Reconnaissance

The Riken have already deployed a dozen small satellites into geostationary orbit around the Big Origin Star, creating a rudimentary communication network.

A leading researcher tapped a few times on a portable computer on his left arm, connecting the communication system on the Cat Ear ship.

"Captain, the air on planet T853 contains many toxins that we cannot withstand. Exposing the respiratory system to the elements for more than five minutes will be life-threatening. However, we should currently have the capability to modify the ecosystem here. Perhaps in a few hundred years, we can transform it into an environment suitable for the living of Riken."

"Lute, you know I don't care about these things. Now, tell me something that interests me," Captain Regi said, looking at the images on the bridge screen.

"Alright, Regi, you're still as impatient as ever." Captain Regi and Dr. Lute had been friends for many years before boarding the ship, so he spoke more casually. "In the target area, we detected a large amount of residual radiation. We can confirm that this is the direct site of the nuclear explosion."

"But right now I don't know how this nuclear explosion happened, or who it attacked. I need your authorization to use the Hive Drone System to scout the surrounding area."

"Celia, grant Dr. Lute to use the Hive Drone System."

"Received, Captain," the mechanical female voice replied.

"Lute, I look forward to your good news."

Lute nodded in the image, then the image disappeared. Captain Regi looked out the window at the Big Origin Star, lost in thought.

On the Big Origin Star, the top hatch of the ship carrying the gun turret opened, and one after another, 30-centimeter-sized Drone flew out. After more than thirty drones flew out, the hatch closed again.

After circling the ship once, the Drone flew away in all directions.

These Drone, equipped with multiple detection devices and a highly advanced image capture system, conducted a carpet search of the surrounding area from a low altitude of 50 meters, looking for any unusual objects. Dr. Lute continuously reviewed the images transmitted by the Drone, eliminating anomalies one by one.

"Celia, you're in charge of screening the Drone footage and filtering out anything that isn't naturally occurring." The abnormal footage transmitted by the more than thirty Drone was too much and too fast, but this was also their first time on an alien planet, and everywhere was filled with abnormal situations for the Drone system.

These low-level AIs, lacking intelligence, were completely unable to distinguish these anomalies, leaving Lute overwhelmed and forcing him to seek help from intelligent AI.

"Permissions granted. Now initiating Drone footage screening." A mechanical female voice sounded from the communicator built into the Lute helmet, taking over the tedious task.

Celia is not a true artificial intelligence life form, but rather a more advanced AI with more sophisticated programming and calculations. Therefore, it can only filter out a portion of the clearly problematic footage and then transmit the uncertain footage back to Dr. Lute for review.

However, the surrounding area had already been cleared countless times by the Swarm. Even the body parts of the Dire Wolf that had been carbonized by the Thermonuclear Breath had been found and cleaned up.

Only the remains of the Magic Wolf, a native creature of the Big Origin Star, remained at the site.

Sure enough, the Drone quickly captured photos of several areas that appeared to be carbonized body tissue. These photos passed Celia's initial screening and were transmitted to Dr. Lute's Personal Terminal.

"Excellent, Celia, order the Drone to collect this carbonized tissue. Oh my god, there's almost half a skull here! This will make our work much smoother. Quickly, have the Drone bring it back first."

"Received, Dr. Lute."

Several Drone returned one after another, bringing back some carbonized tissue samples. After waiting a while, one Drone finally brought back the skull of the unidentified creature that Dr. Lute had been longing to see.

The skull was carried a long distance by the shockwave, so it was the slowest to return after being retrieved. Its left half was largely destroyed and missing, but it still retains a relatively intact structure.

Looking at the skull, which was at least half a meter long, Dr. Lute exclaimed, "This is a real behemoth."

He then called his assistant to scan the skull structure and reconstruct its appearance before death.

"Doctor, our portable instruments cannot analyze the specific DNA information of carbonized tissue; this requires returning to the spacecraft. However, the skull scan is complete, and we have attempted to reconstruct its external tissues." Dr. Lute's young female assistant transmitted the reconstructed skull images to his Personal Terminal.

"Hmm, a very menacing face. He doesn't look like someone to mess with. Celia, use low-orbit satellites to see if we can find anything on this planet with a similar face."

"Dr. Lute, you are not authorized to use low-Earth orbit satellites," a mechanical female voice announced.

"Then help me apply to your captain!" Dr. Lute was somewhat annoyed. These intelligent AIs were always so rigid and frustrating, especially in this situation.

"Dr. Lute, your application has been approved. We will now begin the comparison. Please wait a moment."

"Dr. Lute, after comparison, the creature is 85% similar to the picture." A picture of a pack of Magic Wolf wolves resting on the grassland was transmitted to Dr. Lute's Personal Terminal.

"These are the guys. Wow, there are quite a few of them." The Riken's data doesn't include biological data from Big Origin Star, so the reconstructed skull images certainly won't be exactly the same as the originals. If they have more than 80% similarity, then it's basically a certainty.

"Satellite monitoring has revealed that this organism has 325 colonies on this continent, with a total population exceeding 500,000."

"So many? Such big creatures, what do they eat?" Dr. Lute was somewhat shocked. This didn't make sense. Dire Magic Wolf were quite large, and judging from their teeth structure, they were carnivorous. How could so many of them survive?

The mechanical female voice quickly explained, "Based on calculations, this creature is highly likely to be a food source, with an accuracy rate of 79%." A picture of an Ox Demon was transmitted to Dr. Lute's panel.

"Oh, such amazing creatures exist! If they could reproduce on our Mother Planet, they would definitely fetch a good price. However, plant resources are extremely precious on our Mother Planet."

Dr. Lute quickly discovered the economic value of the Ox Demon. After tens of thousands of years of development, the massive amount of mechanical creations and industrial pollution had caused devastating damage to the environment of the Riken Civilization's Mother Planet. From birth to the present, he had mainly eaten synthetic meat, and the number of times he had eaten natural meat could be counted on one hand.

"That's right, Lute, this kind of creature is very valuable economically. It's a pity that we no longer have this kind of grassland on our Mother Planet." Captain Regi's voice suddenly rang out in Dr. Lute's communication device.

"Hey, Regi, spying on others isn't a good habit."

"I'm just overseeing your progress; it's my duty as captain and in charge of this operation." Captain Regi's voice was completely flat, seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm in Dr. Lute's words.

Dr. Lute shrugged. As a longtime friend, he knew Regi's personality well. Continuing this topic would not only damage their friendship but also infuriate him. "I need your authorization to command the guard squad. Just come out with this group."

"What are you going to do?" Captain Regi asked, puzzled.

"I need them to capture some native creatures and bring them back to the spaceship for some detailed analysis."

"Okay, be careful."

Zu Li, for the 500 Qidian coins.