Shanuya was silent.

All the tentacles of the Void Hunters opened like petals and then closed again softly, protecting the girl.

Although the girl was just a tiny creature in its body, it could sense the burning soul of the girl as well as the sorrow and hope buried deep inside.

“I understand.”

Shanuya said, “If you insist, let’s go!”

Peipei took a deep breath and nodded.

Right then, rustling noises came from the broken escape capsule. The communication channel was activated again.

His father, his brother, and the rest of them all saw the changes of Shanuya’s skin color and sensed the space ripples that were surging like tides.

They all understood what it meant.

Shanuya was going to perform a space jump—with Pepe.

“Pepe!”

His brother was greatly shocked. He bellowed in the communication channel, “What are you doing? What did Shanuya do exactly?”

“…This is the only way, brother.”

Peipei wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and said with a smile, “I’m stupid. I can’t think of a second way. This is the only way to stop you from hurting each other—even if you can only fight for a few hundred years or even a few decades.”

“Where—where are you going exactly?”

His brother panicked. “Shanuya is heavily wounded. It is destined to be lost in the four-dimensional space. The furious storm will blow you to a random corner at the end of the universe. You might never find your way home again. You will never see us again!”

“Yes, but at least I know that our home is still here. You and Dad must still be somewhere in the sea of stars.”

“That’s enough.”

“Why?”

His brother sounded like he was about to cry. “Is that the solution? Why didn’t you tell me just now?”

“You won’t agree to what I just told you.

“I’m sorry, brother. You are going to be scolded again. I’m sorry.”

“Silly sister, is this something that can’t be scolded?”

His brother roared, “Come back! Come back now! Let’s figure out a way together and find a perfect solution!”

“There is no other way, at least for now.

Peipei smiled again. “However, there are so many smart people in the fleet, and so many kind, innocent, and righteous children. I believe that you will definitely find a way if you are given decades, centuries, or even millennia.

“Someday, Shanuya will return from the edge of the sea of stars. Maybe even stronger alien species will run into human beings. I hope that we will have figured out a way to live in harmony without hurting each other.

“Brother, help me tell my father… I’m sorry. To this day, I still remember the first fairy tale he told me. I especially like to nestle in his arms and listen to him tell me those fairy tales where justice defeats evil. I just—I just hope that fairy tales are not just fairy tales.”

“No! No! No!”

His brother roared hysterically.

“Goodbye, brother. Goodbye, father. Goodbye, Bei Bei, Angie, Xiaotao, and everyone else. Goodbye…”

Pepe’s eyelashes, hands, and voice were all trembling. She used all her strength to cut off the communication.

In the distance, the cosmic armor and the starships were glittering like thousands of lights, warm and splendid.

“Let’s go.”

The girl wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and patted the giant beast next to her feet, while she sent out the most determined telepathic thought. “Let’s go, my prince. Let’s embark on our journey!”

…

Everybody in the fleet saw the scene.

Whether it was on a starship through a cabin window or a 3D light beam, or wearing a space armor, there was nothing they could do when they were so close.

The mountain-like beast opened all its tentacles again, like a blossoming flower, and started spinning in a way that did not fit its body.

At that moment, many people were having hallucinations. They seemed to be seeing a beautiful girl in a long dress dancing and laughing.

The long skirt or the tentacles turned into sails. The three-dimensional universe split apart like black seawater. A golden pathway leading to the four-dimensional universe extended below the girl’s feet into the endless distance. The girl stepped on it with a smile. The tears in the corners of her eyes turned into tears, which were the last traces she left in the space.

Before the universal armor and the fatal death rays arrived, the Void Hunter and the girl vanished together.

…

Watching the space ripples spreading out slowly, everybody in the fleet was silent for a long time.

His elder brother, who was covered in bruises and under the control or support of his father, watched everything in bewilderment and burst into tears.

“Dad, I was wrong. I was really wrong!”

His brother was sobbing.

“Yes, you are wrong.”

His father said coldly.

“Then why didn’t you stop me? Your capability is much higher than this. You could’ve destroyed my space armor and caught up to Peipei easily. Why didn’t you do that?

His brother roared.

“…I don’t know.”

His father said.

“Also, why didn’t the commander attack Peipei’s escape capsule and destroy it? Why didn’t he stop her?”

His brother continued questioning him.

“I still don’t know.”

His father said.

The brother fell silent and gazed at the empty sea of stars. His sister had fled to an unknown star far away in the boundless sea of stars.

“We did something stupid, didn’t we?”

He asked his father.

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Somebody is going to do something stupid. It’s either you or me or somebody else. Somebody is going to do something stupid.”

His father heaved a long sigh and said gloomily, “Because that’s what we are—stupid human beings!”

…

A long time later, at the edge of the expansion of the Primeval Civilization, an ancient and mysterious legend spread among the children of many mining sites and colonization bases in the South Cross Space Zone.

It was said that a fairy named ‘Sister Octopus’ lived in the depths of the Southern Cross Space Zone. She had the ability to manipulate dreams. Every night, she would enter the children’s dreams and tell them stories of innocence, kindness, beauty, brightness, and happiness.

In the stories of the octopus sisters, justice always triumphed over evil. The good always defeated the bad. The good always got great luck and everybody’s help. The prince and the princess could live a happy life together without any obstacles.

Life in the Southern Cross Space Zone was tough and dangerous. The adults were either grimacing or gritting their teeth. The children’s toys were either sabers, swords, or mining machines. The story of Sister Octopus was their only comfort.

Sister Octopus told the children that she was not telling a story. Ali Baba, Sinbad, Prince of Happiness, Snow White… Everything was real. Even if the past had never happened, one day in the future, her dream would come true.

As long as the children never forgot her story, as long as they firmly believed that everything in the fairy tale was not a lie, as long as they always remembered the persistence of their childhood, one day, the world would become as beautiful as a fairy tale. All the princesses and princes, or every ordinary boy and girl on every planet, would be able to live together happily and carefreely forever.

In short, as long as everyone believed in fairy tales, the fairy tales would come true.

Wasn’t it?

[Extra Four, the octopus girl is finished.]

—

I’ve finished the fourth Side Story. I’ll rest for two days and write a new Side Story later!