Chapter 265: The Plant World
Chapter 265: The Plant World
On the Eternal Sentinel's website, information about the planet of Diyuan Star was listed.
Diyuan Star is a terrestrial planet, similar to Earth but slightly smaller. With a diameter of approximately 10,500 kilometers after unit conversion, it boasts seven natural satellites. Its rotational period is around 15 hours, and it orbits its star in 2.3 years.
The star around which Diyuan Star orbits is similar to Earth's sun—a yellow dwarf star in the main sequence stage, and Diyuan Star lies within its habitable zone.
The planet's surface is divided equally between land and ocean. It has a pleasant climate with distinct seasons and boasts a vibrant natural ecosystem.
However, none of this mattered to the Jingying Tribe, as they were born deep within Diyuan Star's crust. Initially, they were even unaware of the existence of the surface. It wasn't until their civilization had developed for hundreds of thousands of years that the Jingying Tribe drilled out of the crust and learned about their home planet.
But back then, the surface of Diyuan Star was not as it is now.
In those days, the desolate surface showed no signs of life, and the Jingying Tribe had neither the interest nor the ability to reshape it. They continued to dwell within the crust, building underground cities.
Later, the stargates were activated.
Just like on Earth, the stargates altered the course of the Jingying Tribe's civilization. However, the impact of the starry realm on Diyuan Star was even more profound than on Earth's civilization.
At some point, life appeared on the surface of Diyuan Star.
But it wasn't ordinary life.
It was vegetation!
Within just a few stellar years, the surface of Diyuan Star, including both land and sea, was overtaken by plants. At first, this didn't pose any danger, and it even improved the atmosphere and environment. However, soon enough, many plants began to proliferate wildly, evolving and mutating.
Countless plant-like monsters were born, spreading across the globe.
Most terrifyingly, these plants and monsters seemed to be controlled by some hidden force. During photosynthesis, they produced an unknown gas that had no effect on other races but was highly toxic to the Jingying Tribe. Even a small inhalation would cause their bodily functions to break down.
Prolonged exposure to this gas, even without inhalation, would weaken the Jingying Tribe to the point of death.
Now, this gas constitutes over 27% of Diyuan Star's atmosphere.
Even the light on the planet's surface is affected by this gas, as if it were a form of ionizing radiation specifically targeting the Jingying Tribe. Exposure to this light, even for a short while, would have severe side effects on their bodies.
Mild cases result in weakness, while more severe cases lead to bodily collapse.
As a result, the surface has become a deadly forbidden zone for the Jingying Tribe, and they dare not venture there.
After taking over the surface, these plants began to grow deeper into the crust, and monsters relentlessly invaded the underground cities, as if they knew the location of the stargate. Wave after wave, they destroyed the Jingying Tribe's underground cities.
Their target was evidently the stargate.
For many years, the Jingying Tribe was mostly confined to the planet's crust, but fortunately, their advanced technology and powerful individual strength allowed them to resist the plant invasion.
A fragile balance was maintained between the two forces, but in the past few hundred years, the Jingying Tribe has been finding it increasingly difficult to hold their ground.
Thus, the Jingying Tribe decided to attract powerful individuals from various races in the starry realm to Diyuan Star by offering unique and rare resources, with the goal of eliminating the enemy on the planet's surface.
"The cause is simple, yet complex," Qi Xinghuo mused after reading through the information. The website only provided a brief overview of Diyuan Star, lacking many crucial details.
It was clear that the Jingying Tribe had been manipulated by someone, but the identity of the mastermind remained unknown.
Perhaps the Jingying Tribe knew but chose not to disclose it.
Whoever or whatever was behind this scheme, capable of orchestrating events on an entire planet and targeting a specific race, was undoubtedly terrifying.
Qi Xinghuo immediately thought of the True Dragon Dynasty, as they were the biggest beneficiaries of this situation.
The Jingying Tribe possessed top-notch innate talents and technology, and if left unchecked, they could potentially threaten the True Dragon Dynasty's rule in the future.
However, this didn't quite fit the style of the True Dragon Dynasty.
Based on Qi Xinghuo's understanding of them, if they wanted to eliminate the threat posed by the Jingying Tribe, they wouldn't resort to such a roundabout scheme that takes tens of thousands of years to come to fruition.
The True Dragon Dynasty would confront the issue head-on, sending their dragon lords and armies to annihilate the Jingying Tribe, destroy the stargate, and leave no chance for revival.
Of course, it was also possible that the Jingying Tribe was withholding critical information.
Perhaps they possessed a means to counter the True Dragon Dynasty, making the destruction of the stargate inconsequential, thus forcing their enemies to employ this indirect strategy.
"Never mind, it's not my concern," Qi Xinghuo thought, deciding not to dwell on the matter further. Regardless of who was pulling the strings, it had nothing to do with him.
He walked down the street, his electromagnetic senses spreading out to cover the entire small city known as "Sentinel City."
There weren't many blind spots, and he quickly gained a general understanding of the situation.
There were hundreds of members of the Jingying Tribe maintaining the infrastructure, while the rest of the population consisted of Eternal Sentinels from the starry realm, and their numbers were far fewer than expected, totaling only around 30,000, making the city seem somewhat sparse.
However, the Eternal Sentinels' forum was bustling with activity.
Almost every second, new messages were posted or replies made, sharing information and updates.
"Many Eternal Sentinels must have gone to the surface," Qi Xinghuo surmised. Sentinel City was located about 6,000 meters underground, and there were several underground vacuum pipelines that allowed for train travel to other cities or to the surface of Diyuan Star.
However, no outsider had ever set foot there.
"Weapon Shop."
Qi Xinghuo spotted a Jingying Tribe weapons store and walked in immediately. He found a variety of heat-based weapons on sale, useless in the Starry Realm but perfectly functional on the Diyuan Star. Moreover, the prices were reasonable, with most items costing only a few thousand True Dragon Coins.
Since he was no longer in the Starry Realm, Qi Xinghuo realized he needed to adapt his strategy and not solely rely on bows, arrows, and cold weapons.
After careful selection, he purchased a "Crystal Light Gun," similar to a laser gun from Earth but with a different manufacturing process. It had a composite structure of metal and crystal, was about a meter in length, and exuded a cool and stylish aura. The gun could continuously shoot high-temperature laser beams.
The Crystal Light Gun had a much longer range than Earth's laser guns, as it constrained beam scattering. While ensuring powerful lethality, its effective range exceeded 1500 meters! The only drawback was its excessive energy consumption.
It utilized a type of high-compression energy battery, resembling a crystal block. A single battery could only provide 300 shots.
Most of the Jingying Tribe's firearms relied on these high-energy batteries.
Qi Xinghuo bought five hundred high-energy batteries outright, along with a launcher similar to a plasma rocket launcher and its ammunition. He also selected four to five different types of explosives, astonishing the Jingying shop owner with his purchases. He stuffed everything into a large beast hide bag slung over his shoulder and walked out.
In an unmonitored corner, he made sure he wasn't being watched or recorded before storing most of the firearms into his dimensional stomach pouch.
He kept only the Crystal Light Gun and a dozen high-energy batteries on his person.
Then, he visited another weapons store and purchased several more batches of weapons and ammunition, filling up half of his dimensional pouch.
There was a newcomer's guide on the Eternal Sentinel forum, which Qi Xinghuo read carefully. It mentioned that the most important thing for newcomers was to learn how to scout for enemies, prevent ambushes, and flee immediately when encountering large-scale foes.
The most terrifying aspect of the Diyuan Star's enemies, the plants, and monsters, was their sheer number.
They always moved in swarms.
Endless and overwhelming, they would engulf everything in their path.
One must never be encircled by these monsters, or they would be dragged and tired to death.
In other aspects, food and water were abundant.
In addition to the monsters, countless unique and harmless plants had evolved on the Diyuan Star, bearing edible fruits, and water sources were everywhere. Races other than the Jingying Tribe could drink the water freely.
The Eternal Day Badge could connect to a satellite map, and the Jingying Tribe had divided the entire globe into several hundred areas, categorized into six levels based on danger.
Level one areas were relatively safe, while level six areas were the most perilous.
If the danger index changed, the levels would be updated, and nearby Eternal Sentinels would be notified promptly.
Even the lowest-level area could be deadly for those who were careless and complacent.
Newcomers were advised to team up for safety.
Qi Xinghuo didn't rush off. Instead, he found a restaurant, ordered some food and drink, and sat in a corner, delving into the information on the website and the forum. He scrolled through the posts, paying close attention to those with high view and reply counts.
He sat there for four to five hours, and the restaurant patrons had gotten used to his presence.
Many newcomers to the Diyuan Star from the Starry Realm would be fascinated by the Sky Net and high-tech products, finding them novel and captivating.
However, if anyone saw what was on Qi Xinghuo's screen, their jaws would drop in shock.
The holographic screen displayed information at a rapid pace.
Every few seconds, large amounts of text and images flashed by—information that most people might not even be able to glance through before it refreshed again.
But to Qi Xinghuo, this was a normal speed.
His eyes were focused, his super-frequency thinking activated, his brain processing the information at high speed as he read, organized, and summarized the content.
Turning off the screen, Qi Xinghuo looked up.
"No need to team up."
"With my strength, I can act alone."
"I'll start with the relatively safe level one areas to adapt to the environment and combat on Diyuan Star, and then move on to higher-level areas."
Qi Xinghuo left the restaurant and soon arrived at the vacuum train station in Sentinel City. He boarded a train and traveled for over three hours, covering a distance of six thousand kilometers to the other hemisphere of the Diyuan Star. Upon exiting the station, he found himself in an underground town with a diameter of several hundred meters.
This place served as a transportation hub for the Eternal Sentinels, providing access to the surface as well.
He passed the Jingying Tribe guards' identity verification and took an elevator, beginning his ascent to the surface. Every thousand meters or so, he had to pass through heavy gates and fire defense systems, transferring to another elevator. After six such transfers, he finally reached the topmost exit.
At this time, Qi Xinghuo was the only one heading to the surface from this exit.
The elevator ascended smoothly and then came to a stop.
As the elevator doors opened, Qi Xinghuo stepped out immediately. It was daytime outside, and a vibrant, lush world unfolded before his eyes.
(End of Chapter)
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