Ni Ge sat inside Hei Fu's Light Core, holding tightly to his wife A Qi's hand.

Returning to his homeland made him a little nervous.

They had tested previously that even life forms from other worlds would be safe as long as they stayed inside Hei Fu's Light Core while on Jupiter. Only upon stepping outside would they be instantly disintegrated into dust.

This was the reason Ni Ge dared to bring A Qi back home with him.

Hei Fu said, "We're about to go through the Space Hole, sit tight, it might be a bit bumpy."

It dove into the black space passage, the darkness dissipating after a jitter.

Through the crystal plane of the Light Core, Ni Ge saw that the outside had become misty, visibility much lower than on Earth. The Mud Tree World was perpetually shrouded in foggy weather.

To Earthlings, such dense fog always seemed to hide something unknown, but Ni Ge had grown up in this environment and instead felt a familiar sense of comfort.

A Qi observed the outside. "How do you find your way in a place like this?"

"That's simple."

Ni Ge told his wife, "We live on Sky-reaching Trees and Pan Trees, which drift slowly in the Dead Sea. They are our most reliable land."

"If we need to enter the Dead Sea, we bring some plant equipment. The most basic is the Black Thorn, which can find the tree it came from. Then there's the Fog Lamp Fruit, a bright yellow fruit that resembles a large disk. Many Fog Lamp Fruits are grown on trees, they can clear the surrounding fog, making visibility on the trees quite high."

"And there's another plant we call the Photoscope Leaf."

Ni Ge opened his palm. "It's as big as my hand, transparent. If you place it in front of your eyes, it can see through the fog and view distant places. Sadly, mine broke a long time ago."

Hei Fu suddenly interjected, "No need for all that, I can do it too."

The crystal plane lit up with a layer of white light, and the fog on the screen was instantly dispelled.

The view of Jupiter quickly expanded, showing a vast, expansive sight of thick clouds forming a white, misty circular flow.

Higher up, the clouds moved rapidly, like an ocean suspended in the sky, with immense ribbon-like trails visible in the air.

Lightning moved back and forth among them, accompanied by resplendent sheet auroras.

"So beautiful," A Qi said, entranced.

She suddenly pointed to one of the crystals and asked, "What is that? Do you have two moons here?"

High in the sky, two massive celestial bodies could faintly be seen floating. Despite the thick-moving cloud sea, their enormous and majestic outlines were still clear.

Ni Ge responded, "That's Purple Sun Twins, the two children of the sun, though on Earth they are called Io and Europa, Jupiter's two largest moons."

A Qi asked curiously, "Like the Moon to Earth?"

"Yes, more or less."

Ni Ge asked Hei Fu, "Can you still sense the tree you came from?"

"No, I can't. It probably doesn't exist anymore."

As expected.

Ni Ge looked outside through the crystal plane of the Light Core.

On the vast, endless gray Dead Sea, he could no longer see any sign of the Sky-reaching Trees. Those towering trees that soared into the clouds were once visible even from a great distance, like islands growing towards the sky.

Now, there was only a giant pale blue pillar connecting the Dead Sea on the ground with the drifting clouds in the sky.

That was the Great Whirlpool.

Ni Ge had already learned from the chairman that its core was powered by Heavenly People installed on the planet, rotating tirelessly here.

Hei Fu asked, "Where to now? Point me in a direction."

For a moment, Ni Ge didn't know how to respond.

His homeland felt both familiar and strange.

The Great Whirlpool, Purple Sun Twins, flowing clouds and lightning—they were all as always, seemingly never changing.

But the tree clusters that belonged to the Mud Tree People had vanished into the fog.

He had returned, yet it seemed he could no longer go back.

Ni Ge felt a moment of confusion.

"I found that there are still trees here," Hei Fu suddenly said. "But they are some distance away. Should we go and take a look?"

The fire in Ni Ge's heart rekindled. "Let's go check it out."

Hei Fu began to flash.

Not long after,

Ni Ge saw the Great Whirlpool ahead growing larger and clearer.

He couldn't help but tense up. "Don't get close to the Great Whirlpool, it's too dangerous."

"It's just over there, it won't be,"

Hei Fu assured.

It crossed the Dead Sea and reached its destination.

In front was the blue Great Whirlpool, the center of the columnar storm.

On its periphery were a few peculiar small trees, they looked no taller than two meters, crooked like vines with structures akin to duckweed.

These strange little trees weren't absorbed by the whirlpool but floated and sank, rotating with the airflow.

Ni Ge found this very odd.

He couldn't recall any plants surviving near the Great Whirlpool. Even Sky-reaching Trees would be swept away and disappear.

Even the slowest type of Great Whirlpool possessed forces no plant could withstand.

"Are those really trees?"

Ni Ge couldn't help doubting if they were something else.

"They are trees,"

Hei Fu said. "If I bring them here, you'll see. They are a species you're familiar with."

Ni Ge confirmed again, "Is it safe?"

"No problem."

Hei Fu explained, "They have a very special structure allowing them to adapt here. No, it's more like they've learned to coexist with this place."

"Under normal circumstances, with the energy Heavenly People emit, I wouldn't even be able to get close without being torn apart. But they remain intact and alive. I believe the mechanism hasn't been triggered, and the energy within is highly repressed and folded. Luckily, we are natives, so we didn't trigger their external response."

Ni Ge didn't quite understand.

But he trusted that Hei Fu wouldn't joke with their lives.

Before long,

Hei Fu flashed a few times and began to tug on the patch of duckweed.

Originally, Ni Ge thought it would be an easy task, but it turned out not to be so simple.

Hei Fu was busy tugging and pulling.

No matter how he tried to lead, the duckweed just rotated in its orbit with the whirlpool, like loyal followers or satellites of the Great Whirlpool.

It was this strong?

The Light Core Body couldn't even pull it off?

Ni Ge couldn't help but ask,

"Not exactly,"

Hei Fu said somewhat aggrieved, "This thing grew on top of that Heavenly Person, with vines directly connected to the Heavenly People's Gem Cells. That's why it's rotating like this, like hair growing from a Heavenly Person."

"But I can confirm, this isn't something growing within the Heavenly Person. It's a local plant parasitizing the Gem Cells. Quite extraordinary..."

"I don't dare to apply more force, scared to trigger the Heavenly People's energy and cause unpredictable danger."

Ni Ge said, "I have a way."

In other areas, Mud Tree People might not excel, but for mud and trees, even explorers like Ni Ge had extensive experience.

The "identification" of adventure vine was best at identifying life forms, especially various seeds and plants.

But they now faced a new problem.

The energy here was too strong, even Hei Fu could barely withstand it, and Ni Ge with his adventure vine only reached Skywalker level. As soon as they went out, they'd be swept away by the Great Whirlpool.

They couldn't operate at all.

Having the tools but unable to use them.

At this moment, A Qi, who hadn't spoken much before, suggested, "If it doesn't work, why not seek help? We might not have a solution, but the company surely does... the chairman must have a way."

Ni Ge slapped his thigh.

Of course.

How could he forget this? He was too caught up in using existing resources, forgetting the various abilities of the Wasteland Company and the chairman.

He prepared to return with Hei Fu.

A Qi added, "But we could try once more. Given the circumstances here, it's relatively safe for the local life. If Earth life came here and was exposed, unpredictable things could happen with many Heavenly People around..."

"Don't you have Blade Grass? Isn't it specifically for cutting plants?"

Ni Ge scratched his head.

He had been out of the explorer business for too long, his professional skills and thinking had somewhat regressed.

"Right, how could I forget!"

He quickly rummaged through his toolkit, pulling out a serrated piece of Blade Grass shaped like a sharp dagger. "Hei Fu, try cutting with this."

Hei Fu was puzzled, "My strength couldn't cut it, can this thing?"

"Yes!"

Ni Ge said, "Blade Grass is the Mud Tree People's specialized cutting tool, refined over many years. It's very advanced. It contains a substance in the serrated teeth that can dissolve other tough tree barks. Although the serrated teeth will be consumed, as long as it's a local plant, it will work."

"According to the Great Whirlpool's mechanism, natural collisions and normal plant interactions won't trigger interference. Otherwise, we would have been swept away already."

Hei Fu was skeptical.

Nevertheless, he attached the Blade Grass to one of his spines and tried cutting with it.

Hei Fu exclaimed, "It really works!"

Ni Ge and A Qi were both delighted.

After cutting a part of the duckweed, Hei Fu absorbed a portion into his Light Core—only a small part to avoid provoking the Heavenly People's reaction.

Ni Ge examined the vines on the duckweed.

This plant looked very robust and dense, exuding vitality and even blooming small flowers.

He immediately used the adventure vine to inspect and identify it.

Then Ni Ge was stunned.

"This... this is actually adventure vine."

A Qi was astonished, "Adventure vine can connect with Gem Cells?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of this happening before."

Ni Ge was bewildered, with a hypothesis forming in his mind.

"We need to check other Great Whirlpools and see if there's the same situation. This matter is extremely important, it must be thoroughly investigated and reported to the chairman."

"Hei Fu, I'll trouble you again."

"Hold tight, we're setting off."

Hei Fu flashed, disappearing instantly.

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