I Became an All-round Artist

When the tides of change surge forward, those swept along by the current often realize it too late. It wasn’t until the proposal for the unification of the states started being mentioned more frequently in Zhongzhou’s news that the generally politically indifferent populace began to sense that something unusual was unfolding.

Public murmurs finally arose.

Across the semi-isolated networks of each state, uncertain speculations and discussions started to surface. Meanwhile, high-ranking officials, when pressed during interviews, became increasingly vague in their responses, indirectly confirming a shocking reality:

"Are they really going to unify the states?"

"A cultural unification across all states?"

"This proposal first appeared eighteen years ago. When it was introduced, it sparked widespread debate across Blue Planet, but the challenges were deemed too immense. It’s remained dormant ever since. Could this year be different?"

"Unification is a good thing."

"You’re being too optimistic."

"There are always pros and cons. Unification isn’t just about benefits. Some regions with less developed cultures might lose their unique heritage, but for Blue Planet as a whole, it’s certainly an opportunity for progress."

One thing was certain: Blue Planet’s overall landscape was bound to change with unification. Yet, even at this point, most people remained skeptical, holding on to a wait-and-see attitude.

That is, until December 8th.

Zhongzhou officially announced the document:

As part of a pilot program, Qinzhou and Qizhou were officially merging. From that moment on, the two states would become one. Transport links, including high-speed rail, air travel, and sea routes, would undergo unprecedented development and expansion!

To explain:

The high-speed rail on Blue Planet is the fastest land transport system, reaching speeds close to 2,000 kilometers per hour. This kind of efficiency easily surpasses any ground transportation on Earth.

And it’s not just that.

Even air travel and other transportation technologies on Blue Planet far surpass those of Earth. With the official decision to unify the two states, the fastest travel time between them has been reduced to under two hours!

In fact, in the fastest cases, it only takes one hour!

This could have been achieved earlier, but the states had intentionally limited communication through transportation as part of their autonomous governance. However, with recent technological innovations, and the government's formal policies, the barriers of distance between states are being removed.

The impact was immediate!

Blue Planet was in shock!

The entire world erupted into a frenzy of discussion. It wasn’t just Qinzhou and Qizhou that were merging, and the other states knew it. Anyone with common sense realized that this was just a cautious first step by Zhongzhou.

The political implications were clear:

In the coming years, Zhongzhou would continue to push for the merger of more states. Qinzhou and Qizhou were just the beginning. It was only a matter of time before this wave of change swept across every corner of Blue Planet!

The most excitement, naturally, was in the two pilot states.

Because on the very day the proposal was passed, all of Qinzhou’s citizens were thrilled to discover they could now freely access Qizhou's movies, games, and music, without any restrictions. Moreover, all software from Qizhou was now available to Qinzhou users without limitations.

People went wild!

The citizens of Qinzhou were overjoyed. In the past, watching a movie from Qizhou was a hassle due to the states' autonomy. But now, everything from Qizhou was open to Qinzhou. For instance, many had long wanted to install Qizhou’s top-tier home theater system. Before, such a setup would have cost over a million yuan due to restrictions, but now it was available for a fraction of the price.

Then there was the gaming capsule!

Qizhou had recently developed an advanced gaming capsule, still in its experimental stage, but with excellent user feedback. Qinzhou had been unable to use it due to certain restrictions, but now, those barriers were gone!

In short:

With the merger of Qinzhou and Qizhou, both spiritual and material life would undergo dramatic transformations. From major technological advancements to cultural and artistic integration, even everyday trends would start to blend. Many were already anticipating the inclusion of more states.

In Qizhou, the excitement was mutual.

There were also plenty of things in Qinzhou that Qizhou citizens had long coveted. The details don’t need to be spelled out, but the overall feelings of the people in both states were strikingly similar. Everyone was eager to indulge in the fruits of the other state’s labor, even though the full impact of the merger was just beginning to unfold.

...

Against the backdrop of such a monumental merger on Blue Planet, Lin Yuan felt small as an individual. The wave of change felt like another crossing into an unfamiliar world. Though Lin Yuan was somewhat familiar with both states, one could only imagine the shock for those who had never set foot outside their own region.

In contrast, Jian Yi had become a bit neurotic, constantly muttering to himself, "I won’t need to come to Qizhou for work anymore. The film industry here will definitely expand rapidly into Qinzhou. Actors from both sides are going to have a golden age..."

He even started using poetic language.

Sometimes, he would pester Lin Yuan, discussing the changes to daily life. Jian Yi was quick to grasp the implications: "Do you believe that Qizhou will soon invade the music industry? It’s not just actors. Every artist will have a big choice to make!"

Lin Yuan asked, "What do you mean?"

Jian Yi grinned, clapping his hands: "Take you, for example. You're Qinzhou's golden composer. Because of your Qinzhou identity, Qizhou has to pay a huge premium to hire you. The annual costs alone are astronomical. But now that the two states have merged, do you think the entertainment companies in Qizhou will still settle for being second to Qinzhou in the music scene?"

Lin Yuan pondered.

Jian Yi continued confidently: "Qinzhou’s musical success is built on talent. Now, Qizhou’s big companies will undoubtedly open offices in Qinzhou. Without the barriers, they’ll start poaching Qinzhou’s musical talent. Once they have the talent, why would they still need to rely on companies like Star Entertainment?"

"So..." Lin Yuan prompted.

"So, all of Qinzhou’s musical talent will have more options. In the past, everyone flocked to Star Entertainment because it was one of the top music companies in Qinzhou. But now, they’ll have more choices. Qizhou companies like Thunder or Seven Stars will surely enter Qinzhou and do whatever it takes to lure talent away!"

Lin Yuan nodded in understanding.

It was clear that companies like Star Entertainment would have to expand into film, gaming, and other industries to stay competitive. The talent barrier was gone. If Qinzhou valued Qizhou's special effects or directors, Qizhou would certainly value Qinzhou's music talent.

Qizhou’s special effects are top-notch?
Qizhou’s screenwriters are many?
Qizhou’s directors are powerful?

Once those talents join Qinzhou’s companies, the film industry in Qinzhou will no longer be stunted. After all, there were no national borders here; art transcended boundaries. In the end, it all came down to money.

You could also look at it this way:

On Earth, if all the barriers in the film industry suddenly disappeared and Hollywood was fully accessible to China, Hollywood would eventually belong to everyone!

This was inevitable.

Even beyond the film industry, one could think of how Chinese esports teams used to recruit top South Korean players to represent them in the League of Legends tournaments because they struggled to beat South Korea’s teams...

At least on Earth, there were national boundaries.

Here, no one would refuse to work for a company from another state because of a sense of national loyalty. After all, this was Blue Planet, one unified world where everyone shared the same nationality. So, there was no need to worry about matters of patriotism.

Would you refuse a job in the neighboring county?
Or would you refuse a job in the next province over?

When transportation issues are no longer obstacles, and the barriers between continents are all removed, the future of Blue Star becomes almost predictable. This marks the beginning of a true Blue Star unification—a deeper, all-encompassing integration following the earlier political unity. It's normal to feel a surge of excitement about it.

For every continent and industry alike, this presents a challenge full of both opportunities and risks.

Take social media, for example: people in Qizhou prefer an app called Tribe, while those in Qinzhou use one called Blog. After the two continents merge, many will face the question: Will we all use Blog or Tribe?

Habits can be changed.

To participate more smoothly in this fusion and enjoy a better communication experience, people will eventually make their own choices. This is the fundamental shift brought by the integration of the continents and, indeed, the entire Blue Star. No industry can stay untouched. Everyone will have to compete fiercely to capture their share of this vastly different—and vastly larger—new market!

Lin Yuan is confident that Xingmang will take action, but he’s unsure exactly what the company plans to do. In the midst of this tidal wave of change, standing still means getting left behind by the new market. No company wants to be phased out, and everyone is looking to seize the incredible opportunities ahead. Now is the best time to get ahead of the curve.

"Ding-dong!"

Even Lin Yuan’s system seemed to be impacted by this transformation. Before he could fully grasp the scale of the changes, the system issued a notification: "The Great Era of Arts and Entertainment is coming. The host will undergo an upgrade for two months."

"Got it," Lin Yuan replied.

He didn’t know what changes the system upgrade would bring, but one thing was certain: his current working methods were about to change. After all, it’s a literary system, and this shift affecting all artistic industries would inevitably force him to adapt as well. He was mentally preparing for that.

Meanwhile, at the Xingmang Music branch, the merger of the two continents had also stirred things up. Gu Qiangyun was so distracted by the situation that he wasn’t even concerned about the company’s orders anymore. His main worry was how this change might affect the branch, a matter that could define his career moving forward.

Gu Qiangyun pondered…

Orders were a distinctive feature of Qizhou.

But soon, there would be no more separation between Qinzhou and Qizhou, and the order-based business model would no longer be mainstream. In fact, the music market in Qinzhou would likely set the trend for both continents, as it’s known as the "land of music." Compared to Qinzhou, Qizhou’s music scene was severely lacking, so the future music market would probably follow Qinzhou’s lead.

What would happen to the branch then?

Gu Qiangyun, like most people, lacked the strategic foresight to see the bigger picture. But one thing was clear: every industry was about to be reshuffled!

In fact, the reshuffling had already begun in some ways. Gu Qiangyun now had twelve resignation letters on his desk. It was obvious that some people saw this as an opportunity to make their move during this historic shift.

And this was just the beginning.

Gu Qiangyun believed that those who remained at the company were either uncertain about what to do or simply waiting to see how the situation would unfold, hoping for clearer direction from headquarters.

As for Lin Yuan...

With each passing day in December, he could increasingly feel the changes brought by the merging markets. The biggest surprise came when Silver Blue Publishing from Qinzhou contacted him with exciting news: his novel sales had suddenly skyrocketed!

"This is crazy!"

Even through the internet, Lin Yuan could sense the near-frenzied excitement of his editor, Yang Feng. "It’s not just Zhu Xian—many of our Qinzhou novels are now selling in Qizhou! Fantasy novels, in particular, are wildly popular. Almost half of our titles have seen a massive sales boost. And it’s not just books. I’ve heard that Qizhou’s film companies are making a fortune from paid streaming of their old movies in Qinzhou. You should check out some bookstores in Qizhou—our Silver Blue novels are everywhere!"

Lin Yuan had mentioned to Yang Feng before that he was currently in Qizhou.

Lin Yuan asked, "Are all books seeing a sales surge?"

Yang Feng took a bit longer to respond this time: "Sorry, things are crazy here right now. Actually, it’s not all books—our fantasy novels just have a significant advantage. It’s mostly because the fantasy genre in Qizhou has always been lacking in quality."

Qizhou’s fantasy novels weren’t very good, but previously, Qizhou readers couldn’t access Qinzhou novels without paying high licensing fees. So, they mostly stuck to reading local works. Now that the barriers were gone, Qinzhou’s fantasy novels were naturally making a huge impact on the market.

"What about other genres?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Detective novels are extremely popular in Qizhou, so our mystery titles aren’t doing as well. Readers who enjoy detective stories are flocking to Qizhou’s local authors. The editor-in-chief has even ordered us to start recruiting some of Qizhou’s top detective novelists. Overall though, both markets are booming."

Yang Feng continued typing away, giving Lin Yuan a clearer picture of the situation. Lin Yuan’s conclusion, though not particularly strategic, was quite simple and perhaps a bit mundane:

He was going to make a lot of money!

Yang Feng’s final note was a reminder: "There are no more barriers between the two markets now, even on social media. Qizhou could use the Tribe platform before, but it was a heavily restricted version, so it wasn’t very user-friendly. Check it out online when you have time—I’ve got to get back to work."

"Okay."

Lin Yuan typed a quick reply, then grabbed his phone to open the Tribe app. But he soon realized his phone’s system needed an update, probably due to the recent changes.

The update took about half an hour.

When it was done, Lin Yuan logged into Tribe and found that the app’s interface was now exactly the same as the Qinzhou version. Previously, he could use Tribe in Qizhou, but most of its features were stripped down, making it feel like a clunky, outdated app. Now, online comments were buzzing:

"So, this is Qinzhou’s Blog?"

"I downloaded Tribe before, but the version in Qizhou was so restricted that it was a nightmare to use. The system lagged like crazy. Now I see it’s actually pretty good!"

"The features are basically the same!"

"As a Qinzhou native, I have to say it’s amazing that I can finally share everything freely with my friends in Qizhou. I’ve been binge-watching Qinzhou movies recently, and our film industry is just next-level!"

"Lol!"

"You should watch some newer films. Special Ops came out over ten years ago in Qizhou, but yeah, it’s a classic. From now on, all new releases will hit both markets at the same time—no more continental barriers."

"That’s nothing!"

"I’ve been listening to Qinzhou music lately, and honestly, their songs are on a whole different level. Most of my playlist is now filled with Qinzhou tracks!"

...

The exchanges between people from both continents were lively, with a sense of newfound camaraderie. From this perspective, the merger seemed like a great decision. The previous barriers between continents now felt unnecessarily restrictive, limiting the flow of culture and ideas.

By mid-December, the headquarters finally made a move. Everyone from the Qinzhou branch was summoned to Qinzhou for a meeting, with travel expenses covered by the company. At that moment, Lin Yuan could imagine that significant decisions and changes were about to unfold.

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