"The quantity will indeed be a bit more, but not this much more," Hua Qing shook her head. "Electricity is energy, and then there's the creature's own flesh and sugar. If you calculate it all, it might only be five or six times as much."
"That's still a truly astonishing number of rabbits," Jiang Ye said.
"Which is why they can become a specialty dish!" Hua Qing smiled. "Zhi Jun and I have reached an agreement on improving the rabbit meat. Besides being edible, we'll try to make them as delicious as possible, ideally to the point where they can be served as bar snacks."
Jiang Ye blinked in surprise. Hua Qing and Zhi Jun sounded like two drunks getting together. He wondered if they shared drinks in private.
"Where does the electricity come from?" Jiang Ye flipped back to the schematic of the camel thorn.
"There are two pathways. The first is the roots of the camel thorn. After delving deep into the ground, they generate electricity through the temperature and moisture differences of different soil layers. The other is the camel thorn's photosynthesis. A portion of the collected light energy is converted into electricity and stored in a battery-like structure," Hua Qing explained. "It's essentially some improvements and miniaturization of existing plant power generation technology."
"How much electricity can one camel thorn store per day?" Jiang Ye asked.
"A fully functional camel thorn can store enough electricity each day to power our office lights for about an hour," Hua Qing pointed to the lamp overhead.
"That's still quite considerable," Jiang Ye nodded. "But it must be difficult to collect the electricity from these camel thorns, right?"
"It is indeed difficult to collect, but we can collect it directly from the electric rabbits. Zhi Jun is also developing organisms that can supply and receive electricity."
"Are there any prototypes?" Jiang Ye inquired.
"Yes. If you flip to the end, you'll see the prototypes that Zhi Jun and the research team are urgently working on," Hua Qing said. "They haven't finalized them yet, but the technical difficulty isn't high. It should only take another week or two."
Jiang Ye flipped to the end of the document. Several prototypes of species had already been proposed, along with specific design objectives.
Electric Toad: Normally, they lie dormant in muddy ground, not eating, drinking, or moving, with their heartbeats slowed to almost zero, generating electricity through temperature changes and symbiotic fungal reactions on their skin. When they have sufficient power, they leap out of the mud pits and lay eggs. Each egg contains the charge of a button battery. These eggs can be collected and placed in a specific container to discharge.
Most outrageously, these electric toads have been endowed with a trait of "laying eggs near humans." This is likely because Zhi Jun considered the issue of egg collection. If these creatures were to spread widely, humans would only need to walk through damp fields to have a swarm of electric toads actively hop over and lay their eggs, which humans could then simply bend down and pick up.
Zhi Jun had even designed mating rituals for the electric toads. Fully charged male electric toads would sing loudly, even to the point of breaking their throats, to attract the attention of female electric toads. When a female electric toad hopped nearby, it would touch the male toad with the pleasant voice and emit a slight electrical discharge. Then, they would pair up, during which the male electric toad would transfer over half of its stored electricity to the female toad to help with egg incubation. Jiang Ye's face twitched as he read; Zhi Jun's work was incredibly detailed.
Electronic Root-Knot Nematode: Modified from ordinary root-knot nematodes. After hatching from eggs in the soil, the larvae crawl into the tips of plant roots, piercing the outer cells with the spikes in their mouthparts and burrowing in. They then continuously absorb electricity from the electronic plants and synthesize large amounts of silicon-based battery bodies using soil components.
Under normal circumstances, after a plant's roots absorb nutrients, they are supplied to the stem and leaves. However, once electronic root-knot nematodes are present in the roots, the energy from the stem and leaves is redirected to these parasites. This eventually forms a swollen lump at the plant's roots, which holds a very potent charge that can be stored for a long time.
Electric Pigeon: A type of pigeon that collects the swollen lumps from electronic root-knot nematodes. It pecks at the roots of herbaceous plants. Upon finding a swollen lump, it gently picks it up and returns to its nest. Humans can collect electricity generated by plants in the wild by raising these pigeons in large numbers.
Zhi Jun had also conceived of some large-leafed plants, such as electronic water lilies, which generate electricity through photosynthesis and eventually condense into electric lotus roots. According to Zhi Jun's design, these large-leafed plants could be planted on the exterior walls and rooftops of buildings to supply electricity for lighting.
"It looks very promising, but whether it will actually work can only be determined through testing," Jiang Ye nodded. "Hua Qing, you and Zhi Jun, along with the research teams on three planets, are working on something very new. I'm an outsider and won't interfere with your specific work. I hope the final results will be good. As long as there are achievements, I won't hesitate to give bonuses to my subordinates."
"Understood!" Hua Qing smiled. "Rest assured, we should achieve a great victory!"
Jiang Ye signed the application and began the process of sowing the electronic camel thorns.
The following week was incredibly busy for the Spiral Star Fleet.
The fleet's laboratories were frantically producing seedlings of camel thorns, manufacturing millions of them daily. After simple packaging, they were uniformly distributed to the troops. Then, formations of transport ships, bombers, and mechanical soldier units would sow the seedlings in the target areas.
The survival rate of the electronic camel thorns was very high. After a week, satellite scans showed that over half of the electronic camel thorns had survived in 87% of the sown areas.
As the camel thorns began to grow, the rate of oxygen increase further accelerated, with the data showing a beautiful upward curve.
Jiang Ye stood by the spaceship window every day, gazing downwards. The altitude was too high to discern any details. At one moment, it seemed like the land of Spiral Star had become greener; at another, it appeared unchanged. He stared until his eyes felt strained.
The mechanical soldier units stationed on the surface of Spiral Star frequently sent back photographs, but Jiang Ye felt uneasy just looking at them.
He decided to personally go down to the surface of Spiral Star to see for himself.
On Saturday morning, Jiang Ye woke up, had breakfast, and, accompanied by Hua Qing and Liu Jizi, boarded the "Falcon."
The Falcon was a newly commissioned combat spaceship, fifty meters in length. It could cruise at high speeds over the planet's surface for extended periods, was agile, and possessed high defense. Ordinary anti-aircraft fire could not hit it, and it was capable of electronic warfare, reconnaissance, and bombing missions.
After Jiang Ye boarded the Falcon, a swarm of fighter jets and aerospace fighters detached from the fleet, soaring like a flock of birds towards Spiral Star, forming two defensive perimeters. Finally, the Falcon carrying Jiang Ye unhurriedly detached from the fleet and descended towards Spiral Star, protected by the military's defensive net.
Jiang Ye felt that such a grand military deployment was unnecessary. There were no aliens on the surface of Spiral Star, so why the heightened alert?
Jiang Ye voiced his opinion to Liu Jizi, who shook his head.
"Your safety is of paramount importance. No matter what, you must have sufficient escorts when traveling," Liu Jizi said. "This also sends a message externally: you are protected by heavy troops at all times. Assassination is impossible. Even Sun Wukong would have to endure twenty tons of bombs before approaching."
Jiang Ye shrugged helplessly.
"Besides, being able to undertake the task of protecting the commander is something that excites new recruits in the military," Liu Jizi changed the subject. "Many soldiers, after retiring, can brag to their friends and family that they were part of the escort team when Jiang Ye went out, and the effect would undoubtedly be awe-inspiring. The combat soldiers of the Spiral Star Fleet have been idle recently, so letting them out for some activity is also good. If they remain inactive for too long, their weapons and equipment will rust. Your inspection trip down here will cost the fleet only a few hundred thousand in fuel. Why worry about such a small amount?"