197: Chapter 197 The First Wave of Alien Scouts: They Look Like Octopuses?

The command center on the Far Side of the Moon had completely shifted into wartime status.

On the large screen, the originally clear deep-space signal was filtered, revealing the true appearance of the uninvited guest.

It was certainly not a "warship" in any human sense.

It lacked cold metal armor and streamlined wings.

It looked more like a massive, writhing soft-bodied creature in space.

Roughly two hundred meters in diameter, its body was covered in a purple-red cuticle, and countless thick tentacles covered in suckers were pulsing silently in the vacuum at a peculiar frequency. It had no engines, instead relying on light green biomass energy ejected from the sides of its body to glide through interstellar space in a nauseating manner.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Zhao Gang leaned closer to the screen, his stomach churning, "Aliens... are they really that grotesque? It looks just like a giant, deep-sea octopus that's gained sentience!"

Academician Chen Shuyin's expression grew even worse.

She pushed up her glasses, looking at the viscous liquid periodically secreting from the tentacles, and said while suppressing her nausea, "This isn't an ordinary creature."

"According to the thermal signature analysis, those aren't just its limbs."

"Inside those tentacles, there might be a large number of micro-reconnaissance units parasitizing it! Every single sucker is an independent sensor!"

On the screen, the image flickered again.

It was the signal transmitted back by a "Hummingbird"-class reconnaissance drone that Jiang Chen had deployed near the orbit of Jupiter.

The drone was attempting to approach the target and activate its close-range scanning mode.

However.

That "giant octopus" seemed to have sensed something.

Its dozen or so tentacles lashed out violently in space, as sharp as whips, creating terrifying sonic boom trails in the vacuum despite the lack of air resistance.

"Crack!"

The reconnaissance drone didn't even have a chance to react before it was smashed into a metal pancake by one of the tentacles.

Debris scattered through space.

Immediately following this, a dark green ray shot out from the huge "head" in its center, which was covered in compound eyes, precisely destroying the drone's final communication module.

"Bzzt—"

The live feed instantly went black.

All that remained was a teeth-gritting, eerie signal noise resembling the chirping of insects.

Inside the command center, there was dead silence.

General Qin Weiguo stared at the black screen, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot, "That's it? Our fifty-million-dollar drone just got smashed by a tentacle monster like that?"

"That's not even the worst part."

Academician Chen Shuyin pointed to the moment just before the signal cut off. After zooming in on the screenshot, her usually calm voice actually carried a hint of trembling: "Look at its outer shell."

"It's some kind of biomass that can self-repair!"

"The ballistic trajectory our fire control system measured earlier left craters on its body, but in less than three seconds, it actually healed itself!"

"Is this the so-called 'The Sweepers'?"

Jiang Chen was still slumped in his swivel chair, holding a tentacle found in the Moon Base ruins—actually belonging to some unknown creature—and was intently studying the patterns on it.

He wasn't scared by this "self-healing ability."

On the contrary, he actually found this thing somewhat... familiar?

"It really does look quite like an octopus."

Jiang Chen rubbed his chin, his eyes becoming extremely clear at this moment—so clear that it was unsettling.

He stared at the "giant octopus" on the screen, which was busy chewing on the wreckage, and suddenly asked out of the blue, "Old Chen, did you just say its tissue structure is like seafood?"

"Huh?" Academician Chen Shuyin was stunned for a moment, "It... it is organic matter, why do you ask?"

"Is that thing rich in protein?"

Jiang Chen turned his head to look at Academician Chen Shuyin; the light in his eyes was actually several degrees brighter than when he had faced that several-hundred-ton gold vein earlier.

"I remember Master Zhang, the God of Cooking from Guangdong, shouting in his livestream a couple of days ago that all the ingredients on Earth right now are too ordinary and lack challenge."

"What do you think..." Jiang Chen pointed at the alien octopus, which was showing off on the radar screen, his tone carrying a desire that made Zhao Gang's legs go weak: "If we caught it..."

"Should we steam it, or stir-fry it?"

"Or... could we make it into sashimi directly?"

He smacked his lips, seemingly already imagining the taste: "If prepared properly, this kind of interstellar sashimi should taste better than bluefin tuna, right?"

Zhao Gang completely broke down.

He felt like he was following a fake boss.

Everyone else is piloting warships to capture alien invaders, but the boss is thinking—is this thing delicious?

"Boss..." Zhao Gang said with a bitter face, trying to pull him back from his "foodie" logic, "That is a monster capable of destroying a planet! Its bodily fluids might contain viruses, hallucinogens, or even some kind of unknown psychic contamination!"

"Is it poisonous?" Jiang Chen asked calmly, looking at Academician Chen Shuyin.

Academician Chen Shuyin's mouth twitched.

"Currently... no toxins have been detected." "This creature's protein chains are very stable; they denature when heated above two hundred degrees. Theoretically... it should be edible." After saying this, she found it absurd herself.

I am an Academician! What am I doing?!

"That settles it then?" Jiang Chen slapped the table, as if he had already made a decision, "Forget about The Sweepers and interstellar wars; they can all wait."

"Since it's edible, it's now our 'local specialty' stockpile."

"It just so happens that the food at the Moon Base has been too monotonous lately. Eating sweet potato noodles every day, my mouth is about to go numb from boredom."

He picked up the intercom and gave an order to the luan bird cockpit: "luan bird! Follow my orders!"

"Don't leave it in one piece, but try not to ruin its meat."

"Net it and bring it back to me."

"Tonight, we're having a feast."

"Target: Capture it alive!"