Collapse Iron: Cosplaying the Near-Death Star, but with a full destiny.

Xingyou walked over to Xingxing's side, having already put away the flame spear in his hand, replacing it with a glowing tactical detection rod.

Instead of worrying about that pile of scrap metal, we should worry about... our situation.

Xing pointed to the ground beneath him.

"It's so lively here."

Hoshi lowered his head.

Through the clear yet deep seawater, she witnessed a shocking scene.

In the shallow sea area of ​​planet 4546b, which is considered the "source of calamity" and a "forbidden zone of death," a scene unexpectedly appears...

A vibrant and thriving scene.

Colorful coral reefs spread across the seabed, and schools of fish of various shapes and sizes dart among the seaweed.

There are large-eyed fish that look like boomerangs, swimming rapidly; there are pink creatures that float slowly with a huge air sac on their backs; and there are jellyfish-like creatures with long tentacles and a ghostly blue glow, dancing gracefully in the depths.

Sunlight shines through the water, casting a net-like pattern of light on the seabed.

Everything seems to be...

Everything was so harmonious and beautiful.

If you ignore the top-secret file about the "disaster" and the terrifying vision of the three-headed corpse, this place is a perfect vacation spot.

"This is... hell?"

Xi Lian lay on a rock that had emerged from the water, her long, wet pink hair clinging to her back.

She reached out her hand, her fingertips gently touching the water's surface, as if trying to read the memories of this sea.

But her brows quickly furrowed.

"strangeness......"

"What's wrong?"

The star swam over and clung to the edge of the reef.

"No response."

Xi Lian looked at her fingertips, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"This water, these stones, even the creatures swimming below..."

"They have no 'past'."

"It's as if... they were just created. Their memories are blank, they only have the most basic survival instincts."

Hoshino's heart skipped a beat.

No memory?

This planet has existed for billions of years, and the calamities have lasted for thousands of years.

How could I not have any memories?

unless......

"Bring one up for inspection."

Mohoshi made a decisive decision.

She looked at the stars.

As a physics master known as the "Galaxy Bat Man," catching fish is Star's forte.

Xing nodded, took a deep breath, and plunged down.

A few seconds later.

The water surface broke open.

Xing, holding a large, struggling purple-eyed fish in her hand, resurfaced.

"Give."

She threw the fish onto the rocks.

The fish was about the size of two palms, covered in purple scales, and had a huge eye that took up half of its head, making it look both comical and eerie.

It hopped around on the rocks, its big mouth opening and closing, making a strange "clucking" sound.

He moved closer to observe.

At first glance, the fish appears to be very healthy and full of energy.

But when she reached out and parted the scales on the fish's belly...

Everyone's pupils contracted sharply.

Hidden beneath those purple scales.

On the skin that should be white in the belly of a fish.

Covered with countless...

The size of a mung bean, bright red and glistening...

Pustules.

The pustules were still throbbing slightly, and through the translucent skin, you could clearly see the filamentous, red thread-like things moving inside.

"衃......"

㳉星 uttered the word in a low voice.

Congealed bad blood.

This was the prototype of the calamity, the initial sign of that terrifying plague.

"It's infected."

March 7th hid behind Xi Lian, peeking out half her head and looking at the fish with a look of disgust.

"It looks disgusting... Is this some kind of virus?"

"The Kara virus... no, it should be called the 'Scarlet Plague' here."

He analyzed calmly on Sunday.

He extended a finger, and a tiny blade of light condensed at the tip, gently slicing open one of the pustules.

There was no pus discharge.

The ruptured pustule dried up instantly, turning into a wisp of red smoke that dissipated into the air.

The fish, the moment the pustule ruptured, seemed to lose all its vitality, immediately stopped struggling, and became a stiff corpse.

"This thing... is keeping it alive."

Sunday brought to a chilling conclusion.

"If it's not punctured, it can stay alive and kicking for a long time. Once punctured, the virus dissipates, and the host dies immediately."

"This means... they have already become symbiotic."

Hoshi looked at the dead fish.

An ecological model of this planet was rapidly forming in my mind.

If even small fish in shallow waters are infected, then what about the big fish in the deep sea... wouldn't they have long since become mobile virus reservoirs?

"There's something else that's strange."

Xing suddenly spoke, pointing to the still-burning Starship in the distance.

"Logically, the closer to the source of the disaster, that is, the crash site, or the core of the planet, the more severe the infection should be."

"but......"

Xing took out a small water quality tester from the tactical bag at his waist.

The numbers on the screen are fluctuating.

"The infection rate here is only 15%."

"The biosignals we just detected in the outer atmosphere have an infection rate of over 80%."

"The closer to the core, the milder the infection?"

This is a paradox.

It's like you walk into a radiation zone and find that the radiation level next to the nuclear reactor is actually lower than the surrounding area.

unless......

Something is continuously "purifying" this place.

Or rather...

Something is "eating" the infection here, transforming it into another form.

"Look at those plants."

Xi Lian suddenly pointed to the seabed.

Beneath the reef, large patches of green plants, resembling seaweed, grow.

They sway with the water flow, their leaves broad and thick, exuding vitality.

Just now, everyone's attention was drawn to the fish, and they overlooked these most common background elements.

Hoshino followed the direction of Xilian's finger.

She narrowed her eyes and activated the "Endless" vision.

In her eyes, the appearance of the world is stripped away, revealing the underlying flow of energy.

The fish, the corals, and the microorganisms were all shrouded in a faint, dark red aura of death.

Only...

Those plants.

Those green seaweed, those glowing mushroom-shaped plants.

On them...

Clean and tidy.

There was not a trace of death about it.

Not only that.

Inside them flows an energy that feels both incredibly familiar and utterly repulsive to the planet.

That energy was warm, viscous, and almost overflowing...

The desire to "live".

"Abundant..."

㳉星 gritted his teeth and spat out those two words.

She leaped into the water and submerged again.

The baseball bat in his hand (which had materialized at some unknown time) swung out suddenly, cutting a thick piece of seaweed in half.

No plant sap flowed from the broken surface.

Instead, it spewed out a stream of...

Bright red, with a fishy smell...

blood.

"I knew it."

Hoshi grabbed the still-wriggling piece of "seaweed".

It writhed wildly in Hoshino's hand, the flesh at the broken end rapidly regenerating, attempting to reconnect itself.

"This is not a plant at all."

The star surfaced and slammed the piece of "seaweed" hard onto the rocks.

"This is... meat."

"It's a fake... concocted by the destiny of 'abundance'."

"They wear the skin of plants, yet exercise the power of flesh and blood."

"So they won't get infected."

"Because they themselves... are part of that monster."

Everyone gathered around, their faces turning extremely grim as they looked at the "seaweed" writhing like a snake on the rock.

The entire 4546B ecosystem.

It's all fake.

Those seemingly beautiful corals, those swaying seaweeds, even this seemingly clear seawater.

These were all props used by Zhulong to create a false sense of peace and prosperity.

It used its abundant power to construct a false "paradise".

Used to raise those... lives as "food".

"衃、臡、骾、魇".

As Hoshino looked at the piece of seaweed, those words resurfaced in her mind.

"The calamity only infects beings with souls."

"Because it is a disease of 'time,' it needs to devour 'existence.'"

"And these abundant creations..."

"They have no soul, no past, no future."

"They're just... a bunch of moving rotten flesh."

"Therefore, the calamities of the demons look down on them."

A corner of the truth was thus laid bare before everyone.

This planet.

It's a huge breeding farm.

Zhulong used its abundant power to create environments, used the demonic virus to screen and modify creatures, and finally...

To complete some kind of clandestine "promotion" ceremony.

"Drip—drip—drip—"

While everyone was still in shock.

The tactical terminal in Xing's hand suddenly emitted a rapid alarm.

Something's up.

Xing quickly manipulated the screen a few times and brought up a holographic radar image.

"Just now... while we were talking."

"The monitoring network on the periphery of the atmosphere has detected high-energy reactions."

on the screen.

Dozens of red dots suddenly appeared in the previously calm orbital area.

Those points of light are falling at an extremely high speed.

The trajectory is scattered, yet it carries a certain purpose.

"That is..."

March 7th leaned over for a look, and his eyes widened instantly.

"Those are...more spaceships?"

"I don't know, I can't see clearly."

Sunday shook his head.

"Never mind, we have too little information right now. Let's gather more information about this planet first."

The group split up to gather more information about life and plants on the planet, but before long, Sunday discovered something different.

"Escape pod".

He said he spread the message to the other members.

The pioneering teams arrived one after another.

"It seems that the 'Starship' attempted to eject the survivors before disintegrating. However..."

"Those survivors seem to have had bad luck."

As the escape pod sank to the bottom of the sea, a gruesome hole was clearly visible in the originally sturdy titanium alloy shell.

The cut surface curls outwards, presenting a twisted shape as if it were torn apart from the inside by some enormous force.

As the star reached the top of the escape pod, the surrounding seawater automatically moved away.

Upon closer inspection, the hole appeared particularly shocking.

The metal edges were stained with dried, dark red marks, and the air instantly filled with a stench of stale blood and burnt flesh.

"Violent destruction."

On March 7th, he peeked out, then covered his nose and shrank back inside.

"And it broke from the inside. Did the survivor go mad?"

"If it's for survival, then resorting to more drastic methods is acceptable."

On Sunday, I crouched down and ran my fingertips over a broken wire.

"But destroying the airtight door in this way is tantamount to suicide. It violates the fundamental logic of survival and is more like..."

He raised his head, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"The behavior of a beast that has lost its mind."

Nihoshi did not speak.

She walked straight to the edge of the large hole and crawled inside.

The cabin was a mess. Instrument panels were broken and wiring was exposed.

Various supplies were scattered on the ground: compressed biscuits, filtered water, first aid kits, and...

Several pieces of bone that have long been weathered and whose original appearance is no longer discernible.

In the center of the console, a terminal, flashing a faint red light, stubbornly continues to operate.

It was a black box that used a special energy source, and even under such a violent impact, it still retained the integrity of its core data.

However, its casing was severely deformed, the screen was shattered into a spiderweb pattern, and the control panel was violently smashed, making it obviously unreadable.

"broken."

Xing followed him in, looked at the pile of scrap metal, and shrugged regretfully.

"This is troublesome. To extract data from this pile of scrap metal, we'll probably have to call Black Tower or Silver Wolf."

"No one else is needed."

The star station is positioned in front of the terminal.

She slowly raised her hands.

The left hand, the hand that once held a baseball bat and shattered a star core, now faces upward, supporting the weight called "existence".

The right hand, reshaped from abundant flesh and blood and defined by ultimate power, is palm down, shrouded in a shadow called "time".

Golden light illuminated the narrow cabin.

The light was not dazzling, but it carried a solemnity that was awe-inspiring.

"Since it's broken..."

In Hoshino's eyes, the reversed clock markings began to spin wildly.

"Then let it..."

"Back to before it broke."

Buzz——————

An invisible wave emanated from the star and instantly enveloped the entire control panel.

The ruins, which were originally following the second law of thermodynamics and were in a state of increasing entropy, were at this moment reversed by an absolute will.

Time has turned back.

The scattered metal fragments, as if attracted by a magnet, flew up and reassembled onto the terminal's outer shell.

Under the soothing golden light, the twisted frame gradually straightened and returned to its original factory straightness. The shattered screen fragments were put back in place one by one, the cracks healed, and it was as clean as new.

Even the exposed wires seemed to have a life of their own, automatically connecting, intertwining, and rebuilding a complete data path.

"Click".

....................................