I am Jinshan Youxia

However, the planetary mushroom is not yet public knowledge and is a secret research project. It is only known to Kitawaki Natsumi, a researcher in the laboratory.

Thinking of the Planet Mushroom, Kitawaki Shigehiko's expression relaxed considerably. If it were about traveling with dozens of people on the new Aero Mushroom for two or three years, risking their lives to see aliens, he would be more worried that his sister would disagree.

It doesn't matter now.

Takagi lowered his voice and said, "It seems you've already figured out what the higher-ups are going to do."

He paused, then asked, "What did your sister say?"

“Natsumi signed up too.” Kitawaki Shihiko shrugged and shook his head. “Well, if we’re all going, what’s the point of talking?”

Kitawaki Natsumi rushed over yesterday. The two siblings looked at each other, blaming each other for not telling them about such an important matter beforehand, and eventually parted on bad terms.

"Brother, Brother Takagi."

As the two were chatting, Kitawaki Natsumi floated out of the laboratory wearing a white lab coat. She looked quite helpless. "I suggest you join the second interstellar expedition team."

"The second batch?" X2 Kitawaki Shihiko and Takagi asked in unison.

"You guys don't think the interstellar expedition is just a one-off deal, do you?" Kitawaki Natsumi sighed, looking at her brother's lazy expression. "The higher-ups are already preparing for war with the aliens."

“Before the interstellar voyage plan even began, a messenger from the church had already gone missing.”

Chapter 359 Extraterrestrial Contact

What would aliens look like?

Could they be carbon-based life forms?

Will it be like E.T.?

Is it possible that it is a monster with a tail that launches wars of aggression everywhere?

Takano had fantasized about it countless times while he was on Earth, but he never imagined that he would be the first Earthling to see an alien.

[It has a triangular head, large compound eyes, two simple eyes, dark green skin, four hands with seven fingers on each hand, a tall and slender body, and an average height estimated to be over two meters. Its overall structure is somewhat similar to that of a human.]

However, convergent evolution is not uncommon; for example, to make tools and walk upright, the hands and separate fingers are very important.

He quietly observed the two humanoid praying mantises in front of the cell, completely unaware of his approach.

By utilizing the dispersion at the microscopic particle level, along with a little bit of invisibility field he learned out of boredom, he was able to observe aliens as an invisible intruder.

[...Recently, there seems to be a lot of strange space debris flying over.]

[I heard they're going to war with the lizardmen (the image shows a large, humanoid lizard wearing strange armor). Sigh, I really want to go home and smoke a couple of 'Incomprehensible' cigarettes.]

A cosmic catastrophe (an image of Hellstar) has entered the Milky Way galaxy; it's unknown which indigenous civilizations will be unlucky enough to observe it.

[The defense should be rotated next year, right? Boril's name is a transliteration... a lot of mating scenes]

Even with mind reading, there are still too many things that cannot be understood.

Takano shook off the feeling of nausea and strolled on the patrol ship, somewhat worried about how he could get the message back to the church.

Human beings are indeed powerful individuals. Given time, it would not be difficult for an individual like him, who has mastered the ability of microscopic particles, to destroy a planet. It would also not be too difficult for a single soldier to break into an alien spaceship.

These mantis-people are technologically advanced, but lacking divine guidance, they've taken a 'detour.' Their individual forms are largely the result of mechanical modifications and genetic experiments; without weapons, they're even less capable than elementary school children on Earth.

This refers to a child whose gut microbiota has been enhanced for over a year, enabling them to smash a stone ball with a diameter of one meter with a single fist.

The problem is that he can't fly faster than light. Without the space mushroom, he doesn't have the ability to send messages or go back. Simply relying on himself to fly back, finding a route is a big problem. Even if he finds the right route, it might take hundreds of years to see where the solar system is.

Breaking the speed of light is currently the bottleneck of the human microbiome's extraordinary system. Using the ability of spatial manipulation to fold and jump is still based on the range of mental detection. The amount of psychic power is also limited. Staying in space for a long time, with a tense nerve, jumping around in space alone, and being able to endure loneliness, fatigue and the pain after repeated space jumps is something only those mentally ill people who call themselves ascetics would do.

Although Takano is a pillar of the church and has been wandering in the universe for a long time in search of a solution to Hell Star, he has no penchant for self-torture.

He estimated it would take at least several hundred years, so he gave up and flew back on his own.

He initially considered using his psychic abilities to seize the spaceship, but these mantis-men were able to shield their minds from external influences. He suspected it was some kind of device, since these lizardmen would occasionally observe Hellstar and knew its hunting logic. If they couldn't shield their minds, they would probably be killed after just a few glances.

The reason why the Mantis can read minds is that the Mantis only shields itself from receiving mental signals and long-distance mental contact, but does not shield itself from short-distance mental radiation. Therefore, what the Mantis thinks seems transparent to Earthlings who are skilled in mental abilities.

Earthlings could have shielded their minds with mushrooms and superpowers ten years ago; otherwise, they would have had no chance of interfering with Hell Planet. If they wanted to flee en masse, they would at most abandon Earth, but the problem is that they would never abandon Earth.

There are their gods above, and a large number of aliens that may continue to harass humans after the containment goes out of control. Even though the Lord of the Microbes said several times that being swallowed by Hellstar would not affect their existing superpower system, who will make this decision?

This is why the Earth Federation, despite its resounding slogans, generally lacks support from the upper echelons.

Running away is easy, supposedly to draw away Hell Star from Earth. But what if, after leaving, many mindless, uninformed, and shielded minds try to completely escape Hell Star? Wouldn't that just be handing Earth and the gods over to Hell Star?

When they are entangled by some intractable alien beings and lose the help of the gods, then true destruction will come.

I'm so envious of them; there are no aliens on their home planet...

Takano Hikaru felt a surge of envy and jealousy. The Mantis people had no concept of being different; they simply viewed Hell Star as a cosmic disaster. Why did Earthlings have to be entangled with these different beings?

What an unfair world.

He pushed through a door made of an unknown alloy and looked at the captain sitting worriedly in the room. He decided to try friendly communication first, and only resort to force if that failed.

"Tap~"

Takano deliberately focused his body and landed to make a sound.

"Buzz buzz buzz!" the mantis captain uttered in a very low voice, and then a buzzing sound began to fill the room and the corridor.

This is the language of the praying mantis, and the frequency of its vocalizations is quite low, making it difficult for humans to discern the changes in sound, thus making communication quite challenging.

What are you?!

Takano read the information, opened his palm to reveal his hand, and tried to appear as harmless as possible, saying in a gentle voice, "Hello."

He didn't know what the alarm meant, but he just stood there and let the other party observe as they pleased.

The mantis-man captain slowly stood up, pressed himself against the wall, and tentatively said, "Buzz~"

[Is this weird thing an alien? How can it infiltrate a spaceship? Its clothes are made of living fungi? So many fungi inside its body! An alien living in symbiosis with fungi? How disgusting...]

Takano still wore a kind smile, but he was too lazy to complain in his heart. This guy had too many thoughts running through his mind, and his short-range mental radiation signals had become a continuous stream, which was a bit too noisy for him, who was trying his best to capture mental signals.

However, when they speak, they don't think about what they're saying, making communication difficult.

The mantis-man extended its slender left forearm and pressed it against the mask covering its triangular face. The buzzing sound instantly transformed into a language resembling that of the Indo-European language family.

She was thinking about an unknown alien creature whose language resembled that of birdmen (the image that appeared in her mind was of a large parrot more than three meters tall), and she sincerely hoped that the alien creature in front of her would not eat people.

Then a whole bunch of images popped into my head: Mantis being torn apart and eaten by strange alien creatures.

If Earth's language experts were to come, perhaps they could decipher it, but Takano was truly powerless. He could only remain motionless and wait quietly.

Soon, the door was opened, and four mantis soldiers carrying large, strange cannon barrels appeared outside.

Chapter 360 Please learn about our Savior and Heavenly Father, Lord of the Divine Microbe Community

One week later, on the Yongning Planet Mushroom.

[The 430th attempt to destroy Hellstar failed. According to the chief researcher of the Microbiome Laboratory...]

While browsing the messages in the mental network, Kitawaki Shihiko used his telekinesis to control the mushroom-making machine in the workshop to operate normally.

One after another, the customized fuel mushrooms flowed from the assembly line into the temporary mind-controlled warehouse, waiting for someone to pick them up.

He never imagined that his identity as a production worker would be part of the interstellar voyage team.

Planet Mushrooms are not capable of traveling independently in space, as they are too large and require a sufficient quantity of various mushrooms as fuel for propulsion.

This is currently the most powerful energy supply for the human mushroom system, taken from mushrooms and used for mushrooms.

Humans cultivate mushrooms using their own abilities, and then use these mushrooms as fuel to feed other mushrooms as an energy source.

Most importantly, it won't affect the transformation of the gut microbiota into one's own body. The gut microbiota is constantly multiplying and regenerating, and the transformation of the body is ongoing. It's just that the mechanical use of the device won't have much of an impact; at most, it will cause physical exertion and mental fatigue.

Ordinary people also expend physical and mental energy when they work, so there's no difference.

The most crucial type of mushroom here is the Power Mushroom, created from the rarest Power Bacteria. Simply put, it allows the mushroom to absorb energy and convert it into usable energy.

The availability of the Power Bacteria is currently quite poor. Even after working in the security team for more than ten years, Kitawaki Shigehiko has only seen one symbiotic individual who has had the Power Bacteria transplanted.

My younger sister, Kitawaki Natsumi, told me that there are fewer than a thousand registered holders of the Power Bacteria in the entire human society, making it extremely rare.

Fortunately, Power Mushrooms are not rare; most mushroom creations use them. Looking back on the development of human civilization, there is no doubt that Power Mushrooms are a type of mushroom that changed the entire social structure and historical process.

Just like steam and electricity in Earth's time, it truly created an era.

In earlier years, the public believed that microscopic particles would likely create a new era because once the microscopic state was mastered, infinite energy could be achieved. Unfortunately, there were too many problems involved, and the destructive power of microscopic particles prevented them from being used in civilian applications.

If some crazy person were to dig out a mushroom equipped with microscopic observation and interference technology from inside a mushroom creation, they could destroy at least a city block with just one hand, and possibly even wipe out an entire city on the spot.

Previously, no country on Earth with any problems would install a nuclear reactor inside a bus for power.

It's too dangerous, and there's no way to effectively defend against it, so it's been quietly staying in the laboratory until now.

"Ding~"

"Time to go home, time to go home~"

Upon hearing the sound, Kitawaki Shihiko decisively stopped the production line, rubbed his temples, and walked out of the factory workshop.

For the past few days, he has felt completely unwilling to use his telekinesis as soon as he leaves the workshop. He is so tired that he feels like vomiting.

Takagi, from the next workshop, emerged with the same numb expression. A video projected onto his mental network was playing: "[Latest discovery from the Second Laboratory of Mushroom City: Microscopic distortion particles can permanently fold space, potentially allowing for the storage of items. Effective use of space will benefit humanity's future…]"

Upon seeing Kitawaki Shihiko, he turned off the mind network projection and said, "Kitawaki, let's go grab a drink together."

The interstellar expedition team distributes a considerable amount of contribution points every day, almost three times their previous salary, but their workload is still more than five times that of the past.

Moreover, they knew perfectly well that for nearly a year after joining, they would have no chance to rest.

In addition to supplying planetary mushrooms with faster-than-light travel, they also need to manufacture a large number of weapon-type mushrooms to prepare for possible wars. To prepare for the past scenario of destroying an interstellar civilization, they must create more mushrooms capable of destroying enemies and planets.

The temporary minds in the large-scale mental network far surpass the computing power and intelligence level of outdated computers. Everyone is perfectly coordinated, and all human resources are calculated clearly without any waste.

The workload is precisely capped at the maximum that each person can accept, and psychological state is also taken into account. Most of the selected people have also undergone simulations and multiple screenings.

The two walked out of the factory side by side. Outside, workers in twos and threes got into their custom-made mushroom vehicles and left. Kitawaki Shihiko looked up at the deflection field on the outer layer of the Planet Mushroom, where the estimated arrival time was clearly reflected.

"It's still more than 320 days until we arrive." His expression was somewhat resigned.

Compared to their current non-stop, ten-hour workdays, back in Juncheng, they only worked four hours a day, three days a week…

I pretty much know why he was in pain.

This is mainly because there isn't much work to do in human society now. Most of the busyness is concentrated in research and development. Production has long been replaced by more intelligent, lazy, and 24-hour temporary minds. Ordinary humans spend their days eating, drinking, having fun, and enjoying the convenience brought by superpowers and mushrooms.