345: The Silver Sea Urchin's "Awkward Socializing" and Unexpected Discoveries

The day the symbiotic unit landed, the New Homeland camp felt like it was celebrating a festival—if one ignored the rows of Cultivators and Yao Race warriors standing by in strict battle Formation.

Wen Youyi arranged the landing site in an open space just cleared on the east side of the camp, far enough from the forest and residential area that if anything went wrong, it wouldn't affect the innocent.

A makeshift shed was set up in the clearing, with a few tables and chairs—all nailed together from rough wood, crude in craftsmanship but sturdy.

On the table were slices of rainbow potato, grilled Moonlight Rabbit meat, and a few cups of herbal tea freshly brewed by Mu Wanqing, which counted as New Homeland's version of a 'foreign guest reception package.'

Residents in the camp were required to stay at a safe distance, but curiosity could not be contained.

The hillsides, treetops, and even the makeshift watchtowers were packed with people.

The Cultivators opened their Heavenly Eye, the Mortals held up homemade simple telescopes, and the Yao Race members utilized their racial talents—Eagle Eyes, Wolf Ears, and Snake Tongue sensing, each showing off their own Divine Ability.

'It's coming! It's coming!' someone shouted.

In the sky, that silver 'sea urchin' was slowly descending.

It didn't spew fire or make noise; it drifted down as lightly as a feather.

The sunlight shone on the fine, dense spikes on its surface, refracting a seven-colored halo, looking somewhat dreamlike.

When it was ten meters from the ground, it suddenly stopped.

All the spikes trembled simultaneously, emitting a slight, wind chime-like tinkling sound.

Then, it began to transform—not the cool mechanical transformation seen in sci-fi movies, but... soft and limp, like a lump of clay being kneaded by invisible hands.

A few seconds later, the 'sea urchin' turned into a... silver 'humanoid' with barely any limb and head contours.

It was about 1.7 meters tall, with that same metallic luster on the surface, but no facial features, only a smooth 'face'.

It (or should it be he/she?) stumbled upon landing, almost falling over, and hurriedly reached out to steady itself on the table nearby—its hands were also smooth, without fingers.

'It is imitating our human form,' Senior Brother Zhang said, pushing up his glasses, his voice filled with a researcher's excitement, 'but it is clearly unskilled. It might just be a rough simulation based on the appearance data of the 'Deep Dragon' crew just now.'

After the silver humanoid stood firm, it turned toward the shed, and two blue light spots suddenly lit up on its smooth face—presumably its 'eyes'.

It 'looked' at Wen Youyi, then 'looked' at the food on the table, tilting its head like a confused child.

Wen Youyi took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Following the interstellar contact etiquette (trained urgently by Aila Xinghen), he placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slightly—this was the universal gesture for peace and respect.

The silver humanoid clearly received the signal.

It immediately imitated him, placing that fingerless hand on its chest and bowing—but it didn't control the angle well and almost face-planted into the ground, though it managed to stabilize just in time.

A burst of suppressed laughter came from the hillside.

Wen Youyi stifled a laugh and made a 'please sit' gesture.

The silver humanoid stared at his hand for a few seconds, then stiffly moved to the chair and sat down, mimicking Wen Youyi's movements—sitting bolt upright like a primary school student.

'Welcome to New Homeland,' Wen Youyi said in slow, clear Common Tongue, while letting Aila Xinghen send friendly intentions through the neural connection, 'I am Wen Youyi, the... temporary administrator here.'

The silver humanoid's 'eyes' flickered a few times.

A few seconds later, a neutral, slightly mechanical voice rang directly in their minds (using Common Tongue, though the pronunciation was a bit strange):

'Gratitude. I am Symbiotic Unit - Recon Type - No. 7. Codename 'Silver Thorn'. Mission: Knowledge Exchange. Mode: Learn - Share.'

It paused and added: 'Your... 'chair', design does not conform to this unit's physiological structure. But the experience... is novel.'

'You can adjust your form,' Wen Youyi suggested, 'whatever is comfortable.'

'Form adjustment requires energy consumption. Current form is the optimal communication template. Enduring discomfort is part of the learning process.' Silver Thorn's reply was dead serious.

Then came an awkward silence.

Wen Youyi pointed to the food on the table: 'This is food from our world. Would you like to try it?'

Silver Thorn's 'eyes' turned to the rainbow potatoes and rabbit meat, lingering for a long time.

Suddenly, it reached out (with that same fingerless hand) and touched a piece of rainbow potato.

The moment they made contact, ripples appeared on the surface of its hand, and the piece of rainbow potato... melted at a speed visible to the naked eye? No, it decomposed into countless tiny specks of light and was absorbed into its body.

The whole process was silent.

When the light spots disappeared, only a small pile of ash remained on the table.

'Analysis complete,' Silver Thorn reported, 'Carbon-based plant tissue, containing 17 trace elements, low energy density, taste data missing—this unit has no taste System. Nutritional value assessment: medium. Digestion method: does not conform to this unit's metabolic model. Conclusion: edible, but not an optimal energy source.'

It 'tasted' a piece of rabbit meat, and the result was similar.

The audience on the hillside whispered: 'This alien eats so boringly, it doesn't even chew.'

'That's scientific analysis, what do you know.'

Wen Youyi found it interesting.

He changed the subject: 'You said you wanted to share knowledge on 'extreme environment ecological balance'. What exactly is that?'

The brightness of Silver Thorn's 'eyes' increased: 'This civilization has recorded 137 types of extreme environmental ecological models during its travels. According to scans, your planet's current ecology: newborn, fragile, with 13 potential imbalance points. Suggest sharing three technologies: 'rapid volcanic ash soil improvement', 'high-radiation area plant screening', and 'biosphere closed-loop basics'. In exchange, request to learn your 'civilized social organization model' and 'individual-collective balance mechanism'.'

These words stirred Wen Youyi's heart.

New Homeland indeed had areas with barren soil (possibly left by ancient volcanic activity) and a few places with weak radiation (cause unknown).

More importantly, Silver Thorn mentioned 'civilized social organization model'—wasn't this exactly the problem they were most troubled by right now?

'Deal,' Wen Youyi said, 'though our social model is still being explored and might... not be very mature.'

'Immature data is also valuable,' Silver Thorn said seriously, 'failed cases often contain more information than successful ones.'

Thus, a unique 'knowledge exchange meeting' began.

Silver Thorn first displayed its technology.

It didn't use blueprints or text, but projected three-dimensional images directly from its body—those images weren't static, but dynamic, interactive simulation scenes.

Wen Youyi reached out and tapped the 'volcanic ash soil improvement' scene, immediately feeling as if he had 'entered' a virtual volcanic wasteland, able to see the implementation process and result comparisons of different improvement plans.

The most amazing thing was that this knowledge wasn't forced in, but learned through a gentle 'experiential learning.'

It only took Wen Youyi ten minutes to grasp the core principles of the three improvement plans—although practical application still required practice, the understanding level was already fine.

'This is... an immersive teaching System?' Senior Brother Zhang exclaimed after experiencing it, 'The efficiency is more than ten times higher than us reading books!'

It was Wen Youyi's turn.

He gathered the main members of the Council and representatives from different groups to start introducing New Homeland's social structure to Silver Thorn.

They used various methods: flowcharts, meeting minutes, and even reenacted a few arguments (simplified versions, of course).

Silver Thorn listened very carefully, its 'eyes' flickering constantly, clearly recording and analyzing at high speed.

When it heard about the controversy caused by the 'contribution point System,' it suddenly interrupted:

'Logic contradiction detected. Your definition of 'contribution' includes 'beneficial to the collective', but different groups have different weights for the definition of 'beneficial'. Suggestion: establish a 'multi-dimensional contribution assessment matrix', introducing 'inter-group recognition' as a correction factor.'

It projected a complex mathematical matrix model on the spot, making everyone dizzy.

'Wait,' Wang Wu raised his hand, 'how do we quantify this 'inter-group recognition'? Are we supposed to let the Yao Race rate the Human Race, and the Human Race rate the Cultivators?'

'It can be calculated comprehensively through 47 indicators such as anonymous mutual evaluation, collaborative project satisfaction surveys, and conflict resolution success rates,' Silver Thorn said calmly, 'This civilization summarized this assessment System after observing 374 civilizations' social structures. Accuracy: 89.7%.'

Wen Youyi and Senior Brother Zhang looked at each other, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes—this guy didn't just bring technology, but a mature social management toolkit!

The exchange lasted for three hours.

Silver Thorn was like a student thirsting for knowledge (though it might not have the concept of 'thirst'), constantly asking: 'Why does the Yao Race tend towards Family-style management?' 'How to balance the individualism of Loose Cultivators with social cooperation?' 'How do you handle the resource allocation conflict between 'Geniuses' and 'ordinary people'?'

The questions were sharper than the last, some of which even Wen Youyi hadn't thought about deeply.

But it was this kind of questioning that forced them to sort out their own thoughts more clearly.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming more and more harmonious, an accident occurred.

A commotion suddenly came from the direction of the camp.

A young Cultivator ran over stumbling, face pale: 'Council Speaker Wen! It's bad! The spirit field test area... something happened!'

Wen Youyi's heart sank.

The spirit field test area was just opened by Senior Brother Zhang and his team to test the Star People's agricultural technology, where the first batch of improved star rice was planted, which was the guarantee of New Homeland's future food supply.

'What's going on?'

'I don't know! Just now... the rice seedlings in the field withered in large patches! It's not pests, it's like their vitality was drained! Doctor Mu has already gone over, but can't find the reason!'

Wen Youyi stood up immediately and said to Silver Thorn: 'Sorry, we have an emergency here, the exchange may need to be paused...'

Silver Thorn also stood up: 'A 'vitality drained' phenomenon? This unit requests to accompany you to observe. It might... be related to this unit.'

These words stunned everyone.

'What do you mean?' Wen Youyi became vigilant.

'Before landing, this unit conducted a broad-spectrum environmental scan, which included energy flow analysis,' Silver Thorn explained, 'The scan may have... inadvertently interfered with some sensitive energy cycles. Not malicious, accidental. But the responsibility lies with this unit.'

It paused, and its tone actually carried a hint of... guilt? 'Please lead the way. This unit has 73 ecological restoration plans, perhaps it can remedy it.'

The situation was urgent, and Wen Youyi didn't have time to think too much: 'Then come together!'

The group hurried to the spirit field test area.

There were already many people gathered there.

Mu Wanqing was squatting by the edge of the field, holding a few withered yellow rice seedlings, her brows locked.

Seeing Wen Youyi bringing a silver humanoid over, she was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered her professional attitude:

'It's not a disease, not a pest, the soil and water sources are normal. But the energy field of all rice seedlings has decayed rapidly within half an hour, as if... drained by something.'

Silver Thorn walked to the side of the field, its 'eyes' scanning the entire test field.

A few seconds later, it said: 'Confirmed. It is the 'deep ecological detection wave' released when this unit scanned, which resonated with a certain... 'spiritual imprint' in your rice seedlings, accidentally triggering an energy dissipation channel.'

It stretched out its hands (still without fingers), palms facing the test field.

The centers of its palms suddenly split open, extending dozens of silver tentacles as thin as hair.

Those tentacles drilled into the soil, trembling slightly.

'Reconstructing the energy field. Estimated repair time: fifteen minutes. After the repair, the vitality of the rice seedlings will recover, and a certain degree of 'energy adaptive evolution' will occur—simply put, the resistance to similar interference will be improved in the future.'

As soon as the words fell, those withered yellow rice seedlings in the field regained their greenness at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Not only that, faint silver patterns appeared on the surface of the leaves, shining in the sun.

The onlookers exclaimed in amazement.

Mu Wanqing carefully took a leaf sample from a recovered rice seedling and tested it with an instrument, her eyes widening: 'Vitality index... 20% higher than before! And the energy structure is more stable! This...'

'Consider it compensation,' Silver Thorn retracted its tentacles, 'In addition, during the repair process, this unit detected an abnormal energy node deep in the soil. It was not formed naturally, nor was it set up by you. Suggest excavation and investigation.'

'Abnormal energy node?' Wen Youyi frowned, 'Specific location?'

Silver Thorn projected a three-dimensional map above the field, marking a light spot three meters underground: 'Energy characteristics... have a 37% similarity to the 'spirit net' you described, but older and weaker.'

Everyone became nervous.

spirit net? Could the tentacles of the Creation Heavenly Court have already reached here?

'Dig!' Wen Youyi made a prompt decision.

Zhao Iron Pillar immediately took people to get tools.

Under Silver Thorn's precise guidance, they only dug for ten minutes before they found a hard object at the designated location.

It wasn't an instrument, not a core of a Formation, but a... stone stele?

The stone stele was pitch black, with the surface carved full of strange runes.

Most striking was that a fist-sized, dim crystal ball was embedded at the top of the stele.

Inside the sphere, a trace of extremely faint, dark golden energy was flowing slowly.

'This is...' Yun Zhi leaned in for a closer look, her face changed, 'This is a 'boundary stele' of the Creation Heavenly Court! Used to mark territory and remote monitoring! But looking at this degree of weathering... it has been standing here for at least tens of thousands of years!'

Wen Youyi's heart sank.

Tens of thousands of years ago? At that time, the Star People were still here, and the Creation Heavenly Court had already been here?

Silver Thorn's 'eyes' stared at that boundary stele and suddenly said: 'This unit suggests... immediate destruction. This object is sending a positioning signal at a very low frequency. Although the signal is weak, it is continuous. If captured by the receiving end...'

It didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious: the location of New Homeland might have been exposed long ago.

Wen Youyi clenched his fists, looking at the silent black stone stele.

The peaceful days, as expected, were still too short.