After more than two hours of buying mechs, forming squads, and descending, they finally reached the surface of Birong Star!
They landed on the night hemisphere, so dark that they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces. Fortunately, the mechs had lights, and Jiang Ye and Isabel turned on their mech lights and disembarked one after another.
The landing site was a tropical rainforest, filled with towering trees, moss covering the ground, and brightly colored large mushrooms. The visibility in the rainforest was already limited, and with it being the middle of the night, they could barely see anything. Abundant moisture steamed up like a green mist.
Lights began to appear from all directions in the forest, swaying like fireflies. These were the soldiers brought by Jiang Ye. They had all landed together, with a hundred people in fifty landing pods, but during the atmospheric entry, they had drifted apart, and their landing spots were quite far from each other.
"Everyone gather here to form up. I will activate my flashing lights, and my position is also on the radar map," Jiang Ye announced on the public channel. "Be careful, there's a tricky type of monkey in the rainforest. Don't provoke any wild beasts you encounter."
Jiang Ye changed his headlamp to a flashing mode, blinking twice per second, with the brightness turned up to maximum, twenty thousand lumens. In the dark night, it was as conspicuous as a bonfire.
With the crackling sound of footsteps, the soldiers gradually converged, forming up in the narrow clearing, finding their respective officers.
As most of the personnel had arrived, Jiang Ye shouted, "Report!"
The soldiers in the first rank immediately began to report.
While the reporting was still in progress, Jiang Ye turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Teacher Isabel, are we going to wander around randomly like before on this mission, killing Mil people when we see them?"
"We are participating as a hundred-person unit now, so we can establish a small camp," Isabel suggested.
"There's such a thing?" Jiang Ye was surprised.
"Of course. Once a camp is established and managed properly, it might even develop into a city. Then you would be the lord of the city, enjoying a high degree of autonomy," Isabel whispered. "In ancient times, this was called an overseas exclave; now it's called an alien exclave. Isn't that appealing?"
"Extremely appealing. What's the specific procedure?"
"First, clear a piece of land and build some simple defensive structures, like earth walls and ditches. Try to make it look presentable, take a photo and upload it to the military, then mark the occupied area using the 'Captain's Tool' mode. Dedicated military personnel will review and approve it," Isabel said. "It's similar to the process for colonies, just pioneering. But you have to be careful; there will be no shortage of wild beasts in the rainforest."
Jiang Ye nodded. The troop count was almost complete.
"Ninety-seven! Ninety-eight!" the last two soldiers called out.
Jiang Ye opened the public channel, "Which two haven't arrived for assembly? What are you dawdling for?"
A moment later, a soldier named Kong Yixuan replied.
"Reporting, Chief! Zhong Xing'an and Kong Yixuan couldn't make it to assembly! We were hit by unidentified flying objects during descent and exploded in the air. We two just respawned at the orbital station! Please tell us how to rendezvous with the main force!"
Isabel shrugged and said in a low voice, "It was probably hit by Mil anti-aircraft fire. I just saw the world channel, and many people said they were blown up in the air. Before the Mil evacuated, they must have left behind quite a few automatic weapon emplacements and guerrilla forces. We need to be careful."
Jiang Ye scratched his head in distress, only to realize he couldn't scratch with his helmet on. He sighed and typed his reply:
"There's nothing we can do, you two had bad luck. The current situation is that we can't rendezvous because the landing points are completely random for now. You two buy your own mechs and land wherever you please. Once you land, act according to the situation, learn how to survive when you encounter people, and try to earn more merit points."
Isabel also typed a supplement, "We are going to establish a small camp. Once the camp is built, we will set up a respawn point. If all goes well, you can come to the respawn point to meet us tomorrow."
Kong Yixuan: "Understood! Chief, may I ask, if the two of us are acting alone and are of equal rank, who will take command?"
Jiang Ye: "What command is there for two people? Just stick together and figure it out. Kong Yixuan, if I remember correctly, you are a female officer. Zhong Xing'an, you should yield to her. Alright, you two go play on your own. We're busy here. Send a message if anything major happens."
"At ease!" Jiang Ye commanded.
The soldiers in the clearing stood very neatly, looking at their chief through their helmet visors.
"Now, in units of the pre-arranged ten-person squads, search the surrounding area, find a clearing suitable for building a camp, and then report it to me. Immediately notify me of any enemy contact. Move out!"
A swarm of mechs immediately scattered, disappearing into the dark, dense forest.
Jiang Ye and Isabel both sat down cross-legged to rest.
Before, when the two of them came alone, they had to run around constantly. Now that they had brought troops, the dirty and tiring work would naturally be done by the soldiers.
Less than half a minute after they sat down, a rapid burst of gunfire erupted from the east.
Then the gunfire increased, with many mechs firing, both in bursts and single shots, creating quite a commotion.
Jiang Ye quickly sent a voice message, "Is there enemy contact?"
"Boss, it's fine. We encountered some very weak minor monsters. We'll deal with them and move on, no support needed!" a subordinate replied.
Just as the gunfire from the east stopped, gunfire erupted from the south.
It was even more intense than before, with at least two squads firing simultaneously, the sounds as dense as popping corn.
"What's going on? Do you need support?" Jiang Ye quickly asked again.
As soon as he finished asking, the gunfire stopped.
"Reporting, Chief, we encountered some monkeys and have eliminated them," another subordinate said.
Gunfire was constantly ringing out from all directions, making Jiang Ye jumpy, as he kept asking what was happening ahead. But it was either minor monsters, clearing the path, or accidental discharge, nothing truly dangerous. After asking more than ten times, it turned out to be all false alarms.
Finally, Jiang Ye stopped asking. After all, if they encountered any major monsters, his subordinates would surely report it. He simply closed his eyes to rest.
Isabel suddenly nudged him, "Have you told your subordinates about the matters of men and women here?"
Jiang Ye opened his eyes and looked at her blankly.
"Pregnancy is possible here, and the children born will be just like real children," Isabel said. "So, you must pay attention to this aspect here. Similar tragedies have happened before. Some people thought they could indulge themselves freely because it wasn't their true bodies, and ended up having offspring on an alien planet."
"They're all busy fighting minor monsters, they shouldn't have time for that, right?" Jiang Ye shrugged. "They're so busy and exhausted, how could they do such things?"
"Believe me, you never know what others will do," Isabel said. "When I was stationed on the comet TNU895, some of my subordinates actually did things in the radar room during their night shifts. If I hadn't stumbled upon it occasionally, I wouldn't have believed it. They all looked like shy and honest people."
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment, then sent a message on the troop channel, "Your avatars on this planet have reproductive capabilities, and they are identical to your own genes. Therefore, everyone, please refrain from doing anything unrelated to work."
The squad leaders all replied with "Received."
Jiang Ye scratched his head, thinking that he had never considered such an issue.
"Report! My squad has reached the edge of the rainforest, and there's a plain outside the rainforest!" a subordinate's excited voice suddenly sounded.
"Report your coordinates. Your squad stay put, and everyone converge on your position!" Jiang Ye immediately got up.