Just as the brothers’ starlight was flashing chaotically because they were anxious about going to meet aliens, Dimi appeared. Its whole body was shining, like a titanium little robot, with several antennae sticking out of its head, constantly emitting all kinds of light.

  Seeing Dimi, the brothers cheered with joy.

  Dawnstar did a few rolls in the air and shouted, “Oh! Oh! Finally we can leave this dreadful place! Nightstar, stop polishing your shield, fasten us properly, we’re about to go!”

  Dimi immediately brought everyone back next to Zephyr Cygnus’s black hole, and Zephyr Cygnus was already there waiting for them.

  Little Starfish told Zephyr Cygnus about the Calabi-Yau and the time-reversing planet she had discovered inside the black hole singularity. Zephyr Cygnus sighed and said, “I never imagined that such a wonderful place was hidden inside my black hole! Luckily I didn’t go along to that time-reversing planet. Imagine if my black hole started reversing, would it be a miracle or a disaster? Hahaha!”

  Then the brothers couldn’t help but tell Zephyr Cygnus about Little Starfish wanting to take them to meet aliens. They expected him to be surprised, give advice, or even stop her.

  Unexpectedly, Zephyr Cygnus laughed heartily. With a look of “I knew it…” he glanced at Little Starfish and then said to the brothers, “This is going to be fun. Enjoy yourselves! Dimi, quickly take them back, my black hole is about to erupt, I need to control it.”

  The brothers didn’t even have time to say goodbye before Dimi sent them back to Lyra.

  Nightstar gently placed Little Starfish on his pink belly and carefully asked, “Little Starfish, are you really going to take us to meet aliens? Have you ever met aliens before?”

  Little Starfish giggled and said, “I’ll be honest with you, brothers. This time, we’re going to meet aliens to actually save one brother. Here’s what happened…” Little Starfish began telling the story.

  Not long ago, Little Demon was playing with brother Proxi and suddenly had a crazy idea. Little Demon said, “Brother, go catch a comet and a meteor, tie them together, then grab their tails and fall with them. Let’s see if the speed changes or increases.”

  Proxi laughed, “Hahaha! Great idea, great idea!”

  Then Proxi tightly grabbed the long tail of the comet with one hand and held the fiery tail of the meteor with the other. He shouted, “3 2 1, Cosmic Free Fall Experiment Start!”

  Crash! Rumble! The comet and meteor began free-falling at faster-than-light speed from higher dimensions. The comet screamed, whipping its tail, while the meteor shot fireworks alongside, streaking colorful trails through space.

  Proxi spun madly in the middle, shouting, “Little sister, the speed really is increasing! I feel like I’m part of a cosmic catapult! We’ve broken third universe velocity! We’re about to fly out of the galaxy!”

  Dimi received a system alert saying Proxi was traversing the interstellar intermediary layer at an unpredictable speed and had entered a super-spiral state.

  Even then, Proxi kept yelling, “Little sister! If I fall into a black hole, you must make Dimi pull me out!”

  Suddenly, the comet erupted, the meteor accelerated, and Proxi accidentally tumbled into a black hole. Because of the extreme speed, he was instantly ejected from the wormhole.

  Little Demon saw the data Dimi detected and said, “A wormhole? Perfect! Proxi, you’ve got an extra mission. Go check out that side of the wormhole, and grab a couple of aliens to play with. Uh, no, either you catch them or they catch you. Just take care of yourself!”

  Unexpectedly, a group of aliens happened to pass by the wormhole and effortlessly grabbed Proxi.

  Dimi’s system finally alerted, “Proxi has been bound into a spiral by the aliens and is using laughter to disrupt the enemy formation.”

  Then, everything went silent.

  After Little Starfish finished telling the story, the four brothers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  Starhaven waved his arm, and heavy metal music echoed through the air. Starhaven asked, “When Proxi was captured by the aliens, why didn’t Dimi save him?”

  Little Starfish rolled on Nightstar’s fluffy belly and said, “That wouldn’t be fun! I want to see where the aliens are taking Proxi and what they plan to do with him!”

  Heartstead Star thought for a moment and said, “Logically, the purpose of the aliens taking Proxi is for research. They are curious about everything unfamiliar. Now, does Little Starfish know which planet these aliens came from?”

  Little Starfish jumped off Nightstar’s belly and said, “Of course I know! The planet has a silly name, SA100. Dimi already confirmed it. The aliens haven’t done anything to Proxi yet, so we have to hurry and rescue him!” She looked at the four brothers with a mischievous grin and said, “If you guys are too scared to go, then I’ll go with Dimi myself. I’m not afraid of any aliens!”

  Dawnstar immediately shouted, “Too scared? Who said we’re too scared?! I, Dawnstar, volunteer first for the rescue! I’m not afraid of fire or swords!”

  Nightstar raised his pink shield and said, “Exactly! I’ll use this shield to protect Little Starfish and all of you. Any alien that dares come close, I’ll bounce it into outer space!”

  Heartstead Star adjusted his glasses and said, “Logically, there’s no place the brothers are afraid to go. Wherever Little Starfish goes, we go too. We’re not afraid of danger, only afraid for Little Starfish’s safety!”

  Starhaven walked to Little Starfish and said, “Little Starfish, we brothers are starlight that spans millions of light-years. We’ve long stopped caring about life or death. Whether this time you’re going to rescue someone, or just to play, be mischievous, or have an adventure, we’ll follow without hesitation!”

  Dawnstar couldn’t wait any longer. Excited, he shouted, “Oh! Oh! We’re going to meet aliens! Nightstar, stop fussing with your belly, raise your shield! We’re off to fight aliens!”

  Little Starfish spun on the spot, full of energy, and transformed into Little Demon. She put on a little purple cape and held up her tiny fork, commanding Dimi, “Let’s go!”

  Dimi copied Little Starfish and became a small purple creature too, all fluffy with pointy ears and eyes like red rubies. With a whoosh, it opened the arched dimensional door.

  Passing through the dimensional gate, they arrived at planet SA100. A “beep beep” sounded, and a small alien appeared in front of them.

  Nightstar immediately raised his shield, startling the little alien, which took two steps back. Nightstar laughed and said, “This alien really does look like humans imagined, big head, big eyes, tiny body, ugly as can be!”

  A strange voice replied, “You’re the ugly one! You’re a pink freak!”

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  Everyone froze for a moment and realized the voice came from the little alien.

  Little Demon bounced in front of the alien, curious, and said, “Huh? It can speak our language! Let’s try again! Star brothers, you speak Star Language, I speak Demon Language, and Dimi can speak whatever language of the outer universe!”

  In an instant, everyone started jabbering in their own languages, making the little alien shake its head frantically. It let out a sharp scream, “Stop! Stop! Stop! Enough! I’ll tell you, we understand all languages! Language isn’t the problem. The problem is you weird creatures, what are you doing here, and how did you get here?”

  Little Demon flicked her cape, slammed her fork on the ground, and said, “Hmph! I’ll tell you! I’m the Little Demon of the universe. This one next to me is my little pet, and these behind me are my brothers. We go wherever we want. Go get your leader quickly, I have something to tell it!”

  The little alien was intimidated by Little Demon’s aura. It sent out a strange electric signal, as if making some kind of link.

  Soon, a large group of identical little aliens appeared out of nowhere, leaving everyone wide-eyed.

  One slightly taller alien asked, “What kind of beings are you? Which planet are you from?”

  Little Demon floated in midair, full of authority, and said, “Are you the leader? Release my brother Proxi at once! Otherwise, hmph, we’ll blow your SA100 down to SA0!”

  The alien leader suddenly understood and said, “Oh, so it’s that silly creature that just cries and laughs all day. Since it is your brother, then you must also come from a lower-dimensional universe?”

  Little Demon huffed, “Lower-dimensional universe? Hmph, Dimi will show them who’s higher and who’s lower!”

  Dimi’s eyes suddenly glowed red, it bared its teeth with a fierce grin, all its fur stood on end, and sparks ran along its tail.

  The aliens laughed out loud, saying, “So cute! Is it a cat from the three-dimensional world?”

  But before their laughter even ended, it instantly turned into crying. In that instant, Dimi had stamped a red mark on the forehead of every alien.

  The aliens looked at each other, unhappy and confused, unable to remove the marks.

  The leader, though embarrassed, tried to stay calm and said, “This… this little creature does not seem to be from the three-dimensional universe. Although these marks will disappear in three days, having them on our foreheads for three days is just… too… mischievous!”

  Little Demon crossed her arms and said, “Then give me back my brother Proxi! I’ll have Dimi remove the marks!”

  The leader hesitated, “It’s not impossible to let your brother go, but he’s been here for so long. Every day he either cries or laughs, and it’s so noisy that several of us have already malfunctioned! On top of that, he’s been eating and drinking for free this whole time, with an enormous appetite and endless energy. We’ve actually been wanting him to leave for a while, but… we finally met a three-dimensional being, and we… uh…”

  Little Demon jabbed her fork forward and said, “You’re reluctant, aren’t you? You can’t bear to let go, you’re afraid of losing out, right?”

  The aliens grumbled and looked all aggrieved.

  Starhaven stepped forward and said, “Alright, first let us have a look at Proxi to make sure he is safe!”

  Dawnstar clapped his hands, “Yes! Big brother is right! We have to see that Proxi is safe and unharmed before thinking about anything else.”

  The other brothers nodded in agreement.

  The alien leader thought for a moment, then stretched out his short little arms and raised them above his head, sending out a stream of signals. Suddenly, a transparent dome appeared in front of him, and inside, a brother glowing with starlight was lying there eating and drinking. The moment he saw Little Demon, he lunged forward shouting, “Little Starfish! Little Demon! You came to take me back? Waaa, I don’t want to stay here anymore! Let me out!”

  Little Demon floated up to the transparent dome and said, “Brother Proxi! These aliens haven’t been bullying you, right? We’re negotiating with them, don’t worry, we’ll bring you back soon!”

  Proxi sobbed again, “Little Demon sister, I knew you wouldn’t leave me behind! Look at these aliens, they’ve spoiled me… made me fat! Waaa, their food is just too delicious!”

  The alien leader covered his ears and shouted, “Stop! Stop! I really don’t understand how you three-dimensional beings love junk food so much! So what are you going to do now? Leave him for us to study, or trade him for another creature, like that one with the pink belly over there? Honestly, we wouldn’t mind swapping one out.”

  Nightstar heard the leader name him and got so angry he lifted his shield and shouted, “No way! If any of you alien monsters try to touch me, I’ll show you just how powerful my shield is!”

  The alien leader waved his short arms, “Stop calling us aliens! You’re the aliens now!”

  Little Demon laughed mischievously, “Nope, see, we’re on the black hole side and you’re on the white hole side. The black hole pulls in, the white hole on the other side shoots out what the black hole swallowed, so of course you’re on the outside. That makes you the aliens!”

  The aliens were confused by Little Demon’s nonsense and couldn’t argue with it. They muttered to each other for a long time and still couldn’t figure it out.

  Finally, the leader waved his little arms, “Alright! Alright! Forget about inside or outside for now! Tell us, what do you plan to trade to get this one back?”

  Heartstead Star slowly stepped forward and said, “Logically, if the matter expelled from the white hole came from the black hole, then the universe forming outside the white hole also contains the memories and genes from inside the black hole. So in that case, maybe we’re distant relatives! If we’re distant relatives, why argue?”

  Little Demon immediately chimed in, “Exactly! And Brother Proxi ate so much junk food for you all that he became a fat little star. You should be thanking him!”

  The aliens were so frustrated they started hopping up and down, shouting in chaos, “Trade failed! Trade failed!”

  The alien leader shook his head and said, “In that case, let’s just stick to our own positions. You go back yourselves! We’ll continue to keep this creature for research. Although he’s noisy and a little fat, at least we can learn how he fell in love with junk food.”

  Little Demon shook her cape, and green flames flickered on her tail. She sneered, “Hehe, too late! Maybe you forgot, the mark Dimi left on your heads isn’t going to disappear in three days like you think. Not only won’t it disappear, it can make you dumber and sillier! Unless Dimi removes it personally. Want to try?”

  The aliens whispered among themselves, unsure if she was serious. Little Demon turned to Dimi and said, “How about this, Dimi? Put another mark on them so they instantly fall in love with junk food!”

  Hearing this and seeing Dimi’s eyes start glowing, the aliens screamed in fright, “Run! Nooo!” The little aliens scattered wildly, some hiding far away, others clutching their heads with their short little arms.

  Dimi knew Little Demon was just scaring them, so it didn’t do anything.

  The alien leader looked frustrated, but for face and reputation it didn’t run. It said, “We are from planet SA100, a high-level planet. How can we eat three-dimensional junk food? I don’t know if your pet Dimi is really that powerful, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll release the one who eats and drinks as he pleases, okay? At worst, we’ll have a chance to catch him again… no, to encounter him again! Before that, can Dimi remove the mark for us?”

  The brothers all cheered, and Little Demon, with her clear, crisp voice, said, “No! I’ve changed my mind too! We rarely come here and I don’t want to leave so soon. So here’s the deal: since you are smart, high-level aliens, I’ll give you two questions. If you answer them correctly, Dimi will immediately remove the mark and we’ll leave right away. If you can’t… hehe, we get to stay here for three days, explore your planet, and eat your junk food. How’s that?”

  The aliens, hearing this, all relaxed and became confident.

  The brothers quickly pulled Little Demon aside and whispered, “Little Demon, we can’t ask anything too difficult or deep. Since they’re higher-dimensional beings, their knowledge is far beyond ours. Are we really going to ask, ‘If the universe was born in a dream, what remains after waking?’ or ‘Can the speed of light be caught if I hide a secret inside it?’”

  Little Demon’s eyes gleamed. She gave the brothers a mischievous smile, then turned to the alien leader and asked, “So, are you ready to answer the questions?”

  The little aliens hiding nearby all gathered around again.

  The alien leader proudly said, “Go ahead, ask! Bring out the hardest, most unsolvable problems from your three-dimensional universe. We have enough knowledge here to answer you!”

  Little Demon flew into the air, spun down, letting her cape flutter loudly. She steadied herself, raised her little fork, and shouted, “Then listen carefully. The first question is…”

  The scene went completely silent. Everyone, including the brothers, held their breath, waiting for Little Demon to ask her first cosmic challenge. Only Dimi showed the same mischievous grin as Little Demon, eyes glowing red, staring at the aliens.

  After a few seconds, Little Demon asked, “Why does shredded potato stay not salty even when you add a lot of salt?”

  After a dead silence, a chorus of voices stammered, “Huh? Eh? What? Ah! No!…”

  The alien leader’s face had already turned dark green. It rolled its eyes and made a mechanical stuttering sound: “This… what…? Ah? What…? Quick! Quick! Retrieve… who will answer?”

  The little aliens all showed terrified expressions. Smoke seemed to puff from some of their big heads.

  The alien leader seemed to realize something and said, “Give the second question first. We’ll answer the second one!”

  Little Demon raised her little fork and said, “Alright! Here’s the second question: why does bathwater feel hot and cold at night? The temperature is the same!”

  This time the aliens didn’t make a sound. After a pause, the alien leader finally squeezed out two words: “Retreat!”

  With Dimi around, there was no way the aliens could hold their ground. So Little Demon and the brothers happily played on planet SA100 for three whole days, with Heartsea Star, of course, released to join the fun. After three days of eating, drinking, and playing, Dimi removed the marks from the aliens and took everyone away, and the alien leader never showed up in the end. Heartsea Star was a little reluctant to leave, still thinking about all the junk food.

  After Dimi returned everyone, it quietly went back to observe the aliens’ reaction. The aliens had posted an urgent announcement to warn other planets.

  The aliens issued an interstellar warning:

  “Residents are advised to avoid the edges of the galaxy, especially if a little demon-shaped being with a furry pet approaches. Immediately hide! Her questions have no standard answers. Her questions are cosmic bugs! Final judgment: this being poses a destructive threat to the universal intelligence system!”

  “Note: If that little question-posing demon shows up, be sure to turn off lights and lock doors as if no one’s home! Her pet Dimi may distribute cute chaos badges across the galaxy. Anyone marked will be invited to participate in the ‘Ultimate Puzzle Challenge’ within 48 hours, and cannot refuse.”

  After hearing Dimi’s report, the brothers collapsed in laughter. Starhaven said, “Little sister, you’re ruthless! This is like a real-life quantum entanglement, a model of emotional temperature fluctuations and thermodynamic collapse! You’re even less predictable than a wormhole! Honestly, I’m starting to feel sympathy for these poor aliens!”