Chapter 65: The Ancient Believer

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

This type of strange fungi that could parasitize machines seemed a little difficult to deal with.

The research spaceship’s initial scan did not even find these fungi on the surface of the circular world. Only when they went deeper underground did they find the fungi’s huge hyphae network.

Judging from its scale, it was very likely that they had already covered the entire circular world.

If it were not for the strong high-density metal the circular world connection structure used, these fungi would have probably spread to other circular world sections.

But even so, they still displayed dangerous abilities.

The research spaceship flew over the circular world. The ground it faced was a “fungi city” covered in a sea of fungi.

Countless densely packed fungi covered the object that once looked like a building. As the research spaceship swept past, they would even slightly face the spaceship’s direction as if they were “looking” at the spaceship.

…..

With the scan’s progress, Li Wenyuan gradually found traces of “lifeform” activity on the surface of the circular world.

The quotation marks were there because those “lifeforms” should be a kind of robot.

More than half of their bodies were covered by fungi, and some of the fungi even grew out from within, breaking through the robots’ metal casings and revealing the infected circuits inside.

The robots did not look like they could be used again, but under the parasitism of the fungi, they seemed to be given life and were still doing simple work on the surface.

The passing of the spacecraft also attracted their attention, but after a glance, these robots continued to lower their heads and do their work.

As the scan progressed, Li Wenyuan found some special signals on a huge hemispherical building.

The building seemed to have been cast directly from a dense metal so that the fungal spores could not parasitize in its gaps and break through the internal mechanical structure.

After translating the special signals, Li Wenyuan understood what the fungi were.

[This is a broadcast station that recorded our history.]

[Even if our civilization is on the verge of destruction, we do not wish to see our mission fall into this sea of fungi. This broadcasting station will be our last trace.]

[We didn’t know how long ago, but after we were brought into this paradise by “God”, we swore that we would not embarrass “God”.]

[We strove to become stronger, using the great work left behind by “God” to create our powerful civilization.]

[But “God” did not come to visit us. We believed that it was because we had not met his expectations.]

[Thus, we pursued it even more madly and successfully cultivated a fungal life called “Metal-eating Fungi”.]

[At first, we hoped to extend our lives with the help of the fungi so that everyone could see the return of “God”.]

[But we made a mistake. Our machinery, our weapons, our cities, and even our civilization were infected by them.]

[We’ve still shamed “God”. We failed to destroy the fungi, and even we were destroyed.]

[But to a certain extent, we might not have shamed “God” because we had created a threat that even we couldn’t resolve.]

[We used a crazy plan to give those fungi intelligence. They destroyed us, but they would also replace us and continue the grace of “God”.]

[“God”! Your humble believers will always be here! Well protect this land for you!]

These special fungi seemed to have been created by a native civilization that humans had taken in.

They had a fanatical belief in humans, so much so that they regarded “humans” as gods.

Unfortunately, the humans did not want to be their “God”. After these natives were brought here and settled down, humans might have forgotten them.

But even so, this native civilization was still trying to leave some traces, wanting to show the humans their piety.

“…Your faith is admirable, but it’s a pity that your ‘God’ has disappeared.” Li Wenyuan shook his head and recorded the information about the broadcasting station in the database.

He was already prepared to clean up the fungi in this circular world. After all, these things seemed to have threatened the normal operation of this circular world.

So, the Colossus carrying the planetary obliteration weapons slowly came to the sky above this section of the circular world.

After knowing the nanobots wouldn’t be infected, using the vast nano torrent to clean up the fungi was a good choice.

The giant battleship in the sky began to transform slowly. The cannon muzzle representing “purification” aimed at the ground below.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before all of the fungi were annihilated.

However, Gray Wind, who was near the research spaceship, noticed something and pointed to Li Wenyuan.

“Look, those robots…What are they doing?”

Looking in the direction Gray Wind was pointing, Li Wenyuan was stunned by what was happening.

The fungi-infected robots were all kneeling on the ground. They did not run away or ignore the Colossus in the sky. Instead, they made a gesture that seemed to be praying.

The fungi originally buried deep in the soil also suddenly thrived and bloomed out of the ground, dyeing the surface of the circular world white.

It looked like countless white flowers blooming on the ground.

The fungi that covered the buildings were also shaking slightly, not out of instinctive fear of the impending doom, but as if…happy?

This strange scene made Li Wenyuan stop the Colossus’s attack. Instead, he frowned and looked at the “fungal flowers” all over the ground.

After a moment of silence, he called out the ‘brainwave translator’ that he had not used for a long time.

The brainwave index, which should have been calm, produced many weak fluctuations, all of which came from the fungi below.

Looking at the content on the brainwave translator, Li Wenyuan finally sighed, “…It’s a pity…”

The series of weak fluctuations finally formed a short sentence.

“…God…Have you come to see us…”

The civilization that had been destroyed by the fungi seemed to have somehow allowed the fungi to inherit part of their memories.

At the very least, their devotion to humans had not disappeared even after a long time.

Li Wenyuan now understood what the broadcast station meant by “they destroyed us, but they also replaced us”.

These fungi might not have been sentient initially, only knowing how to expand infinitely.

However, under the civilization’s crazy actions, they successfully gave the fungi intelligence. They made them “think” that they were the civilization that had been taken in by humans.

The humans might not have asked them for anything, but they still wanted to do something in return.

They were indeed, as they said, forever staying in this circular world to protect this land for humans..