NIKKE, after maxing out the favorability, all the Nikkis are not right

Hamelin, who was mining nearby, watched the piece of crystal fall to the ground for a long time without any movement, so he reached out and held it in his palm.

"The sample was picked, but when I hold it in my hand, it feels no different from ordinary crystal."

"But in terms of hardness, it is indeed very hard, probably as hard as diamond."

Hamelin weighed the crystal in his hand, turned around, and looked at Green, who was approaching. He then said enthusiastically, "Report! The sample has been collected intact! However, the mining process is a little more difficult than expected. This crystal is as hard as diamond. If you want to mine it in large quantities, you must use specialized mining machines."

"How hard is diamond?"

Anis asked in passing.

"Diamond has a hardness of 10, making it the hardest mineral known in the world, Ms. Anis."

Hamelin explained.

"Is it really that hard? Then we might have unearthed something good."

"Let me see, Hamelin."

Green stretched out his hand and was about to take the crystal, but the moment he stretched out his hand, the crystal in Hamelin's hand suddenly shattered and disintegrated, turning into a pile of debris and blown away by the wind.

339

Chapter 339: Ileg-chan wants to play!

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Why did the crystal crack?"

Hamelin stared at the weathered and crumbling crystal in his hand in astonishment.

Although she picked the crystal, she didn't know its specific composition.

"Huh? It just crumbled into powder like that?"

"Hamelin, let's mine another one and see."

"Okay, Commander!"

clang!

With the crisp sound of the giant hammer, another crystal was knocked out of the ground by Hamelin.

But the ending is still the same.

After breaking, the crystal, which was originally as hard as diamond, shattered into powder.

"What on earth is this thing?"

Green frowned and pondered for a moment. In his memory, no mineral had ever exhibited such a strange ecology. These crystals, on the other hand, behaved more like plants.

So, is this crystal some kind of man-made artifact?

But who created these things? And what is their purpose?

While lost in thought, Lavi gently tugged at Green's sleeve.

Green turned to look at her and asked, "Lavi, what's wrong?"

Rabi stared at his face and whispered, "Commander, something is strange."

"Based on my judgment, these crystals are most likely man-made, not naturally formed."

"I think if we go any further, we might run into some unknown dangers... With our current firepower alone, and with three Nikkis who have little combat ability, if we run into an enemy, we might not be able to escape unscathed."

"I suggest we retreat to our base temporarily and request support. At least we should invite the special forces to help us. Otherwise, if we rashly explore, no one will know what is hidden in this city."

Rabbi was very cautious.

Although the counterattacks always managed to achieve unexpected victories, and they had defeated many seemingly unbeatable opponents along the way, those battles were won with life-or-death struggles. Rabi didn't want to take such a risk again unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, although she wanted to leave, the three people on the other side all showed expressions of dissatisfaction.

"Hey, Miss Lapi, are you going back now?"

Liflin asked with sweat dripping down her back. This time, she didn't bring back any decent intelligence except the crystal. Sisio would definitely not let her go no matter what he said.

"It's just a suggestion, what's wrong?"

Rabbi was a little surprised.

"No, no, no, what I mean is... we finally made it to the surface, shouldn't we gather some more intelligence and bring it back?"

"But it's dangerous, Levering."

"Miss Lapi...and Commander, hiss."

Levering took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I know it's embarrassing to say this, but if we return empty-handed from this ground exploration mission, life will become difficult again."

"Commander, as you know, I'm just a courier on the Ark... But in this day and age, many manual jobs have been replaced by drones and intelligent robots, even delivering packages and takeout."

"I can no longer afford my current life with that meager salary, so I took the risk and came to the surface to take on the exploration mission."

"If this mission yields more, I'll be able to demonstrate my abilities, and the central government will assign me more missions. So... please, Commander, let's go a little deeper, okay?"

Levering explained her reasons for moving forward in an emotional and logical way.

Hamelin and Ileg also looked at him hopefully.

Although there will definitely be dangers in moving forward, danger means more rewards and more income.

Faced with her request, Green pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, let's continue forward. Lapi, don't be anxious. Listen to me. First of all, the Ark will not be sending any more reinforcements in the short term."

"The central government never acts without profit. If the Crystal Region doesn't have what they want, then these few people, plus my own team, are all the manpower we can mobilize."

"So, let's move on."

“Although there are risks, there will definitely be gains.”

"Of course, I hope everyone will proceed with the understanding that their heads might be on the line. If an enemy we can't handle really appears, we'll just have to run away."

"Alright, Commander! Please don't worry. Before I came here, I was already prepared to lose my head!"

Hamelin pounded his chest twice and immediately agreed: "There's nothing I can do. This is our life!"

"Okay, let's continue exploring."

Continue deeper into the crystal area.

On this crystal land covered with yellow sand and gray clouds, Green took out a walking stick from his backpack and followed Nikki and the others step by step.

And Ileg was not idle either. As she walked, she used her tablet to analyze the crystal powder. From time to time, she would ask Hamelin to take a sample to see if she could detect the effect of the crystal before it turned into powder.

that's it.

The ruins of the city were getting closer, and more and more crystals were growing on the land.

So when Green walked past the crystals and looked at his face reflected in the crystals, he couldn't help but feel a creepy feeling in his heart.

"Commander, look over there."

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Rabi's voice caught Green's attention.

He looked in the direction that Lavi pointed, and saw an injured Letcher fleeing anxiously on the crystal-covered road in front of the crowd on the right. Although he didn't know what crime it had committed to escape here alone, it did seem to be avoiding something.

But before it could escape far, a piece of crystal blocked its way.

It's not an illusion.

Instead, the crystal actually moved a few centimeters and blocked Letcher's way.

This Letcher obviously did not expect such an unexpected situation to happen. It suddenly bumped into the crystal and seemed to have its energy sucked away by something. After struggling for a few times, it collapsed to the ground. Even the Letcher core that was originally flashing rapidly no longer emitted red light.

"It's Letcher..."

"Is it dead?"

"Wait a moment, Commander, look at that crystal."

Green looked again in the direction of Ileg's voice.

I saw that the piece of crystal that blocked Letcher seemed to have become a little bigger. It was originally about the same size as Green, but now it was a little bigger than him.

"It's as if the crystal has absorbed Letcher's energy... and used it to fuel its own growth."

"It's like some kind of parasitic plant."

Green muttered to himself.

But his soliloquy was affirmed by Ileg.

"Commander, perhaps your guess is correct."

"After all, we all witnessed the process of that Letcher being drained of energy by the crystal."

"Hmm... I have an idea, Mr. Commander. Wait a moment, I'll do a little experiment."

Ileg held out her arms and gave a technician a confident smile. "If crystals feed on energy, then I think we, Nikki, should be a very high-quality food."

"Hey."

"The emergency shutdown function has been activated."

"Then, let's give it a try."

"Ms. Hamelin, could you please help me break down a small piece of crystal?"

"Of course!"

Hamelin knocked a small piece off the crystal, and Ileg grabbed the small piece and held it in his palm.

Soon, she looked a little pale.

"it is as expected."

"This crystal is indeed a mineral that feeds on energy... No, it should be said that it is a man-made product."

"Commander, look."

Ileg showed her palm, and saw many small wounds on her palm, as if it was pierced half by something.

"Just now, the crystal I grabbed opened up many holes in my palm as if it had discovered some delicious food, and tried to grow into my body, wanting to touch my power source core."

"But don't worry, I've severed the connection between the body and the arm."

"Once it loses its energy supply, it will quickly turn into powder due to the loss of its root system."

"Anyway, this crystal is probably some weird thing that absorbs energy. Judging from its characteristics, it doesn't look like an animal, but more like a parasitic plant. It expands its territory and reproduces by preying on other energy-rich organisms, similar to a vine or something."

"Wow, this is the first time I've seen a mineral that can absorb blood."

Anis's mouth twitched, and her body trembled. "This thing is a bit weird, Commander, should we retreat?"

"Hey, don't worry, Miss Anis. Just don't touch these crystals."

Ileg chuckled and said, "Besides, if you give me a little more time, I might be able to analyze its specific function and the principle of absorbing energy."

"As we all know, in the world we live in, the law of conservation of energy applies in most cases."

"Hmm? You're asking me what the law of conservation of energy is? Simply put, energy doesn't appear out of thin air, nor does it disappear out of thin air. It simply transforms from one form to another."

"That's why I said that the energy absorbed by these crystals will definitely not be lost in vain. Because of this, it may be a good energy source. If it can be mined safely and sent to the Ark intact, perhaps we will no longer have to worry about the Ark's power source."

Green nodded approvingly at Ileger. "You're a true professional, Ileger. Without your help, we'd probably still be groping in the dark."

When Ileg heard him praise her, her face flushed and she swayed her plump body modestly. "Hey, Commander, you're too kind. This is just what I'm supposed to do as a technician."

"Well, that's all for today."

"It's getting late, let's find a safe place to camp."

"learn."

Dusk has arrived.

To ensure safety, Green led the team to withdraw from the crystal area and set up camp a little further away.

For some reason, there are very few Letchers around here, but despite this, the bait still needs to be spread.

Anis, Nian, Lapi and Liflin were divided into two groups and each went to a place to place bait to attract Letcher.

As for Hamelin and Ileg...

One of them had already fallen asleep.