How big is this world exactly?

Ever since Fast Feet became conscious, he couldn't help but ponder this question.

To this, his good friend Big Mouth said, "It must be very big; otherwise, it wouldn't hold so many Bone Fish."

Though what he said was tantamount to saying nothing.

But that's just Big Mouth; his mouth is faster than his brain, speaking before thinking it through.

Big Mouth's ultimate goal is to swallow a whole Gray Whale with a single bite and send it off to various places.

"So I need to grow as big as a Gray Whale. I need to eat more; otherwise, my body size won't be enough, and my mouth will only be able to bite half a head, making it very troublesome to carry."

His size is growing daily, constantly expanding his body with bones.

These days, none of them are the clueless kids they once were; everyone has their own ideas and hobbies.

As the first generation of Rocket Bone Fish, Fast Feet, number 004, and 003 Big Mouth have the best relationship, while 001 Athlete gets along better with 002 Hercules.

As for the reason, Fast Feet thinks it's a matter of preferences.

He and Big Mouth enjoy collecting things that look nice but are of no practical use. Like intact wine bottles of various shapes, ice skates, inflatable dolls, dentures, and all sorts of humanoid or monster figurines...

They all have the same feeling.

How bizarre these things are; look at them again... Collect them and take them back for a closer look later.

Meanwhile, the other two focus only on useful things.

Athlete specializes in collecting various equipment, such as mechanical arms, prosthetics, and artificial eyes. He attempts to find something suitable to install for himself to further enhance his physical qualities.

Hercules, on the other hand, loves shiny things, small like glass beads, and large like Heavenly People Gemstones. He sticks glowing beads to his Light Soot Muscle Suit, and when swimming, his whole body glows, appearing as if he has a built-in light source. This makes Hercules feel handsome and more admired by other Bone Fish.

Perhaps this is what they call maturity.

Thus, during the launch, they split into two groups, each on different orbital altitudes.

As the first batch of Bone Fish to go to space, Fast Feet feels very proud.

In many people's eyes, Bone Fish could only crawl in the dark depths of the Dead Sea, lowly beings not worth mentioning.

But the chairman proved them wrong.

Bone Fish can also soar to satellite orbits and accomplish things the other Guangna Species never have.

Rocket Bone Fish themselves are not highly ranked, just D-level.

Yet they not only float and survive long-term in orbit but also do unique work, serving as semi-satellite repairmen, delivering maintenance robots to necessary satellites.

The chairman once said, previously weak groups do not mean they will remain weak in the future.

So Fast Feet also feels that the collections they and Hercules have amassed might one day prove useful.

There are also many unique collectibles in satellite orbits, mainly consisting of many fragments.

In nearly a year of working here, Fast Feet and Big Mouth collected two satellites, Iridium 33 and Noa (NOAA)-3.

Of course.

These are both defunct satellites, incapable of functioning any longer.

According to Star Axis, Iridium was severely damaged and turned into space debris early due to collisions with other satellites during the old human era.

NOAA-3, meanwhile, is an ancient super-satellite launched by the old human America in 1978, stopped functioning long ago, and did not gain consciousness during the outbreak of Circular Flow, also a defunct piece.

Yet Fast Feet loves these two satellites.

Iridium is largely smashed and deeply dented, its solar panels changed from T-shaped to Y-shaped, forming a tail. It looks like a metallic fish and is beautiful in the sunlight.

NOAA-3 is more classic, entirely wrapped in aluminum foil, with several groups of blinds on the surface, square and rectangle-shaped, featuring an industrial style from ancient times.

Fast Feet thinks perhaps these two can still be salvaged.

In fact, he likes quite a few disused satellites. But the Body of the Bone Fish has limited capacity; they still have to transport equipment daily and can only swallow one at a time, leaving no room for others.

Fast Feet and Big Mouth discuss and decide, he will collect Iridium, and Big Mouth will guard Noa. When everyone is on vacation, they can disgorge them and watch together.

But lately, Big Mouth seems to be busy with something, completely out of sight.

Fast Feet floats in the zero-gravity space, letting his body drift freely.

He asks his partner, Electric Cat [Flash Spirit 369], "69, did Big Mouth receive some task from the company?"

369 says, "I don't know, I haven't heard of such a thing."

"Big Mouth hasn't encountered any danger, has he?"

"There's none. I can still pick up the electric signal from Flash Spirit 566, his partner. He's fine; if he's fine, so is Big Mouth. I'll ask him."

"Okay."

A few seconds later.

Electric Cat says, "I asked. Big Mouth is fine, just obsessed with that Noa satellite. He's trying to repair it with a maintenance robot. But lately, he gave up repairing and just stares at that satellite every day after work. 566 doesn't know what he's thinking; when asked, he doesn't respond."

Fast Feet feels relieved, "Can you find their location? Let's go check it out."

"I'll pinpoint it using Star Axis here... huh."

369 says, "No need to go. They're coming toward us."

About an hour later.

Fast Feet sees Big Mouth flying from afar toward him.

"What are you doing?" Fast Feet asks.

"Repairing the satellite, but it's impossible to fix, very frustrating."

Big Mouth says, "Let me show you something; I'll connect with your bones."

Then the two Bone Fish shared information through their bones.

Fast Feet shivers all over.

He reads something astonishing from Big Mouth's bones.

...

Big Mouth heard someone talking inside the Noa Satellite. He thought he had fixed the satellite himself and was very excited to continue repairing it.

However, the voice sounded strange.

The satellite said, "You don't have four-dimensional organs and don't know how to use string light, why are you here?"

Big Mouth found it baffling.

"Who are you?"

"Answer me."

"You speak first."

"Answer me!"

"I won't say anything if you don't."

"..."

The other party finally got annoyed: "Do not leak our conversation to the outside, you won't be able to, this is a sound that only Bone Fish can hear. Think about it, and then answer me later."

Lately, he was arguing with that voice.

Big Mouth also talked about being a company employee.

But the other party refused to reveal its identity, which was very unfair.

Only Big Mouth could hear it; 566 didn't hear such a sound at all.

This part of the information was transmitted through bone conduction, completely inaccessible to the electric cat.

It merely used the satellite as some kind of transmission tool.

Big Mouth wanted to tell his partner electric cat 566, but found it utterly impossible. Just like the satellite said, it's impossible to relay anything about it in other ways; only bone communication is allowed.

The other party possessed very peculiar and powerful abilities. It seemed more like it was communicating with him through the satellite.

The unknown entity said, "You are very fortunate to have this encounter."

"If you want to live stronger and freer, come see me, I will tell you everything you wish to know."

...

Big Mouth asked through the bone, "Do you want to come along? I'm thinking of giving it a try, I've worked overtime for a month, and I can take an 8-day break! That should be enough for a round trip."

Fast Feet tried to tell 369 about this but found he couldn't send any information, as if some strange force had silenced him.

He thought to himself that the company was there, so even if he and Big Mouth encountered any trouble, they could ask the company for help, and the CEO would surely solve it.

This guy with bone conduction through the satellite didn't sound like an enemy. Otherwise, with its ability to block information, it could bypass the Star Axis and easily attack Big Mouth and him.

Go and see where this entity comes from.

Fast Feet asked 369, "I want to take an 8-day leave, can I take this year's vacation first?"

"Of course, I can send it back to the company," 369 readily agreed.

That day, the leave was approved.

Fast Feet and Big Mouth went to the side of the Noa Satellite together.

A ball of purple light lit up.

Fast Feet felt as if the sky and earth were spinning, his skeleton on the verge of shaking apart, with the contents inside his body constantly rolling and colliding.

When consciousness returned to normal.

He found himself on a pale yellow ice field, with a large celestial body occupying a quarter of the sky above.

The star had colorful ribbon-like whirlpools, looking dangerous yet majestic.

Is that... Jupiter?

Fast Feet recalled that 369 mentioned Jupiter has unique massive vortex patterns.

Being this close to Jupiter...

Is this Jupiter's moon or Europa?

Fast Feet realized his friend Big Mouth was lying on the ice field too, but he wasn't looking at the sky; instead, he was observing beneath the ice.

"What are you looking at?"

"..."

Big Mouth just pointed to the ice with his bone fin.

Fast Feet also looked down.

Beneath the thick pale yellow ice layer was a land with many rugged rocks and undulating hills.

But on the land surface, there were four giant fiery caves, facing two Rocket Bone Fish.

The imposing aura made Fast Feet's entire body of bones stiffen.

What is that thing?

Meanwhile.

A low-frequency vibration came from the ice.

A voice echoed simultaneously in Fast Feet and Big Mouth's minds.

"Welcome to my world."

"Little friends."

"I am the ruler of this world, but I am also a Bone Fish from beneath the Earth, a deep-sea diver, and the hunter of the Heavenly People. You may call me [Earth Ghost]."

Fast Feet was shocked.

Hunter of Heavenly People... Underground Bone Fish... it is that legendary Giant Bone Fish!