Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"There has to be someone to inherit my knowledge, right?" Xia Lin said with a sense of melancholy. No one in Terra had that ability in this regard. The only possible one was her own descendants, who had inherited half of the symbiote.

Moreover, he also has a public version of the implanted plugin, which can achieve the learning ability of the Star Alliance average level.

However, this is only the average level. To reach the level of Lao Xia, who went to a four-year university, the probability is probably only one in a million.

After all, excluding the top-tier colleges and majors, the Star Alliance only produces around 70 to 100 million graduates from regular full-time universities each year. Out of 400 billion humans, only the top 200 million can get into university, and of those, only 60% can successfully obtain a diploma, while the rest at most receive a certificate of completion.

So what are these 200 million people supposed to learn?

Taking Xia Lin as an example, their core subjects include almost all branches of biology, including alien biology, and even paleontology and virology.

In addition, students also need to study complex physics subjects such as space geology, geology, geophysics, meteorology, climatology, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics, which are compulsory courses.

The sheer volume of elective mechanical and electrical engineering courses required was astronomical, not to mention that Xia Lin also took electives in rocket dynamics and a portion of aerospace engineering, which were not closely related to her major, in order to accumulate credits.

Furthermore, all of the above require a degree equivalent to a modern Earth master's degree or higher to obtain the minimum credits—generally speaking, at least half of them require a doctoral degree or even a doctoral supervisor degree to graduate smoothly.

Even Johnny, as a crew member, needed to obtain degrees in astronomy, astrophysics, interstellar navigation, starship engineering, as well as electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to graduate from a vocational college equivalent to a vocational high school.

Therefore, even just so that if they were to return to the Star Alliance, his descendants wouldn't be semi-illiterate and unable to find jobs, Old Xia would have to prepare a reading list at least eight meters long for this unborn girl—

Fortunately, for Covenant members who have various plugins and symbiote assistance, learning is not too painful.

"If all else fails, we can let her study humanities..." Compared to the rapid pace of knowledge iteration in science, the Star Alliance has only been in the interstellar era for a relatively short time, and the interstellar wars over several centuries interrupted social progress, resulting in a relatively small accumulation of social science knowledge... which is much easier to learn.

"Which one do you think is easier?" Beatrice, who was looking at Old Xia's math textbook, trying to see if she could learn economics at the Star Alliance high school level, started to get a headache. That was already the easiest major in the entire Star Alliance—economics.

A fully planned economy leads to a highly regulated and rationalized economic system.

While it cannot be called the "rational man model" in economics, it is at least not as chaotic as the free market.

As for sociology, it's easy to learn, but the problems you'll face after graduation are...

In any case, no one in the entire Covenant, from AI to humans, has been able to fully understand how their society operates.

Although it runs, you just don't understand why there's an image of a coconut that can't be deleted inside.

Taken apart, each part of this vast civilization with 400 billion people and a territory spanning 3000 light-years is so logical and clear, and when put together...

—Why is there a picture of a coconut here? Why is there a pineapple over there to make it spin?

Why is the output garbled text even though there are no incorrect characters? — This is how it is described in the programmatic way by the AI ​​assistant.

Chapter Sixty-Nine is titled "Going on a Trip".

Chapter 69

The rumbling of the machinery was like layers of thunder. The tracked giant machine slowly crawled on the hillside, crushing rocks and splitting the mountain. The steep and rugged rock was carved into one relatively flat area after another.

With the help of Sarkaz workers, the mixer rotates at varying speeds, turning the mixed sandstone powder, additives, and remaining soil into a finer part, which is then sprayed onto the mountainside through a hose.

The hired mountain people used metal rakes to carefully sift and level the rock powder and the preliminary mud. This mud, composed of gravel, rock powder, inorganic salts and other components, was almost impossible for normal plants to survive on.

In some areas with a thin layer of gray soil, layers of thin film were used to cover the soil. "When you are budding, you need to be careful. You can't use too many, because too many mycelia will compete for nutrients. You can't use too few either, because too few will not be able to build a carbon-nitrogen cycle," Xia Lin explained to the bewildered mountain people in front of him, holding a bunch of bottles and jars.

"The ratio of carbon-decomposing buds to nitrogen-fixing buds is 1:2, with a spacing of 10 centimeters..."

These are rudimentary microorganisms he created using the Tree of Life system, employing some Zerg technology and patents. For Covenant agricultural experts, this is considered a common, publicly available technology.

Of course, there's no need to pay patent fees, because that race is gone; the Covenant destroyed it, along with their slime-body planet.

"I've made a foolproof way to package it for you. Just remember to do it once for the red bottle, twice for the blue bottle, and count the length of each compartment once. It's very simple, isn't it?" It is indeed very simple, but it requires a lot of manpower, and the mountain people have no shortage of manpower.

As for the mud-covered areas, a more powerful species would be needed to solve the problem, and Xia Lin had the necessary bacteria and biological information to prepare for a truly desolate planet.

"So, this way we can grow food?"

"No," Xia Lin shook her head. "It will take at least five years before you can plant the simplest plants. However, the rock terraces can be planted a little earlier, but we still have to manually add fertilizer to create humus. I also need to add ingredients that quickly decompose lignin and plant debris."

"Also, your sanitation system has already started construction, right? If I catch anyone urinating or defecating in public again, I'll have to report it to your chief of staff."

Xia Lin looked at these people speechlessly. You have to know that humans, as highly energy-consuming advanced animals, are themselves an effective biomass transfer and manufacturing machine.

In other words, by continuously supplying food to the mountain people, their digestive systems are essentially producing fertilizer and new soil.

Honestly, the simplest solution is to transport soil from the Satti Oasis.

However, that only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. It requires a lot of transportation capacity and can only cover the mountain with a thin, meaningless layer of soil.

Therefore, Lao Xia's plan is to first transform the mountain in the best condition, using excrement, biological waste, fertilizer transported by the train line, and some initial synthetic mud to build a batch of mountain fields, and to excavate a large number of karst caves to filter and store water using the mountain, and to raise fish and mushrooms in them.

At first, you can only plant fungi, and then you can plant the Hand-shaped Wood, a kind of alien modified plant, which is transformed from desert.

Next, lignin-producing microorganisms decompose the palm-shaped wood into new humus. This process is repeated for five years in the order of tolerant thorny shrubs, palmy wood, moss fungi, protein-synthesizing slime molds, and thorny shrubs.

Nitrogen in the atmosphere, carbon in rocks and fertilizers, and other inorganic salts will be gradually decomposed and synthesized into organic matter, which will then precipitate. Five years later, the improved Ursus wheat will be ready for cultivation.

It took Xia nearly three years to improve the wheat. He had been working on this since the first year he landed in Ursus. He hybridized and edited the wheat's cold-resistant and frost-resistant genes with the Covenant's high-yield wheat, and finally obtained the "Wheat 7" crop, which is now widely planted on Ursus farms and was even introduced by the Ursus Empire at an astronomical cost after reaching a cooperation agreement.

The average yield is about 670 kilograms per mu. On the black soil of Ursus, it can be harvested twice a year. The summer harvest is more than 600 kilograms, while the winter harvest is only about half, or 300 kilograms. With the help of greenhouses and plastic tunnels, the summer harvest can reach up to 80% of the total.

In other words, the yield of tamagra, which was originally only 200 kilograms per year, has now increased to nearly 1000 kilograms, greatly alleviating Ursus's expansionist ambitions and its ability to survive in the snowfields.

However, it is not without its drawbacks. It is extremely labor-intensive. Although this crop is cold-resistant and frost-resistant, and can grow under snow, and its roots can even penetrate the frozen soil to absorb nutrients, it is not very resistant to pests, diseases and bacteria. Its roots are extremely prone to rotting when soaked in water.

Therefore, a large number of people are needed to clear the snow regularly; otherwise, when the snow melts, all the crops in the entire farmland will die and rot.

It's touted as a powerful, improved grain crop that can even grow on glaciers. However, that's an exaggeration; glaciers and snow-capped mountains are indeed unsuitable, but the fertile black soil and snowfields beneath them can.

When planting sphagnum moss, another soil-nourishing plant that yields no profit needs to be rotated here: fluorescent slime mold provided by the Agor people. The Agor people use it for lighting and landscaping, while here it is used to address soil salinization and compaction caused by crop cultivation and the use of large amounts of chemical fertilizers. At the same time, the slime mold itself will turn into new humus after it dies.

In this cycle of year after year, the first barren mountain will be transformed into terraced fields capable of growing some low-requirement vegetables and crops. Then, the organic matter and products produced can be used to improve the next barren mountain. Theoretically, it will take at most 30-40 years for the entire central mountainous region to recover to its original state and even be suitable for forestry development.

"Understood, we'll obey..." The mountain people didn't think these actions were of any use, but given that the other party had provided enough food and supplies, they would still obey orders.

Accepting employment, obeying orders, and receiving payment are their customs and history—this obedience and trustworthiness are ingrained in the very bones of every one of them.

Compared to the current barren mountain transformation projects, which are utterly useless and ineffective except for wasting human and material resources, other projects led by the PhD have brought about more visible changes to the mountain people.

First came the railway, which finally reached the foot of the mountain people's settlements. To be honest, it initially caused some unrest, as they saw it as a symbol of outsiders trying to conquer and plunder.

Those metallic monsters roared along the tracks, disturbing the spirits of their ancestors and shattering the balance and tranquility of the mountains.

However... this view quickly disappeared. If it were merely a railway line to transport soldiers and supplies to the front lines, the mountain people would certainly try every means to sabotage it.

However, if the monster were to bring large quantities of high-quality grains, cured meats, canned goods, and various other foods and necessities to establish a market with good quality and low prices, the mountain people would be quite willing to compromise.

In addition to these essential supplies, fertilizers, synthetic soil, and construction machinery are also major transport items. These huge freight demands make the mountain railway station extremely busy and large in scale.

"Taxation is not allowed, but conscription is allowed. It's a strange insistence..." The young Ursus official who was newly assigned here was completely confused. In Ursus, most of the time it was okay to collect taxes, but not to conscript soldiers. Everyone knew that those who went there would only be cannon fodder and gray livestock.

However, in the mountains, you can forget about collecting taxes, but when it comes to recruiting soldiers, there are plenty of young people signing up.

Moreover, most of them brought their own weapons and armor, and they all appeared to have received quite rigorous military training, making them very outstanding soldiers.

“The people here used to rely on military service to support their families, so of course they have no objection to your conscription.”

However, taxation is absolutely out of the question. In the eyes of the mountain people, that little bit of money is the resource that the young people of the tribe have earned with their blood and lives to support their families. If you ask for a portion of it, it will definitely be seen as plunder and oppression, and they will take up arms and fight you.

"Were you sleeping during the training session? We're not here to loot. We don't need any of the money or the soldiers, at least not now." The new clerk rolled his eyes. This guy seemed completely clueless. How did he become a local official?

“I see, I think I understand…” The young bear-man scratched his head. “So, our goal is to give them things so they can benefit, right? As for collecting taxes, that’s something for later…”

That's true. If you want to take, you must first give. So, the doctor and Lao Xia discussed it and decided that in the first five years, they didn't think about getting any income or return from the mountain area. They even gave up the at least one division of elite mountain infantry that they could have obtained.

"Although life has improved, they will change the current lifestyle where every household is engaged in militarized and paramilitary training, and we cannot quickly build an elite force."

However, on the other hand, we gained a mountainous region that was at least self-sufficient, and their discipline wasn't only useful in the military; factories were also a suitable place for them…”

"Isn't this place unsuitable for industrial development?" Talulah asked, puzzled. If mountainous areas were suitable for industrial development, they would have been lifted out of poverty and become prosperous long ago. How could they have ended up in this terrible state?

“Yes, there’s a major advantage here…” the doctor smiled, “There are lots of rocks.”

"What kind of advantage is this?" There are indeed many stones, but the locals would prefer fewer stones and more of those remaining pits where they could plant something.

"Don't underestimate the power of stones..." the professor cautioned. "In the past, our cities were built on mobile terrain, requiring sturdy, lightweight metals and carbon materials. Originium and various iron minerals were what we needed most."

However, now, we can intervene in natural disasters to some extent, weakening and inducing them, and thus build permanent cities like the early inhabitants of Terra.

"And in fixed cities, the cheapest and best material is...stone..."

To be precise, it involves processing rocks and other materials into silicates, commonly known as cement. Mountains with abundant high-quality silicates are the best sources of raw materials. Another resource that the doctor didn't mention is also very rich – kaolinite, a grayish-white rock whose main component is aluminum.

This area is a natural haven for the aluminum industry. In addition to aluminum, it is also rich in rare earth resources and clay, which can be used to manufacture ceramic tiles, various rare earth refineries, and aluminum plants.

Moreover, these are all highly polluting industries, and the mountainous area is simply a place so polluted that there's nothing left to pollute, except for the areas that Lao Xia designated for conversion into planting areas.

Most of the hills and mountains are bare rocks with little groundwater resources, so wastewater and exhaust gases can be discharged indiscriminately.

Of course, this was just a joke, because the wastewater from rare earth refining and aluminum plants is very valuable, especially for Lao Xia, who has the capacity to process it.

"Moreover, there is another very rich resource here, but it needs a little help to develop it." That is energy. The towering Fenshui Mountains are not without water.

Conversely, due to the terrain, once the ice on top melts, the water will form roaring rivers and waterfalls, with considerable potential hydropower resources that can generate electricity and provide enough fresh water for the refining industry.

However, that would require digging artificial waterways, and digging artificial waterways is much easier in a place where there are almost only rocks than in a place with piles of soil. At least you don't have to worry about soil erosion and riverbank collapse, and you can use explosives to solve 95% of the construction problems.

"But it's already a huge stretch for ice quarries to guarantee irrigation water. If they were to use it for power generation, those furnaces and heat pipes wouldn't be enough, would they?"

"So Miss Eyjafjalla has come too. She's preparing to use a new type of Originium Effect Field Resonance Technology, derived from research on the Originium Effect of volcanoes..."

"Hmm?" By using the Originium effect field to transfer energy, the Originium in the area enters an exothermic state, accelerating the melting of ice and snow.

"Wait a minute, let's generate electricity in other ways, then melt the snow and use the melted snow to generate electricity. Wouldn't that be a losing proposition?"

"Yes..." The doctor nodded, indeed implying it was a pointless exercise, "But, how about you look at it from a different angle?"

"From a different angle?"

"We paid for the difference between the two types of electricity we obtained as a consumption, and in return, we got an artificial river. If you think our goal was to generate electricity, then we are undoubtedly losing money."

However, if you believe our goal is to obtain a river that can be used for both irrigation and industrial water intake, and to recover most of the energy costs through hydroelectric power generation, then it's a worthwhile investment.

"And the actual energy we obtained was actually..." It was a profit, but the doctor couldn't say. The name of that energy was very... special—deuterium!

Old Xia's equipment is not perfect, which means that sometimes his industry, or the things he can make, will seem ridiculous.

For example, he possesses all the parts and technology to assemble a fusion reactor, and the arc engine is essentially a fusion ignition device, but he has no equipment to extract and refine hydrogen isotopes from the ocean and water bodies.

Even this equipment is not easy to buy from e-commerce platforms within the Star Alliance, because the Star Alliance does not use such outdated equipment for extracting deuterium and tritium from water.

Their deuterium extraction equipment directly extracts deuterium from gas giants using gravitational diversion. It is highly efficient, fast, produces ideal purity, and is inexpensive. The annual output of a single offshore deuterium extraction platform is less than the daily output of a gas giant mining station.

Therefore, even under the Star Alliance's network coverage, Lao Xia would have to go to an antique shop to find this equipment, which is from three centuries ago, and it might not even be usable. It's no less difficult than a modern person trying to buy a Song Dynasty horse-drawn carriage or oxcart.

However, the Agors possess this technology, and strangely enough, they can extract deuterium but cannot build a reactor. They have lost too much technology and science, making it impossible for them to build a qualified fusion reactor.