The reason for deploying a massive number of probes was not without cause.
Previously, Zhang Qiongshi's troops had also sent some probes to Pingdao Star.
However, after landing, the probes were quickly destroyed by the local giant lizards, yielding almost no data. The most collected data was the deafening sound of explosions.
Judging from the rapid destruction of Zhang Qiongshi's probes, the giant lizards on Pingdao Star might be as numerous as ants, spread across the entire planet.
Therefore, while fifteen million probes seemed like a lot, when distributed across the entire planet, they were actually quite sparse. It was possible that all of them would be destroyed.
This time, the conquest of Pingdao Star also employed a configuration of the intelligent fungus, war AI, and Jiang Ye's army.
Both the intelligent fungus and the war AI were ravenous consumers of information.
The more information fed to the intelligent fungus and AI, the higher their operational efficiency and the more accurate their predictions.
Thus, the key to defeating the giant lizards of Pingdao Star lay in aggressively collecting data from the entire planet, forming as vast a monitoring database as possible, so that any anomalies occurring anywhere on the planet could be fed back in real-time, allowing the intelligent fungus and AI to command the troops more effectively.
...
Weekend.
Jiang Ye was busy at his desk. After a moment of thought, he suddenly remembered something and reached for his phone on the desk.
He scrolled through his contacts and found "Isabelle."
Just as he was about to dial, a call suddenly came in.
It was Isabelle calling.
Jiang Ye froze for a moment before realizing it was a coincidence. He smiled and answered, "I was just about to call you about something."
"What a coincidence?" Isabelle laughed on the other end. "I also have something important to tell you."
"Then please, you go first!" Jiang Ye said politely.
"This matter is very interesting, and I want to discuss it with you in person. Shall we use holographic projection, or meet up?" Isabelle asked.
"Let's meet up, because what I need to tell you is quite significant, and it's best to discuss it face-to-face," Jiang Ye considered.
"Are you coming to me, or am I going to you?"
"I'll come to you. It's been a while since I've been to Exile Star. I'll come to see you and inspect your work," Jiang Ye said. "I'll set off in an hour."
"Alright, then I'll send you an address. Come find me at this address."
"Okay." Jiang Ye hung up the phone decisively.
...
Exile Star, Suili Mountain Star Station.
The spaceship was slowly descending. Jiang Ye stood up and looked out the window. An Xiawen stood behind him and draped a light jacket over him. The sleeves of the jacket had a self-heating switch, with settings for "0c," "-10c," "-20c," and "-45c." This jacket was developed by the military and provided to soldiers on duty in extremely cold regions. It was thin but warmer than a down jacket, and a single charge could last for 400 hours.
The latitude was close to the North Pole, and the scenery outside the window resembled white mountains and black waters.
The mountain ranges, described as dragon veins, stretched and undulated, covered in snow. Various pine trees and deciduous trees crowded the mountaintops, all blanketed in white. The sky was filled with milky white and grayish clouds, suggesting a heavy snowfall was imminent. Occasionally, raptors soared above the snow-covered forests, landing on branches to snatch small animals before taking flight again.
The spaceship landed steadily.
The star station was not large, only able to accommodate one star-class spaceship. Construction was underway to expand its perimeter. Jiang Ye could see construction workers idly strolling around the edge of the site, engaged in unknown activities.
"Sir, the special vehicles are waiting below," An Xiawen said. "The temperature outside is minus fifteen degrees Celsius."
"Alright." Jiang Ye looked down and hesitated for a second between the "-10c" and "-20c" settings on the jacket's heating switch, finally choosing "-10c."
Stepping out of the spaceship and onto the ground, five open-top off-road vehicles were parked ahead, all black, with steam rising from their hoods.
The front two and rear two off-road vehicles were occupied by mechanical soldiers, cradling firearms. The middle vehicle was empty, and Jiang Ye walked towards it.
There was no steering wheel in the car, suggesting it was self-driving. Jiang Ye habitually sat in the back seat, with An Xiawen beside him. She pulled a blanket from under the seat and covered Jiang Ye's legs.
"It's quite strange, why this kind of special vehicle?" Jiang Ye mused. "Even if they didn't have hovercars, they could at least have a vehicle with a roof. Driving in a heavy snow with an open top, is this to hasten the onset of a cold?"
An Xiawen turned on the car's air conditioning switch, and a faint stream of warm air blew from the front seats.
"There are too many dense forests in this area, and many of them are valuable rare tree species that are difficult to cut down. Therefore, hovercars cannot fly or land easily, as they might hit the treetops," An Xiawen explained. "Open-top off-road vehicles are a local custom. Some wild animals like to jump from trees onto the car roof and then enter through the windows to bite people. So, locals do not drive cars with roofs. This allows them to observe the situation above and promptly shoot any wild animals ambushing from higher up. If an animal jumps down, it's also convenient for them to leave the car directly."
Jiang Ye looked at the mechanical soldiers holding guns in the vehicles ahead and finally understood their purpose.
"If the mechanical soldiers' aim isn't accurate enough, will the wild animals jump directly onto us?" Jiang Ye asked.
"No, sir. The wild animals in this area are nearly extinct, and those animals have poor accuracy. Most of the time, they jump in front of the car, and it's difficult for them to jump directly onto the car roof," An Xiawen said. "The advantage of open-top cars is also here. When locals travel by car, they bring an assault rifle. If an animal jumps in front of the road, they can pick up the gun and shoot. If there were windows or a roof, they would have to get out of the car to shoot, which is more troublesome."
The convoy started moving, forming a line and leaving the star station, entering the deep mountains and dense forests along a dirt road.
The off-road vehicles had large wheels. Although the dirt road was uneven and covered with ice shards, there was almost no bumpiness. The two vehicles in front cleared the way, flattening the tire tracks. Jiang Ye's car followed precisely in the tire tracks of the vehicles ahead, as if driving on flat ground.
Jiang Ye remembered reading animal novels as a child, where some herds of wild animals, when advancing in a line, would have the animals behind step in the footprints of those in front. This way, a large herd would leave only a few footprints, which could confuse other animals and hunters.
The convoy drove in this manner, not to confuse hunters and wild animals, but as a habit carried over from clearing minefields on the battlefield. In mine-infested battlefields, subsequent armored vehicles and infantry would typically advance along the tracks left by the preceding armored vehicles, as any mines would have already been detonated by them.
Sharp gunshots erupted in the forest. An Xiawen flinched, but Jiang Ye remained calm.
It was the two mechanical soldiers in the lead vehicle firing at the treetops about fifty meters ahead.
Some dark objects fell, landing by the roadside.
As the convoy drove past, Jiang Ye turned his head to look at the ground.
They were small, grayish, furry creatures with pointed snouts, resembling koalas. They weighed about five to six pounds. A few of them had their bellies burst open by the bullets, revealing bluish-green internal organs, with steaming blood.
"What is this thing? It looks quite cute," Jiang Ye asked. "It should be harmless to humans, it's a shame to kill it."
An Xiawen shouted to the mechanical soldiers in the front vehicle, "Sir is asking, what animal did you just shoot down!"