"There are mining machines ahead," Snake explained. "This area has metal ore. We can directly extract the ore, smelt it, and then manufacture robot parts. We only need to manually assemble a few robots, and these robots will actively help build more of their kind, quickly producing a large number. The peak output is a thousand robots per day."
The vehicle continued forward, and as it passed, a continuous stream of salutes could be heard. Both mechanical soldiers and human soldiers recognized Jiang Ye and Che Zhen.
However, no one spoke. As the vehicle drove past, they lowered their hands and resumed their guard duties.
Soon, they reached the mining area. The space suddenly opened up. The height above was impossible to judge; it was as dark as the night sky, like entering a hollowed-out mountain. The ground was covered in glittering ore slag, much of it the size of mice, indicating a crude extraction process. The surrounding rock walls bore many signs of excavation. Troops had already erected some steel structures for support to prevent collapses, making it resemble a giant, unfinished construction site.
Jiang Ye saw a large area of strangely shaped machines, all covered in a thick layer of dust, as if abandoned for centuries.
Many army engineers were studying the machines, scanning them inside and out with instruments and recording various parameters.
Recently, the army had established numerous laboratories dedicated to military equipment research. The first step, of course, was imitation. Any good equipment they encountered was studied and attempts were made to replicate it. The underground equipment captured this time was on the imitation list.
As the vehicle drove further, the temperature suddenly began to rise.
Gusts of hot wind blew towards them, giving the sensation of suddenly entering a sweltering summer noon.
The light ahead also grew brighter. Jiang Ye squinted, feeling as if they were driving towards a furnace.
One minute later, they entered the illuminated zone.
Giant transparent tanks were lined up one after another along the rock walls. The size of the tanks reminded Jiang Ye of the cement trucks that used to drive on the roads when he was a child. Each tank was glowing, and a crimson light filled the entire space, like the large heating elements in an oven. Che Zhen took out three pairs of dark brown goggles from a drawer beside him, handed one pair to Jiang Ye, put on a pair himself, and then tossed one to Snake. In such a blinding environment, without goggles, the eyes would surely be burned. As the vehicle had just entered, all three of them had shed tears; the light was as blinding as onion juice.
Jiang Ye patted Che Zhen's shoulder, and Che immediately slowed down and stopped steadily.
Jiang Ye jumped out of the vehicle and walked towards the nearest tank.
Two soldiers stood by the tank, drinking from their thermoses. Seeing someone approach, they hastily raised their hands, "Halt! Keep your distance!"
Jiang Ye was taken aback.
The two soldiers squinted, reached up to wipe their goggles, and upon clearly recognizing who it was, hastily saluted.
"Apologies, Commander! We didn't see you clearly! Please inspect!"
Che Zhen glared from behind, pointing at the two guards. The guards were terrified and didn't know what to do.
Jiang Ye, however, paid them no mind and walked directly to the transparent tank, looking inside.
The light was not a single entity but rather clusters of round, bright spheres, as if the entire tank were filled with high-wattage light bulbs, or perhaps a gathering of fireballs holding a meeting.
The two guards, seeing the commander's interest in the contents of the tank, quickly got busy. They pried open a metal box nearby, which contained high-pressure air injectors as thick as a person's leg. The injectors were filled with a black, ink-like liquid.
The guards inserted the injectors into small holes at the bottom of the tanks. The high-pressure air automatically pushed the black liquid in.
The light spheres at the bottom were submerged in the black ink, and their brightness immediately decreased significantly, but they still emitted a faint glow through the ink.
Jiang Ye bent down to look closely and finally saw what was emitting the light.
They resembled transparent eggs, or cocoons about to hatch.
A thin, plastic-like outer layer encased a creature, or rather, a larva, curled up like a chick about to hatch. Small legs and newly formed back scales could be seen. The light emanated from the creature's organs, as if it had swallowed a belly full of fire.
"These are the earth-core worms that have absorbed energy from the star's interior," Snake said. "The larvae's bodies are relatively fragile and cannot store much energy yet. But once these larvae hatch and are released into the soil outside, they will kill each other in some open areas, devouring one another. This way, one worm can possess the energy of several others. The energy is stored in the form of stellar algae."
"What do these things call this among the Mir people?" Jiang Ye asked. "Do they also call them earth-core worms?"
"We don't know. The Mir people didn't tell us what they are called. We privately call them worms. This name is inconspicuous and can be casually discussed when eating in restaurants outside. Neighbors or waiters who overhear might think we're talking about flies, mosquitoes, or woodlice."
"What is the purpose of these worms? To breed hundreds of millions and unleash a swarm tactic on the cities?" Jiang Ye asked.
"I'm not sure. We don't know the next step of the plan yet," Snake hesitated. "Actually, the Mir people are not confident about this entire plan. We were hastily assigned to execute this mission, and it feels a bit like a gamble. The Mir people must be at their last gasp, otherwise, they would have chosen other more reliable, more meticulous, and more ferocious methods of attack."
"Indeed, offense is the best defense," Jiang Ye nodded.
Che Zhen's phone suddenly rang. He took it out and was about to silence it when his expression suddenly changed.
"Commander, it's from the front lines," Che Zhen said, his tone questioning.
Jiang Ye nodded.
Che Zhen walked aside to answer, and returned shortly after.
"What is it?" Jiang Ye asked.
"We found some base vehicles. Inside the vehicles, there was a lot of transparent bird droppings and human skeletons, so brittle they were almost broken," Che Zhen said. "I've told them to dispose of them."
Jiang Ye's expression changed subtly.
Since the army's rapid advance across the globe, they had occasionally found base vehicles and the bodies of colonial officials.
It sounded like the ones found this time were people eaten by transparent birds.
When Jiang Ye Star was not yet Jiang Ye Star, too many people had died inexplicably in the wilderness.
The usual procedure was to find a desolate area, use artillery shells to blast a large pit, bury the remains, and erect a tombstone with the inscription "Tomb of the First Generation Nameless Colonial Officials."
They spent a full day touring the underground facilities.
Upon returning to the surface, Jiang Ye visited the rest stop located ten kilometers underground.
The rest stop was quite well-equipped, with single bathrooms, a small dining area, medical equipment, charging and repair stations for mechanical soldiers, and small hammocks for sleeping. When Jiang Ye arrived, a few resting female soldiers were drinking Pu-erh tea with face masks on. The sudden visit from the commander startled them, and they hastily pulled off their masks and stuffed them into their pockets. Jiang Ye smiled and left without saying anything.
Two days later, Li Nannan visited, bringing with her a spaceship full of mechanical soldiers. It took a week to excavate the underground warp equipment.