Chapter 539: The Danger of Ferns

The winding cave was filled entirely with soil, layered with liquids of various colors, emitting a foul stench that was unbearable.

"Activate the air purification system." The engineer frowned, pressing two buttons on his suit; his furrowed brow immediately relaxed.

"That's impressive—you can even purify the air," Ye Nan said, feigning admiration.

"Country bumpkin," the engineer spat, bluntly attacking him. "Only your low-level civilization would worship air purification systems so much."

"True. Your kind developed by destroying your own environment—industrial pollution has reached an appalling level. I truly don't understand how you can live happily in a world full of toxic gases."

If it were me, I'd leave the planet. Oh, right—you can't escape it. Still, I suggest you buy air purification technology instead of obsessing over weapons. Imbalanced development isn't healthy.

The engineer warned him, but his gaze held malice.

Whether silver credits or battle merits, both are limited. Investing finite resources into environmental improvement means less funding for weapons, weakening your strength.

It might not matter during peace, but now that the insectoid race has launched a full-scale assault, civilizations lacking sufficient military power have only one fate: annihilation.

Don't assume low-level civilizations are safe. Once war spreads across the galaxy, low-level civilizations are the first to be wiped out. In fact, in just these few days, two low-level civilizations have already been erased.

Before the overwhelming insectoid hordes, only high-level civilizations stand a chance. All others? They flee in panic—no, they don't even get that chance. The insects devour civilizations along with their planets.

"Alright, I'll take care of it when I get back," Ye Nan nodded, pretending to take the advice seriously. In truth, he dismissed the engineer's suggestion entirely—he always let such obviously deceptive advice go in one ear and out the other.

"Actually…" The engineer hesitated. The words were on his tongue, but he couldn't speak them. He realized he'd just done something foolish.

Though he disliked Ye Nan intensely and wanted to kill him immediately, he felt an innate pity for other members of the Human Federation. To punish one person by dragging an entire civilization down seemed excessive.

But the words were already spoken; retracting them was difficult.

"Forget it. If they're attacked by the insects, they'll die anyway—whether they have a little weapon tech or not," the engineer decided, choosing not to reveal his thoughts.

"What were you going to say?" Ye Nan asked, puzzled.

"Nothing," the engineer turned away, hiding his hesitation. "Let's go. Hurry and collect the Source of Evolution."

Saying this, the engineer broke into a light run. Ye Nan followed suit.

As they went deeper into the cave, the foul odor lessened. The ground no longer showed insect secretions; instead, green ferns covered it.

"The direction is correct. The disappearance of insect secretions and stench means these ferns have an effect similar to an air purification system," Ye Nan murmured inwardly. Familiar ferns rose in his mind, stirring a strange feeling within him.

He remembered the giant fern on the unnamed planet, once believed to be alive. After the insectoid overlord Harris's consciousness was destroyed, it withered. Now that this fern had reappeared, he felt a strange sensation—as if this lifeform harbored hatred toward him. It was a feeling, a peculiar one.

"Could this fern not only be alive, but conscious?" A terrifying suspicion surged in Ye Nan's mind.

"If these ferns are here, then the insectoid commander must be nearby," the engineer said, staring at the ferns on the ground. His face, hidden beneath the transparent shield, grew grim. With his white, thick space glove, he picked up a fern and warned, "Be careful. Don't let this thing eat you."

"Eat me? So this plant is alive?" Though he already knew the answer, Ye Nan feigned ignorance to extract information.

"Of course it's alive," the engineer said gravely. "No one knows its name, but everyone knows it's one of the insectoids' food sources—like their mycelial mats, it provides energy to the insects. The difference is: mycelial mats feed newborn insects; this feeds adult ones."

"It secretes a liquid capable of corroding all minerals, metals, and other materials. Almost nothing can resist its corrosion."

"Once something is corroded by its liquid, it becomes nourishment for the liquid. This fluid contains massive energy—when ingested by insects, it sustains them for at least half a month."

"Legend says that given enough time, it can absorb an entire planet."

"Then how do you destroy it?" Ye Nan asked.

Though he had already overestimated the danger of these ferns, he still underestimated them. These ferns weren't just insectoid logistics—they were their ultimate weapon. Imagine: the insectoids occupy a planet; humans are about to reclaim it—even if they can't, they can use mass-destruction weapons like nukes to cleanse the battlefield.

But once these ferns take root, and you fail to kill them, the entire planet will eventually become nourishment and vanish from the universe.

Ye Nan suddenly recalled the back-and-forth battles between insectoids and humans. Now he realized: they were preparing the planet for the ferns to consume it.

Human civilization requires diverse minerals. The insectoids need energy. Their conflict, at its core, is over control of the planet. Unknowingly, the insectoids implanted fern seeds deep within the planet's core to digest it. The Human Federation, unaware, only fought over surface territory. It was, in every way, tragic.

"Find its roots and kill them," the engineer said grimly. "Fern roots usually lie deep underground. But your civilization has no way to kill them except with planetary destruction cannons."

He paused, then added: "Once I've gathered the Source of Evolution, I'll help you eradicate the ferns."

"Can you tell me how exactly to kill it?" Ye Nan asked with a ingratiating smile. He had no intention of waiting for the engineer's help—he planned to use the insectoids to kill the engineer himself. To eliminate the fern threat, he needed the method—and he'd do it himself.

"Simple. Virus," the engineer tapped his suit a few times, then grabbed a transparent vial. "Throw this onto the fern's body—it will corrode and wither it. But you must hit its core. Otherwise, you'll just alert it, and it'll shed part of itself to survive."

The fern's body isn't huge, but it's not small either. To corrode it with virus requires time. During that time, it can easily shed a limb to survive.

"This thing," Ye Nan grinned, snatched the vial, and carefully stowed it away.

Seeing Ye Nan's action, the engineer sneered, "You think you can kill the fern yourself? Dream on."

"I just want to hand it over to the Human Federation for research," Ye Nan offered a flimsy excuse.

The engineer burst into laughter, as if hearing the greatest joke. "Research? With your pitiful Human Federation virus tech? You think you can study Prometheus-class viruses? Ridiculous."

"Even if you can't research it, you can still keep it. It's still a valuable item, isn't it?" Ye Nan didn't care about the mockery. He wasn't part of the Human Federation. The Temporal Empire had long excelled in virus technology. Just the T-virus variants alone had spawned countless generations—so many even he, as the Temporal Empire's emperor, didn't know the exact number.

"You think you've scored a win, don't you?" The engineer's face turned green. He felt like a clown, boasting about something he thought was brilliant, while the other person didn't even care.

"Exactly," Ye Nan said smugly. "If I sold this online, it'd fetch a high price."

"Actually, it's worthless," the engineer said. "It's just a virus specifically designed for ferns. It has zero research value."

To hurt Ye Nan, the engineer even belittled his own virus.

"Who cares? It's free. Free stuff is always welcome," Ye Nan shrugged, casually.

"You…" The engineer's anger flared. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became—a nameless rage burned in his chest.

"Give me back my virus."

The engineer lunged to grab the vial, but Ye Nan had anticipated this—he pulled his hand back, dodging the grab. "Are all Prometheus people such cheapskates?"

To Ye Nan, the virus was a lucky find. Whether he used it to corrode the ferns and erase them from the planet, or took it back for Dr. Axi Ford to study and expand the T-virus lineage, he might even create a brand-new virus.

"Fine, you win," the engineer's face twisted, then he turned and walked away. (To be continued.)