Chapter 162 - Chapter 162: Graveyard Planets
Chapter 162: Graveyard Planets
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The battle at the Alliance Galaxy’s fortress was not only being watched by the combatants.
The Milky Way’s young civilizations were also observing that battle. The battle there would determine their actual strategies.
The ‘caterpillar fungus disease,’ which they thought could be effectively contained, brought even greater harm. No one expected that those ancient space ‘mythical lifeforms’ would become part of the ‘caterpillar fungus disease.’
“That’s the Mother Space Whale, and….” The alliance fleet commander, who was in charge of that battle, finally revealed a look of despair.
Other than the Mother, who was leading the way, more and more gigantic ‘mythical lifeforms’ appeared from the void in the darkness.
Some of them were recorded by the Milky Way, but most of them were undiscovered lifeforms.
Only then did the Milky Way civilizations realize that so many mysterious space behemoths existed in the Milky Way.
All the civilizations, including the Pyro Alliance, were gravely concerned about that. So many space behemoths infected with ‘caterpillar fungus disease’ had gathered there alone.
That kind of ‘mythical lifeform’ had the ability to rival an entire fleet. How many would they have to face then?
“Among the mythical lifeforms that have appeared here, the Mother Space Whale and the Split-Clawed Dragon have been recorded….”
A scientist from the Pyro Alliance looked at the images that were interrupted occasionally due to unknown influences and kept flipping through their documents.
The Mother Space Whale had many encounter records in the Milky Way, and the information about it was the most detailed. It was easy to recognize at a glance.
As for the Split-Clawed Dragon, there was only one record of its encounter, and the scientist who discovered it unfortunately died in the mouth of that space behemoth.
However, the relevant information was still recorded and soon found by the scientists of the Pyro Alliance.
That ‘mythical creature’ originated from an archaeological ruin. The civilization responsible for the excavation then had gone through a long period of hard work. It investigated several galaxies related to it before finally discovering the planet that the ruin pointed to.
At that time, the civilization thought their efforts were about to pay off, but just as they were about to open the ruins, that ‘Split-Clawed Dragon’ appeared out of thin air in the galaxy and destroyed the civilization’s archaeological spaceship.
That catastrophe made the Milky Way aware of the existence of that ‘mythical lifeform.’ However, some civilizations still had ideas about that ‘Split-Clawed Dragon’ and the ruins that were just one step away.
However, for various reasons, they could not organize a decent force to destroy that space behemoth.
Now, the ‘Split-Clawed Dragon’ that they had not been able to deal with in time had become one of the machetes that were swung at them. After being strengthened by the ‘caterpillar fungus disease,’ it had become even more terrifying.
Occasionally, disgusting hyphae would extend from the rotting flesh and sway in the universe. Under the huge dragon’s body was a strange blue light.
A strange beam of light shot out from the Split-Clawed Dragon’s mouth, destroying the fleet like a dragon’s breath. The shields and armor were dissolved in incomprehensible biological energy, making people kneel uncontrollably.
“…We have records of these two ‘mythical lifeforms.’ Even though they have been modified by the ‘caterpillar fungus disease,’ they are roughly the same as the description in the document.”
“But…What are the other ‘things’?”
More than one person had the same question as the scientist from the Pyro Alliance because it was the first time they had seen the rest of the ‘lifeforms.’
Those that followed the space behemoths were a type of ‘moving planet.’
At first, the observers thought they were mistaken and thought it was a drifting planet.
However, by detecting signal fluctuations and gravitational anomalies, they confirmed that those planets could also be considered some kind of biological weapon.
Those planets might have been habitable planets in their previous lives, but now, from the surface to the core of the planet, a terrifying number of fungi had infected them.
The ground was constantly cracking due to the fungi’s activity, causing the rock surface to be thrown into space due to the huge stress.
However, the moment the rock stratum separated, the hyphae buried deep underground pulled the rock stratum back like tentacles and stuck it back together.
On the seemingly uninhabited planet, a large number of lifeform signals could be detected.
Because it was so powerful, the observers even thought other ‘mythical lifeforms’ had come here.
While everyone was still wondering what that strange planet could do, they saw the disgusting hyphae on its surface beginning to gather and tangle, soon forming something similar to the tree roots.
The ‘hyphal roots’ grew longer and longer, breaking through the thin atmosphere and wrapping up the broken corpses of the space lifeforms that were approaching due to gravity.
Then, everyone understood what that planet was for.
The ‘caterpillar fungus lifeforms’ that had lost their vitality due to various attacks showed signs of activity again under the hyphae’s cover and once again made an offensive stance.
The efficiency of that ‘repair’ was beyond imagination. Even the body pieces that were missing 80% of their flesh and could only be seen as a pile of minced meat, which could not even be recognized as the original body, had gained combat power after a period of sewing.
Even if those corpses were already considered fungal lifeforms based on their physical composition, as long as there were still usable organs, they could become the target of the fungi’s ‘resurrection.’
Most of the corpses confirmed to be dead had returned to the battlefield. Only the parts that had been completely destroyed had disappeared into the galaxy forever.
That was undoubtedly a huge blow to the fleet stationed there.
Originally, their battle loss ratio could barely reach 1 to 1.5, or even 1 to 2, but now that the corpses that were regarded as the ‘head count’ stood in front of them again, their loss ratio reached a terrifying 5 to 1.
They needed the saturated firepower of several battleships to destroy a ‘corpse’ completely, but the corpses that could not be completely destroyed would soon stand in front of them in a different state.
The front line was retreating, and the virus missiles, regarded as the fungi’s nemesis, were also ineffective.
Although the virus in the missile could effectively interrupt the fungi’s activity, the poison could be easily disintegrated under planetary-level purification.
The commander there was still trying to stop the collapse of the front line, but it was only a matter of time. It would not be long before he had to leave on a private plane.
That battle that should have been a great victory against the ‘caterpillar fungus disease’ was headed for failure.
“Perhaps…This strange ‘Fungus Planet’ is the source of the ‘caterpillar fungus disease.’ If we can completely destroy this planet, we may be able to end this crisis.”
“…That’s very difficult. These planets are capable of interstellar space movements due to unknown biological activities. Moreover, the hyphae inside are deeply rooted. This means that it’s basically impossible for us to destroy them completely through simple orbital bombardment.”
“But at the very least, we’ve obtained new information, and we can shift our focus to this aspect.”
“The name ‘Fungus Planet’ is too random. As an object of focus, we have to come up with a new name to emphasize that this is the focus of the ‘Milky Way Crisis.’”
In the ‘Galaxy Community,’ the remaining young civilizations still fighting the crisis fiercely quickly passed the shift of the galaxy’s focus.
That was a critical moment, and the only thing in the parliament’s proposal should be crisis-related.
“Galaxy’s focus: Fungus control. Goal: Destroy all the ‘Graveyard Planets.’”
‘Graveyard Planet’ was a special name the young civilizations gave to the strange active planets. They were enemies that only existed in that crisis.
That kind of planet was like a graveyard, and it seemed to be able to give birth to endless ‘space undead,’ which gave them that name.
With the update of the Milky Way Announcement, the ‘crisis fighters’ still struggling to resist had a clearer understanding of the crisis. They shifted their focus to how to destroy those ‘Graveyard Planets..’