Alien creatures destroy homes? Start by killing upright apes!

David squatted on the desolate land of the foggy city, watching the water dragon dig in the soil.

Masa squatted in the dry landscape garden watching the water dragon beast dig in the soil.

Wood squatted on the ruins of the Waiming Plains, watching the water dragons dig in the dirt.

Vito squatted in the limestone quarry watching the water dragon dig in the soil.

George squatted on the alluvial plain of the Seine River, watching the water dragon dig in the soil.

King William stood on the black earth watching the water dragon dig in the soil.

Louis squatted next to the base of the bronze statue, watching the water dragon dig in the dirt.

Seven photos show the most powerful people in seven countries, all squatting down watching a water dragon dig a hole.

Carrie stood behind him, looking at the photos and couldn't help but laugh: "This could be made into a photo album—'The Complete Guide to the Squatting Postures of the Seven Leaders'."

"It's a good name. Once the underground network is built, we'll use this as the cover for the First Local Cave Treaty Commemorative Album."

After laughing, Carrie's gaze fell on the last report.

It was sent by Taro Tanuki Country. The report included a photograph—a symbol engraved on a copper plate for the upright ape in the Kyoto garden.

"Prime Minister Massa specially sent this photograph. Their linguists deciphered the contents of the bronze plate. The upright apes used symbolic language to record the architectural structure of Notre Dame. It wasn't a drawing, but a written description. It includes the curvature of the dome, the load-bearing structure of the flying buttresses, and the diameter of the rose window."

Lu Cheng stared at the photo in silence for a long time.

"They are archiving civilization. They are recording humanity's proudest architecture in their own language."

He put down the photo.

"The day the archive is complete is the day the replacement begins. They don't need to destroy Notre Dame, because they have mastered all the construction techniques of Notre Dame. They can build an exact replica with their own hands."

Carrie's fingers tightened slightly.

How much time do we have left?

"At the current rate of evolution, the third stage of camouflage may not take a hundred days. Maybe sixty days, maybe even less."

He stood up and walked to the wall of the cave, placing his palm on the smooth surface.

The walls trembled slightly, a sound coming from the water dragon beast digging deeper underground.

One after another, like a heartbeat.

"But at least we have underground. No matter how fast the upright apes learn, they can't learn what they can't see. They can't enter the caves of the water dragons."

Carrie walked over to him and placed her hand on the cave wall as well.

"Because the Water Dragon only digs downwards?"

"Because there's nothing in the Water Dragon's cave that the upright apes want to learn. There are no steam engines, no Notre Dame, no bronze statues, no writing... only soil, and the upright apes' intelligent brains have no interest in soil."

The wall shook again.

The water dragon beast had probably dug out a rock from deeper inside and was using its large tusks to pry it open.

Lu Cheng withdrew his hand from the cave wall, turned around and walked to the table, picked up a pen and began to write down the plan for the next stage, titled—Underground Network Phase Two: Depth Breakthrough of Fifty Meters.

Outside the window, dozens of adult water dragons were changing shifts in the square.

The day shift workers emerged from the cave, covered in dirt, their large fangs adorned with tree roots and pebbles, and lazily lay on the square basking in the sun.

One of them rolled over, belly up, kicked its four paws a few times in the air, and then stopped moving.

It's really ugly.

But after looking at it for a while, I actually felt a little reassured.

In the distance, the last rays of the setting sun sank below the horizon.

The canopy system was not lit.

The third stage of the hominid has not yet arrived.

But Lu Cheng knew it was coming soon.

……

In August of the 5914th year of the Blue Star calendar, on the thirty-first day after the arrival of the alien creatures.

Lu Cheng was awakened by the aroma of a bowl of soup.

He walked into the kitchen in his pajamas, where Carrie was standing in front of the stove stirring the pot.

The soup in the pot was milky white, with a layer of glistening oil floating on the surface, and the aroma filled the whole room with the steam.

A baby water dragon squatted by the stove. It was round and chubby, and its large fangs had not yet fully grown in. It was looking up at the soup spoon in Carrie's hand, its eyes devoid of any intelligence, only the purest desire for food.

"When did it get in?" Lu Cheng asked.

"It crawled in through the hole by itself last night and has been squatting at the kitchen doorway, refusing to leave."

Carrie scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and handed it to the water dragon cub.

The cub stuck out its tongue and licked it, then its whole body shuddered as if it had been electrocuted, its four paws bounced twice on the spot, and then it frantically rubbed its head against Carrie's calves.

"It quite likes it, but this is soup made from the bones of a water dragon beast, the bones of its own kind."

The water dragon cub nudged again, then turned and ran to the corner of the wall, slashing the ground with its claw.

It decided to dig a hole here and live forever in this place where there is soup to drink.

Lu Cheng squatted down and looked at the hole that was taking shape: "Today is the thirty-first day."

Carrie paused, her spoon still for a moment: "It's been a month."

One month.

On Advent Day, the whole world was scrambling for upright apes, with the four major Rogue Nations leading the way, and ten countries sharing one hundred million apes.

One month later, the surface of the country that chose the upright ape is being replaced, while the underground of the country that chose the water dragon has been dug through the entire country.

One month later, the surface of the country that chose the upright ape is being replaced, while the underground of the country that chose the water dragon has been dug through the entire country.

The water dragon cub, squatting in the corner of the kitchen wall and digging a hole with all its might, was completely unaware of this.

All it knows is that there is soup here.

After finishing his soup, Lu Cheng went to the Executive Government Office.

A map of Earth was spread out in front of them.

The map is marked with ten small flags, representing the top ten most powerful nations on Earth.

Nine sides are green, and one side is red.

The green ones are the ones that signed the Burrow Treaty—Winner Monkey Kingdom, Bulgan Kingdom, Mighty Dragon Kingdom, Sam Eagle Kingdom, Hans Cat Kingdom, Taro Tanuki Kingdom, Giuseppe Wolf Kingdom, Jacques Chicken Kingdom, and John Bull Kingdom.

There's only one red one—Ivan Bear Country.

Carrie brought in tea, glanced at the map, and asked, "Has Ivan Bear Kingdom still not replied?"

"No, Chairman Fra didn't even reply to the telegram." Lu Cheng picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"However, India, a little brother of Ivan Bear Country, just called us. Prime Minister Rajiv only said one thing—that the underground network cannot solve what India is going through."

Carrie pointed to the location of India on the map: "The Ganges?"

"That's right, the Ganges. The concentration of black blood has risen to 0.5%, all the wells in the thirty-seven villages and towns downstream are contaminated, and the number of infected people exceeds 100,000. It's not poisoning, it's behavioral assimilation. The infected people squat by the roadside and look at things, looking at them all day long, just like upright apes."

Carrie fell silent.

The water dragon can dig burrows, turn over the ground, and secrete mucus as building material.

However, the Water Dragon Beast could not purify the Ganges River, which was polluted by black blood.

This is why India did not sign the Burrow Treaty—it's not that they didn't want to sign it, but that signing it would have been pointless.

Their problem isn't above their heads, it's below their feet.

The upright apes turned their mother river into a source of pollution, and the underground network could not solve the water problem.

"What about Ivan Bear Country?" Carrie asked. "What's their problem?"

Lu Cheng took out a piece of intelligence from the drawer. It was an assessment report that had been circulating within the intelligence department of the Ivan Bear Kingdom three days ago, and a copy had been made by an agent who had infiltrated the Winner Monkey Kingdom.

The first page of the report contains only one line of red text:

The Amur hominids have stopped migrating south and have begun returning north.

"North?" Carrie was stunned. "The steam engine plant in Kutsk is in the south, why are they heading north?"

Lu Cheng turned to the third page of the report and pointed to a blurry photograph.

The photo shows an upright ape crouching in a birch forest in the Far Eastern wilderness, holding a piece of metal in its hand.

The metal sheet reflects sunlight, and when magnified, you can see symbols engraved on it.