Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that. If you conjure up an agricultural development base and a large planetary modification spaceship for me, I won't need so many people. Three or four hundred people will be enough," Old Xia said, spreading his hands. "That's only because some projects are unnecessary. Otherwise, many things can't be solved by manpower alone."

"For example?"

"For example, you don't have spaceships to pull two comets to the location I require, creating a freshwater lake like an inland sea. You also don't have the ability to use ultra-high-power particle beams to directly burn dozens of irrigation canals on the ground. Furthermore, you can't, as I require, drag an asteroid with a diameter of over 150 kilometers from the asteroid belt, finely chop it up, and drop it down as base fertilizer..."

"Most importantly, you don't need to build at least 2 atmospheric improvement devices on the ground to reduce calcium oxide rocks into oxygen and modify the atmosphere—you only need to do the very last little bit of the original project, which is already a very easy thing."

After all, Terra is an ecological planet. No matter what, the composition of sunlight, atmosphere, and water is still normal. The ecological damage caused by humans is still acceptable. As long as it recovers to a certain extent, the vegetation will automatically fix the soil from the wind and sand.

Once the water and soil cycle is restored, it will slowly accumulate on its own, transforming the rocky landforms into mountain forests.

After all, Earth was a desolate planet in the distant past, and it was life that gradually transformed it into what it is today.

"Moreover, we still have a lot of preliminary work to do, and I have no hope for your data collection work here."

Preliminary work also includes investigating local precipitation patterns and amounts, wind direction, and windblown sand volume. Of course, it also involves considering groundwater quality, the seepage and retention capacity of the mountain rocks and surface, and so on.

"How many years will it take to resolve this?" "It will take at least five years to complete the first phase of remediation," Xia Lin thought for a moment and gave a rough timeline. "In reality, it will be extended to some extent depending on the speed of your industrial development and the availability of human and material resources. Of course, the shortest time will be five years..."

"The entire project will take at least 30 years to complete..."

Is it like this where you are?

"About the same. Unmanned workstations are usually launched about 10 to 15 years ahead of schedule. Only after the second phase of the project is completed will manned spacecraft and work bases be built."

When I arrived, it was roughly in the middle of the fourth phase of the project. Once the fourth phase was completed, it would be ready for acceptance testing, followed by minor adjustments…”

For example, changing vegetation types, landscape modifications and long-term adjustments based on commercial uses are long-term projects that involve continuous operation while adjustments are made gradually.

If the planetary environment is favorable and all projects proceed smoothly, such planets with favorable environments may be transformed from agricultural planets to administrative and residential planets in the future, allowing for the construction of large-scale surface city clusters and orbital elevators, among other things.

Well, turning it into a planet for tourism isn't impossible. However, the investment for that would be a bit too high.

Honestly, Terra, this godforsaken place, would be a great tourist destination for the Covenant if it weren't for that damned sun.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: As long as I can run.

Chapter 68

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. Fine raindrops fall on the surface of the stones, soaking the sandstone and slowly sliding down the granular surface into the crevices. Fingers wrapped in gloves forcefully pry open these small stones, revealing a grayish-white and yellowish-brown paste in the crevices, which they slowly rub against their fingertips.

"Hmm... the situation isn't the worst yet. Human-caused damage is still too weak compared to the destructive power of nature itself."

Xia Lin squatted on the edge of a small, flat area in the mountains. Behind him, a tall Sarkaz warrior held up an umbrella, completely ignoring the fact that the rain had already soaked half of his body.

“I said, you don’t actually need to hold an umbrella for me, I won’t catch a cold.” Terra’s microbes and viruses have not yet experienced the indiscriminate killing by artificial immune systems in the interstellar era. Compared with the microbial environment within the Covenant that has evolved into an extremely covert parasitic mode, a little rainwater bringing infection is not enough to shake his immune system.

Not to mention, catching a cold from rain is essentially an immune disorder caused by hypothermia. For him, the hypothermia caused by rainwater will not have any consequences. The symbiont has already gathered on the blood vessels on the surface of the body to maintain the body's thermal barrier. Even in a storm, he will not feel too cold.

“You have your responsibilities, and I have mine. We each need to be loyal to our duties. So you don’t need to worry about me.”

The bodyguard spoke up, "Besides, you are doing things for us mountain people."

Although it's hard to understand what's going on, those machines that are carving through mountains and leveling the land are real.

Moreover, the unfamiliar man in front of him was indeed trekking through the mountains like a mountain dweller, supposedly to help crops grow again in these barren mountains.

Although the elders didn't believe it, they wouldn't reject such goodwill. Besides, he had indeed made a small flowerpot out of the stones and odds and ends he had collected, and even sprouted a few green buds. Perhaps it really could change this barren land?

"Fungal spores still need further improvement. There is still some soil here. With the help of wind erosion and microorganisms, it may be possible to recreate the mud moss community through nitrogen fixation in the air and rock decomposition."

It was like a swirling, muddy mass of moss and fungi. Then, they would die, like layers of corrosive agents, turning the hill, covered in stone chips and gravel, into a brown mound of soil before planting could begin.

"I'm curious, what exactly are you looking for? You've searched the entire mountainous region..."

“I’m not looking for anything. I’m just… well, in your words, I’m reading the history and records of this land.” Xia Lin pointed to the rocks on the ground. “These rocks and sand are the carriers of these records. Past rainfall, sunshine, wind, and the plants and animals that once lived here, even insects and bacteria, all leave records on these ‘pages.’ And I’m organizing and reading this information in sequence.”

Growing something directly on an alien planet is not like playing house in a hydroponic container; it requires a great deal of knowledge and skills.

Moreover, the difficulty is enormous. The harsh environment, terrifying radiation, toxic atmosphere, and desolate, lifeless ground mean that to transform them, you must first understand them and comprehend the history and past of this celestial body.

When it rains, when the sun rises, how much accumulated temperature there is, whether primitive life once existed, and so on. Based on this information and history, we can formulate a transformation plan and appropriate biological communities, so that life on Earth can flourish on alien planets light-years away. This is not just a simple food production activity, but also a kind of research and progress.

Ordinary people only naturally focus on the final product, completely unaware that those are merely minor byproducts.

Even if one day food can be synthesized from the void, this kind of "agricultural" development will not stop.

"Star Alliance Agriculture" is a colloquial term; the strict name is "Planetary Ecological Engineering Science," a legitimate undergraduate major in interstellar civilization, covering almost all disciplines related to planets, ecology, and biology—a truly serious field.

Of course, just as civil engineering is often jokingly referred to as the "mortar-laying profession," it doesn't seem wrong to call this profession the "farmer's profession."

"To farm, you have to figure out when it will rain, how much it will rain, what the water quality is like, whether there will be landslides, droughts, or floods."

Otherwise, if a downpour happens while you're drying your grain, you'll have worked for nothing all year. And to understand these things, you need to understand the local history or all the information from the past.” Xia Lin organized his equipment and watched the readings on the PNIS.

"As it stands, your land isn't completely beyond saving. Really, there's still some soil in the cracks between the rocks, and there's still a possible layer of peat and ancient biological structures beneath the surface rock. As long as the roots go deep enough, usable organic matter can eventually be extracted. Compared to a truly barren land, this is already considered..." full of vitality?

"I really don't understand the meaning of the patterns on these rocks. Could you explain it to me in a simple way?"

“For example, here, the rock strata show signs of water erosion and obvious signs of low-temperature ice erosion, which means that around…” After glancing at the readings and analysis results, “3 million years ago, this was a glacier with at least 2 kilometers of ice covering it. After that, the temperature rose, the ice melted, and the water carved clear marks on the rocks that are still visible after hundreds of millions of years. If we dig more carefully, we can also find fossils containing shells and ancient organisms.”

"So, in the past, this place might even have been part of the seabed, a...?" This was simply incomprehensible to the Sarkaz.

“That’s right. To be more precise, your Dividing Mountains are also part of the seabed, and even the area below the cliffs, according to my findings, is part of a trench. This means…”

This means that oil and coal may be found, and even large amounts of organic matter similar to methane hydrate may be buried deep underneath.

The entire mountain range is essentially formed by the collision of a continent dominated by Ursus and Great Yan with a continent dominated by Iberia and the current Agor people of the seabed. The Iberian Plate surged onto the Ursus-Great Yan Plate, forming this fault-like mountain range.

The other side sank to the seabed, the land became the ocean, and the original ocean became the land.

"Alright, the work here is done. I'll go back and start developing the construction and planting plans. Don't even think about growing conventional crops here. However, I do have some... special equipment that I can custom-make for you."

Xia Lin gathered his tools and headed down the mountain. The guard shook his head, picked up his umbrella, and followed. He found it hard to understand why a man who seemed to live a pampered life in a big city and had never done any heavy work was more agile and at ease walking on mountain paths than even half of the mountain people.

In the agricultural transformation base nestled among the mountains, Yelena teased the bean-sized spherical insects in the plastic incubator with fine blades of grass. These planktonic insects, a type of feed insect commonly used on starships, originated from scientific research findings from an ecological planet.

It was a forest planet with extremely high oxygen levels and low nitrogen levels, boasting a rich ecosystem and vast vegetation. The only problem was that the plants were highly aggressive, and the atmosphere contained large amounts of toxic gases produced by the native moss and vegetation. So, it was burned clean and replanted with vegetation, becoming a forest planet with an Earth-like ecosystem.

The original indigenous life forms were preserved as samples, the most useful of which were these planktonic worms, which synthesize organic matter through methane, light, carbon dioxide and oxygen, and store nutrients in their spherical bodies.

These feed insects are used to feed fish, and together with improved black algae and non-toxic treated blue-green algae, they can be used to raise various freshwater or saltwater fish. In mountainous areas, the only aquaculture that can be carried out is probably fish farming, because only these feed insects and algae that can synthesize protein by drinking the wind can survive here.

However, this requires a lot of water. Xia Lin was outside checking the rainfall and the ground's ability to retain water, and trying to guide and treat it to allow the water to accumulate, turning the basins and deep pits in the mountains back into their original lakes and ponds. Once there is water, life will survive very tenaciously.

With enough fresh water, an artificially restored wetland ecosystem can be created, along with techniques for converting rocks and sand into soil.

Five years from now, this place will be covered with at least a layer of vegetation consisting of drought-resistant plants and mosses, and ten years from now, if all goes well, there will be sparse woodland.

Twenty years later, a large number of shrubs will grow, and birds and small animals will inhabit the area. In a maximum of 40 years, a new wetland forest will be formed.

The planktonic insect used its powerful claws to bite the grass leaf, and no matter how hard Yelena tried, she couldn't shake it off. This kind of insect doesn't need to ingest much food from the outside world.

However, they also knew that the proteins they stored to survive drought and winter were a feast for other species, so they still evolved a very powerful bite.

In the Covenant, some kids raise strong planktonic insects to fight with. Whether it's fighting insects or throwing them at others, they're very effective—one bite and they'll cry for at least half an hour ojpg;

"Why are you interested in playing with insects?"

"I'm just wondering if this stuff is really edible?" Yelena said seriously. To be honest, her planting skills at the Ministry of Agriculture were not very good, and her agricultural knowledge was also terrible.

However, he is quite experienced in animal husbandry, probably because his craving for meat during the six months he ate only potatoes and cabbage fueled his motivation to learn.

"I remember Carter doesn't eat meat?"

“Those are Rembitox’s idiots,” Yelena said without hesitation. Even real rabbits will eat meat when they encounter it, and rabbits will even eat lynx carcasses (it’s true). “They have some weird vegetarianism over there. Some media and idiots claim that all creatures in the world are vegetarians and that eating meat is a lie made up by men.”

“Uh…” Swire was a little confused. After all, as a big cat, whether it’s a real cat or a cat with some of its genetic characteristics, it’s a carnivore.

Her diet is similar to that of a certain blue-green food, mainly consisting of sweets and meats supplemented with small amounts of vegetables to supplement vitamins and fiber. She also likes to eat fruit but doesn't like to eat staple foods like bread—the reason she hasn't gained weight is simply because her metabolism is very fast.

According to someone who wished to remain anonymous, Swire's body temperature is about 2-3 degrees Celsius higher than that of a normal human female, making her a human heater on winter nights.

Of course, this means that her heat loss is at least 30% higher than that of a normal human, so even if she eats a lot of meat and fish every day, there will be no problem.

Moreover, she has very strong muscle fibers and an extremely high basal metabolic rate; otherwise, if Yelena ate like her, her weight would be skyrocketing.

"Old Xia explained this problem before. Because the area is mainly mining with animal husbandry as a secondary industry, the cost of vegetables and fruits is relatively high, so they are sold at high prices and have high profit margins. Therefore, local farmers and media outlets that have been paid are promoting this stuff," Yelena complained.

The atrocities committed by that Rembiton were due to his firm belief in vegetarianism. He even almost got into a conflict with the other rabbits in the Yeti Squad once. Those "Arctic Hares" living in Ursus don't have so many messy habits. Where would such a fussy diet come from in Ursus? Stuffing anything edible into their mouths is the only way to survive.

"Then I forced her to eat meat. After she threw up a few times, she now eats rabbit heads happily."

"Speaking of rabbit heads, are you really planning to raise rabbits here?"

"To be precise, they are rabbits raised in summer. Normal rabbits can't eat those things..." Yelena was referring to the mud and moss and the stuff with excessive lignin. "However, he also plans to set up several decomposition and fermentation tanks to turn wood, mud, rocks, and all sorts of garbage into nutrients or fertilizer." This will also solve the problem of household waste for the mountain people.

[In nature, rabbits also eat other rabbits. jpg]

In reality, there are no truly herbivorous animals. Most herbivores eat meat whenever possible, as meat has a higher energy density and is easier to digest. However, it's not readily available to herbivores with lower fighting capabilities. Conversely, eating plants requires gut bacteria to help break them down and obtain energy.

Therefore, the idea of ​​vegetarianism is a lie fabricated by some unscrupulous media outlets and capitalists. From rabbits to cows, horses, and giraffes, all mammals and vertebrates eat meat when they can. However, carnivorous diets require a lot of metabolism and time for hunting, often resulting in a deficit. Therefore, they primarily eat plants and only occasionally indulge in meat.

Deer eat birds, cows eat birds, rabbits eat other rabbits and other animal carcasses, giraffes eat bones, and almost all herbivorous mammals eat bird eggs, insects, and other animal carcasses. But horses, if you don't give them meat, they won't fatten up...

"I'm back, Yelena. Prepare the lab. Beatrice, help me with the notes."

Xia Lin put down his tools and muttered, "I should have listened to my senior and gotten a larger neural memory extension plugin." There was too much data and information, and even with the symbiote and implant, he still felt dizzy.

"We should also upgrade to a higher version of the enhanced thinking analysis module; the one the company provides is damn insufficient."

I regret not heeding the advice of the elders. If I had listened to the experienced advice of those veteran pioneers, I wouldn't have had to endure a headache and memory stack overflow warnings to transcribe the data to Terra's data storage today.

The thinking analysis enhancement module can access the data and knowledge stored in the neural memory plugin to accelerate thinking analysis. The feeling is similar to the "flowing inspiration" state that humans experience when they are in a state of extreme excitement.

However, it can only assist in some logical analysis and cannot replace human thinking and thought. It is just a simple accelerator—it can probably overclock the brain's thinking by about 20%, which is not too exaggerated.

The difference between the advanced version of the enhanced module and the "labor protection version" implanted in Lao Xia's spine by the company is that its processing threads are more gentle, and its performance is about 2%-3% higher than the public version. The biggest and most obvious change is...

When using it, you won't feel like your brain is about to explode; it's much more comfortable.

The neural memory plugin can expand the memory threshold of the human hippocampus, significantly enhancing memory capacity and memory volume, preventing the common human phenomenon of forgetting what one has read.

Without these technologies, no Star Alliance member could graduate from elementary school and would be considered semi-literate in society—capitalists wouldn't want this kind of labor.

By the standards of a normal human or Terran, Xia Lin possesses a photographic memory; he can remember any book knowledge after reading it once, and understand and master it within a week at most. Otherwise, given his specialized coursework...

Yelena had originally planned to follow in her adoptive father's footsteps, but then she looked at the teaching materials and study catalog she had extracted from Old Xia's memory bank—

She consciously chose to give up, feeling that if she didn't undergo similar surgery and embryo-level gene enhancement, graduating from junior high school would be the best she could achieve.

Even Little Sheep, whose intelligence has reached the Star Alliance's university standard, said that these things would be very difficult to learn, although she is able to understand and learn them.

However, this does not mean that one can remember and master the material. This is a physiological hardware limitation. Only by implanting the same symbiont and a large number of neural plug-ins can one achieve the true learning and research capabilities that match one's intelligence.

"I mean, are you really planning to let her learn all that professional knowledge of yours?" Swire asked another question, referring to her daughter who was already eight months old. Of course, she hadn't been named yet, because names and family information could only be registered after "birth."