The Deep Diver's jump thrusters traced a ghostly blue arc through the fragments of the fractured corridor, as if painting a layer of cold light over the wounds of the starry sea. The atmosphere on the bridge was heavier than usual; everyone was still processing the last image of Commander Gray Falcon—his words, "We are fighting the 'Definition'", had driven like a nail into each crew member's mind.
Zhou Ming's fingers danced across the holographic keyboard, and streams of data cascaded down the screens like waterfalls.
"I've found the core protocol of the payment system," he murmured. "But… it's linked to the flow of time in the Advertising Universe. If we crack it directly, the system will flag us for 'malicious evasion' and force us into the advertising loop—that's inescapable."
Li Yuan frowned. "Advertising loop?"
Xiao Tang smiled wryly. "It's basically being forced to watch ads until you buy something. In the Advertising Universe, time can stretch infinitely; one second can last a thousand years."
Deshui paused, considering, then turned to Lu Xiao. "What about your star chart? The coordinates of the original universe—can we jump there directly?"
Lu Xiao spread the star chart before him, his finger resting on an unremarkable white dwarf. "In theory, yes. But the entrance to the Fractured Corridor is blocked by Void Energy's patrol fleet. They call that sector the 'Commercial Exclusion Zone.' Any unauthorized passage will be intercepted."
Zhang Yifan rapped a fist against his armor, a graffiti of a fist tearing through an ad billboard emblazoned on it. "Then let's give them a taste of fists."
Deshui shook his head. "No. A frontal assault would just drain us. We need a retrograde navigation."
Retrograde navigation—a method recorded in The Fables of the Fractured Corridor—was an ancient technique. In the Advertising Universe, all routes were one-way; merchants had set the rule that travel could only go forward. But if a forgotten old route could be found, one could sail against the flow of commerce, bypassing the toll stations.
Zhou Ming pulled up another fragmentary record from the outpost library, showing a thin passage marked as Star Sea Crossing.
"This was left by the merchants' predecessors—before the first interdimensional traders monopolized the routes. It bypasses all toll stations, but it requires manual coordinate calibration and only opens during a specific time window."
"A time window?" Li Yuan asked.
"Yes," Zhou Ming's eyes glimmered with excitement. "It's the alternating moment between the Advertising Universe and the Commercial Universe, roughly every twelve hours, lasting three minutes and twenty seconds. Miss it, and we wait another twelve hours."
To buy time, Deshui decided to send a small team into the Advertising Universe to scout the patrols.
Zhang Yifan, Li Yuan, and Xiao Tang donned lightweight void suits and camouflage modules, quietly leaving the Deep Diver.
On the surface, the Advertising Universe seemed prosperous. Floating billboards clustered like a forest, and mechanical vendors shouted continuously:
"Void Face Mask—Limited Offer!""Loans with Free Spaceships!""Invisibility Soap—Buy One Get One!"
Xiao Tang lowered his voice. "This place reminds me of Chapter Eight's Void Café… except here, everything is for sale."
Li Yuan suddenly halted, staring at a billboard: "Fear is a resource; happiness is a product."
She whispered, "That's not Void Energy's slogan… that's what Commander Gray Falcon said."
Zhang Yifan squinted. "They're using Gray Falcon's philosophy for advertising?"
The three quickly realized that the Advertising Universe's core was not simply a commercial space—it was an information recycling station. Worlds conquered by Void Energy converted their residents' emotions, memories, and even culture into advertising content, then redistributed it across other universes to generate demand.
In other words, fear, hope, anger, love—they were all tradeable data.
Back on the bridge, the team brought crucial intel: the Advertising Universe's data streams exhibited brief retroflow during the alternating time, the only opportunity to enter the Star Sea Crossing.
Zhou Ming began calculating coordinates, while Lu Xiao marked the patrol fleet's gaps on the tactical board.
Deshui looked at everyone, speaking slowly: "In twelve hours, we will attempt a navigation never before tried—retrograde through the Advertising Universe, into the Star Sea Crossing. Success means bypassing the Commercial Exclusion Zone, reaching the Original Universe directly."
He paused, eyes firm. "But it may also be a one-way journey. The retroflow can destabilize the ship's systems, possibly trapping our consciousness in a temporal rift."
Zhang Yifan patted his armor. "I never liked watching ads anyway."
Li Yuan smiled. "A place naturally free of ads—that's home."
Zhou Ming tapped the keyboard. "I'll teach the system to lie—to trick the payment protocol."
Lu Xiao folded the star chart. "As the Art of War says—strike where they are unprepared."
Countdown
The bridge's countdown lit up:
11:59:47
Deshui stood by the viewport, watching the fragments of the Fractured Corridor glitter in the starlight. He recalled another line from Zhuangzi: "The greatest sorrow is the death of the heart; death of the body comes next."
Void Energy's way of killing the heart was not slaughter, but making people forget why they set out, trapped in endless transactions.
He thought: this battle was not just to save Gray Falcon, nor merely to stop a spreading catastrophe.
It was to reclaim the right to define—to return the universe to travelers, not merchants.
When the countdown hit zero, the Deep Diver would plunge into the heart of the Advertising Universe, searching for the forgotten route between light and shadow.
The jump engines hummed low, switching to retrograde mode. The ship seemed pulled by an invisible hand into the heart of the Advertising Universe. Outside the viewport, the scenery warped—billboards fluttered like loose pages, vendors' shouts stretched into eerie echoes. Time became viscous, unreliable.
Zhou Ming's hands gripped the control console, sweat beading at his temples.
"The system is being corrupted by ad logic," he reported quietly. "We must cross the core zone within three minutes and twenty seconds, or the onboard AI will be rewritten."
Deshui fixed his gaze on the holographic star map. The thin route of the Star Sea Crossing wavered like a dim filament in a torrent of data.
"Lu Xiao, maintain course; Zhang Yifan, ready the defenses; Li Yuan, monitor all vital signs—anyone's consciousness drifts, intervene immediately."
After passing through the floating forest of billboards, the bridge's view opened to the core of the Advertising Universe—a boundless sea of data. The surface rippled not with water, but with countless faces, words, symbols, and sounds, crashing against the ship's hull like waves.
Xiao Tang's voice came over the comms, anxious: "Commander, I'm detecting numerous emotion harvesters… they're capturing our responses to generate new ads."
Deshui narrowed his eyes. "Do not respond to any visual or auditory stimulus. Maintain neutrality."
Suddenly, a crew member's pupils dilated, his mouth curling into an uncontrollable smile as if witnessing the world's greatest beauty. Li Yuan quickly administered a sedative, noting in her log: "Advertising Universe consciousness interference—initial symptoms: emotional extremities."
In the depths of the data sea, a narrow rift slowly opened—it was the Star Sea Crossing. Its edges shimmered with ancient starlight, like the first light of the universe.
Zhou Ming adjusted the course: "Entry will remain stable for forty seconds. Full speed!"
The Deep Diver shot through the rift like an arrow. The Advertising Universe vanished behind. The ship shuddered violently, as if tearing through an invisible membrane. Deshui felt a wave of vertigo, his soul yanked out and slammed back in.
When he opened his eyes, the view outside was entirely different—
A pure starfield, continuous and unbroken. The galaxy stretched like a complete ribbon across the sky. No billboards, no vendors, not even a signal from Void Energy.
Lu Xiao marked positions on the tactical board. "This is the Original Universe mentioned in Gray Falcon's logs—untouched by commerce."
He scanned the surroundings. "There's life… and lots of it. They seem to be constructing some massive structure."
Li Yuan frowned. "It doesn't look like a military facility… more like… an altar?"
Deshui ordered: "Deploy a reconnaissance team, maintain cover. We need to understand what they're building, and why Void Energy is targeting this place."
The landing team reached the altar. Thousands of natives surrounded a massive stone structure etched with symbols reminiscent of The Fables of the Fractured Corridor.
An elder approached, speaking in an ancient universal tongue: "You have finally come… the echoes of the Star Sea told us travelers would cross the Fractured Corridor."
Deshui blinked. "Echoes of the Star Sea?"
The elder smiled. "In our legends, the universe was once a complete path, cut by merchants. Only those meeting at the Crossing can hear its echoes—the universe's original voice."
He gestured to a crystal at the altar's center. "Void Energy seeks it, for it can reconnect worlds. But they cannot wield it—they do not understand the meaning of the echo."
Back on the bridge, Deshui projected the crystal's image. Zhou Ming analyzed: "It's a higher-dimensional resonator, transmitting information between universes. But it requires a pure consciousness to operate."
Li Yuan pondered. "Void Energy cannot use it because their minds are already corrupted by commerce."
Lu Xiao nodded. "That explains Gray Falcon's failure—they tried conventional means against merchants, ignoring the merchants' real weakness: the right to define."
Deshui clenched his fist. "If we can activate the echo, we can reconnect the Fractured Corridor, restoring free navigation across the universe."
The elder left with a parting sentence:
"Merchants fear the echo, for it reminds travelers that the road was always theirs."
Deshui stood on the bridge, gazing at the distant galaxy, already forming a new plan.
They would not only stop Void Energy's expansion—they would reclaim the echo's right to define. The universe would no longer be a merchant's shelf, but a voyage for all life.
The jump engines preheated once more. This time, their destination: Void Energy Corporation's headquarters. There, they would reconnect the broken path.z