Plan

"Judging by how brutally that unknown existence dealt with me, that possibility is extremely high..."

Thinking back on everything it had gone through before, Huo Gu grew even more certain of its idea.

To be honest, Huo Gu felt somewhat disappointed by the results of its exploration of the underground cavity. It had thought it could find some clues there about that unknown existence's true face. After all, whether it was the underground artificial structure or the unidentified life-form that could manipulate natural disasters, neither was an "anomaly" that should have existed during the Hadean Eon. It was hard not to connect them.

Now, the root system had finished occupying the underground cavity. It was time for Huo Gu to formulate its next plan.

"Though I could completely hide underground and scrape by, surviving like that, I absolutely can't accept that kind of life. This isn't arrogance, but the dignity a human being should have. Besides, this isn't a long-term solution either. If one day the other side gains the ability to detect underground, then I, thinking myself safe and sound and making no preparations at all, will undoubtedly die without a burial place..."

"Taking ten thousand steps back, I can't just stay in the underground cavity either, because the cracks produced by the last large-scale volcanic eruption caused seawater to pour back into the underground cavity. That made the great cavity, which had already endured hundreds of millions of years of erosion and could only barely maintain balance with the lower layers, trend further toward collapse. Cave-in is only a matter of time."

"...Reaching the surface means being attacked again without the slightest mercy. Looks like I have no choice left. I have to fight. I have to eliminate the other side."

Peace talks were impossible. Huo Gu wanted peace talks, but the other side had no such intention. Aside from the brief message received during their earliest contact, everything else had been natural-disaster strikes with destructive power equivalent to nuclear weapons.

However, after making up its mind, Huo Gu faced a new problem—how should it fight?

Huo Gu's thoughts began racing at high speed.

An attack was carried out in steps. Such steps had to exist in the universe, just like one plus one equaled two. Perhaps, by using those steps, it could work backward and infer the location of that thing whose true form was unknown...

"First, the act of attacking must be built on the premise that one or more targets exist. Otherwise, it cannot be established."

"Second, the prerequisite for forming an attack is that the attacker can obtain basic information from the target it is about to attack. Otherwise, it is ineffective."

Based on the two points above, it fitted the enemy information collected so far into them for deduction...

"When I was on the island and at the bottom of the sea, I encountered attacks one after another, but after drifting underground, the attacks stopped appearing. According to the second point, that is to say, the enemy's hiding place is in a position where it can visually observe land and ocean, but cannot observe underground."

"In the early stage, I never encountered attacks from that unknown existence. According to the first point, it can be inferred that the enemy's observation ability has limitations. Individuals on the microscopic scale won't attract attention."

"A creation with such technology shouldn't be weak in other abilities either, so this limitation is very likely due to interference caused by its location."

Did such a location exist?

Of course it did! That place was outer space beyond this planet. During the Hadean Eon, the cloud layer was so dense that even sunlight could not penetrate it. This was an extremely strong kind of observational interference. In addition, only by being outside the planet could it achieve global, comprehensive monitoring.

"Very good. In that case, the opponent's location is determined too."

The messy intelligence originally collected during several brushes with danger gradually became orderly, and many things went from hazy to clear. Huo Gu's guess of an "automated climate satellite" now had firm support.

Since even aliens had appeared, then the appearance of something that could regulate the weather was no longer mere fantasy.

"However, a climate satellite can actually trigger crustal activity. That's completely beyond my expectations."

A climate satellite was only a satellite. The satellite's own mass determined that its maximum capability limit was only suited to manipulating weather. Its ability to interfere with a heavy-mass phenomenon like crustal activity should be negligible.

Regarding this, Huo Gu could only push it onto the point of "some mysterious technology humanity has yet to develop and understand."

The expected information summary had already ended. Next came the battle plan against the enemy.

"Judging from its current attack methods, the enemy possesses natural attack methods such as lightning, whirlwinds, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Once I return to the surface, I will inevitably have to face these again."

"To attack an enemy in the universe, I must also deliver cellular matter into outer space. Only then can I lock onto the target and then destroy it. Moreover, it must be real-time. This means the life field has to expand enough. Across the distance from land to outer space, there absolutely cannot be too many individuals relaying commands."

"A vast life field requires a vast cluster of sensory cells to generate it. At the same time, there also has to be an entire system to maintain the nutrient supply for these sensory cells, while resisting cosmic radiation and the harsh vacuum environment. This also means the mass of the cell cluster delivered into outer space has to increase further."

"And the mass-energy required for delivery, as well as the commotion it causes, will also multiply as the mass increases. There's no way the enemy won't notice. It will inevitably obstruct the delivery..."

Huo Gu froze. If it wanted to deliver a cell cluster into the universe, it would inevitably cause a huge commotion, and causing a huge commotion would inevitably attract the enemy's attention. The enemy could not possibly sit around waiting to die. It would obstruct it. Judging from the destructive power the enemy currently wielded, the success rate of that obstruction was almost over ninety percent.

This formed a vicious circle.

"A method..."

"Mm, make a feint to the east and attack in the west. First, set up a sturdy target to completely draw the other side's attention over, then, in another place, complete the delivery into outer space by surprise..."

But how could it ensure that it could completely draw the other side's attention, thereby finding an opportunity?

"...Relying on making a feint to the east and attacking in the west definitely isn't enough. Before that, I can add secretly crossing at Chencang. Let that enemy realize that I already know its location and am approaching it. At a time like that, it will inevitably do everything it can to stop my intention of getting close. Thus, its attention will have been successfully drawn by the target I set up, and then..."

"Right. The battle plan should be like this. What I'm aiming for is catching it off guard."

After drafting the battle plan, Huo Gu immediately threw itself into intense preparations. The materials needed to execute this plan were an astronomical number. If it were on the surface, it absolutely could not hide them from the enemy's eyes. Fortunately, Huo Gu now had a super-giant underground cavity where it could carry out strategic storage.