"Commander Cole, I think if this naked Divine River Body isn't injected with energy soon, he probably won't survive another two minutes."
Cole immediately snapped out of his joy.
"Quick, you, you, you—go bring him back."
"Yes, Commander."
After that terrifying scene, the two soldiers honestly did not want to go down there. But the Taotie were a militaristic civilization.
A superior's orders were law, and refusing an order meant refusing one's own life. At this moment, as an Astral Civilization, they had no room to choose.
Hiss!
For a Taotie small craft, descending from outer space to a planet's surface was a very quick process.
As the spacecraft landed, two heavily armed Taotie soldiers stepped out.
Listening to the intermittent warnings of high-energy radiation particle streams in their ears, the two exchanged helpless looks.
"Do you think we'll encounter someone like this during our thousand-year campaign?"
"Are you kidding? Based on the scan data, these aren't radiation streams left behind by a nuclear explosion at all. It's just high-purity radioactive ore constantly circulating through this planet."
After saying that, he looked at his companion as if he were an idiot.
"You don't seriously think a primitive civilization could complete in a thousand years what other civilizations accumulated over ten thousand, do you?"
"True enough."
"Alright, stop talking and inject the energy fluid. Still, I kind of admire this Divine River Body. His body is ruined like this, yet he's still alive."
Pfft!
As the Taotie soldier injected the energy fluid, Yuan's body surface seemed to cool somewhat. Before the two could lift him, even more intense chaotic energy currents began coursing across his body.
"No, the energy isn't enough. Impossible. This is the highest-grade green energy fluid. The energy inside is unimaginable—how could it not even last three seconds?"
"Commander, Commander, we've run into trouble. For the sake of the mission, we request permission to bring the target back to the warship."
"Permission granted. Bring the target back immediately. Spare no energy fluid. As long as his body hasn't fully recovered, do not stop."
"Yes, Commander."
Very soon, Yuan's horribly mangled body appeared in the recovery chamber aboard the Taotie warship. The soldier beside him kept swiping across the device in his hand, and his expression grew uglier by the second.
"Commander, I think you need to see this."
Life Signs Scan: Target individual: Male Divine River Body Surface damage: 90% Skin ulceration area: 80% Skeletal energy conversion: 43% Radioactive elements detected in the cornea Internal radiation concentration: - Blood gamma-ray concentration: 9.8×10^5 Bq/L (2,400 times the lethal dose for a Divine River Body) - Liver tissue absorbed dose: 3.4×10^6 rad (170 times the organ failure threshold for a Divine River Body) - Abnormal quantum entanglement signal detected in the brain (frequency matches that caused by a Gravitational Field)
Cole drew a deep breath and looked at the wide-eyed soldiers around him, asking in a voice full of disbelief:
"You're saying that after all this, this guy actually survived?"
"Yes, Commander. Though I hate to admit it, this Divine River Body's willpower is beyond imagination."
"Is his brain development level high enough?"
"We can't test it. His body is riddled with damage right now, so there's no way to examine it. But according to the warship system's projections, if he survives, he'll only exceed expectations."
"Hahaha, good, good. Hurry, get moving! Use every treatment plan we have. As long as he lives, these hundreds of years of suffering won't have been in vain."
Cole burst into laughter. That was right—hundreds of years. To secretly carry out this plan, they had spent no small amount of time walking on eggshells.
Whenever people from Dead Song Academy passed through the Taotie Civilization, they trembled all over as if seized by convulsions.
"The problem is, we don't have a plan at all."
"????"
The soldiers hurriedly explained, "According to the examination by the 'Cup,' an astonishing amount of Dark Energy is surging inside the target's body.
According to the technological concepts provided by the academy, ordinary bodies simply cannot withstand such a massive erosion of Dark Energy unless they possess a Super Gene capable of accepting it.
But testing shows that his genes are those of an extremely ordinary Divine River Body, with no signs of genetic modification.
For him to fully recover, his genes would have to completely adapt to Dark Energy. Only then can the target survive."
At this point, the soldier grew anxious.
"If we had that capability, the Taotie would already be one of the God-making civilizations."
"..."
"So you're saying we have no solution at all?" The cruel news was like a bolt from the blue to Cole.
"I-I'm afraid so."
"Five hundred years! Five hundred years! Do you know how I've spent those years? I don't care whether it's scientific or not—you have to give me a solution.
As long as he's not dead, there's hope. I want him alive. The target only has value if he lives. Otherwise, everything will have been for nothing."
Cole's eyes were bloodshot as he tightly gripped the collar of the Taotie warship's only medical officer.
"It's useless, Commander. The energy fluid injected earlier kept the target barely alive for a few minutes, but according to the system records, within one minute, the target will be completely corroded and dissolved by Dark Energy."
Ding!
Ding!
As if confirming the medical officer's explanation, the familiar alarm sounded from the medical room's instruments.
Yuan's Gene Chain thrashed wildly amid the energy radiation, like kite strings shredded by a hurricane. Death data flashed across the biological monitoring screen in the medical room:
Telomere loss: 9.7×10^6 base pairs breaking per second Mitochondrial runaway: ATP production exceeds the physiological limit by 3,000 times Cell death rate: 87%
"His kidneys are dissolving!"
"His lungs are beginning to fibrose!"
"His nervous system is collapsing!"
The cultivation chamber suddenly sprayed out yellow-green mucus. A fist-sized bloody hole tore open in Yuan's right abdomen, and shattered glomeruli floated like radioactive dust, each trailing a faint blue glow.
Beep... Target has lost Divine River Body life signs.
Staring at Yuan's ruined body, Cole's fingernails dug deeply into his palms. The monitor, which had completely lost its fluctuations, made his expression turn ugly to the extreme.
Bang!
Cole's pupils shrank to pinpoints beneath the alarm's red glow. He suddenly swung both hands down, smashing them into the holographic command console with a shriek.
The alloy surface caved in at once. Shattered Circuit Board fragments scattered like shrapnel, scraping blinding sparks across the cabin walls.
Though hard to accept, reality had shown Cole the cruelty of life.
"The plan has failed. Cleanse this planet, then return. For the thousand-year campaign, create sacred death for my god Carl. Abandon all other hopes."
After saying that, he turned and prepared to leave, his expression gloomy.
Clack!
Clack!
Clack, clack!
Several sounds like rusty machinery grinding rang out in the silent medical room. As if realizing something, the group abruptly turned around.
A faint, wispy sound drifted from Yuan's body.
"That's impossible!" The medical officer's expression changed drastically.
Clack! Clack-clack! Clack! Clack-clack-clack!
"Scan the target. What exactly is happening to him?"
Before Cole could finish giving the ecstatic order, the medical officer beside him had already swiftly begun the examination.
Just over ten seconds later, he looked at the data in his hand and answered with an odd expression:
"He seems to be humming a nursery rhyme? This is fucking unscientific."
"No, this is very scientific."
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Cole stared at the reactivated medical equipment and the damaged circuitry resting on Yuan's broken body, faint light occasionally flickering across it.
The corners of Cole's mouth curled up slightly, like a lost man in the darkness finally seeing light.
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