Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

The moment the good news of the bountiful harvest of wheat on the Moon spread throughout the Global Symbiotic Alliance, an even bolder plan was quietly brewing in the Twin Star Council Chamber—the Mars Agricultural Reclamation Project. That red planet, once a milestone in human spaceflight history, will now become another testing ground for symbiotic civilizations in the solar system.

"Mars has a thin atmosphere, a weak magnetic field in its core, and remnants of dried-up riverbeds, making it far more suitable for terraforming than the Moon." Lin Xiangyang pointed to the 3D model of Mars on the screen, his eyes gleaming. "The energy of the Chaos Pearl can strengthen Mars' magnetic field, the Fertile Soil Spores of the Mushroom Clan can improve the red soil, the energy satellites of the Flowing Light Civilization can construct an artificial ecosystem, and with our experience in lunar agriculture, we can turn Mars into a true 'Granary of Fire'."

The cap of the mushroom turned a fiery red, and it produced a sporangium even more concentrated than that of the fertile soil spore: "This is the mushroom clan's 'Red Soil Activating Spore,' which can decompose iron oxide in Martian soil, converting it into iron elements that plants can absorb. It can also lock in soil moisture, maintaining hydration even in the thin atmosphere." The Crystal Clan leader then presented a completely new upgraded version of the Star Crystal Dome—this dome is no longer a closed hemisphere, but a mesh structure that can resonate with the weak magnetic field of Mars. It can both resist the onslaught of solar winds and allow energy life forms to move freely, accelerating the ecological cycle. The stream of consciousness of the Flowing Light Civilization was full of anticipation: "We will deploy twelve energy satellites in Martian orbit to construct a 'Sunlight Simulation Network,' regulating the day-night temperature difference on Mars, allowing Star Wheat to grow in suitable light."

As soon as the news broke, ten times more volunteers signed up than during the lunar mission. The three elderly men, Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui, packed their bags early, even stuffing hoes and tobacco pipes into the landing module. "Growing wheat on the moon isn't enough; this red land on Mars is the real deal!" Yi Zhonghai slapped the module wall, his voice booming.

On the day the fleet arrived on Mars, crimson dust churned in the fierce winds, and Mount Olympus stood majestically in the distance, like a giant guarding the planet. The landing module landed steadily near Valles Marineris—a place that had once been the heart of Martian river channels, with relatively high soil moisture content, making it an ideal starting point for pioneering.

The team members immediately split up and took action. The Crystal Clan engineers controlled the robotic arms to spread the mesh components of the Star Crystal Dome across Mariner Valley. The components resonated with the Martian magnetic field, emitting a faint blue light, and the dust was firmly blocked outside the dome. The Mushroom Clan scholars rode in hovercars and sowed red soil activation spores on the land covered by the dome. The crimson soil faded from its rusty color at a visible speed, turning into a fertile brownish-black. The energy satellite of the Flowing Light Civilization ascended into orbit, and twelve soft beams of light shone down. The temperature difference between day and night on Mars dropped sharply from several hundred degrees to twenty degrees. The suitable temperature allowed the ripples of energy life forms to spread rapidly.

He Yushui and her team scattered seeds that incorporated lunar star wheat genes, blue planet energy particles, and red soil activated spores into the soil. Amazingly, within half a day of the seeds being planted, tender green shoots emerged, with pale green energy ripples swirling around them, swaying gently in the Martian wind.

Lin Xiangyang, holding the sickle from the courtyard house, stood on the edge of the field, gazing at the newly sprouted green shoots. He suddenly remembered his grandfather's generation farming in the courtyard house. The soil was yellow then, and now it's red, but the hope for cultivation has always remained just as burning.

During their pioneering days, many interesting things happened on Mars. Yi Zhonghai used a tobacco stalk to drive away interstellar sandworms that were stealing wheat seedlings, but he was stained with fluorescent powder sprayed by the sandworms and turned into a "white-haired old man"; Liu Haizhong wrote the four characters "Fire Continent Generates Gold" at the foot of Mount Olympus, and the ink mixed with activated spores of red soil actually took root in the soil and grew into emerald green vines; Yan Jiecheng's wife set up a large pot in the dome and cooked star wheat porridge with Martian groundwater. The aroma of the porridge wafted out of the dome and attracted a group of transparent Martian native microorganisms. They circled around the pot and actually formed a symbiotic partnership with the energy life form.

Three months later, the first crop of Martian star wheat ripened. The golden ears of wheat were fuller than those on the moon, their awns tinged with a faint reddish sheen, shimmering like scattered gold dust under the beams of energy. On harvest day, envoys from all the Alliance's civilizations came to witness the event. The Crystal Clan's Crystal People used star crystal vessels to hold the wheat grains, while the energy lifeforms of the Flowing Light Civilization transformed into ribbons of light that entwined the ears of wheat. Meanwhile, the Mushroom Clan's scholars excitedly collected soil samples to study the fusion data between the activated spores of the red soil and the Martian ecosystem.

Yi Zhonghai brandished his sickle, cutting down the first stalk of Mars wheat, his aged face beaming with joy: "In this life, I've planted land on Earth, soil on the Moon, and even the red soil of Mars. It's all worth it!" Liu Haizhong, meanwhile, copied the words "Gold Comes from the Firelands" onto a poster, which was then distributed throughout every star system in the Alliance. On the poster, golden waves of wheat intertwined with pale green energy ripples on a crimson Mars, with Earth and the blue planet suspended in the background. The title was a single sentence: "The power of symbiosis can turn barren land into gold."

Standing atop Mount Olympus, Lin Dong's Chaos Pearl shimmered with blue light, resonating with the magnetic field of Mars' core. He could sense that this crimson planet was awakening; in the dried-up riverbeds, energy life forms were reviving the dormant groundwater, and interstellar plant vines were spreading along the riverbeds, gradually spreading greenery to every corner of Mars.

Lin Xiangyang walked to his father's side, opened the lighthouse logbook, and wrote a new line:

"Gold is born from red soil, and fire is spread across the land; a new chapter is written in the symbiosis of the Milky Way. From the courtyard house to Mars, from the sun to the depths of the universe, the seeds of symbiosis will forever take root and sprout at the feet of the pioneers."

Just then, the Chaos Bead suddenly emitted a strong tremor. On the screen of the Lighthouse System, a signal from the center of the Milky Way was flashing, and the frequency of the signal was exactly the same as the resonant frequency of the Chaos Bead.

Lin Xiangyang's pupils suddenly contracted. He stared at the signal source on the screen, his voice filled with shock: "Dad, at the center of the Milky Way... there's a super symbiotic star!"

A murmur rippled through the crowd. The winds of Olympus, carrying the scent of star wheat, swept across the crimson earth, heading towards the center of the Milky Way. There, a planet teeming with a cosmic-level symbiotic civilization awaited their arrival.