Interstellar Survival: Invasion

After completing our preparations, we started exploring Dayu. Some were initially hesitant when we named the planet, but nobody hesitated to let Domo be the first person to step on Dayu. With that, Domo became the first person from the Milky Way Galaxy to leave his footprint on Dayu. This historic moment was recorded by Dodo.

After Domo, the rest of us stepped out as well. The ground was soft, feeling like extremely fertile soil, and a red substance that seemed to spread everywhere was mixed with it.

"I wonder if there are terrifying monsters on this planet. Anxashe, Old Du, be on the lookout," said Zhang Bao'er nervously.

Although it wasn't Zhang Bao'er's place to give orders, Anxashe and Old Du still kept watch over the entire team for our safety. According to our system, the fiend was on a mountain 30 kilometers away from us. Our laser scans had highlighted a suitable route to reach the fiend. We had to go through a forest, and in order to save energy, Zhang Xingxing had everyone travel on foot. Thus, we had also made preparation to trek through a forest.

From the empty field Markus had landed on, we only needed less than five minutes to reach the forest. I could see a type of massive tree with a crown resembling a lotus growing at the edge of the forest. The leaves atop these trees were in charge of absorbing the sunlight coming from the blue star in the sky. The sunlight could barely reach all the way to the ground, where numerous plants resembling mosses were growing. Due to the lack of sunlight, it looked rather eerie and sinister inside the forest.

"The plants here are completely different from the ones found in the Milky Way Galaxy. Be very careful and stick together," ordered Baron Sisse, who had taken the task of field commander. Together, the group stepped into the dark forest.

The moment we entered the forest, we realized how difficult it was to trek through it. The soil below us was so soft it felt like we were stepping on mud. Before long, our legs had already sunk deep enough for the ground to reach our thighs. To prevent us from further sinking into the ground, Old Du took out a rope and tied everyone together. Domo, with his smaller build, was seated atop Dodo's shoulder.

"What shitty place is this? Why are these big trees growing in mud?" complained Zhang Bao'er.

"We're lucky no bloodsucking bugs or other terrifying creatures have appeared so far. Don't complain. If there are other creatures here, it would be worse," said Domo, who was rather relaxed on Dodo's shoulder.

"Look at you! I knew you would be a burden. If Dodo hadn't been kind enough to carry you, I would have buried you in the mud," said Zhang Bao'er.

After 30 minutes of difficult trek, the ground beneath us suddenly hardened. We had left the muddy zone.

"Looks like we have reached solid ground. Get moving, everyone. Let's get out of the marsh," said Zhang Xingxing. Everyone appeared pleased to get out of the marsh.

We were able to move much faster on solid ground. After about a dozen minutes, an odd type of plant appeared before us. The plants before us were akin to a bush of needles, growing as far as our eyes could see. Their tips were extremely sharp. Each plant consisted of a thick trunk and countless thorns, looking rather similar to Blue's ball cactus. The needle plants grew closely together, blocking the path ahead of us.

"Looks like our path forward is blocked. We have to either fly over them or take a long detour. This direction is fully blocked," said Anxashe after he went ahead to look around.

"Can you break the needles?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"Each plant is as durable as a wooden stick. They can be broken apart, but there are too many of them. If we really want to keep going in this direction, we will have to open a path using our weapons," replied Anxashe.

"What is there to fear? Can some plants stop us? Have the robot calculate the energy required to fly over them versus the energy required to open a path with weapons. Just pick the most optimal choice," suggested the great sovereign.

Dodo wasted no time and hurriedly performed the calculation. The result was that forcefully opening a path with the two robots in the team was the most optimal choice. After the result was out, everyone looked at the great sovereign. After all, this was its own idea.

"Why are you looking at me? Dodo will take the lead, and I'll follow behind them. We'll clear a path," said the great sovereign.

With that, Dodo stepped forward to carry out the plan. Although the needles of these plants were rather large, Dodo's body had been upgraded by Temo using star-civilization technology. As Dodo rammed through the plants, the needles snapped one after another. Behind Dodo, Bob, with a larger body, further cleared the path. In that manner, we continued ahead toward our destination.

However, the field of needles was really too big. Even after an hour, we were still within the field of needles. Dodo's body of super alloy was still fine, but Bob's body was mainly produced with planet-civilization technology. Numerous scars could be seen on their body, and some short maintenance was required. Because of that, Zhang Xingxing ordered us to take a break.

Domo, who was seated on Old Du's shoulder, suddenly exclaimed, "Shit! Look behind us! The paths we opened up are closing up rapidly."

Zhang Xingxing hurriedly scanned the path behind us. The result indicated that the plants were regrowing and blocking the path we had opened up.

"What weird plants are these? How can they grow so quickly? We need to move faster, or they'll outgrow us," said Baron Sisse.

"Good thing there are no monsters here to attack us. There isn't even enough space for us to fight here," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Zhang Bao'er, can you stop saying things like that? Each time you said something like that, a monster would appear," said Domo. In fact, all of us shared the thought. We were simply too polite to tell him.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Bao'er was angered and wanted to pounce on Domo, but he was stopped by Anxashe. Seeing how fast the needle plants were growing, Zhang Xingxing ordered everyone to continue forward and move faster. Dodo and the great sovereign stood up and went back to their previous work. We spent another hour in this manner, but we were still within the field of needles.

"From our scans, we should have reached the peak of the mountain. The fiend is at the peak of the opposite mountain. Should we take flight here and avoid the rest of the needle plants?" suggested Baron Sisse.

Dodo performed a calculation and concluded that if we took flight, the distance we would need to travel to reach the opposite peak would be shorter.

"Dodo, how about the energy expenditure if we decide to fly?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"We are only five kilometers away from the opposite peak. If we fly, we will spend less than ten percent of our energy. It should be fine," said Dodo.

"I'm not too worried about the energy expenditure, but my intuition is telling me that things won't progress so smoothly. There will definitely be bigger trouble waiting for us. We need to save as much energy for our shields as possible. We also need to set aside the energy we need for the return trip," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Don't worry about the return trip. That little fellow from the star-level civilization is quite capable. He will be able to complete Markus's recharge. We can just have him pick us up. Don't hesitate. We need to proceed quickly," urged the great sovereign.

The great sovereign was not the only one becoming impatient. Our entire team was tired of these needle plants. Although we had two robots opening up a path for us, we were still forced to keep our shields on at all times to protect ourselves against these plants. After traveling for two hours, we had exhausted quite a large amount of energy. Seeing that everyone had agreed to fly over, Zhang Xingxing accepted the suggestion.

"I'll go first. After I confirm that it's safe, you guys can come over. I plan to get on top of this lotus-like tree to get a better look before taking off," I said.

"Why do you get to be the one to go every time? It should be my turn this time," Zhang Bao'er protested.

"Stop arguing, and don't suggest yourself. The commander will make the decision," said Old Du.

Zhang Xingxing shot me a gaze. I responded with a determined look.

"We don't know the situation in the opposite forest. We're also not sure if the plants there are the same as the plants here. To be safe, I suggest we have two people fly over first. That way, the two can help each other. Thus, Canyue and Bao'er can go together," said Zhang Xingxing, selecting a plan that pleased both volunteers.

With the order given, Zhang Bao'er and I stopped arguing. We activated our gecko gloves and started climbing a massive tree each.

"Be careful, Canyue. Take care of yourself," said Zhang Xingxing with concern before the climb. I felt a warm current in my heart. It had been a while since I last heard her express her concern for me. After giving her a nod, I began the operation.

The base of the plant was rather sleek, but after climbing about 10 meters, the body of the plant started emitting some red liquid. The higher I reached, the denser the red liquid was. However, my attention wasn't on the unknown plant I was climbing. My mission was to get to the top of the tree as quickly as possible and take off into the sky. The tree was nearly 100 meters in height. At around 50 meters, I found to my astonishment that the tree was starting to turn transparent.

"Canyue, these trees seem to have veins in them. They also have numerous organs inside their bodies," said Zhang Bao'er, who had been climbing faster than me.

At that point, I also reached high enough to see what Zhang Bao'er was talking about. At the upper half of the tree, I could clearly see the tree's insides. There were numerous organs and veins constantly circulating the blood-like liquid within its body.

"This is not our concern. This might be the appearance of a plant after a high level of evolution. A plant is still a plant. If we don't harm it, it won't affect our mission," reminded the great sovereign.

"Canyue, the baron and I had analyzed that this planet is probably a planet of plants. However, these plants had evolved for over 100 million years. They might have evolved to a higher form. Do not provoke the plants that are large or have unique shapes," reminded Zhang Xingxing.

With the reminder of the two, Zhang Bao'er and I no longer cared about the tree and focused on reaching the top.