"The blood-colored substance is gone just like that?"
"Looks like the Security Bureau had some hidden treasures in their underwear after all!"
Ansheng slowly snapped back from the wish list, glancing out the window. The sky outside the helicopter's porthole was as blue as a clear wash, with no explosions or any magnificent phenomena—everything was silent and uneventful.
The wish list calculations only happen after things have been thoroughly settled.
Regarding the King of the Universe, Master Fuli merely defeated its main body, but there were still some derivatives containing the King's will that hadn't been dealt with, so technically, things weren't over, as unexpected changes were possible.
The fact that the wish list has been settled proves that the Security Bureau must have pulled out some sort of secret weapon to erase the potential impact the King of the Universe might have had.
Master Fuli, full of curiosity, planned to return to the temporary command camp later to dig around in Old Li's pants to find out how they managed to calm the situation.
After all....
Ansheng was now truly convinced, recalling an old saying from Granny Hedgehog: "The Security Bureau? Those violent maniacs would use a nuke to trick spirit beasts out of town!"
The nuclear explosion might have been real, and Granny Hedgehog's past stories might also have been true, but those who took the nuke might not have been the spirit beasts she mentioned but some super old zombies that jumped out from ancient graves.....
......
The helicopter roared as it entered the Da Xing'an Ridge, gradually descending into the temporary command camp.
"To our triumphant heroes, we offer applause and flowers..."
Before the helicopter touched down, Li Wenkang, smiling, stood in front of the helipad, lined up with the soldiers. As soon as he saw the people disembarking from the helicopter, he raised his hands to applaud Master Fuli's triumphant return.
"Congratulations to Master Fuli for defeating the invaders and protecting Xia Country's lands. A hero! The people's hero—" The soldiers lined up, offering flowers and applause to Master Fuli, their eyes filled with deep admiration and some reflection.
The civilian female soldiers in the camp approached with smiles, presenting Master Fuli with a garland. The garland contained no precious flowers, just wildflowers from the forests.
But given the conditions of the temporary command camp, it was truly a hardship for those who touched guns more often than washing machines to weave large quantities of beautiful and fragrant garlands in just half an hour.
The atmosphere in the camp was very joyous, and aside from the flowers and applause, several bottles of cola mysteriously appeared in Master Fuli's arms as he was surrounded by everyone.
"You're a bit over the top, Old Li, with this welcome parade and flower-giving...."
Walking out from the helipad, everyone had garlands and bouquets hanging on them, making Master Fuli a bit embarrassed from all the praise. He turned to Li Wenkang and said.
"What's over the top about it? When you do a good deed, you should say it out loud and give proper accolades. Otherwise, who would know you did something good?"
"Once the events are declassified in the future, I'll publish it in the Xia Country social journal, making up for everything you deserve!"
Li Wenkang smiled and said to Master Fuli, "Master Fuli selflessly defended the people and repelled the invaders."
"The entire page in the journal will be dedicated to you."
For now, the actions and thoughts of the Security Bureau are not suitable to be revealed to the public, but neither the Security Bureau nor its affiliated units and organizations are actually "unsung heroes"—it's just that they cannot be made public at this time.
Regardless of what other people or organizations think, Li Wenkang will record and report the achievements of his contributors.
Material rewards are necessary, but spiritual commendations are equally indispensable.
"???"
Ansheng looked at Old Li with wide-eyed shock, a series of question marks popping up over his head.
"I, a fox, am the talking kind, are you sure it can really make it to the papers?" Ansheng quipped.
Li Wenkang was taken aback, his expression awkward, and his mouth twitched slightly.
Nothing wrong with being a fox.
Nothing wrong with being able to talk, either.
But with Fuli being able to talk and living in a village almost entirely populated by the Chen surname, it was indeed hard to hold back laughter.
"Let's skip over the newspaper thing for now. I'm actually very curious about how you managed to quell the blood-colored substance spread by the King of the Universe," Ansheng inquired, showing a curious expression to Li Wenkang.
"The thing's name is... King of the Universe?"
Li Wenkang mumbled to himself, glanced at Professor Wu, then nodded slightly and said, "There's nothing to hide; you've seen that thing before. It's the [Zhujium Yin] I took to the Ba Mountain Sky Pit last time."
Li Wenkang gave Master Fuli a rough explanation of the arrangements they made for the aftermath.
Although they hadn't gone to the Outer area, they'd been continuously monitoring it through the [Interceptor Satellite].
When the King of the Universe emerged from the ruins, they already had a corresponding plan based on Professor Wu's description.
Seven minutes.
The Arrow Fighter would tear through the sky, traveling 1,200 kilometers to reach the skies above the Outer ruins.
They were just one laser guide from Professor Wu away from locking onto the King of the Universe's vital points for bombing.
"Zhujium Yin?"
Full of curiosity, Master Fuli was not kept in the dark; Li Wenkang instructed his assistant to take Master Fuli to watch the real-time transmission from the Interceptor.
Meanwhile, Li Wenkang led Professor Wu and Unos, who had been quiet, into the tent to prepare a paper file based on their accounts.
"Master Fuli, concerning the [Zhujium Yin], I must ask you to fulfill your confidentiality obligations."
"In some sense, it serves as the opening act of our past wartime hypothesis..." Li Wenkang's assistant was a gentle man with black-framed glasses on his cheek.
He pulled up the optical satellite surveillance footage transmitted back by the Interceptor on his computer.
"Opening act of the wartime hypothesis?" Master Fuli's face showed a puzzled expression as he looked at the computer screen.
In the video.
Master Fuli and his group left, and Professor Wu threw a round metal object on the path of the blood-colored substance.
As everyone departed by helicopter, four trails of smoke reappeared in the sky, launching an air-to-ground missile to the surface before making a rapid retreat from the area.
The missile launched and exploded midway, a white light as bright as the sun flickering.
So intense was the light that it momentarily overpowered the sunlight in the sky.
The light spilled onto the earth, and in a short span, scorched black marks appeared on the ground.
Afterward, those burnt-like marks began to wriggle swiftly, forming a black tide that in no time covered the entire semi-thawed permafrost layer, nearly forty square kilometers of land, quickly sinking.
The black surge engulfed everything, creating an unexpected black lake on the land.
"Is this... fungi from the Second Epoch?" Master Fuli was stunned looking at the screen and instinctively blurted out to his assistant.
Those black smudges, if not inspected closely, truly resembled scorch marks; yet once they started moving, even through the screen, Ansheng could recognize that this thing was somewhat similar to the black biological armor ridden by the Dragon People.
But the two should be different.
After the explosion, [Zhujiyin] promptly turned ash gray at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if reaching the limit of its lifespan.
"Yes, they belong to a type of fungus."
The assistant looked at Master Fuli and said, "In some ruins, we once discovered some fungi, and after cultivating them, we found these fungi exhibited different traits."
"One type of fungus tended to devour organic matter, while another type leaned towards feeding on inorganic matter. Under high temperatures, they would enter a hyperactive state and start consuming recklessly until they burst."
The assistant tried to simplify the description as much as possible, explaining the effect of [Zhujiyin] to Master Fuli.
Of course, those fungi weren't literally bursting; rather, under high temperature stimulation, they would enter an unrestrained state of division and reproduction, leading to a countdown to death.
As the generations of divided individuals increased, the entire colony would become increasingly fragile until extinction.
In Li Wenkang's vision.
[Zhujiyin] is a warfare weapon. By hypersonic missile saturation strikes, it can complete bio-evaporation of an entire city in an instant, eliminating the need for street warfare, directly achieving area control.
But because of its extreme nature, in its subsequent mutation breeding process, it was improved to evaporate city buildings and steel.
"This thing...."
"Isn't it just a garbage disposal plant?"
Upon hearing the description of the fungi's properties, Ansheng's expression grew increasingly odd as he asked, "Did you all dig up the garbage disposal plant of the Second Epoch?"
"Ah?"
The assistant was taken aback by the question and turned to Master Fuli with wide eyes, utterly shocked:
"Wow... wow!"
In a sense, Master Fuli's metaphor was surprisingly apt for the scene when these fungi were discovered initially.
It happened on the edge of a deep pit, where these mutated fungi were accidentally found.
Along with Master Fuli's commentary, an image gradually emerged in the assistant's mind.
The Dragon People sorting waste, throwing harmful trash into a pit, and then tossing in a pack of fungi.
Moments later, the landfill was cleared out, and the dead fungi were taken back as fertilizer.....
"......"
Master Fuli and the assistant locked eyes.
"Could it be... I guessed right?"
"I don't know!"
......
Meanwhile, in another tent.
Professor Wu explained the entire Outer ruins incident in great detail to Li Wenkang, leaving nothing out, including the King of the Universe egg and the operating table.
"By the way, Master Fuli mentioned that the egg created by the King of the Universe is exceptionally strong, and it reacts intensely to Spiritual Particles, possibly reviving in an area dense with Spiritual Particles..."
"Hmm... Master Fuli said it's suitable for ironwork." Professor Wu recounted Master Fuli's quip thoroughly.
"Ironwork?"
Li Wenkang glanced at the glass container, observing the egg shell fragments inside, and displayed a peculiar expression: "The idea is quite novel, but using this thing to cast Spiritual Particle Metal is very dangerous!"
"You need to completely isolate the Spiritual Particles while heavily utilizing Spirit Particle Potion...."
Li Wenkang spoke, then looked at Unos.
"Hmm?"
Unos expressed a puzzled look, turning to Li Wenkang and said, "Does this concern me?"
"Probably not?" Li Wenkang chuckled:
"After all...."
"Not everyone can observe Spiritual Particle trends and have the ability to influence the material world with will, how could there be such a coincidental thing in the world."
Unos's expression faltered: "......."
Li Wenkang seemed relaxed, like a casual chat, but deep down he was thinking, if Master Fuli's suggestion could really be realized or preliminarily verified.
Wouldn't Xia Country's steel have will?
In the future, just a word, and the steel would automatically.....
"Unos, did you apply for a visa?"
"Do I need a visa? Wasn't it said there's a 144-hour entry?"