After finishing the reply, he sent it.
The couple lay down in bed, embracing each other in their sleep, exhausted, their posture like puppies huddled together for warmth in winter.
Recently, Jiang Ye had been busy with investments in planets, and Cen Yemeng was busy with the annual meeting of the refugee planet. Both were extremely tired.
They had only slept for less than three hours.
An urgent phone call woke them both up.
Jiang Ye, his eyelids still heavy with sleep, instinctively rolled over to the bedside table and picked up his phone.
"Yours or mine?" Cen Yemeng mumbled groggily, her expression pained.
Jiang Ye had already answered the call, "Hello? Speak..."
After listening for a few sentences, Jiang Ye suddenly became alert, threw off the covers, got out of bed, and stumbled towards the study, followed by the sound of office software starting up.
Cen Yemeng lay in bed, dozing for a moment, then reached out to the side, only to feel the warm, empty space beside her. She woke up instantly. Her husband's absence gave her a strong sense of unease. After a few moments of daze, she also put on her slippers and headed to the study.
In the study, Jiang Ye had already put on his pajamas, brewed a cup of strong coffee, and was busy at the screen.
"What's going on?" Cen Yemeng sat down, her expression tense. Ordinary matters wouldn't warrant being woken up in the middle of the night.
"There's been an incident with the troops, a lot of people died." Jiang Ye's face was grave. "I need to handle it, arrange for reinforcements and new equipment orders, and sign off on the death benefits."
"Which troops? Where?" Cen Yemeng was startled. "How did people die?"
"Tonight is truly strange. Quartz Star, Cloud Rock Star, and Jiang Ye Star all had incidents simultaneously," Jiang Ye said. "Wait a moment, I'll finish the urgent matters first, then I'll tell you."
Cen Yemeng nodded and obediently rested her head on the desk.
"On Quartz Star, Wei Hongyang sent a squad to land first, set up a temporary military camp, and then set off to scout a nearby abandoned nuclear power plant, preparing to clear the area tomorrow," Jiang Ye explained. "A thousand soldiers went to the nuclear power plant. Upon arrival, they were attacked by unknown creatures. They said it was something underground that suddenly emerged from the ground and dragged people beneath the earth."
"Mutated creatures from nuclear radiation?" Cen Yemeng asked.
"Possibly. The area has been shrouded in nuclear radiation for decades, so it's not surprising that monsters have mutated. Wei Hongyang's troop deployment was too hasty and lacked thorough consideration. Che Zhen wouldn't make such a mistake," Jiang Ye said. "Eight people died, and over a hundred were injured. Most of them had their feet or half their legs bitten off by the monsters. Fortunately, with the accompanying medical equipment, the injured were all saved."
"What's the situation on Cloud Rock Star?" Cen Yemeng asked. "I remember that planet is full of alien fungi, and the poison gas concentration is very high. Huang Bingyan's troops are there."
"Cloud Rock Star has many types of alien insects that normally live in the fungi. While Huang Bingyan's troops were building the military camp, they were attacked by swarms of insects. These insects would wrap around the soldiers layer by layer, like bees swarming a beekeeper. There are too many insects on Cloud Rock Star, forming piles several meters high, like small mountains. Four soldiers had their protective masks cracked and were stung to death by the insects."
As Jiang Ye spoke, he projected a video using holographic projection.
Late at night, at the temporary military camp under construction, temporary streetlights cast white light, with building materials, white plastic sheeting, and construction machinery piled everywhere. Outside the camp lay endless fields of pink fungi, resembling strawberry-flavored cotton candy spread across the plain.
Countless insects took flight from the fungal fields, swarming the construction site like a locust plague. Soldiers in protective gear fired fiercely, their flamethrowers spewing flames hundreds of meters, turning countless insect remains into falling debris. But more insects gathered from all directions, their forms dense like a torrential downpour under the lights, almost forming a dark rain cloud in the night sky.
The communication channel was chaotic, eventually filled with repeated retreat orders.
In the final scene, a massive military transport ship descended from the sky, spewing a large cluster of incendiary bombs like a frog laying eggs. The area around the construction site immediately erupted into a sea of fire. Illuminated by the flames, the insect swarm in the sky was incredibly clear. They seemed to have coalesced into the shape of a giant jellyfish, as if forming a single organism.
"These insects are not simple," Cen Yemeng said, pointing a finger at the insect jellyfish in the sky.
"Are you suggesting the insects might be aggregating, forming some kind of collective consciousness?" Jiang Ye asked. "It's unlikely, but the troops will investigate. Many insect samples have already been collected."
"How could Jiang Ye Star also have an incident?" Cen Yemeng asked. "There's no war, how could people die?"
"Training accident, two died," Jiang Ye said. "They were training too hard, almost running all day to build stamina, and doing it bare-chested near the Arctic Circle. Two soldiers suffered cardiac arrest, fell into a snowdrift, and weren't discovered for a long time, so they perished."
"Oh dear, what kind of training is this? Dying in battle is one thing, but training..." Cen Yemeng's brow furrowed deeply.
"This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated," Jiang Ye tapped the screen, inputting commands. "I'll order a halt to training for all units. You shouldn't stay up here any longer, go back to sleep."
Cen Yemeng stood up and left the study.
A moment later, she returned, carrying a towel blanket.
She sat directly on Jiang Ye's large chair, snuggling with her husband and closing her eyes under the blanket.
"Isn't it too crowded? Can you sleep well?" Jiang Ye was taken aback.
He looked back at his wife. His wife was usually tall and slender, but now, curled up under the blanket, she appeared small. Her eyelids were like a fawn's eyelashes.
"I'm willing to be squeezed with you," Cen Yemeng closed her eyes, a smile on her face.
"Why are you so clingy?" Jiang Ye reached out and stroked her head. "We're an old married couple."
"I just want to be clingy, are you going to control me?" Cen Yemeng suddenly perked up. "Who else would I be clingy to if not my husband? I warn you, be obedient and let me be clingy. I'm the planetary governor of the refugee planet. If you dare to offend me, you're finished."
Jiang Ye shook his head helplessly and continued working.
Although his chair was large, it was still too cramped for two people. Cen Yemeng kept shifting and adjusting her position.
...
Despite the sacrifice of soldiers, the mission had to continue.
After a brief pause, the troops on Cloud Rock Star and Quartz Star were equipped with new gear and resumed their work.
The soldiers on Quartz Star were equipped with hoverboards, allowing them to work suspended at heights ranging from a few centimeters to several meters above the ground. When they re-entered the nuclear power plant area, the underground monsters extended their claws from the soil, but they couldn't grasp anything. Immediately after, they were pierced by capture spears.
The appearance of the monsters impaled on the spears startled everyone.
They were literally monsters, with bodies covered in flesh tumors, blisters, mucus, and strange limbs. Each monster was different in appearance; some had one head, others had two, or large flesh tumors where heads should have been.
Scientists in the military laboratory stated in their dissection reports:
"Each dissection result challenges the understanding of biology and medicine. These monsters seem to have crawled out of hell."