The earth trembled.
The impact point was located in a dead volcanic range on the far side of the planet.
The biological warship, snapped in two, slammed onto the black basalt earth like a hunk of rotten meat falling from the sky.
The once-solid mountain ridge was instantly leveled by the terrifying kinetic energy, replaced by an impact crater over five kilometers wide.
The bottom of the pit surged with magma-like dark red and sickening green bodily fluids.
“Entering the atmosphere. Anti-G force field at maximum capacity.”
Yao Qian’s hands flew across the console.
The vector thrusters on the ship’s belly swung sharply, plunging the vessel nose-first into the murky atmosphere, enveloped in an orange-red shockwave.
“I want to watch this thing draw its last breath with my own eyes.” Yao Qian stared at the impact crater on the screen.
“Aliens… if I don’t give them a few extra shots, I won’t sleep at night.”
Three minutes later.
The *Yabo* hovered a thousand meters above the impact crater.
The high-temperature exhaust from the engines blew away the surrounding smoke and dust, revealing the true state of the crater floor.
The sight made even Yao Qian, who was accustomed to all kinds of mutated creatures, feel like throwing up his daily dose of nutrient solution.
The surface of that mountain of flesh bubbled like boiling water, swelling with thousands of pustules.
Immediately after, a series of muffled pops echoed in unison.
The pustules ruptured simultaneously, spraying countless columns of yellow-green smoke high into the sky at terrifying speeds.
These were the highly active spores of the plant-based Zergan.
[Spore cloud has dispersed. According to simulations, these spores will integrate with local geological elements and hatch into fully-formed ‘Zergan’ plant-form warriors within a week,] the System delivered its final verdict.
[Initiate flame purification?]
“Purify? No, why would I purify them?” Yao Qian chuckled.
“System, don’t you think this planet is a bit too quiet?”
“So what if they grow? Without the support of technology, they’re just oversized primitives.”
If the wreckage of the warship were left intact, the hatched Zergan would be able to link to the mother mind and inherit biological technology.
“So, dear guest from afar, please rest in peace in hell. As for your descendants, my players will take good care of them!”
*Clank, clank, clank—!*
The *Yabo*’s belly armor plates slid open on both sides.
“Fire!”
*Vrommm—!*
The six rapid-fire cannons roared in unison, their fabric-tearing firing rate coalescing into a Metal Storm.
Tens of thousands of rounds per minute rained down like a torrential storm, hammering mercilessly onto the twitching mountain of flesh at the bottom of the pit.
There was no need to aim.
Wherever the barrage swept, whether it was overgrown tumors, hard carapaces, or the cavities attempting to spray spores, everything was shredded into a mist of blood by the savage kinetic energy.
Next came the missile carpet-bombing.
Dozens of high-explosive incendiary missiles, trailing tail flames, burrowed into the gashes of the warship’s wreckage.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom!*
A series of muffled explosions rumbled from deep within the pile of rotten meat.
Dark-red biological tissues were blown to smithereens, and the green blood was vaporized by the high temperatures the instant it spurted out.
The biological core, still attempting to reconstruct itself, was completely turned into charred meat by a missile that burrowed into its body before it could issue its final command.
Flames soared hundreds of meters high.
The entire impact crater became a massive incinerator.
“The only good alien is a dead alien.” Yao Qian nodded in satisfaction as he watched the burning wreckage.
The mother mind was destroyed.
Its tech tree was severed.
Although the dispersed spores couldn’t be reclaimed, without the direction of the mother mind, whatever hatched from them would be nothing more than primitives.
Consider it a benefit for the new version.
“Alright, pack it up. Leave the grunt work of cleaning up the battlefield to the players.”
…
Buzhou Outpost.
Yao Qian’s consciousness reconnected to the base hub.
Looking at the empty plaza, he felt like something was missing.
“System, pull up the building list.”
With the launch of version 1.1 “Calamity Falls,” clashes between the players and these plant-based Zergan would surely be frequent.
Death would no longer be an occasional accident, but a daily occurrence.
The previous mechanic of “respawning from the space station every time you die” was too outdated.
It would seriously hinder the players’ efficiency in throwing away their lives…
“As long as I harvest the crops fast enough, there is no grief, only love.”
Yao Qian scrolled through the list, his finger stopping on an icon glowing with white light.
[Building: Gene Recombination Hall]
[Function: Pre-store player genetic sequences. Upon player death, reconstructs the body using energy and downloads the consciousness stream in real-time.]
[Cost: 100 Energy Points]
A bit expensive.
“Confirm construction.”
*Vrommm—!*
The massive amount of materials stored in the warehouse vanished into thin air.
In the center of the base plaza, on the empty plot originally used to stack clutter, countless nanobots like silver sand endowed with life began to pile up and lock together.
First the foundation, then the walls, and finally the sci-fi-esque dome.
Within ten short minutes, a circular building, pristine white and emitting a soft blue light, rose from the ground.
It was no longer that crude, container-style architecture from before, but a facility that truly carried the air of an advanced civilization.
Inside the hall, fifty transparent pods filled with light-blue healing fluid were arranged in neat rows, like eggs waiting to hatch.
Next to the hall, Yao Qian had also thoughtfully added a [Basic Medical Pod].
After all, not everyone wanted to die.
For players who had lost limbs but were loath to commit suicide to reset their characters, spending a few points to lie in here for a bit was also an excellent point-sink mechanism.
“Perfect.”
Yao Qian was now like a homeowner who had just finished renovating.
He walked around the base with his hands behind his back.
The eastern wall had been raised, the road to the western mine flattened, and a respawn hall erected right in the middle.
All the stages were set.
Lights in position.
Sound system ready.
The villains had been seeded.
Yao Qian raised his head to look at the two slowly setting suns.
The alien twilight was as poignantly beautiful as an oil painting.