Low Earth Orbit.
A transparent crystal ball streaked past a Reconnaissance Satellite. After flying a little farther, light and shadow suddenly rippled through the empty space ahead, and an enormous silver-white net emerged from nowhere.
The crystal ball plunged straight into the net, stretching its bottom more than ten meters before its momentum finally dissipated. The net caught it like a butterfly.
Then the net withdrew into empty space with the recovered crystal ball...
Inside Nie Yun's Captain's Quarters.
A cylindrical platform slowly rotated upward. Resting quietly in the recess at its top was the crystal ball that had been launched the day before.
Nie Yun walked over. The crystal ball opened like flower petals, then merged into the platform, revealing Little Octopus inside, barely alive and streaming tears.
Little Octopus had lost that plump, glossy look. Haggard and shriveled, with all eight tentacles drooping limply and eyes utterly vacant, Little Octopus looked as though every imaginable torture had been inflicted, leaving no reason to go on living.
"Hey, we meet again! Congratulations on making your dream come true! From today on, you're the first little octopus to have traveled around the world from outer space! What a cause for celebration!" Nie Yun said with a beaming smile.
"Pfft!" At the sound of that devilish voice, Little Octopus weakly looked up at Nie Yun and gave a snort.
Hmph! My stance should be clear. This octopus would rather break than bend!
"Good! You may be a mollusk, but I still have to say you've got backbone! In that case, tomorrow we'll..." Before Nie Yun could finish saying "meet again," he suddenly felt something rubbing against his leg.
He looked down to find that Little Octopus, who had just refused to bow to force, was now ingratiatingly rubbing a head