This plant looks very familiar.
When Li Bai, Yang Jia, Zhuo Tianyang, and the others had entered the isolated space, searching for a way out, Yang Jia had shown Li Bai a plant that he said looked very familiar, but he just couldn't place it. Because the plant wasn't mentioned in any of the available documentation at the time, the matter ultimately fell through.
Li Bai didn't expect to see this plant again at such a time and place.
This is something that no database on earth can possibly record!
In other words, this couldn't possibly be knowledge Yang Jia, as a special NPC, had gained from the system. Therefore, after eliminating all other possibilities, the final conclusion, however unbelievable, was the truth—Yang Jia had most likely been to Hope Star!
"What's wrong?" Seeing Li Bai staring at a certain place with a serious expression, Ma Xiaoyang immediately became alert.
This was his first time operating with Li Bai, so he hadn't previously taken him seriously. In fact, it wasn't just him; the vast majority of the aristocratic family members who hadn't experienced frontline combat were not impressed by Li Bai. They thought he was just a bit tougher, but there was no way he could outperform high-tech weapons. There was nothing to praise about him.
Of course, it must be acknowledged that, having learned from Earth's experience, most high-tech weapons are unsuitable for use on Hope. Therefore, with Li Bai around, the Chinese region has a significant advantage. However, in the eyes of many, this is merely a shady trick.
Especially those with special skills, like Ma Xiaoyang, who spoke of Li Bai with a mysterious air of superiority. She called herself the daughter of the Li family, but in reality, she was more like a weapon of the Li family. What good could there be in such an awkward position?
But when he really came into contact with him, Ma Xiaoyang discovered that Li Bai's intuition and sharpness in dealing with this unknown environment were far better than those of others, and he could often perceive more things.
Li Bai shook her head, stepped forward, and picked one of the plants. She didn't recognize the plant and planned to take it back to the base to find someone to see what it was.
Having finished their tour of the forest, the group turned around and headed back.
According to their assumption, those who were left behind should have already evacuated the jungle and returned to the base. But for some reason, when Li Bai led the way, he chose a path that would pass by the place where those people were knocked down by the miasma.
Before they even reached the destination, Li Bai's face changed. Soon after, the expressions of the others also became serious, because everyone noticed that the surrounding environment was not right and it made people feel very uneasy.
After walking a little further, you can see where you camped before.
Li Bai paused, and the people following her also stopped. After a while, Ma Xiaoyang asked in a hoarse voice, "What... is going on?"
The two hundred or so people who had been left behind, who should have evacuated the area, were still lying there. Although they were still far away, the troops were all soldiers, veterans of the battlefield, and could still distinguish the living from the dead.
Those people in the camp were all dead.
Ma Xiaoyang didn't want an answer. He quickly came to his senses and waved his hand, "Let's go up and take a look!"
"Wait." Li Bai quickly stopped them, "Pay attention to your surroundings, there might be something fishy going on here."
The team moved forward slowly under caution.
The climate on Hope is similar to Earth's, but not in sync. It's late winter on Earth, but here it's the middle of summer and autumn, and the weather is still quite hot. It's unknown how long these people have been dead, their bodies already decaying, emitting a very unpleasant odor.
The atmosphere was silent and oppressive. Although the number of casualties on the battlefield was no less than here, the feeling was completely different. After all, there had been fighting on the battlefield, while these people had clearly died without any defense.
They had clearly checked the entire jungle and confirmed that there was no danger at all. But then something like this happened. How could they not be terrified?
Li Bai carefully walked over to a corpse and squatted down to examine it. Behind her, Ma Xiaoyang hesitated to speak until Li Bai stood up again. Then, hesitantly, he asked, "Is it... a virus?"
His tone was very cautious, and it was hard to tell whether he hoped it was a virus or not.
Li Bai shook his head. "A virus infection doesn't kill people that quickly." If the virus had developed that quickly, there wouldn't have been enough time to send people back to the moon and freeze them. Even if the virus had evolved, it couldn't have died that quickly, so it wasn't a virus.
Ma Xiaoyang didn't say anything else, and Li Bai ignored him and said, "We have to take these people back."
Now, any incident on Hope Star must be taken seriously. At this moment when we are preparing for in-depth exploration, this incident must be treated with caution. The cause of these people's deaths must be discovered as soon as possible, and a targeted plan must be developed.
These corpses must naturally be taken back to the laboratory for research.
Ma Xiaoyang didn't object. Even if there was no research need, collecting the bodies of his comrades was something he had to do.
While the others were moving the bodies, Li Bai wandered around and noticed something unusual. There were many dead insects on the ground near the campsite. This wasn't unusual, given the abundance of insects in the forest and the precautions taken during camping. The loss of mosquitoes was normal. But Li Bai hesitated for a moment before collecting some of the insects.
——She suspected that these bugs were related to the deaths of the soldiers.
Even if the mosquitoes were poisonous, they wouldn't be so deadly in such a short time that the two hundred people didn't have time to react. But when she examined the soldier's body earlier, she did see small red bumps on his arm that looked like mosquito bites.
Emerging from the forest, Ma Xiaoyang's expression was grave. This mission had been a failure. With so many casualties unnoticed, the so-called "investigation" results were naturally invalidated. With such a heavy loss, they would definitely be punished upon their return.
Li Bai looked back at the forest. It still looked peaceful and quiet. From the surface, there was no sign of any danger hidden within.
But Li Bai could clearly feel that this planet was not welcoming to human beings as "invaders".
Perhaps this isn't a very clear-cut attitude, nor has any organism ever summarized it, but just as the human body's internal physiological system, when damaged, will spontaneously reject the diseased part and divide into specialized cells to clean it up, this planet may also be using its own way to expel the invader from its body.
In the past, Li Bai wouldn't have thought of this. Aerial photography revealed that this planet was devoid of human civilization. It was like a new habitat prepared by God for humanity, waiting for them to develop.
But Li Bai met Yang Jia in the game.
From the players' perspective, the game world was created specifically for leisure and entertainment, and naturally served them. But Li Bai knew better than anyone that NPCs like Yang Jia didn't actually welcome players.
However, most NPCs lacked their own consciousness and were controlled by the system, so they couldn't notice this. After Yang Jia awakened, he began his own struggle.
How similar is this situation to the current Hope Star?
Even if there's no "human civilization" on Hope Planet, who knows if there aren't other civilizations beyond our comprehension? Even if there aren't, there are countless species living there. They'll certainly not be polite to humans who invade their territory.
Previously, due to the presence of the infectious virus, Earth's attention was focused on this, believing it to be the greatest obstacle in developing Hope. But now, Li Bai had a vague feeling that the road ahead might not be much easier than before. He might even encounter more and greater difficulties.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that she didn't leave, Ma Xiaoyang turned around and asked.
Li Bai came back to his senses, suppressed this thought in his heart, turned around and left.
She didn't express her thoughts. Not everyone could understand this statement. Even she herself probably wouldn't think about things from this perspective before she met Yang Jia.
And what if her statement was accepted?
Earth is already in danger, and it's unclear how much longer it can hold out. Developing a new planet is imperative. Not to mention they've already invested so much manpower and resources in Hope. Most of their annual fiscal expenditure goes into this.
Moreover, from ancient times to the present, land reclamation has always been a task full of difficulties, obstacles and dangers. It is a feat that requires the lives of generations to come, isn't it?
The nearly 20 billion humans on Earth were originally prepared for this.
Cruel, cold-blooded, yet realistic.
Upon returning to base and learning of what had transpired in the forest, the entire base immediately sprang into action. They had initially assumed there was no danger, simply sending a team to scout the route, a routine procedure. But they hadn't anticipated such an unexpected event. Consequently, their previous plans had to be reconsidered.
All the survivors of the operation were called in for interviews, including Li Bai. However, all she did was share the mosquito carcasses she had collected and her theories for the researchers to verify.
Li Bai then went to the biology laboratory and took out the plant he had collected, intending to ask someone to recognize it. If they didn't, he would ask them to perform a simple experimental analysis.
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