176: Chapter 176 Facing Death with Unwavering Spirit

"A spatial rift? Robots lose contact as soon as they enter?" The Great Elder's brow furrowed.

"Perhaps we should send a soldier—an Android soldier—to give it a try," the Great Elder said after a moment of consideration, his tone somewhat hesitant.

"There's a high probability it won't have much effect, but as long as the signal isn't cut instantly, even a single glimpse of the scene on the other side of the spatial rift would be enough," Su Fan said, his tone serious.

"If Androids are ineffective, perhaps only a real person can enter," the Great Elder sighed.

Sending a real person in would most likely involve death, and Xia Country had seen very few deaths in recent years.

Soon, a mid-level military officer was selected to be the first Android to attempt entering the spatial rift.

This officer's name was Zhang Sheng—a very auspicious name—and he possessed a specific skill: Photographic Memory!

In addition to his Photographic Memory, he also possessed excellent painting skills.

"Zhang Sheng, you must observe carefully during this attempt and engrave everything you see deep into your mind," Su Fan instructed.

"Yes! Please rest assured, Chief, I will keep my eyes wide open!" Zhang Sheng said, his tone excited.

"Go then! Good luck!" Su Fan patted Zhang Sheng on the shoulder.

Zhang Sheng stood before the spatial rift, took a deep breath, and rubbed his eyes vigorously with his hands.

Of course, this was actually just a subconscious movement; an Android had no need for such adjustments.

Furthermore, the Android was directly connected to the Red Queen's database; whatever he saw, the Red Queen would know instantly!

Having prepared himself mentally, Zhang Sheng did not hesitate. He stepped forward, bent his body slightly, and dove straight into the spatial rift.

The very moment he entered the spatial rift, the Red Queen issued a prompt: Signal interrupted.

Meanwhile, in a villa on Blue Star, Zhang Sheng pried open the door of his Virtual cabin with a look of helplessness.

Simultaneously, Su Fan's communication call came through immediately.

"Zhang Sheng, did you discover anything?" Su Fan asked expectantly.

"Chief, I didn't see a thing. As soon as I dove into the spatial rift, everything went black, and my consciousness returned directly to my body in the Virtual cabin," Zhang Sheng said, sounding somewhat ashamed.

"It's alright, this was expected. Adjust your mindset first, and in a while, use a backup Android to return to the spaceship," Su Fan comforted him patiently.

With this attempt ending in failure, Su Fan had to consider a question: whether to use a real person to enter the spatial rift for exploration.

"Great Elder, do we really need to conduct a manned exploration?" Su Fan was somewhat hesitant, weighing whether this small world was worth exploring.

"I believe it needs to be explored," the Great Elder said with a smile.

"Let's follow the principle of voluntary participation. If there are soldiers willing to go of their own accord, then we will explore; if no one is willing, then we'll cancel it for now," Su Fan said with a serious expression after considering it.

"Then it seems this exploration is inevitable! Our soldiers are quite brave indeed!" The Great Elder had a smile on his face.

"Red Queen, issue a mission notification to the entire army."

"Mission Overview: Explore an extremely dangerous region of the universe. Requires physical presence. There is a near-certain risk of death. Recruiting 100 soldiers."

The mission notification was quickly sent to the communicators of all soldiers in the army. Almost instantly, a massive number of soldiers signed up!

"Number of applicants: 10,000... 100,000... 800,000..." The Red Queen's voice continued to provide updates.

Watching the ever-climbing number of applicants, Su Fan was moved.

This was the Xia Country military—even knowing it was a near-certain death, they still forged ahead, facing death with equanimity!

"There are too many applicants; how to choose has become a problem now," Su Fan said somewhat helplessly.

"How about a random lottery?" Zhou Xiaoxiao chimed in.

"A direct lottery is indeed fair, but we must consider the soldiers' family situations," the Great Elder shook his head.

"We cannot choose a soldier simply because of his burning passion. If a soldier doesn't even have an heir, wouldn't his bloodline end there?"

Zhou Xiaoxiao nodded seriously after hearing this.

"In that case, let's filter some out first," Su Fan said with a smile. "Those without a wife are not allowed to go; those without children are not allowed to go; among those with children, those without a son are not allowed to go."

"After the filtering is complete, we will conduct a random lottery."

"Alright, let's do it that way," the Great Elder nodded.

After waiting for another half-day, Su Fan had the Red Queen stop the applications. Then, through filtering and a lottery, 100 heroic soldiers were selected.

Su Fan gave them three days to say their proper goodbyes to their families and to write their suicide notes while they were at it.

These three days were also a 'regret period' he had set; if they had second thoughts, they could choose to withdraw through the application system.

Withdrawing would not result in any punishment!

However, right up until the moment of departure, not a single soldier chose to withdraw!

The 100 soldiers, wearing the latest C-class lightweight exoskeleton armor, boarded the kongming. They departed from various planets in Xia Country and flew straight to the Nether Planet!

Over a month later, the 100 soldiers successfully arrived in the upper atmosphere of the Nether Planet.

Su Fan received them in the captain's quarters of the spaceship.

"Now, I will first tell you about the situation on the planet below."

"I have named this planet the Nether Planet. There are primarily two types of lifeforms on it."

"One is a lifeform similar to the ghosts of Xia Country, which I call Nether Spirits; the other is a type of tree that looks like a withered tree, which I call Withered Trees."

"The Withered Trees have not shown any aggressive behavior so far, but the behavior of the Nether Spirits is extremely violent."

"Everyone, please look at the big screen..."

"Through the video just now, you should have a general understanding of the Nether Spirits' behavioral patterns."

"They can pass through objects, but for now, it is uncertain whether they can pass through the human body."

At this point, Su Fan's expression became solemn.

Things like Nether Spirits or ghosts could definitely stop a child's crying in Xia Country; there had always been terrifying legends about them.

Ghostly possession, in particular, was enough to make one's heart tremble with fear!

Currently, the way the Nether Spirits on the Nether Planet interacted with matter—passing directly through it—matched certain folk legends of Xia Country very closely.

"Once you reach the surface, you must prioritize your safety!" Su Fan warned them earnestly.

The 100 soldiers' gazes were firm as they shouted their assent in unison!

The kongming mothership deployed a kunpeng no. 2 spaceship, which carried the 100 soldiers, Su Fan, and the Great Elder down to the surface of the Nether Planet.

As soon as the spaceship landed, a large number of Nether Spirits immediately swarmed around it!

"Let's go! We're heading down!" Su Fan said, his tone serious.

Everyone slowly disembarked from the spaceship.

However, as soon as they stepped off the ship, a large number of Nether Spirits immediately closed in on them.

One particularly bold Nether Spirit even charged straight toward them!

Su Fan was at the very front. The Nether Spirit passed directly through his body without causing any harm; he didn't feel a thing.

However, the moment a Nether Spirit entered the body of a soldier behind him, the man suddenly began to scream in agony.

"Aaaaaah!"

"This thing is burrowing into my brain!"

The soldier clutched his head in pain and rolled around on the ground!

...