercar stopped behind them, and a dark-haired man stepped out. "Big sister, I've told you so many times, don't risk coming to these restricted planets..."

After the two sentries behind him stepped aside, Sangye met Jiang Sili's equally shocked expression.

How did you get here?

"You know them?"

Two voices rang out simultaneously.

In a flash, Sangye understood why the underground guides could frequently visit Black Tower Star, and why even the Tide Sea Clan of the deep sea knew about them.

Because they have an "insider" on Black Tower.

*

A suffocating silence filled the hovercar.

Kuwano sat in the passenger seat, but there was still no terminal.

Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer: "Does the executive officer know about this?"

Jiang Sili looked straight ahead, placed his hands on the steering wheel, and nodded.

"So you've been tacitly condoning this, allowing outsiders to come to Black Tower and trade privately with the natives." Sangye shouldn't have said this; she had no right to accuse them.

"Major General, you'll understand when you take over Black Tower Star." Jiang Sili did not deny it.

"Understand what?"

“If the water is too clear, there will be no fish,” Jiang Sili replied. “You’ve seen the underwater palace in the tides, I think you understand what that means.”

"......"

"Black Tower Star was closed off for mining due to its abundant mineral resources, resulting in the acquisition of enormous wealth. Later, it became an exile ground for psychic riot sentinels, making it extremely dangerous. The Empire treats its own people generously, even extending benefits to their families; but what have the original inhabitants of Black Tower Star gained? The Tide Sea Clan is only able to coexist peacefully because of His Excellency Sain." Jiang Sili said calmly, "I think you also understand that if the original inhabitants were allowed to develop freely, mine their own minerals, and trade interstellar resources, they wouldn't be in their current situation."

Kuwano had no grounds to refute these claims.

After learning about the planet's "transaction process," she discovered it was a murky mess that couldn't be easily calculated.

The royal family did indeed pay a huge sum of money. The tribes did indeed sign agreements. The old royal family did indeed have a legitimate reason for taking the money, and their current position is unshakeable.

It seems like neither side is wrong.

But that's the current state of Black Tower; it's a planet that will inevitably be abandoned once it's been mined out. As for the native inhabitants, aside from the Sain, probably no one will care.

“We cannot deprive them of their will to survive. Managing a planet cannot be done by rigidly adhering to rules.” Jiang Sili glanced at her. “Not only the executor and I, but His Highness also knows, and the higher-ups here know to some extent. But guides are scarce, and even the base can’t take care of itself. We can only turn a blind eye to underground guides.”

"So you're letting your family earn this money?" Kuwano keenly grasped the key point.

“On this point, I have no argument,” Jiang Sili frankly admitted. “That woman just now is a distant relative of mine, and I call her my elder sister. Besides, it’s always better to be my family than others; at least if she’s really arrested, I can still get some money out of her.”

Sangye stopped talking and let Jiang Sili lead him to the center of the Loda Plain, the settlement of the Loda tribe.