A "Living" Land!

Among the Alliance's many institutions, the Scientific Expedition's funding was definitely near the top. This was not only because the institution handled more than thirty percent of the players' missions, but also because every time they salvaged good things from pre-war ruins, the resulting boost to the Alliance's hard power was plain for all to see. Inside the viewing room on Floor B4 of Shelter 404, Yin Fang was excitedly describing to Chu Guang the treasure he had sifted from the mountain of junk brought back by the airship Niuma. "It's a palm-sized piece of wreckage! When our researchers found it, it was wedged inside a carbon nanotube pipe from a space elevator—they almost missed it." "If my deduction is correct, this thing was a structural material used on some kind of small or medium-sized spacecraft. What's certain is that even during the Era of Prosperity, it would have been considered quite advanced. A pity only this little scrap remains..." "Since there are no reference materials available, I took the liberty of naming it. What do you think of 'ceramsteel'? Our lab has already deciphered its molecular configuration and material structure, and we can now replicate it under laboratory conditions, though industrial production might still pose some difficulties." As he spoke, Yin Fang used the light beam projected from his holographic stylus to display the material's geometry and the freshly gathered data to Chu Guang. As if anticipating that Chu Guang wouldn't understand the raw figures, Yin Fang thoughtfully brought up comparisons with the Alliance's most widely produced armor steel and Type-A3 aerospace aluminum. With points of reference, the material's characteristics became immediately apparent. Its weight fell somewhere between armor steel and Type-A3 aerospace aluminum, yet its hardness exceeded both. At the same time, it possessed heat and oxidation resistance that neither could match. Most incredible of all, its toughness and resistance to mechanical impact actually surpassed standard alloys! If this had appeared in the twenty-first century, people would probably assume it fell from an alien spaceship. After all, the chemical bonding and crystal structure of ceramics inherently meant they lacked independent slip systems, making them incapable of plastic deformation like metals. Yet this material called ceramsteel retained the hardness of ceramics while exhibiting metal-like properties. For twenty-first-century materials science, forget the production process—even the most foundational theoretical framework was an unreached singularity. Even in the Era of Prosperity, when humanity could manipulate gravity, spacecraft utilizing this material were few and far between. That was precisely why Yin Fang was so excited. Chu Guang had no expectation of understanding the material's underlying principles, nor was there any need to. Technical matters naturally fell to the professionals; he only needed to know the material's applications, performance, and production cost. After gaining a basic understanding of its capabilities, Chu Guang looked at Yin Fang and asked, "What about using the machining center on Floor B7? Can we produce this stuff with that?" Yin Fang gave a soft cough. "When I said laboratory preparation, that was using the machining center... Otherwise, the most we could have managed was deciphering the material properties." Chu Guang gave an embarrassed smile. "I see... If we use the machining center's equipment for production, roughly what kind of output can we get? Is there any hope of applying it to our power armor or tanks?" As if having anticipated this question, Yin Fang made a helpless expression. "For small-scale deployment, I don't think that'll be a problem. While it was designed for spacecraft, nobody said it can only be used on spacecraft. As long as you can stomach the cost, forget power armor and tanks—slapping it onto exoskeletons wouldn't be an issue." Hearing Yin Fang's answer, Chu Guang smiled. "As long as it works well, cost is no issue." The Alliance currently lacked neither electricity nor ore; no matter how expensive the cost was, how high could it really go? Besides, that cost could always be passed along to the players. For example, turning the ceramsteel armor upgrade into paid content! Take the Alliance's self-developed, self-produced Xiaguang power armor: a single unit of the Xiaguang cost one million silver coins. If a player was willing to shell out an additional 500,000 silver coins for the option, they could upgrade the armor-steel chestplate to a ceramsteel chestplate, boosting damage resistance and durability by fifty percent each! Of course, the exact increase would have to be tested at the weapons proving ground, but the general concept was set. Watching Chu Guang already plotting how to apply archaeological findings to the Alliance Army, Yin Fang cleared his throat softly. "Ceramsteel armor is only one of the technologies we salvaged from the Southern Sea, and we're currently figuring out how to design a more economical manufacturing process for it. You really don't need to be in such a rush, Administrator. Ceramsteel is far from the only technology we've discovered. Based on my experience, we should be able to recover at least ten Tier D technologies we don't currently possess from this haul of 'junk'—at the very least!" "Not only that, surveying the coastal city ruins along Baiyue Province will also help us reconstruct the lifestyle, manufacturing methods, and non-engineering expertise of the people from the Era of Prosperity. There's a great deal worth learning from, but it will take plenty of time to bear fruit." "...What I mean to say is, establishing an outpost on the Baiyue Strait was a stroke of genius, but doing only this isn't enough. We should step up our development of the Southern Sea. There are bound to be plenty more undiscovered treasures hidden there." Pausing, Yin Fang looked at Chu Guang and continued, "To support our archaeological excavations, I hope you'll permit our Scientific Expedition to establish a survey station at Port French Fries. That way, we can directly screen salvaged materials and ruins finds on site... It would also save us from wasting precious cargo capacity hauling back piles of junk only to sift for gold after the fact." "Good idea," Chu Guang nodded approvingly. "My shelter residents suggested the exact same thing. They hope the Scientific Expedition can set up a branch at Port French Fries to provide technical support for the local exploration teams and salvage ships." For instance, having Expedition experts screen promising targets, rank them by search priority, and weed out targets that clearly held no value. Previously, the local players had explored ruins indiscriminately, picking landmarks entirely by hunch and dragging back whatever they found, useful or not, to sort out later. Deploying a few technically proficient researchers to support the players' exploration would undoubtedly increase efficiency and reduce unnecessary toil. At the very least, it would prevent situations where someone hauled back a toilet seat mistaking it for a welding collar. After hearing Chu Guang out, Yin Fang nodded at once. "No problem. I'll select some personnel, and I'll leave their transport to you." Chu Guang smiled. "Don't worry about that! We may not have the means to build you a research vessel like the Academy's, but putting together a research airship is no problem at all! As soon as you're ready, you can set off at any time—" "Take our people along too!" Before Chu Guang could finish his sentence, a hurried voice drifting in from the doorway cut him off. Heya, her silver hair fluttering like a gust of wind, swept through the open sliding door and burst into the room from the corridor. Glancing toward the doorway, Yin Fang noticed the excited flush on Heya's face. Without even guessing, he knew she had likely stumbled upon some major lead as well. Chu Guang raised an eyebrow with interest, about to ask what had happened, but as soon as she sat down on the sofa beside them, her bright eyes locked onto him and she blurted out eagerly, "A major discovery! Based on the strain samples your shelter residents brought back from the northern shore of the Baiyue Strait, our genetic comparison with samples collected in Jinchuan Province revealed 173 matching points and 677 points of similarity... But none of that is the main point! The point is, after comparing several key genes responsible for trait expression, we can basically confirm that Baiyue Province is the birthplace of the na fruit!" Hearing this, Yin Fang looked at her in shock, then furrowed his brows. "Baiyue Province is the birthplace of the na fruit? Are you sure?" Although Yin Fang did not specialize in biology, the situation in Jinchuan Province did not require extensive biological knowledge to understand. Rampantly growing na fruit assimilated all organic matter into its puppets, creating a terrifying fungal domain that spread across vast areas like a plague. In many respects, it exhibited characteristics similar to the mutant slime mold in Qingquan City, such as releasing spores and indiscriminately invading organic matter. If the na fruit had truly originated in Baiyue Province, that place should have become a breeding ground for na fruit long ago. How could the Alliance have established an outpost or settlements there? And most critically, he hadn't noticed any na fruit hyphae on the salvaged junk brought back from Baiyue Province! Facing Yin Fang's skeptical gaze, Heya took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. "I'm practically one hundred percent certain... I know what's confusing you, and we were just as baffled. Why would na fruit, which expands so aggressively in Jinchuan Province, remain completely unremarkable in Baiyue Province where the climate is even more hospitable? But the truth is just that astonishing! And what's even more incredible came next: while studying the original strain's genes, we discovered that the original na fruit strain is itself a species formed under natural conditions through the hybridization of Gaia slime mold and Earth fungi!" "Formed under natural conditions?" Yin Fang's brows knit together, and he stroked his chin in thought. Heya nodded firmly and continued, "Previously, we presumed that the na fruit was a variety created by the Church of the Torch, who used the gene bank obtained from the Qingquan City broodmother to modify native fungi. Now it appears our conclusion was incomplete. The most primitive na fruit strain was already a hybrid of mutant slime mold and Earth fungi. All the Church did was artificially swap out certain genes!" It sounded somewhat convoluted, but Chu Guang, listening to the two of them discuss it, tried to grasp it in his own terms. Put simply, the original na fruit was the offspring of Gaia and Earth. It carried Gene A from beyond Earth, as well as Gene B provided by a certain terrestrial fungus. After discovering the na fruit, the Church of the Torch realized it could help them realize their Heavenly Kingdom project, so they modified it. For instance, through artificial cultivation, they inserted Gene A1—obtained from the Qingquan City broodmother—into the original na fruit strain A-B. The strain now running rampant across Haiya Province and southern Jinchuan Province was the highly aggressive A-A1-B type, or perhaps simply an A1-B type. But... Did that really make a difference? Chu Guang frowned slightly, about to voice his confusion. Yet just as he was about to speak, a spark of insight abruptly exploded in his mind. Gene A! Where had the original Gene A come from?! Catching onto that detail, Chu Guang blurted out almost instinctively, "There's a broodmother in Baiyue Province?!" Or had one existed there before?! The moment the words left his mouth, two pairs of eyes snapped toward him. "Baiyue Province... had a broodmother before?" Yin Fang froze for a second, but grasped it an instant later. He muttered to himself with a frown, "I see..." "Exactly! That's the first deduction we drew from the specimen! Baiyue Province might harbor a mutant slime mold broodmother! And that very well could be the reason local survivors vanished from the province!" Heya looked at Chu Guang in astonishment, exclaiming incredulously, "Unbelievable, you actually guessed it!" Chu Guang rolled his eyes and leaned back against the sofa. "Do I look like an idiot? Get straight to the point. Where do you think this broodmother might be?" "Right here!" As she spoke, Heya pulled a test tube filled with dark green liquid from her pocket and waved it in front of them. Yin Fang jumped in fright, springing up from the sofa with a start. Chu Guang was not frightened by her gesture, but seeing the test tube pinched between her fingers, he was stunned for two seconds before asking, "'Right here'... What does that mean?" "It means this stuff in my hand! Extract of the original na fruit strain! This is the broodmother of Baiyue Province!" The corners of Heya's lips curled up smugly, her bright eyes overflowing with wonder and fanaticism. "Those things are absolute geniuses!" Trying to make sense of her incoherent ramblings, Chu Guang pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Wait... who do you mean by 'those things'?" "The slime mold, of course!" Heya said excitedly. "Do you remember? Every mutant slime mold we've seen before, whether in downtown Qingquan City or like Yu, shared the same trait: a broodmother and a horde of fruiting bodies, with all individuals sharing a single hive mind!" Yin Fang swallowed hard. "I know that... and then?" Heya continued at breakneck speed, "The broodmother in Baiyue Province is an exception! It didn't choose parasitism, nor did it choose symbiosis or assimilation. It became them!" "...Became them?" Having vaguely guessed something, Chu Guang's pupils dilated slightly. Mutant slime mold possessed extraordinary adaptability to environments. Not only could they flexibly alter themselves to fit their surroundings, but they were also adept at learning and borrowing from Earth's native life. Take the broodmother in Qingquan City. That creature had accumulated vast combat experience fighting humanity and learned to drive human armor using biomass energy. More than that— It had imitated formidable wasteland mutants like the Yaoguai and the Deathclaw, hatching exceptionally powerful special fruiting bodies. In truth, this was easy to understand. The target of mutant slime mold mimicry was never limited to humanity or human civilization; their true object of mimicry was the ecosystem itself. Humanity and human civilization were merely one part of that system. Under most circumstances, humans wielding the tools of civilization held the upper hand in natural selection, even with absurdly powerful mutant species roaming the wasteland. Consequently, in most cases, mutant slime mold imitated humans to a greater degree, even infiltrating social and civilizational dimensions. Yet Baiyue Province was an exception. For whatever reason, the local survivors had practically vanished, replaced by diverse species and far fiercer natural selection. Thus, it was almost self-evident— What would the mutant slime mold, acting as "colonizers," choose as their primary target of mimicry? "Exactly!" Heya stared intently at Chu Guang, nodding to confirm the unspoken deduction in his mind. "Not just the na fruit, but the grass, the trees, and the mutant species in the forest... Every living creature across all of Baiyue Province is a continuation of that broodmother! Every single one carries genes from Planet Gaia!" "I can't confirm yet whether the broodmother in Baiyue Province possesses a unified hive mind like those in other regions, but its offspring can clearly no longer be called fruiting bodies—they are separate species with independent consciousness!" "It has completely become them. That is a 'living' land!"