A white spaceship, the size of a bus, slowly descended and landed on an open space beside the fortress. The words "Biological Weapons Control Center" were printed on the side of the ship.
Jiang Ye, clad in his mecha, had been waiting for a long time. As soon as the ship's door opened, he stepped forward to shake hands.
The first to emerge was a burly man, who bore a slight resemblance to Guan Yu. His entire face was flushed red, and as Jiang Ye approached, he detected a strong scent of alcohol.
"Mr. Jiang, right? I'm the colonel you spoke with earlier." The colonel's voice was even more slurred with alcohol, and Jiang Ye wondered how much he had consumed. "I've brought the expert team, but due to confidentiality regulations, they can't appear in person." Da Feng Novel Network.
A team of little yellow figures followed out of the ship's door. Each was encased in a full-body, banana-yellow protective suit, with no visible eyeholes, leaving Jiang Ye to wonder how they could see. There were ten in total, all carrying large, flamethrower-like backpacks and cradling long, snake-like tubes.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Jiang Ye said. "The air on this planet cannot be breathed directly..."
"No problem, we can breathe," the colonel smiled. "Please take us to pick some orange fungi for analysis."
"They've already been picked and delivered just half an hour ago," Jiang Ye waved his hand. Soldiers behind him immediately brought forward several golden-orange fungi, each weighing at least a pound. The larger ones resembled small pomelos rather than oranges. Their surfaces were covered in wrinkles and tiny bumps, very much like orange peel.
The colonel stepped aside, and the little yellow figures brought their tubes forward, sucking the orange fungi into them one by one.
Jiang Ye was curious about how they would test its potency when he saw the little yellow figures behind him dragging a... Milian from the ship.
Yes, a live Milian, resembling a giant amoeba. It struggled slightly as it was dragged out, its color gradually shifting from transparent to red, accompanied by a sound like a baby's cry.
The little yellow figures pushed the Milian onto the open ground like rolling a snowball, then retreated in unison.
One of the little yellow figures raised a tube and pulled the trigger.
With a soft "pop," a tiny speck of orange powder was ejected, drifting in the air.
Under everyone's gaze, the Milian, upon contact with the powder, suddenly began to convulse violently. Its internal organs thrashed, and countless bubbles surged out like a carbonated drink, a scene reminiscent of dropping mints into Sprite. The little yellow figures retreated, and Jiang Ye also took a few steps back, as the Milian began to swell, its entire body inflating like a balloon.
"Boom!" Its outer skin burst, spraying fluids everywhere. Internal organs rained down, the debris as dense as a shower. The nearby ground became thoroughly wet. The little yellow figures standing in the front row were splattered all over, their protective suits becoming as drenched as raincoats.
The Milian became still, collapsing onto the ground. However, bubbles continued to emerge from within its corpse. White foam surged up like laundry detergent.
"High-grade orange fungus!" one of the little yellow figures exclaimed with surprise, looking at Jiang Ye. "Congratulations, you're rich!"
"Rich?" Jiang Ye was confused.
"The front lines are currently in need of cheap weapons against Milian cities. Biochemical agents are a good choice. The military will likely pay a very high price for the orange fungus," the colonel explained with a smile. "Each orange fungus can fetch about 3 Merit Points, and a farm can produce hundreds of them daily."
"Can I build more farms?" Jiang Ye asked.
"No, there are regulations for this. Each region can only have one farm. Building more requires approval, and approval is difficult to obtain." The colonel shook his hand. "Congratulations, goodbye!"
"You're leaving already?" Jiang Ye was taken aback. "Won't you come in for a bit, have some tea or something?"
"No need, we have other matters to attend to." The colonel waved his hand and, along with the little yellow figures, disappeared back into the spaceship.
The ship hovered, accelerated in mid-air, and soared into the sky.
Jiang Ye turned back towards the fortress and returned to the control room.
Isabelle was still basking in the sun by the window, her back and thighs already reddened, like shrimp about to be steamed.
"How did it go?" Isabelle asked. "What did the experts say?"
"They said it was very good, and that I'm rich." Jiang Ye grumbled as he removed his mecha. "I thought they'd use very high-end equipment to meticulously analyze the composition of the orange fungus. Instead, they brought a few vacuum-cleaner-like things, sucked the orange fungus in, sprayed some powder, and sprinkled it on the Milian for live testing."
"Isn't that quite practical?" Isabelle turned her head, taking off her sunglasses. She had been in the sun for too long and couldn't open her eyes. "Weapons are best demonstrated through live testing to show their effectiveness."
"It's a bit cruel, that Milian just exploded." Jiang Ye sat down to drink some water.
"When are weapons not cruel? You haven't seen the scene of humans swelling and exploding in the streets of a city after the Milian deployed biochemical weapons. That's even crueler." Isabelle smiled. "Do you think we conquer planets based on intelligence? We rely on cruelty, being more brutal than all other creatures."
"Alas, the world is going downhill!"
Jiang Ye clicked on the screen. The price for the orange fungus farm had been discounted to 100,000 Merit Points. He purchased it directly and placed it on the open ground north of the camp.
"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving," Isabelle said lazily as she got up. "You stay here and watch until tonight, and I'll come relieve you."
As Isabelle walked towards the door, Jiang Ye called out, "You haven't changed your clothes yet! Are you dazed from the sun?"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Isabelle blushed, returned to the window, put on her outer jacket and mecha, and pushed the door open to leave.
Jiang Ye squinted, wanting to take a nap. Before he could fall asleep, his headset suddenly crackled.
"Report, Chief, this is Third Captain! One of our soldiers seems to have contracted some illness, and his condition is quite serious. Should we carry him back to the base? Or execute him directly and replace his body?"
"Illness?" Jiang Ye was stunned. "What are the symptoms? Vomiting? Fever?"
"The symptoms are very strange. No vomiting, no fever, just sweating all over, unable to stand. He lies on the ground and laughs continuously. When asked how he feels, he says he's very comfortable, very comfortable, and repeats these four words." Third Captain continued his report. "I lifted his faceplate and took a look. His complexion was flushed, he was spitting saliva, unable to stop laughing, and his eyeballs were darting around rapidly, faster than a yo-yo."
"Keep him in place for now and don't move him. We don't know what kind of illness it is, so we can't just execute him. What if it's a consciousness-related illness? Executing him could lead to serious trouble," Jiang Ye frowned.
"Ah? There's such an illness?" Third Captain's tone clearly became flustered. "Then, then, then..."
"Don't panic. First, assign someone to watch him, and everyone keep a distance. Don't touch him. Anyone who has had contact with him in the last few hours is not allowed back to the camp without my order," Jiang Ye said. "I'll contact the military to see if any doctors can be dispatched."
"Yes!" Third Captain's tone relaxed. It was enough that the Chief had clear orders.