"So far, the places with the best preserved pristine ecosystems are deserts, followed by the polar regions, and finally the equator. The oceans have been the most severely damaged."

The tour guide at the 98 Street Aquarium is a robot, which is walking in front of a group of tourists who have just entered the museum and playing the same unchanging commentary.

"The marine life we ​​see and eat today was rescued from the clutches of the spores by visionary scientists at the beginning of the spore infection crisis a hundred years ago. As for what these marine life has become now in an ocean filled with mutated marine fungi, we don't know."

The entire aquarium looked similar to what Xie Xuan remembered, with dim blue lights and transparent glass walls on both sides. Behind the glass were marine creatures swimming in the water.

In order to take Xie Xuan to see the evening luminous elves show, Xiao Yao bought tickets for the night show, but admission could start as early as 5 pm.

Xiao Yao saw online that the underwater restaurant in the aquarium was worth a visit, so he pulled Xie Xuan in just after five o'clock.

During the day today, Xiao Yao dragged Xie Xuan around almost the entire 98th Street.

After seeing so much, Xie Xuan felt that apart from the "umbrellas", Street 98 and Street 278 were actually similar. There were magnificent places and there were also dilapidated places.

The rebuilt District 6 was not entirely built on the territory that Xie Xuan remembered. While being forced to abandon the coastal areas and redivide the streets, many local customs and characteristics were also eliminated. In addition, after a hundred years of development, technology has largely replaced local characteristics and become the unique characteristics of each street.

But as Xiao Yao said, not every street has an aquarium.

After passing through the exhibition areas on both sides of the entrance, the robot tour guide led them to another exhibition area.

This exhibition area displays some very strange-looking aquatic creature specimens, including fish whose eyeballs take up half the size of their bodies, square shells, and crayfish that are one meter long.

The common feature of these specimens is that the surface seems to be covered with a thin layer of dry, grayish-white mycelium.

Just as Xie Xuan was about to get closer to take a closer look, she heard the robot say, "This is a new exhibition area that opened this year. As humanity's understanding of spores deepens, we are actively exploring beyond the city walls. These exhibits all come from outside the city walls. Behind every exhibit here is the blood and lives of countless staff members of the Development Department of the Sixth District Ecological Bureau. Remember the sacrifices, remember the heroes."

Everyone around was touched, and some even whispered in agreement with the last two sentences.

But what Xie Xuan cared about was the unfamiliar term "Development Department". She turned around and asked Xiao Yao quietly, "What does the Development Department do?"

"Literally, it means to open up wasteland outside the city walls." Xiao Yao said.

Xie Xuan asked in confusion, "Why have I never seen anyone from the Development Department in Branch 45?"

Xiao Yao smiled and said, "Of course not every branch has a development department. Only the branches near the city wall and the Sixth District Ecological Bureau headquarters have established development departments."

He paused, "But most of the people in the Development Department were also transferred from the Accommodation Department."

Just by listening to it, Xie Xuan felt that the work of the Development Department was very dangerous. It took a very high level of thinking to take the initiative to explore the world invaded by spores outside the city wall.

"Will you be transferred if you make a mistake?" Xie Xuan asked.

Xiao Yao laughed again, "That's not the case. The Ecological Bureau isn't some harsh place where you sign life and death agreements. Most people choose to work in the Development Department because they've been left with incurable infections while working in the Confinement Department. They want to save more money for their families before they die, so they choose to go to the Development Department."

The people around were already walking towards the next exhibition area under the guidance of the robot tour guide.

The next exhibition area is quite standard. Just like a zoo, due to safety concerns, there are no marine creatures such as sharks here. Instead, the most common ones are small, harmless ornamental fish such as clownfish.

Xiao Yao and Xie Xuan left the team halfway through and went to the underwater restaurant.

The luminous elves' show was at 7:30 in the evening. The food in the underwater restaurant tasted average, but the sense of ceremony was very strong. By the time the dishes were served one by one, it was almost 7 o'clock.

Xie Xuan ate until she was only 80% full. When the waiter brought the bill, she saw that the two of them had spent 3,888 yuan.

Xiao Yao paid the bill without blinking and asked the waiter how to get to the performance venue of the Luminous Elves.

"Go straight to the end and turn left."

Xiao Yao and Xie Xuan followed the directions given by the waiter and found that there were already a few people sitting in the venue waiting.

Xiao Yao and Xie Xuan sat in the front middle while the staff were making final preparations on the field.

This is the first year that the aquarium has launched this show, but today is not the first. It premiered the weekend before last, and there were two shows last weekend. The novelty of joining in the fun and checking in has worn off, and few people would spend such expensive tickets to watch it a second time.

After Xiao Yao and Xie Xuan sat down, they heard the person sitting in front of them say to his companion, "I saw online that this thing that glows in the water is called Noctiluca scintillans. Will it suddenly produce spores during the performance and infect us?"

His companion seemed speechless. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Are you the one who slipped through the net of the nine-year compulsory education system? Algae are not fungi and cannot produce spores. And could you please stop being such a pessimist?"

"I was just saying..."

As time passed, more and more people came into the performance hall. Two minutes before 7:30, the venue that could accommodate 200 people was already full.

The performance started on time at 7:30.

As the lights dimmed and the noisy audience gradually quieted down, a man wearing a half-mask and a tuxedo walked onto the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 98th Street Aquarium. This is the Luminous Fairies special show. You will be treated to a rare and breathtaking spectacle. Please don't blink."

The man bowed again, then turned and walked off the stage.

In the center of the stage was a fully transparent circular pool with a diameter of about five meters and an edge height of about thirty centimeters.

The lights dimmed again, and the staff began to pour water into the circular open space. When the water collided and created ripples in the pool, it emitted a strange blue fluorescence.

This must be the Noctiluca that the previous person mentioned. Xie Xuan felt that it was not as good-looking as her own bioluminescent spores.

As the water slowly flowed into the circular pool, a tall, pretty young woman in a white gauze dress walked onto the stage.

She stepped gracefully into the circular pool. The water, which just covered her ankles, formed a circle of blue ripples, looking like a dream.