Chapter 17: War

Words : 1439 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

The vanguard robot made contact with the black mass. To Xiao Yu’s surprise, as the distance closed to just one decimeter, the black, unknown entities suddenly accelerated. In the blink of an eye, they traversed the remaining distance and latched onto the robot’s dull silver exterior. As if the robot were a delicacy, the black tide surged forward. Under Xiao Yu’s watchful gaze, it took only 30 seconds for the black mass to completely envelop the robot. At that moment, Xiao Yu abruptly lost all signal from the unit. The indicator lights on the robot continued to flash, proving that its internal systems were still operational. However, the signal was entirely blocked. Deprived of Xiao Yu’s control, the robot stood motionless, losing all functionality. At last, Xiao Yu understood how the first robot had vanished. Undoubtedly, these strange black organisms possessed an extraordinarily powerful ability to block signals. It was then that Xiao Yu finally got a clear look at the nature of the black tide. They were insects—countless insects, each about the size of an ant on Earth. They were an endless swarm! These insects had flat bodies, less than one-tenth of a millimeter thick, three millimeters long, and one millimeter wide. They had no legs and moved by wriggling their abdomens. One thing was undeniable: they were living organisms. Lifeforms on Titan, capable of surviving in temperatures below -160°C. Xiao Yu’s mind raced with countless hypotheses. The robot stood still, covered in the swarm. After five minutes, its indicator lights finally went dark. “The insects... infiltrated its interior and destroyed its circuits,” Xiao Yu deduced. “No! I can’t let them get near Base Three! The rare earth mineral veins here are absolutely critical and cannot be abandoned!” Xiao Yu made an instant decision. His immense computational power churned through countless contingency plans, only to reject them one by one. “No, there’s too little data. I don’t know their vulnerabilities, their evolutionary traits, or what they rely on to survive...” Xiao Yu sighed and directed the Fengshen-1 helicopter to descend. Hovering five meters above the ground, it deployed a mechanical arm to retrieve the now-defunct robot and flew back toward the main base. The remaining four robots were ordered to return to Base Three immediately. Based on the distance and the unknown organisms’ advancement rate of five meters per minute, Xiao Yu estimated that it would take about three days for them to reach Base Three. This gave him ample preparation time. Of course, this hinged on his ability to gather comprehensive data on these organisms and devise a countermeasure within the next three days. The Fengshen-1 helicopter returned to the main base in just 15 minutes. Awaiting it was a large, fully sealed transparent glass chamber. The retrieved robot was placed inside, sealed, and transported into the laboratory by other robots. Xiao Yu immediately allocated 0.01% of his computational resources to analyze the unknown organisms. To put this into perspective, Xiao Yu’s current computational power was over a thousand times that of the central computer on his old spaceship. Even 0.01% of his capacity was equivalent to about one-tenth of that computer’s total processing power. Controlling a precision robot, Xiao Yu performed several dissections of the unknown organisms and placed the samples under a microscope. “They have basic cellular structures... Hmm? The cytoplasm doesn’t contain water? It’s entirely composed of liquid methane?” This discovery left Xiao Yu utterly stunned. Human understanding had long held that water was inextricably linked to life. Without water, life couldn’t exist—or so it had always been believed. Who could have imagined that in the extreme environment of Titan, lifeforms would evolve to use liquid methane in place of water? These organisms fundamentally overturned Xiao Yu’s understanding of biology, once again affirming the saying: “The universe is vast, and nothing is impossible.” Xiao Yu formed a hypothesis and sent the Fengshen-1 helicopter back to Lake Two near Base Three to collect approximately two liters of liquid methane. The helicopter then returned to the main base with the samples. The liquid methane was placed in the laboratory, and Xiao Yu immediately began analysis. The results confirmed Xiao Yu’s hypothesis. Within the liquid methane, Xiao Yu discovered microscopic plankton-like organisms, akin to bacteria on Earth. However, unlike Earth’s bacteria, which rely on water as their primary structural medium, these plankton used liquid methane as their base. “These plankton breathe nitrogen and feed on organic matter... The strange black insects feed on these plankton.” Thus, Titan’s unique liquid methane-based biosphere had given rise to an ecosystem completely different from Earth’s. “But what is attracting them to Base Three and driving them to attack it?” Xiao Yu pondered a new question. A theory began to take shape in Xiao Yu’s mind. To test it, he inserted a glass rod cooled to approximately -180°C into the sealed glass chamber containing the black insects. Inside the chamber, the ambient temperature was -162°C. Xiao Yu carefully observed their reaction. The black insects immediately fled from the glass rod, as though it were a deadly poison. Xiao Yu was intrigued. He withdrew the rod, heated it to -140°C, and reinserted it into the chamber. This time, the insects grew agitated. They swarmed toward the glass rod, and within seconds, completely enveloped it. The -140°C temperature caused the methane inside their bodies to boil, killing them instantly. Despite this, they clung to the rod tenaciously. “Heat-seeking behavior,” Xiao Yu concluded. “No matter where life originates, it seems no organism can escape the laws of energy conservation,” Xiao Yu sighed. The answer was simple. Any tangible, mobile organism requires energy to move. In most cases, heat correlates with energy. On Titan, where the average temperature is below -160°C, the black insects maintained an internal temperature of around -150°C. To sustain their lives, they needed to maintain their body heat. Their relentless pursuit of heat defined their existence. Therefore, the constant heat output of Base Three made it their ideal paradise. With everything explained, Xiao Yu now faced the critical task of eliminating these insects. The rare earth veins at Base Three were far too valuable to abandon. Since the insects posed a threat, the only option was to eradicate them. Xiao Yu quickly devised a straightforward plan: burn them. Titan’s atmospheric pressure is higher than Earth’s, so liquid methane boils at a slightly higher temperature, around -152°C. Killing the insects would simply require raising the temperature to this boiling point, causing the methane within their bodies to vaporize and effectively “boil” them to death. It was akin to placing humans in a high-temperature environment where the water inside their bodies would boil. Xiao Yu extracted the corpses of the dead insects for further examination, intending to perform X-ray scans. To his surprise, X-rays couldn’t penetrate their bodies! Intrigued, Xiao Yu conducted a series of additional tests. The results astounded him once again. “These insect carcasses possess radiation resistance ten times greater than the best radiation-shielding materials on Earth!” Xiao Yu smirked. “Since you dared to invade my Base Three, don’t blame me for turning your corpses into construction materials.” Xiao Yu swiftly evaluated the defensive capabilities of Base Three. Currently, the base had 15 flamethrower robots and 20 laser cannon robots. Originally designed for mining, these robots were now repurposed as part of Xiao Yu’s defensive force. “This isn’t enough,” Xiao Yu considered. “And now that I know Titan harbors life, I can’t afford to neglect the defenses of the main base. Who knows if similar creatures exist in Azure Lake?” After some deliberation, Xiao Yu decided to focus on flamethrowers. They were simple to manufacture, and there were already plenty available. Within one day, he planned to produce 300 additional flamethrower robots and dispatch them to Base Three. The emergency plan was executed swiftly. Twenty-four hours later, 300 flamethrower robots, armed with sufficient fuel, were en route to Base Three. After another 45 hours, the reinforcements arrived at their destination and prepared for battle. Construction at Base Three was halted entirely. All non-combat robots gathered in the large factory buildings, while immovable machinery was shut down to minimize heat output and avoid attracting the black insects’ attention. Two hundred and ninety robots formed the first defensive line, while the remaining 45 encircled the factory buildings as the second line of defense. The Fengshen-1 helicopter served as a scout, hovering low over Base Three and continuously relaying reports to Xiao Yu for real-time decision-making. With preparations complete, Xiao Yu sat in silence, awaiting the impending war.

Chapter 17: War

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