Jiang Ye was very interested in the detailed information about these alien lichens.
The biological laboratory of the troops was very fast, and after only two hours, the preliminary results arrived.
Sawada Marian: "Report, Commander, our laboratory has temporarily named this organism Bi Rong Star Lichen Liquid. It is not a purely native species, but a new entity formed by the mixed fusion of Mil organisms and native species. The internal genetic material, in addition to the nucleic acid single and double strands commonly found in Bi Rong Star native organisms, also contains the unique borate four-strand genome of Mil organisms, existing in the form of small organelles similar to mitochondria."
Fortunately, he had studied a lot of information beforehand.
Jiang Ye read the message and immediately understood.
It was a bit like the hypothesis for the formation of green plants on Earth.
It is said that plants did not originally perform photosynthesis, but later some chlorophyll-containing fungi entered plant cells, could not get out, and could not die. They gradually evolved into organelles, and the two organisms merged into one, becoming green plants.
Bi Rong lichen should be a similar situation, with Mil fungi entering native plants and merging into a new species.
This thing actually has two completely different genetic materials. It's probably not a simple hybrid, but spans across kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species.
The phone vibrated again, and the message continued to be sent.
Sawada Marian: "This Bi Rong Lichen Liquid has strong cold resistance, remaining active at minus sixty degrees Celsius. It burrows under the soil to isolate itself from the cold air and relies on an organelle inside to generate heat for warmth."
"However, its heat resistance is poor. It dies within five minutes in an environment of twenty degrees Celsius and instantly dies when burned by flames. It is also strongly photophobic, feeling uneasy in visible light and instinctively avoiding it."
Jiang Ye suddenly understood.
No wonder he saw in the video that when the topsoil was removed, the lichen liquid below was so flustered; it was afraid of light and wind.
This creature lived quite sneakily.
"The red ones are male lichen liquid, and the green ones are female lichen liquid. After mating, the green lichen liquid will devour the red lichen liquid, absorbing nutrients for warmth."
"It does not release strong toxic substances or gases, but it is inedible. In other words, as long as you don't eat it, it's not poisonous."
"This organism consumes a lot of soil fertility, constantly absorbing nutrients from the soil. It also easily creates underground cavities, affecting the safety of buildings. It is recommended to exterminate the lichen liquid in construction areas and farmland. Flamethrowers or sterilizing liquids can be used."
After reading Sawada Marian's report, Jiang Ye suddenly had an inspiration.
"This thing absorbs soil nutrients. Can it be used for soilless cultivation?" Jiang Ye asked.
Sawada Marian was clearly a bit bewildered and replied after a long pause:
"You mean... using the lichen liquid as nutrient solution to grow grains and vegetables in it?"
"Yes, that's what I mean. Is it feasible?" Jiang Ye said.
"Please wait, we will analyze and experiment." Sawada Marian replied.
Jiang Ye rested his feet on the desk and waited silently.
He really hoped his idea could be realized.
The cost of goods transported by spaceship was too high. To develop agriculture on Bi Rong Star, it was necessary to rely on the local environment for cheap cultivation.
Permafrost cultivation was very difficult. If the lichen liquid was feasible, crop cultivation could be rolled out immediately.
An hour later.
Sawada Marian's reply arrived:
"Feasible! But it needs to be processed."
Jiang Ye: "How should it be processed?"
Sawada Marian: "The lichen liquid needs to be cold-pressed to produce a non-concentrated reduced liquid, and then a small amount of nutrient powder can be added to improve the composition, which can then be used to grow a large number of crops."
Jiang Ye: "Is the machine required for cold pressing expensive? How efficient is it?"
Sawada Marian: "Not expensive, fifty million per unit. As long as there is enough lichen liquid, it can grow various crops needed by thousands of people."
Jiang Ye was overjoyed and immediately got busy.
He ordered two cold-pressing machines and matching power supply equipment.
He also purchased some cold-resistant crop seeds from an alien seed company: tomatoes, melons, and potatoes, which were sealed and packed.
The windproof cloth, heating lamps, air conditioners, and intelligent monitoring equipment needed for the planting greenhouse, worth fifty billion, were also all packed.
He also shipped a hundred lichen liquid collection barrels, simply modified from liquid biological specimen barrels.
Finally, there were several tons of miscellaneous nutrient powders and cultivation tools.
Ten hours later, these goods were loaded onto the returning Bi Rong No. 3 and sent to Bi Rong Star across the vast distance.
During this period, Jiang Ye received many messages from Bi Rong Star, still all concise short sentences:
[3 signal stations completed, efficiency increased by 50%]
This meant that three signal stations had been built, and the transmission efficiency of incoming and outgoing signals had increased by 50%.
These few signal stations alone had cost Jiang Ye hundreds of billions of yuan. This money could have been used to build an 800-meter glass building in Binhai City. On Bi Rong Star, they were just simple signal towers the size of a few public toilets, with the risk of being destroyed by the harsh environment at any time.
It was too expensive!
Jiang Ye's heart was bleeding!
[1 mu cleared, construction in progress, 0811-500 required]
This meant that one mu of lichen liquid had been cleared, barracks were being built, and five hundred sets of "Plant and Fungi Removal Spray Kits" were needed for backup.
Jiang Ye replied: [Lichen liquid can be used for cultivation. Seeds and related machines are en route. Please wait.]
The Bi Rong Star camp replied with a [Good!!]
The two exclamation marks were redundant but were added. It was likely that the soldiers on Bi Rong Star were quite surprised; they did not expect to be able to grow crops so soon.
Being able to grow their own food felt more stable than constantly waiting for food shipments from spaceships. If the military closed the shipping routes one day and food could not be delivered, there would be a risk of running out.
In the evening, Jiang Ye returned to the military base office.
Cen Yemeng was already lying on the office bed, playing with her long hair, her face slightly flushed, staring at her husband with a half-smile.
"Go take a shower, then come here," she said softly, but with a hint of urgency.
Jiang Ye felt he still had enough energy today, so he obediently went to take a shower. After drying himself, he got into bed without a bath towel.
An hour later.
Jiang Ye took another shower, drank orange juice with slightly trembling hands, and sat by the window to rest.
"The Bi Rong Star camp has been established, hasn't it?" Cen Yemeng sat on the bed, wrapped in a quilt, her cheeks flushed red, her expression content yet exhausted.
"Just a rudimentary structure," Jiang Ye said. "It's estimated that another wave of troops can be sent there within a week."
"When are you going to Bi Rong Star?"
"It's still early," Jiang Ye said.
"Early?"
"That place is too dangerous and too cold. I'm not going early to suffer. I'll go when the garrison on Bi Rong Star reaches tens of thousands. By then, there should be more stable and comfortable accommodations."
...
At the same time, on Bi Rong Star, Polaris Station.
The fierce wind had just stopped, and the ground was covered with knife-like snow marks, with giant rocks and ice appearing ferocious.
A group of soldiers, wearing thick thermal suits like astronauts, were operating excavators on the wasteland, digging out large holes.
At the bottom of the holes were mechanical soldiers, with their orange-yellow lights on, digging soil rapidly like moles.
Occasionally, they would dig up a large clump of red and green lichen liquid. The mechanical soldiers would then take out flamethrower-like sterilizers and spray liquid into the lichen piles with a "zi zi" sound.
The lichens struggled for a while before losing their vitality and, along with the liquid sprayed on them, were frozen into large, glistening ice lumps.
The mechanical soldiers skillfully cut the ice lumps and threw them out of the deep pits, discarding them like garbage.
Suddenly, everyone's earphones crackled.
"Troops digging lichen liquid, halt!"