This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 645: Self-Healing Materials!

Chapter 645: Chapter 645: Self-Healing Materials!

"Not selling anymore?!"

After listening to the report from his subordinate, Sindison, who was drinking tea and flipping through the newspaper, was stunned on the spot and stopped turning the pages.

Standing at the edge of the table, the salesman nodded his head helplessly and said,

"Yes sir, we went to the frontline detachment of the Giant Stone City Militia Group and proposed to the commander to buy the remains of the mucosal entities. However, they didn’t even listen to our offer and blocked us right outside the door—"

"The reason?!" Sindison interrupted him anxiously, grabbing the armrests of his chair and speaking righteously, "Don’t they know that leaving those mucosal remains unattended could lead to a severe plague?"

"I... I’m not sure," the nervous salesman said quietly, looking at his boss, "Their reason was that the Alliance authorities had taken over that batch of mucosal entities."

Sindison was baffled.

Alliance authorities had taken over?

What use did they have for that stuff?!

In the glitz and glamor of Bugra Free State, Sindison Business Group was just a small, inconspicuous company, whose sole business was supplying raw materials for synthetic food and organic fertilizers to the Free State’s processing plants.

In the past, during the outbreak of the Tide, he would send people to Qingquan City to buy a batch of goods, which once resold, would earn several hundred million Borian dollars in profit.

Those remains of mucosal entities were like picking up money for free.

After all, the poor in the Bugra Free State didn’t care where their food came from, and the food processing plants didn’t care about the source of nutrients.

Since Giant Stone City also had the need to deal with those mucosal remains, his business was undeniably a win-win for all parties!

Hearing that this year’s post-Winter Tide would be even stronger than usual, not only did Sindison borrow money from the bank to rent over thirty heavy trucks and a hundred guards, but he also personally led a team south to the City of Dawn to prepare for a big venture.

However, just when he was bursting with ambitious dreams of riches, the news brought back by the salesman he sent to the frontline left him completely stupefied.

He had already found buyers.

And now the Alliance was telling him that the remains of the mucosal entities were not for sale?!

What a joke!

Although his fingers trembled with anger, Sindison quickly calmed down.

As the saying goes, you can’t twist the arm off a thigh.

Facing the colossal entity of the Alliance, a mere business was nothing more than an insignificant grasshopper.

Though he didn’t want to see his painstakingly managed business go bankrupt from penalties and unpaid bank loans, Sindison knew very well that a head-on confrontation was impossible.

He could only think of other ways!

He looked at his own salesman and asked word by word,

"Those mucosal entities, what does the Alliance plan to do with them?"

The salesman swallowed, whispering,

"I heard they were all centrally sent to the East District of Qingquan City... as for what exactly they’ll do, I’m not sure."

Sent to the East District of Qingquan City?

Sindison furrowed his brows.

Didn’t he remember the East District as an area covered by forests?

What were they doing there?

Unable to figure it out, Sindison pondered for a moment and then said to his subordinate,

"Tomorrow morning, take me to the outskirts of East Qingquan City."

The salesman quickly nodded.

"Right away, boss!"

...

The next morning, Sindison got up early while it was still dim, and with his salesman and a few guards, left the hotel.

Exiting the City of Dawn from the east, the group traveled several miles until they finally reached the edge of the East District of Qingquan City.

However, when he saw the scene before him, he was shocked, standing stunned for quite some time before finally squeezing out a few words.

"...What is this thing?"

Only to see Eaters pushing carts filled with remnants of mucosal entities, moving from piles of corpses towards a partially collapsed building to the side.

In those pitch-dark windows, one could vaguely see the red fungal plaques pulsating slowly—those were unmistakably the shape of a hatchery!

The guards standing next to Sindison couldn’t help but grip their rifles tightly, their fingers flicking off the safety as they tensed their nerves and closely guarded the direction of the hatchery.

Indeed, the Eaters weren’t worth their fear.

However, if a Crawler, or even a Tyrant, were added to the equation, the situation would significantly worsen... In such complex terrain, even the most experienced mercenaries would not dare to claim a hundred percent chance of success.

In fact, there was indeed a Crawler and a Tyrant here.

Not far from that hatchery, next to a derelict concrete building, Crawlers with four legs were climbing up and down the mucosal-covered walls, carrying either a stack of bricks or a bundle of steel reinforcement.

They delivered the bricks to the damaged portions of the wall where head-drooping Eaters waited to neatly stack the bricks on the damaged masonry.

"They... are building a wall?" The businessman looked in that direction, astonished, while the guard beside him had an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"Great Antler God above..."

"When did those fungi start building houses?!"

Sindison didn’t speak but swallowed, pulled out a telescope from his chest, and looked toward the middle of the concrete building, wanting to see more clearly.

He then witnessed a scene he would never forget.

The bricks were not being stacked on concrete but rather on a layer of light red fungal mycelium.

This mycelium, alive like anything else, writhed with tiny cilia. The moment it touched the bricks, countless cilia clutched the bricks tightly, sprouting pale red spore covers from the gaps that securely fixed the bricks to the damaged wall.

Sindison was astounded by the scene before him.

It was as if the sun had risen from the west!

These mucosa were repairing human structures!

What was even more unthinkable for him was the discovery that the buildings repaired by the mucosa, unexpectedly, were not ugly. Instead, they bore a unique natural beauty.

At least, they looked much better than the surrounding old, damaged buildings!

The light red fungal carpets did not appear ferocious or jarring but spread along the damaged openings on the wall, like some artistically inclined graffiti, uniquely recording the scars caused by the War two centuries ago.

Now the only suspense was whether this house repaired by mucosa was habitable.

Sindison asked himself; he wouldn’t dare to live in it. Perhaps the impoverished of the Bugra Free State didn’t mind their living conditions, but he had no desire to be immersed in a spore-filled musty environment daily.

The businessman standing beside him seemed to agree, shaking his head as he observed the slow repair of the scars on the forsaken building.

"I would never live in such a place... I always feel like it’s some kind of trap, ready to swallow anyone who enters, just like a pitcher plant."

The other guards exchanged looks and then nodded in agreement.

"I feel the same..."

"Unless you pay me."

"But, can people really live in such a house? They haven’t even used concrete."

"No matter whether it’s habitable or not, at least now I know what the Alliance is up to by stockpiling these mucosal entities," Sindison cursed under his breath as he put down the telescope, his face showing helplessness.

Although he didn’t know how the Alliance managed to make those mucosal entities obediently work, it was none of his business.

Before, he had thought about methods with zero cost, such as sneaking over under the cover of night and loading a few trucks with mucosal entities to flee north.

After all, the East District of Qingquan City was so vast that the Alliance might not even notice.

But now, it seemed that this method was definitely not feasible; these mucosal entities seemed to have a will of their own and wouldn’t watch as they loaded their kin onto trucks.

Just as Sindison felt despondent, the sound of engine motors echoed nearby, and two motorcycles drove over from a street nearby.

Sindison and his group immediately looked over, only to see flags of the Alliance on the motorcycles, and the emblem of the First Army Corps painted on their fronts.

Four soldiers jumped down from the motorcycles, eyed this group of strangers warily, and started walking towards them.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Sindison quickly responded,

"I am a merchant passing by this area, may I ask what’s happening here? Why are there so many mucosal entities—"

"That’s none of your business," the soldier said coldly, his expression unyielding, "The area ahead is a military zone, entry without authorization is forbidden. I’m asking you to leave immediately, or we will be forced to take coercive measures."

The Alliance Ecological Protection Area is currently not open to the public.

Although there aren’t any secrets in this area, unless you’re a resident of the refuge, any unrelated persons entering this area would be forcefully driven away.

After all, the public still harbors significant doubts about the mucosal entities, and if someone encountered danger in this area at this time, even if it wasn’t the progeny bodies of Xiaoyu causing it, it would be almost impossible to explain clearly.

Seeing that this group of soldiers only had four people, a young guard following behind Sindison couldn’t help but look down on them and sneered.

"Forced measures? With just you few?"

The soldier wasn’t provoked by his taunt, only looking at him playfully.

"Wanna try?"

The survivors around the River Valley Province were fierce by nature, and Spring City was no exception; he had seen plenty of bullheaded individuals who thought themselves tough because of the guns on their necks.

The guard’s eyebrows twisted, about to speak harshly, but he was grabbed by the boss beside him and given a severe glare.

Sindison wanted to slap the guard twice.

He was here to seek wealth, not trouble!

Facing the four soldiers standing ready, Sindison softened his tone and apologized.

"Sorry, gentlemen, we’re new here and unaware of the rules... We’ll leave immediately."

Saying this, he took out some bills to give to the leading captain, but the captain pushed them away disdainfully.

"Put away your money, leave immediately, this is your final warning."

"Yes, yes!"

Sindison nodded rapidly, hurriedly pulling along the salesperson beside him and the still discontented guard, leaving this contentious place.

The First Army Corps soldier followed them until they had completely left the district.

Looking at two motorcycles parked at the other end of the street, the salesperson beside Sindison wore a resentful expression and couldn’t resist asking.

"Boss, are we just going to let this go?"

"Let it go?" Sindison squinted slightly, laughing lightly, "How could we possibly just let it go?"

The guard following behind, who had been silent up till now, hesitated slightly, then lowered his voice.

"Boss... The patrols here are too strict. We were discovered as soon as we arrived, it won’t be easy to sneak anything out."

"Sneak? Heh," Sindison glanced at his subordinate with disdain, curling his lip, "Am I the type of person that needs to sneak?"

Just moments before, he had suddenly come up with a great idea; perhaps not only could it cause the Alliance to spit out this hot potato, but maybe he could also get a few live specimens to take back for research.

A group of progeny bodies that could be put to use on the assembly line...

Thinking this, Sindison felt an excitement surge within him, eager to begin implementing his ingenious plan immediately.

Seeing the boss looking so confident, the salesperson immediately understood and quietly moved closer to ask.

"Boss... Any instructions?"

Sindison smiled slightly, whispering a few words in his ear.

"We’re not the only ones from the Bugra Free State here to haul goods, other merchants are here too... Find their bosses, send them an invitation, say the boss of the Sindison Business Group wants to have a drink with them and discuss big matters."

Pausing, he looked at the guard standing nearby and beckoned him over, continuing to whisper softly in his ear.

"Take a detour in a while, go back to the place we’ve just come from and take some photos... I have a great use for them."

...

While the merchants from Bugra were stealthily scheming, Chu Guang was just visiting the ecological protection area.

After a day’s practice and summarizing their experiences, his ’players’ were getting increasingly proficient at commanding Xiaoyu’s progeny bodies.

Especially some ’players’ with civil vocations.

To earn back the silver coins spent on purchasing progeny bodies, they think up every possible method they could.

Some were chopping trees, some hunting, others helping to build buildings, and there were even those who picked up some garbage sorting tasks from the industrial district.

With their help, this ecological protection zone, which previously had nothing but mucosal entities and forests, was gradually showing economic value.

What amazed Chu Guang the most was that his ’players’ had come up with a brilliant use for the mucosal entities’ progeny bodies in construction sites.

Previously, building construction needed the erection of scaffolding, and alongside cranes and other construction equipment, work could begin.

Now, the fungal mats covering the walls served as natural scaffolding, and the Crawlers capable of climbing directly up and down the walls acted as natural brick movers.

Now, it wasn’t just about saving labor by moving bricks; they had even improved the construction materials themselves.

Namely, using a mucosal entity in place of cement as an adhesive between the bricks.

When Chu Guang heard about this from Xiao Qi, he was astonished by the fantastical ideas of these players.

Could mucosal entities really be used this way?

"Using a fungal mat instead of cement... Are you sure this material is strong enough?" As he looked at the building which visibly repaired itself, Chu Guang hesitated for quite some time before asking.

A cheerful cry came through the communication channel.

"Yi wu!"

Sitting on Chu Guang’s shoulder and swinging his legs, Xiao Qi happily translated.

"Xiaoyu said this is an adhesive fungus strain made from the DNA recycled from the ’Decaying Knight’ evolutionary bodies. After the fungus mats are dehydrated, they can produce an effect similar to that of cement, which is not only very solid but can also self-repair!"

Self-repairing concrete?

No—

Could this really still be considered concrete?

Biological composite material?

Chu Guang had forgotten where he had read about the ancients building bridges by cultivating oysters below the bridge piers to stabilize them.

Due to their rapid growth, strong reproductive capability, and good cohesiveness, the oysters would bind the stones into a solid whole at the bottom of the river, a method known as the "Oyster Solidifying Foundation."

Inspired by the creative ideas of the players, Xiaoyu applied this method to repair high-rise buildings from the Prosperity Epoch.

The fungal mat filling between the bricks not only had adhesive strength comparable to cement but could also self-repair when damaged!

Although this building method sounded somewhat avant-garde, under the players’ direction, the results seemed unexpectedly good?

At that moment, Chu Guang suddenly had an even more avant-garde idea.

"Can this kind of fungus survive in a vacuum?"

Xiaoyu: "Yi wu?"

Xiao Qi: "Um... Xiaoyu said it hasn’t tried, but the first lair it devoured had the experience of surviving in near-vacuum conditions. With some improvements, it should be fine... Master, where do you want to apply it?"

"On a starship!" Chu Guang replied without hesitation.

Not only Xiaoyu, even Xiao Qi was stunned.

"Star... starship?"

Does the Alliance have such a thing?

"That’s right!" Chu Guang said with a pleased smile, "But starships are still too advanced for us. Let’s experiment with the Steel Heart first."

Self-repairing armor!

If this idea could really be realized, it would be awesome!

Thinking of the incredible evolutionary bodies produced by the central lair, he felt his idea might not be entirely impossible.

Chu Guang grew more and more excited.

Just as he was about to put his idea into action, Xiao Qi, who was sitting on his shoulder, suddenly spoke.

"Master, a researcher from the Academy has sent a message wanting to discuss cooperation with you in person. Shall I arrange a meeting time for you?"

"A researcher from the Academy?" Chu Guang, pausing the rapidly fermenting ideas in his mind, turned his head to look at Xiao Qi and asked, "Which researcher?"

Xiao Qi continued.

"That B-level researcher named Yang Kai, he wants to discuss a potential cooperation on behalf of the Academy..."

Hearing the name Yang Kai, Chu Guang looked slightly surprised.

Not surprised by his identity, but that he, who usually presented himself via holographic images from a research ship, now actually wanted to talk in person?

Being able to guess what he wanted to discuss, a playful smile appeared on Chu Guang’s face.

"Let’s schedule it for today... no, better make it tomorrow noon. Have him wait for me in the conference room of the Alliance Building."

Xiao Qi energetically replied.

"Received!"