Jiang Ye remained silent, fixing his gaze on her, a silent invitation to continue.
"The C settlement suddenly moved. I believe it might be a planned maneuver. In the worst-case scenario, after the B and C settlements meet, they could merge into one large settlement," Liu Jizi stated.
"Once combined, their numbers would reach the thousand-person scale, becoming a force to be reckoned with."
"Therefore, I wonder if we should take some measures to prevent these two settlements from meeting?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ye couldn't help but chuckle.
Liu Jizi's face flushed slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. Jiang Ye's smile seemed to mock a child's naive idea.
Suppressing his laughter, Jiang Ye looked at her intently.
"Your concerns are entirely unnecessary. Even if the B and C settlements merge, there's nothing to fear. The warships have already begun construction. The B settlement is only tens of kilometers from the coast, well within missile range."
"Even if their numbers grow to ten thousand, their weaponry is still backward and poses no threat. A single volley of missiles could kill at least half of them. It's merely a matter of firing a few more rounds. They are trapped like turtles in a jar; whether it's one turtle or two, they are still turtles."
Liu Jizi stared blankly at her superior, falling silent.
Jiang Ye reached out and switched off the projector, plunging the room back into darkness.
"Your tasks for the next few days are simple. First, continue observing the movements of the two settlements and report their positions to me daily."
"Second, through the public channel, try to contact the people of the B and C settlements. Don't reveal your identity yet. Find them and add them as friends. I will tell you what to say to them afterward."
Liu Jizi nodded. "Understood."
"Furthermore, you believe these two settlements will merge peacefully, like a marriage. My prediction is the exact opposite," Jiang Ye suddenly changed the subject.
Liu Jizi looked at him, bewildered.
"Interpersonal relationships on colonial planets are somewhat like the primal jungle. When two beasts meet, the most likely options are to kill and consume. The dynamics are brutal."
"When B and C meet, they will most likely fight, a fight to the death," Jiang Ye concluded.
"I don't think so," Liu Jizi countered, shaking her head.
"Why not?"
"It's freezing cold now, and wild beasts roam freely. Survival is already a problem for them. When fellow humans encounter each other, wouldn't they naturally band together for warmth? Why would they attack each other?" Liu Jizi frowned. "Before I came here, I met some colonial officers in the wild. We were so excited upon meeting that we embraced each other, took care of each other, and lived together. We're still good friends."
Jiang Ye gave that familiar smile, the one that looked at a child. "That was your good fortune. If I were like you, I would have been dead long ago."
"These two settlements will definitely merge. I stand by my opinion," Liu Jizi's eyes held a hint of stubbornness.
"Alright," Jiang Ye nodded, still smiling.
Liu Jizi blinked in surprise. She had expected Jiang Ye to explain further, to try and persuade her. She hadn't anticipated a simple "Alright." What did that mean?
"Thank you for coming to report," Jiang Ye said.
"Then I'll be going now," Liu Jizi nodded. "Goodbye, sir."
She turned and left, closing the office door behind her.
On Monday, the C settlement continued to move towards B, with the two settlements now 300 kilometers apart.
On Tuesday, they were 270 kilometers apart.
On Wednesday, they were 230 kilometers apart.
On Thursday, the B settlement surprisingly also moved, advancing towards C, much like a sleeping beast stirred by the approaching footsteps of another, not fleeing, but bravely moving to meet it.
The distance between the two settlements rapidly closed to 150 kilometers!
On Thursday afternoon, a large spaceship landed in the hot spring area.
Jiang Ye received the news: the seed delivery from the nodal star had arrived and would only stay for three hours.
He was still at the military base. Upon receiving the message, he immediately drove to the subway station, called for a subway train, and rushed home.
As soon as he arrived at the hot spring area subway station, he saw the spaceship.
It was larger than Isabella's delivery ships, at least thirty stories high, towering like a small mountain. Its entire body was silver-white, and every inch of its outer shell emitted steaming white heat, as if surrounded by thick clouds.
The scene was spectacular. People at the subway station were holding up their phones to take pictures.
Jiang Ye arrived beneath the spaceship. Several delivery personnel in light green uniforms were unloading cargo with forklifts, bringing down many meter-high cardboard boxes. The boxes were also marked with a green seed logo.
A Black deliveryman spotted him and immediately walked over. "Are you Mr. Jiang Ye?"
Jiang Ye nodded repeatedly. "I am."
The deliveryman pulled out his phone. "The thirty thousand improved sand-fixing grass seeds you ordered have been unloaded. Please smile for the camera to sign for them."
Jiang Ye smiled cooperatively. After a click, a "Delivery complete" notification sounded.
The deliveryman turned to leave.
Jiang Ye quickly called out, "Hey, hey, hey, is there anything else?"
The deliveryman looked at him blankly. "Didn't you order thirty thousand... Oh, oh!"
The deliveryman slapped his forehead, as if suddenly remembering something, and said, "Please wait a moment," before running off.
A moment later, another deliveryman ran over, took an envelope from his pocket, and handed it to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye breathed a long sigh of relief. The seeds were secondary; the crucial part was the letter enclosed.
"Sorry, I was dozing off just now," the deliveryman said apologetically. "Sister Zhang instructed me to wait for you for an hour to bring a letter back to the nodal star. Also, if you want to buy any plants, you can place your order directly with me, and I'll deliver them next week."
"Thank you, thank you! Please wait a moment, I'll go back and write the letter right away." Jiang Ye was quite excited. He took a small gold bar from his pocket and quickly slipped it into the deliveryman's hand.
The deliveryman was startled. He glanced at his colleagues unloading cargo in the distance. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he breathed a sigh of relief, tucked the gold bar into his sleeve, and put his hands back in his pockets.
Jiang Ye turned and walked home, unable to resist opening the envelope and taking out the letter as he walked.
The beautiful, neat handwriting was clearly from a young woman.
"My dearest Jiang Ye:"
"I was so sad when you left. I didn't sleep all night and kept crying. If I could collect my tears in a pot, I'm sure it would fill a pot of salty tear tea. It's so salty. If you make me cry again in the future, I'll boil tear tea for you to drink, and you must drink it all!"
"It's strange, really. We haven't spent much time together, yet my heart is completely captured by you. What is this? Love at first sight, or one thing subduing another?"
"The war situation seems quite bad. The day before yesterday, in the early morning, the Mill people launched a large-scale surprise attack, deploying many combat robots onto the nodal star. One robot fell onto the street in front of my neighborhood."
"The TV news said these robots are called Frog Mothers. They are about three stories high, weighing tens of tons, iron-black, with their bodies covered in toad-like pustules. They look terrifying, but they have no intelligence, and their internal structure is simple; they are low-level war machines."
"The pustules on the Frog Mother's body are actually honeycomb-like eye sockets. After landing, all these eye sockets spray out frog bombs."
"Frog bombs are bouncing bombs, each weighing a pound, spherical. They fly into the air and then fall, bouncing long distances like frogs before detonating."
"However, the Mill people's industrial technology is insufficient. The over a thousand frog bombs that Frog Mother sprayed out didn't explode; they were all duds."
"I was walking by the roadside at the time when I heard a 'boom,' the sound of the Frog Mother hitting the ground. Then many frog bombs flew around the street, trailing white smoke, not very fast. I could hear the engines inside the frog bombs whirring. One frog bomb bounced twice and landed on the lawn ten meters away from me, flipping over a large patch of grass."
"I stood there stupidly, thinking, 'It's over. Jiang Ye, you'll never see me again.' But two minutes later, I realized it hadn't exploded. Only the engines inside were whirring, and white smoke was occasionally puffing out."