Chapter 49: Landing on the Alien Planet

Words : 1409 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

The Village-Class ships were versatile, capable of flying both in near-Earth and interstellar spaces. Even in the dense atmosphere, these ships maintained smooth flight. As the ships descended, the thermal imaging detectors began capturing the planet’s surface. Xiao Yu observed an endless desert—no water, no liquid substances, and no visible traces of life. At the same time, Xiao Yu detected intense nuclear radiation, remnants of the hydrogen bombs he had previously detonated on the planet. The five Village-Class ships didn’t land immediately but began a thorough search of the planet under the guidance of the 80-plus satellites in orbit. The results astonished Xiao Yu. Despite the planet’s vast size, traces of intelligent life occupied only a tiny portion. He found a single area resembling a human city, several towering structures—over 10,000 meters tall—located along the equator, and a few scattered mining bases. Xiao Yu speculated that the massive structures along the equator were supergiant fusion engines responsible for propelling the planet through space. The discovery of only one city puzzled him. “Could they be living underground? No, that doesn’t make sense. If they lived underground, why build cities on the surface? Whatever the case, let’s investigate first.” Xiao Yu directed one Village-Class ship to land on the outskirts of the city. Two hundred robots formed orderly ranks and began advancing toward the city. These robots had been specially modified by Xiao Yu, built with materials resistant to the planet’s sulfur-rich atmosphere. Each was armed with a Gauss pistol, a cutting-edge weapon designed by Xiao Yu. In his control, these robots possessed remarkable close-combat capabilities. The Gauss pistol did not fire bullets using gunpowder. Instead, it used electromagnetic coils to accelerate projectiles, giving them extremely high initial velocity and devastating power. The electromagnetic acceleration technology, used for high-rate machine guns on Xiao Yu’s spacecraft, had been miniaturized into the Gauss pistol. The city’s architecture was peculiar, unlike anything Xiao Yu had ever encountered. Most structures were low and squat, with only buildings meant for research, military, or other specialized uses exceeding five meters in height. Xiao Yu guessed this design optimized access to geothermal energy. The low buildings worked to Xiao Yu’s advantage. With fewer obstructions, his scanners could more accurately detect heat sources on the ground to determine if any lifeforms remained active. Amid the dark terrain, the two hundred robots, equipped with night vision, slowly spread out to explore the city. Xiao Yu needed to know what had happened on this planet over the past month. In the conflict between the Phantoms and the intelligent species, had the Phantoms eradicated their opponents, or had the aliens defeated the Phantoms? If the Phantoms had wiped out the aliens, where had the Phantoms gone? If the aliens had destroyed the Phantoms, did they still have the strength to stage an ambush? This alien planet was like a living nightmare. With no light sources, a sulfur-laden atmosphere, and an uninhabitable environment, it resembled a vision of hell for humans. Thankfully, the robots were immune to fear. Otherwise, even the most highly trained human special forces would likely crumble under the psychological pressure of such an environment. One robot separated from the main group and approached a ten-meter-tall structure. In a city dominated by buildings less than five meters high, this structure stood out conspicuously. Xiao Yu surmised that something important might be inside. Suddenly, vibrations transmitted through the air were detected by the robot’s sensors. Where there is air, vibrations mean sound. The signal was relayed from the robot to the temporary base, then transmitted via satellite to The Solar. Xiao Yu immediately took notice. Thermal imaging detected a moving object—a bizarre creature about 30 centimeters tall but over two meters long, with six legs. The creature resembled a lizard but had a disproportionately large head and lacked a long snout. The creature made strange, unintelligible sounds as it backed away into the building, seemingly terrified of the robot. Its behavior caught Xiao Yu’s attention. Typically, low-intelligence creatures emit only a limited range of sounds. The variety of distinct tones this creature produced suggested it might be intelligent. Xiao Yu quickly directed the robot to aim its Gauss pistol at the creature and fire a burst in front of it. The high-velocity Gauss rounds shattered the ground, causing the creature to scream before falling silent as if it had fainted. Xiao Yu found the situation amusing. He commanded the robot to approach, pick up the creature, and carry it out to rejoin the main group. Once they regrouped, five robots bound the creature tightly with high-strength ropes and loaded it onto a waiting Village-Class ship. The ship lifted off and returned to The Solar, where the alien creature was secured for further study. “Although you caused me immense losses, you’ve already failed. As the victor, I have no interest in cruelty. Go meet your god painlessly.” Xiao Yu thought to himself as he directed the robot to decapitate the lizard-like creature. It died in its unconscious state, free of pain. Afterward, a thorough examination began, and Xiao Yu meticulously analyzed the gathered data. “Warm-blooded, maintaining a consistent body temperature of around 27 degrees Celsius. Brain capacity: 3,000 milliliters—not much different from humans. Hermaphroditic, capable of self-reproduction. That means no love, no families... Their society must be cold and emotionless.” “Similar to humans, they rely on liquid to transport nutrients within their bodies. They have a large digestive organ and a particularly strong immune system.” Xiao Yu continued his research step by step. Gradually, an intriguing detail caught his attention. “They... appear to have originally been bipedal. The forelimbs are clearly weaker than the hind limbs, indicating they likely underwent an evolution from crawling to walking upright. Then, for some reason, they reverted to a crawling gait. The most plausible explanation is that crawling better enables them to access this planet’s geothermal energy.” “Hmm? Are these... degenerated optical sensors? Their eyes?” Xiao Yu observed that the creature’s eyes had atrophied, replaced by a thermal sensory organ in the same location. Xiao Yu eventually reached a conclusion. “They’re likely not native to this planet. It seems they migrated here from a completely different environment. To adapt to this planet’s conditions, they transitioned from upright walking to crawling and replaced optical perception with thermal sensing.” “Every civilization has its own grand and tumultuous story,” Xiao Yu mused, before returning to his analysis. Capturing this creature served another purpose: understanding its physiology better to develop more effective weapons. The presence of these beings indicated that in the conflict between the Phantoms and the intelligent species, the Phantoms had likely been eradicated. It also suggested that survivors remained, posing an ongoing threat. Xiao Yu couldn’t allow them to persist but was also unable to attack the city with hydrogen bombs, as doing so would destroy the electronics he needed to access vital information. The Phantoms’ slaughter would have been swift, leaving no time for the aliens to destroy all their data. Thus, Xiao Yu had no interest in interrogating survivors. Everything he needed could be found in their electronic systems. After a comprehensive study of the lizard-like creature’s anatomy, an idea formed in Xiao Yu’s mind. “In this situation, an infrasound weapon is ideal—effective against biological lifeforms without damaging buildings or electronics.” Xiao Yu concluded that a frequency of nine hertz would be most effective and immediately began developing the corresponding infrasound weapons. While infrasound weapons were unusable in the vacuum of space, they were extremely effective on planets with dense atmospheres. The principle of infrasound weapons lies in using low-frequency mechanical waves to induce resonance within biological organs, causing deformation, displacement, or even rupture, thereby achieving lethal effects. During this period, Xiao Yu balanced the development of the weapon with large-scale landing operations. The number of Village-Class ships on the planet’s surface increased to over fifty, deploying more than 10,000 robots to explore the city. Within the city, the robots frequently encountered resistance from the lizard-like beings. Xiao Yu responded mercilessly, eliminating them one by one, though their persistent resistance proved an annoyance. As time passed, Xiao Yu’s colossal infrasound weapon was finally ready for deployment. He constructed five of these massive infrasound devices, each mounted on a Village-Class ship. Under Xiao Yu’s control, the ships hovered over the city, ensuring the entire metropolis fell within the infrasound weapon’s destructive range.

Chapter 49: Landing on the Alien Planet

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