Evening, 7:20 PM.
After several hours of analysis, aided by spiritual enhancement, Chen Yue had achieved preliminary results in her research on the Amethyst Crystal Entity.
She successfully developed a scanning device capable of detecting the Amethyst Crystal Entity. This device, weighing over 5 tons, had a surface detection radius of 100 meters and could probe up to 50 meters underground. Although bulky and difficult to use, its creation marked a significant milestone for Su Wu, providing him with a mass-producible professional detection device. From now on, caravans, convoys, mining sites, and subsidiary shelters on the surface would no longer need to fear ambushes from the Amethyst Crystal Entity.
"Currently," Su Wu noted, "the most terrifying aspect of the Amethyst Crystal Entity is its ability to hide and ambush. Once precautions are taken, the threat becomes almost negligible."
At the control console, Su Wu reviewed the analysis data on the Amethyst Crystal Entity. In addition to developing the detector, Chen Yue had also studied the entity's defensive and regenerative properties. The results showed that a standard electromagnetic rifle could shatter its outer layer with two shots, rendering it mostly inactive. However, a shattered Amethyst Crystal Entity wasn't truly dead. If it had access to sufficient nutrients—equivalent to pre-apocalypse soil—it could regenerate by absorbing these nutrients through root-like filaments. To permanently eliminate them, an additional 35 grams of standard military explosives or 1 gram of metallic hydrogen explosives would be required to destroy the remnants in a small-scale explosion.
"In the chaos of battle, unexpected events are common," Su Wu thought. "Adding a small grenade after shattering the entity is highly challenging. Using large-caliber artillery for indiscriminate bombardment would be wasteful. The best approach is to design a specialized electromagnetic rifle round that combines penetration and explosive properties. Additionally, the current muzzle velocity of the electromagnetic rifle's bullets is insufficient. If the velocity could be increased by 1.5 times, a single shot could shatter the entity's shell and detonate the internal explosives, completely eradicating its remnants."
This highlighted the benefits of Su Wu's complete industrial manufacturing system and his near-bug-level research capabilities. Whether it was modifying electromagnetic rifle ammunition or upgrading the rifles themselves to have larger calibers and greater destructive power, he could achieve it—provided he invested enough spiritual energy into the research.
"On the other hand, the emergence of the Amethyst Crystal Entity isn't entirely negative," Su Wu reflected. "The completely inactive remnants left behind by the entity are an exceptionally versatile new material. They hold promise for developing more powerful laser beam weapons, higher-powered electromagnetic cannons and engines, and can replace other rare materials in the production of advanced transportation tools like Twin-Winged Helicopters and Icebound-class Land Battleships. However, it remains unclear whether these remnants could be influenced by other living Amethyst Crystal Entities, leading to unknown mutations. Further observation and experimentation are necessary."
After reviewing the latest research data, Su Wu accessed the production interface of the Super Factory on the control console. He adjusted several settings and added the specialized ammunition for the Amethyst Crystal Entity to the production queue. As for the more technically challenging next-generation electromagnetic rifle, which required on-site research, production was scheduled to begin in six hours. Upgrading such individual weapons wasn't difficult; it simply hadn't been necessary before. Now, with the demand, the research could be completed in just a few hours.
Having completed these tasks, Su Wu took a few minutes to upload the Amethyst Crystal Entity's data to the internet under the official name of Jianghe City. He even compiled a document and sent it to the federal capital, serving as a warning to all, urging them to take precautions against the entity.
"To this day," Su Wu mused, "we still don't know what kind of combat power these creatures, suspected to originate from the Earth's mantle, will possess once they mature with sufficient food. But it's safe to assume they won't be weak. Like the Underworld Flower, if they've appeared here, there's no reason they wouldn't appear elsewhere. I hope things don't spiral out of control."
Switching the screen to the Qinling Mountains area, Su Wu's gaze lingered on the shooting platforms hastily constructed on the cliffs of the Magma Canyon. He sighed softly. All he could do was strengthen his defenses to prevent the Amethyst Crystal Entity from growing near him. Beyond that, the situation was beyond his control.
January 24th.
The world remained unchanged despite the emergence of the Amethyst Crystal Entity. From Eastern Continent to the Americas, beneath the vast snowfields and thick ice layers, the shelters built by the wealthy and powerful continued to thrive with music and revelry. For them, whether it was past earthquakes and extreme heat or the current blizzards and cold waves, as long as they weren't unlucky enough to be in the epicenter of a major earthquake, their abundant resources and advanced technology shielded them from the surface's environmental impacts. Their lives were no worse than before the apocalypse—if anything, the lack of oversight and external scrutiny allowed them to indulge even more freely.
Few noticed that in a remote corner of the Eastern Continent, a silent war between humans and subterranean creatures was unfolding, one with no end in sight. Meanwhile, among the general populace outside the Eastern Continent, information channels were so limited that most remained unaware of the Amethyst Crystal Entity's existence. For them, the struggle to pay daily living expenses, including air taxes, consumed all their energy, leaving little room to worry about disasters outside their shelters—let alone a small city thousands of kilometers away in the Eastern Continent.
Within the Eastern Continent, Su Wu's internet coverage ensured relatively smooth information flow. News of the Amethyst Crystal Entity sparked some heated discussions, but nothing more. Although the entity's ability to consume humans at a certain stage of growth was somewhat sensational, all the circulating videos showed it being effortlessly suppressed by Su Wu's forces. Moreover, with no sightings of the entity outside Jianghe City, few felt genuine fear or panic. Instead, the entity became a topic of curiosity and casual conversation.
Occasionally, high-level officials from a few supercities turned their attention to the Amethyst Crystal Entity, but their focus was solely on its research value as a species capable of surviving in extreme cold. After failing to obtain samples from Su Wu for research purposes, they took no further action. For research alone, it wasn't worth traveling thousands of kilometers to confront Su Wu.
"This is somewhat good news," Su Wu thought. The world's indifferent reaction surprised him, but the absence of the Amethyst Crystal Entity elsewhere was equally beneficial. It meant all variables were still under his control. As long as he maintained a strict blockade around the Qinling Mountains and increased patrols around Jianghe City, there was no risk of the entity spiraling out of control. This gave Su Wu more time to focus on his own development.
After handling his daily tasks, Su Wu stood up and walked to the metal platform in the control center. The latest developments in the Magma Canyon area of the Qinling Mountains were projected onto the platform. As Su Wu gradually invested more defensive resources in the area, the level of monitoring reached a point nearly comparable to that of the farmhouse. Any Amethyst Crystal Entity emerging from the magma would immediately be targeted by the new electromagnetic guns mounted on the canyon's cliffs. Simultaneously, whenever a significant amount of entity remnants accumulated in the canyon, Express Delivery Drones stationed in the cliffside bunkers would take off to collect them.
Glancing at the statistics displayed beside the holographic projection, Su Wu noted that in the past hour, 297 Amethyst Crystal Entities had been killed, with approximately 37% of their remnants successfully recovered. "The numbers have dropped significantly," he observed. The largest surge occurred at 3 AM today, when over 17,000 entities emerged within a single minute, accompanied by a minor magma eruption. Riding the ejected magma flow, many entities broke through the canyon's defenses and surged into the sky outside. However, none survived. The Qinling Mountains outside the canyon were equipped with Su Wu's firepower points, along with over 10,000 Spider Robots and thousands of drones patrolling the area. The entities were obliterated before they could even descend, yielding a substantial amount of materials for Su Wu. Since then, the number of emerging entities had noticeably decreased, with only a handful appearing each minute.
Reviewing the combat records, including textual data and videos from multiple angles, Su Wu frowned as he noticed something amiss. The later waves of entities seemed to be testing his defenses, with each emergence varying in number, location, and size. If Su Wu were in their position, the data from these hours of combat would have allowed him to deduce the canyon's defensive setup. "Could there be a highly intelligent being directing these Amethyst Crystal Entities?" he wondered uneasily.
At that moment, an alert appeared in his field of vision, and the holographic map of the Qinling Mountains began to be tinted with large patches of light red. In areas where Su Wu had previously used heavy artillery to strip away layers of earth, dense clusters of Underworld Flowers had inexplicably sprouted once again.
"Here we go again," Su Wu sighed with a headache, swiftly issuing commands. "Express Delivery Drones, return to base and reload with incendiary bombs. Spider Robots, record the coordinates and avoid the upcoming burning zones." Compared to the Amethyst Crystal Entity, the Underworld Flowers were far more difficult to prevent. Before they broke through the soil, they could blend seamlessly with their surroundings, rendering all detection methods useless. Even direct visual inspection couldn't spot them. Destroying them was equally challenging. While burning the emerged parts was straightforward, ensuring complete eradication was nearly impossible. Even heavy artillery couldn't guarantee that some seeds wouldn't survive the explosion and be scattered by the shockwaves and wind to new locations. The only method Su Wu could rely on was repeated burning whenever the flowers appeared, depleting the area's nutrients until nothing could grow there.
Minutes later, the Express Delivery Drones, now equipped with incendiary bombs, took off in waves, spreading flames across dozens of square kilometers around the Qinling Mountains. The pristine, fragile Underworld Flowers stood out starkly against the orange flames and black smoke as they were consumed.
Midnight.
Apart from the workers on rotating shifts digging and expanding the shelter beneath the farmhouse, most of Jianghe City was asleep. In the silence, a faint, eerie rustling sound began to echo. It was almost imperceptible, maintaining the same frequency and intensity, appearing in every corner of Jianghe City—whether in the secure underground control center of the farmhouse, the distant mountain depths, the city's urban areas, or above the Magma Canyon in the Qinling Mountains. The artificial intelligence monitoring the farmhouse and the entire Jianghe City detected this faint sound. However, since it posed no threat and caused no other effects, it didn't trigger any warnings and was merely logged as an anomaly for Su Wu to review upon waking.
Meanwhile, large clusters of Underworld Flowers once again began to sprout in the Qinling Mountains. This time, however, they grew only a few millimeters before halting their development, silently absorbing nutrients from the soil before the AI's warning and countermeasures could be activated.
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