Incubation Nest

Setting aside his anxiety over the weakness of his direct forces and his persecution complex, there was an imminent matter that forced Gu Hang to accelerate the expansion of his military power.

Previously, an Abscess Monster attack had occurred within the Governor's Camp. Afterward, Yan Fangxu led men to investigate the source of the monster attacks, discovering they had emerged from the forest to the west.

Later, when Yan Fangxu took his soldiers out for training, he used the forest both as a destination for marches and as a site to purge these monsters.

They didn't know what they were getting into until they arrived, and what they found was shocking. They encountered many monsters in that woodland, and they were not limited to Abscess Monsters. Furthermore, they discovered many incubation nests belonging to these creatures.

Gu Hang went to inspect the site himself.

In the area of the forest where the corruption was densest, the bark of the trees had been riddled with holes by the secretions of the alien monsters, emitting a thick, putrid stench.

The incubation nest he saw was hidden in a dark, damp part of the woods, its entrance concealed by dense vines and thorns.

After burning away the vines and thorns, they entered the nest. Parasitized trees circled the area, forming an incubation chamber that was dark, damp, and filled with a pungent, alien odor.

In the corners of the nest, numerous alien monster eggs were attached to the wet ground. Inside the translucent shells, the embryos of mutant monsters could be seen writhing. A thick layer of mucus coated the shells, dripping occasionally into pools of foul-smelling green pus. A strange, eerie light filtered through the cracks in the shells, casting grotesque shadows against the walls of the nest.

At that time, Gu Hang ordered the nest to be destroyed, using fire to incinerate it and explosives to demolish it from within.

However, that was only one small incubation nest, and there was no telling how many more remained in the forest.

According to their subsequent assessment, if left unchecked, a wave of mutant monsters would sweep toward Gu Hang's camp and the Waste Mine Society within a few months.

By then, it was impossible to say what kind of price would have to be paid to quell such a tide.

Fortunately, the situation had been discovered relatively early, and there was still time.

Gu Hang needed to expand his army to protect the safety of the camp. According to his plan, once the troops finished reorganization, all units—except for the necessary garrison forces—would take turns being sent into that forest to purge the monster nests.

The primary goal of doing this was, of course, to nip the problem in the bud as much as possible.

Beyond that, there were immediate gains to be had, which Gu Hang also valued highly.

These gains were Grace Points.

When Yan Fangxu led his troops to destroy the first alien incubation nest, a combat summary interface popped up for Gu Hang.

There were no losses, and he gained two Grace Points.

He then learned that there was a massive number of incubation nests within that forest.

His eyes lit up at that moment.

You could call it a threat, and you would be right. But in Gu Hang's eyes, it was also a massive vault of gold!

After putting in so much effort to develop his territory—bringing in population, light industry, heavy industry, and construction all at once—he had finally managed to increase his fixed monthly income from 12 to 25, effectively doubling it.

Just as he was looking to keep up the momentum and boost that figure further before the month ended, he had unearthed this massive gold mine.

Destroying one incubation nest yielded two Grace Points; burning ten would equal a whole month's income!

So, why should I keep struggling with farming... oh, wait, the farming still has to be done; the two things don't conflict.

However, it was precisely because there were rewards that he placed even more importance on it.

The 1st Servitor Battalion remained largely stationary, split to guard the River Valley Manor, the Governor's Camp, and the Waste Mine Society.

The 2nd Infantry Battalion, meanwhile, was essentially thrown into the Aberration Forest—a name Gu Hang had newly coined.

The troops were placed under the command of Captain Yan Fangxu, who was responsible for clearing the forest.

In the past few days, they had already burned seven nests.

Captain Yan conducted the operations cautiously; he preferred a slower, more careful pace to minimize losses as much as possible.

Conversely, the original commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, Pobov, was quite dissatisfied with this. In his view, forget seven nests—he wanted to burn seventy!

If they didn't strive for as many results as possible, as quickly as possible, how could they live up to the Governor's trust?

Gu Hang was very satisfied with the high level of combat enthusiasm shown by Pobov.

Then, he chose to support Yan Fangxu's command strategy.

The situation had not yet become so dire that it required throwing lives away, and Gu Hang saw no need to order his soldiers to die in vain.

The purge of the monsters in the Aberration Forest could continue gradually; eliminating monsters and destroying nests at a steady pace was sufficient.

There were still several months left, and even with Yan Fangxu's cautious strategy, they should be able to resolve the issue.

Of course, as a leader, Gu Hang needed to be even more prudent.

Destroying those seven monster nests had brought Gu Hang a total of 11 Grace Points.

He planned to recruit another infantry battalion from the refugees and indentured laborers.

Using the Black Box Fabricator, he could quickly produce enough weapons and ammunition to equip them; by spending Grace Points, he could also quickly train these newly recruited soldiers into qualified warriors.

When it came to Gu Hang, his speed of mass-producing troops was extremely fast.

The Governor's will was quickly implemented.

A recruitment office appeared in both the Waste Mine Society and the Governor's Camp.

The residents of both locations signed up for the army with great enthusiasm.

Of course, their reasons for being so eager were not the same.

The most enthusiastic were the residents of the Waste Mine Society; they had lived a good life for a while and cherished these days immensely. They were willing to shoulder rifles to defend the hard-won fruits of their labor.

Next in terms of willingness were the refugees who had just been assigned to the settlement. They didn't have any particular agenda; they were simply attracted by the generous benefits offered by the governor for recruiting soldiers.

Full meals, two sets of uniforms, weapons and equipment... these were enough to entice those refugees who had nothing to their names.

Furthermore, Gu Hang would issue them work credits, which they could use to "purchase" the items they wanted at the distribution station. After the propaganda sessions over the past two days, they understood clearly that work credits were valuable things.

Following the instructions of Gu Hang, the three hundred soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Battalion were selected: 150 from the refugees, 100 from the Starship Serfs, and 50 from the Waste Mine Society.

The personnel composition was quite complex, but Gu Hang himself hoped that the great melting pot of the military could fuse soldiers from different backgrounds together as much as possible.

An even more effective melting pot was the system's [Troop Token] system.

With a short period of training, Gu Hang would obtain a qualified infantry battalion.

Three or four days of training and about six days of equipment production would see this infantry battalion take shape.

While preparing the troops and planning to make a move in the Xeno Forest, Gu Hang had not forgotten another matter:

How was the investigation into the cult situation in Revival City coming along?