The great battle between those two groups of Energy Gathering Mechanical Species hidden in the underground cave—how coincidental must it have been for the military to discover it?

Gong Shuxu and the reconnaissance squad entered that area of underground caves to investigate after the Gong Gong Mechanical Corps. Therefore, they knew Energy Gathering Mechanical Species existed on this planet. However, no one had ever mentioned this to Chen Gu.

Once this matter was brought to light, Gong Shuxu recalled the scene at the time. He then looked at Chen Gu's current state of recklessness whenever hunger struck. He felt he had guessed the truth. "You orchestrated a major battle between the two dominant populations of Energy Gathering Mechanical Species in the underground caves, just to eat their kings?"

The rest of the reconnaissance squad suddenly understood, vividly recalling the scene: parts of both the Energy Piranha King's and the Energy Serpent Spider's bodies were missing. Nearby, stone pots, stone basins, stone bowls, and a charred earthen stove lay scattered...

Was it all this guy's doing?

He did it all just for a bite to eat?!

A look of fond remembrance crossed Chen Gu's face. "Truly a worldly delicacy! For that, any amount of work is worthwhile."

"SLURP—" Chen Gu sucked his saliva back, looking at Gong Shuxu with a helpless expression. "You shouldn't have brought this up. My hunger is even more intense now."

"Besides, the things I ate made me even more powerful," Chen Gu emphasized deliberately.

Not only did he gain the body-enlargement ability from the 'crippled version' of Imagine Reality, but the speed of his Mind Remote Control also increased significantly.

But deep down, he knew very well: he just hadn't suffered a major screw-up yet.

Someday, he would end up like the Isabella Wu from his memories—hugging the toilet, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, all because he ate something he shouldn't have...

This minor incident helped everyone realize that Chen Gu was indeed the "hero" who had saved the Gong Gong Mechanical Corps. Even so, their opinion of him didn't much change; they still wouldn't accompany him into the underground caves to search for Energy Gathering Mechanical Species.

No one was familiar with the underground conditions. Aside from the lurking Energy Gathering Mechanical Species, even if the pursuing Mutant Swarm chased them into the caves, the narrow environment would be extremely disadvantageous for Professionals.

Moreover, instead of their respect and admiration for this "hero" who saved the Gong Gong Mechanical Corps increasing, they found him inexplicably comical whenever they looked at him!

The team continued towards Base 9. Earlier on their journey, Gong Shuxu had used his portable device to contact the military. He reported the Boles mutation and the high probability of a Mutant Swarm appearing on the planet.

Such personal communication devices, even at increased power, couldn't transmit directly across Star Systems. They had only managed to contact nearby military forces, requesting them to relay the report.

Upon receiving the news, Bai Yunpeng no longer ignored Chen Gu's situation. Despite being short on troops, he managed to dispatch a Heavy Armor Mecha Company to rendezvous with them quickly.

Chen Gu specifically reminded them: bring plenty of food.

However, a few hours later, as they entered a dense stone forest, Gong Shuxu suddenly found that the electronic devices on his person were malfunctioning.

"Electromagnetic interference?" Gong Shuxu, ever experienced, cautiously scanned his surroundings. "Everyone, be careful. This might be a hunting ground for Energy Gathering Mechanical Species."

Ma Shuwen nodded. "Just like that pitted area, riddled with holes—the Energy Serpent Spider's hunting ground."

Chen Gu casually asked, "The Energy Serpent Spider's hunting ground is above ground?"

"Yes." Ma Shuwen explained further. Chen Gu found it strange. "Why do all the Energy Gathering Mechanical Species on this planet hide underground? Fine, let them hide underground. But their hunting grounds all seem to be on the surface. So, what exactly are they hunting?"

These words stunned Gong Shuxu and the others. Indeed, why was that?

"If this planet has some hidden secret," one of them mused, "we and the Insect Race have been here for over ten days. Logically, we should have discovered it by now."

Great Actor Chen was too hungry now to have much capacity for thought or analysis; he was merely speaking off the cuff.

Elton led the way. Already short, he now moved with heightened alertness, crouching low and tucking in his neck, looking even more like a... large ball of muscle rolling ahead.

Suddenly, he made a hand signal to those behind. The group quietly followed, and Elton pointed them towards something.

"Plants? Fruits?"

In the stone forest, red, willow-branch-like plants seemed to struggle out from cracks in the rocks, swaying gently. Their branches bore seven or eight pale green fruits, very similar in size and shape to peaches.

Everyone quickly turned, hands outstretched, ready to restrain Chen Gu. Based on the "craving" for food he had previously shown, they were afraid he would charge out recklessly.

Chen Gu, however, merely gazed listlessly at the plant, showing no intention of moving whatsoever.

Chen Gu made a reassuring gesture to the others and whispered, "That thing... it doesn't taste good."

The doll-like Lisa asked curiously, "How do you know?"

Chen Gu said, "I just know." He looked at it and felt not the slightest appetite; obviously, it wasn't tasty.

Ma Shuwen and Gong Shuxu conferred. "Should we go check it out, or go around it?"

Before the two could reach a conclusion, a strange sound suddenly echoed from the sky, growing louder as it neared!

"The Mutant Swarm! They're catching up!" Everyone tensed and quickly looked up. However, this time, what appeared wasn't the usual ferocious mutant flying insects, but rather meteors—streaking through the air, burning as they fell!

"Could it be debris from the great battle in the Star Sea, falling to the planet?"

Whether it was wreckage from destroyed starships or the corpses of dead insects, if they were too close to a planet, its gravity could capture them, leading to such a phenomenon.

No one could offer a definitive answer. As they looked up, they overlooked the strange plant before them. Silently and unnoticed, clusters of similar plants began to sprout around the original one!

The Professionals suddenly felt a palpitation in their chests. Lowering their gaze, they discovered in horror that these peculiar plants were now sprouting from every crevice in the rocks throughout the entire stone forest!

"Those are definitely not plants!"

The group drew closer together as those plants also began to emerge from smaller crevices underfoot, steadily advancing towards them.

Chen Gu leaped onto a massive nearby stone pillar and waved for the others to join him. After a moment's hesitation, they followed. Within seconds, the spot where they had just been standing was completely overrun by those plants.

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