Chapter 153: A Little Ocean
The importance of the ocean was beyond question.
Its other functions, such as storing heat for a planet and maintaining the greenhouse balance, could be set aside for now.
After all, Blue Sea Safe City could hardly be considered a planet at present. Most of the time, it simply took advantage of the environments of other apocalyptic planets, while when traveling through the greater universe, it relied on its protective shield and air towers to get through short-term journeys.
For now, the greatest help this little ocean could provide Blue Sea was to serve as a reservoir for water resources and marine life. Once it grew larger in the future, it might even be able to establish a complete water cycle, allowing clouds and rain to form naturally within Blue Sea Safe City.
Just thinking about it filled Cheng Qisheng with anticipation.
She had already expected that an expert whom only a Tier 6 Safe City could accommodate would certainly have something to offer.
But at this moment, when she saw this little ocean with her own eyes, she was genuinely, thoroughly astonished.
Cheng Qisheng had occasionally directed part of her attention over here before to observe the process of removing the toxins from the seawater. But she had never expected that the final result would turn out to be so much better than she had imagined.
Cheng Qisheng gazed at that inland sea.
It really was a miniature ocean. According to the data report, it covered only seventy square kilometers in total, roughly the same area as a small county.
At this moment, a gentle breeze was carrying tiny waves toward the shore, where they lapped softly against the land. The water was crystal clear, while the deep-blue surface in the center of the sea looked like a beautiful piece of silk.
Anyone who had been to the seaside could tell at a glance from the color of the water that this area must be quite deep.
But its depth wasn’t the important part, nor was its area.
The important thing was that it was sunken.
Just like an ordinary ocean on an ordinary planet.
It hadn’t been artificially raised above the ground. It actually lay sunken beneath the surface.
Cheng Qisheng extended her mental power downward.
When it reached the deepest point, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of light.
It was just like a real ocean.
Aether was reporting the data:
“The inland sea is currently one hundred meters deep at its deepest point. Along the boundary, the shallow foreland ranges from zero to twenty meters.”
While sending her mental power darting around the seafloor, Cheng Qisheng asked,
“Why is it sunken underground? Isn’t the ground beneath a Safe City impossible to excavate?”
Aether quickly pulled up the relevant report:
“Expert Xicao solidified and extracted the toxicity brought by the subspace. It transformed into oceanic crust.”
The mental power darting around the seafloor came to an abrupt halt.
Cheng Qisheng raised her head. “Crust?”
“Wow. Now that’s a pleasant surprise.”
After raising eight civilizations, obtaining a Safe City, and witnessing—or simply passing by—countless planets, Cheng Qisheng knew this very well.
Not every planet had a crust, but any planet capable of evolving complex life was bound to have a solid rocky crust.
It not only supported liquid water, but also provided a habitat for the lifeforms on the planet. A planet’s temperature-regulation system also depended on it, while the various essential elements for life released through the breakdown of crustal rocks could enter the planet’s food chain.
And for Blue Sea Safe City right now, the appearance of a crust solved one of the city’s biggest problems: until now, they could only keep piling structures upward, because they couldn’t dig downward.
This “bonus gift” was even more exciting than the “main product”—the little ocean itself.
Cheng Qisheng wasn’t disappointed that Blue Sea hadn’t managed to bring more seawater and subspace toxicity back from Green Billow Star, either.
Given the circumstances at the time and the size of the Safe City, Blue Sea had already done everything it possibly could.
Besides, the greater universe was enormous, and there were countless apocalyptic worlds. There would surely be another day when they encountered subspace.
She poured herself a glass of homemade mango smoothie, wrapped herself snugly in a small blanket, and curled back up on the comfortable sofa before gesturing for Aether to continue.
“Without a core or mantle, how does the crust keep itself from collapsing or fracturing? And can this method of creating crust be applied to other parts of the Safe City?”
Aether projected a virtual image in front of Cheng Qisheng.
“The Safe City itself already has a protective layer inside it. City Lord, you can think of it as a protective shield supporting the crust from beneath. It provides gravity and a planetary magnetic field, allowing the crust and everything above it to function normally.”
Cheng Qisheng said, “So it’s basically as if the Safe City were an artificially constructed hollow rocky planet, right?”
“Yes, City Lord.”
Aether shifted the projection to the ocean.
“This is Expert Xicao’s report. Objects contaminated by subspace all retain traces of a similar substance. After undergoing a special extraction process, it solidifies into rock and continuously sinks until it reaches the bottom. It’s almost as if…”
“Almost as if the shattered toxins in subspace originally came from the crusts of various planets,” Cheng Qisheng finished.
Aether said, “Yes. That’s what Expert Xicao believes.”
Cheng Qisheng said, “That isn’t particularly surprising either. We’ve already managed to fish objects from all kinds of worlds out of oceans altered by subspace. So it makes sense that subspace itself is composed of fragments of shattered planetary crust.”
The complexity of it all made Cheng Qisheng think for a moment, but she soon decided not to dwell on it.
The idea that the Safe City was actually an artificially constructed hollow planet, or that subspace was filled with invisible fragments of planetary crust…
All of that was far too distant from them, and none of it was something Blue Sea could solve.
What Cheng Qisheng needed to do now was simply advance through the tiers step by step, until Blue Sea Safe City finally became a genuine planet and they could permanently escape this journey of survival.
And now, Blue Sea had taken its first step.
It not only possessed an ocean, but also part of a planetary crust.
Cheng Qisheng caught Aether as she slowly drifted down.
“How much area has the crust extracted by Expert Xicao covered?”
“Including the area occupied by the small ocean, a total of 7,278 square kilometers.”
Cheng Qisheng raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.
“That’s quite a lot.”
And this was only after half of the seawater had been purified.
There was still another half to go.
Perhaps for other Safe Cities, having a crust wouldn’t be particularly useful. After all, Safe Cities already covered vast areas to begin with.
But that wasn’t the case for Blue Sea.
Blue Sea had always been working toward obtaining more usable space, creating enough room to become self-sufficient. Now that it had gained an additional area of crust, it was practically an unexpected gift from heaven.
Moreover, Cheng Qisheng had always been determined to turn Blue Sea into a planet.
This gave her an idea.
Even if Blue Sea couldn’t become a planet simply by advancing through the tiers, what if she pieced together the essential components of a planet herself?
For example, a crust.
Or perhaps she could use her mental power to restrain a planet that could serve as Blue Sea’s sun.
Expert Xicao’s work was like someone opening the door to an entirely new world for Cheng Qisheng.
She suddenly realized that she could simply piece together a planet herself.
City Lord Duxi should have told her from the beginning that this expert could extract planetary crust!
If he’d said so, forget a thousand children—even if he’d brought three thousand, Blue Sea would have raised them all.
Cheng Qisheng looked at the Old Eighths, who were conducting all sorts of tests around the little ocean.
They had performed one test after another, checking each item off the list.
“All right, work’s done. Now it’s time for the final test.”
The group bustled around, first driving or carrying the testing equipment back, then hauling out one beach chair after another.
Everyone changed into Hawaiian shirts, put on sunglasses and straw hats, and sprawled out on the beach chairs.
Then, in perfect unison, they let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
“Ah~ That’s it. This is a real ocean.”
Watching the Old Eighths fool around, Cheng Qisheng smiled and reached over to pat them on the heads, granting them her blessing.
They immediately looked up in delighted surprise and expressed their gratitude.
What a wonderful day.
Cheng Qisheng’s mental power swept across the azure little ocean, then dove down to the deepest point, where it reached the newly formed crust.
She examined it all, piece by piece.
Blue Sea now had an ocean.
And at the same time, it had finally gained a portion of the underground land it could actually use.
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