30: Chapter 30 Cloud Bird, the Second Subsystem

The proliferation of the Spirit Light Bacteria was evident. By night, the vast, empty land was permeated with white, glowing Spirit Light everywhere, even more brilliant than the starlight from the distant cosmos.

By the next day, Zhao Feng was grinning from ear to ear. He had obtained over nine hundred transformation points and a huge haul of materials—the largest fortune he had acquired on the Planet of the Dead to date.

The Spirit Light Bacteria were not aggressive toward living cells, but for the lifeless Corpse Trees and Corpse Beasts, they were an unstoppable, devastating force.

No matter how astonishing your combat power or how immense your strength, an attack at the microscopic level leaves one caught off guard.

Zhao Feng could also gain transformation points and materials when his modified creations attacked the Corpse Trees and the like, so the time for him to win while lying down had arrived. Now, he just needed to modify a few more animals to help out.

Considering that his direct creations could not reproduce, he did not have to worry about causing an ecological disaster in the future, so Zhao Feng was quite casual with his creations.

Using materials, he created four more Hammerhead Rhinos, two Dragon Elephants, and one giant python, then sent all these animals off to disrupt the ecology.

This caused the vast forest to constantly emit all sorts of loud noises, making it quite boisterous.

A small number of Corpse Beasts were disturbed, but they were quickly and forcefully suppressed.

Corpse Beasts relied solely on sensing, so they did not move toward sounds like zombies.

After practicing his Martial Skill for a while, Zhao Feng became busy again.

Among the created creatures, there were herbivores and carnivores. He needed to create a small ecosystem while tentatively carrying out ecological transformation.

The destroyed corpse-infected vegetation needed to be covered by normal plants so that ecological problems would not arise.

Xiao Luo hopped and skipped, following Zhao Feng around. Even when Zhao Feng was silently practicing, she was not bored in the slightest.

Fearing she might be bored, Zhao Feng chatted with her intermittently, taking the opportunity to impart some life lessons—which could be considered his way of educating her.

The textbooks from his past life taught people: "When the mountains are bare of trees, mudslides run down the slopes."

This principle could not be more correct. The land without vegetation cover was gradually changing; mudslides and floods caused the landscape to shift constantly.

At this moment, the civilization of the Planet of the Dead was actually teetering on the brink of destruction.

Over seventy percent of the global vegetation had been destructively wiped out, with only a tiny fraction remaining, struggling to maintain the atmospheric composition.

The vast majority of insects and animals with poor survivability had either become corpse-infected or died; the ecological balance had long been broken.

The remnants of life were merely gasping their last breaths. Perhaps in less than ten years, the entire Planet of the Dead would revert to a barren world, waiting for the slim chance of life to re-emerge.

Zhao Feng modified some highly resilient grass seeds and scattered them over the land that had already been purified. Afterward, he found what he needed among the materials collected during this period and began his creation.

Cloud-Soaring Sparrow: A new animal of the Planet of the Dead. Derived from the Andean Condor and the Skylark. An omnivorous animal with moderate adaptability and moderate metabolic speed, possessing the characteristic of extremely fast flight.

For safety reasons, Zhao Feng intended to conduct a preliminary reconnaissance of the surrounding environment to search for nearby civilized tribes and, incidentally, find a large water source. Whether plants or animals, everything needed water; purifying water first was a good choice.

The Cloud-Soaring Sparrow took shape amidst a flash of white light.

It was about three meters tall and had the appearance of a sparrow, but with a very long neck.

Its head resembled that of a rooster, with a beautiful crest. It had light purple feathers, large wings, and a very wide back, much like a small platform.

Its tail had a long, beautiful cluster of yellow feathers that swayed gently in the wind, looking very lovely.

The Cloud-Soaring Sparrow stood on one leg. It affectionately lowered its head to nuzzle Zhao Feng's face, then lowered its head to preen its feathers.

Seeing the beautiful and tall Cloud-Soaring Sparrow, Xiao Luo felt both fondness and fear; her face displayed both eagerness and caution.

"Do you like it?" Zhao Feng asked with a smile.

"Mm." Xiao Luo replied, her eyes fixed on it.

"Come, let's ride it up and take a look together." Zhao Feng pulled Xiao Luo up, sat on the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow's broad back, grabbed the feathers in front, and patted the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow. "Go!"

The Cloud-Soaring Sparrow ran with long strides while flapping its huge wings. With a crisp cry, its massive body carried the two of them, gradually rising higher until, in the blink of an eye, it became a tiny dot in the sky.

The sky was not as romantic as it appeared in TV dramas. Although Zhao Feng had experience riding a Wind Cloud Mother, the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow's speed was incomparable to that of a Wind Cloud Mother.

The fierce wind whipped against his face as if being scraped by knives. Xiao Luo let out a cry of surprise and hid in Zhao Feng's arms.

Zhao Feng smiled slightly. He signaled the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow to stop ascending and instead circle around the base. After trying to hold onto the feathers to maintain his balance, he dared to look down.

At this moment, the base had become an irregular circle the size of a bun—that was the cleared zone.

The base was actually situated on a hillside.

This was a towering mountain, and the base leaned against the foot of the mountain like a small ant before a giant.

The mountain was about two or three thousand meters high, and one could still see snow-capped peaks at the summit.

The mountain was overall a grayish-black color, with some parts appearing mottled white.

This high mountain was not alone; connected to it were continuous mountain ranges. These ranges were majestic and towering, but unfortunately, they were not vibrant with life.

Between the mountains, there was a winding little river. The river was not large; seen from the sky, it looked like a small earthworm.

Under the dim daylight, the river water did not look clear either; it was likely a polluted river.

The riverbed, however, passed not far from the base, forming a small lake there.

It seemed like they could develop toward that side; as long as they planted more trees, everything would get better.

There was no sign of any villages among the mountains, nor any smoke from cooking fires. It seemed he would have to strengthen his defenses and wait for opportunities. Zhao Feng regretfully signaled the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow to land.

After the Cloud-Soaring Sparrow set the two down, it immediately soared into the sky. It would follow Zhao Feng's orders to scout for enemies in the sky, and as a sky creature, it also loved the sky.

Having chosen the direction for development, Zhao Feng commanded the animal army to advance toward the small river.

The closer they got to the riverbank, the fewer the trees became, and some sandy, rocky ground gradually appeared.

These sands and stones had been deposited on the riverbank by the impact of mountain floods and, after centuries of being washed by the currents, had formed a rather large beach.

The beach was covered with smooth, small pebbles, but because the river had become polluted, these pebbles were also coated with layers of grayish-black grime, making their original colors impossible to see.

The riverbank was strewn with the remains of dead fish, shrimp, and other aquatic animals. Through these ruins, one could imagine the tragic scene that had occurred:

The river water suddenly turned murky, causing some aquatic animals to be unable to breathe and lose their sanity. Only on the distant land could they breathe their last breath of fresh air.

Thus, they jumped onto the riverbank one after another, lying in the mud, thrashing their bodies until they died in despair with their mouths wide open...

With a heavy heart, Zhao Feng collected the materials, silently watching the dead silence before him. Those lost souls seemed not to have gone far, lingering in the sky, desperately clinging to the world.

Xiao Luo watched Zhao Feng carefully, not daring to breathe loudly, just standing there quietly accompanying him.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the System's notification sound brought Zhao Feng back to his senses.

"Obtained 100,000 transformation points. Do you want to create a sub-System?"

Under the efforts of the animal army, they had unexpectedly achieved the goal without realizing it.

Based on his previous experience, the System's construction needed to be something that the current civilization could normally achieve. Therefore, he could not just imagine things wildly; no matter how big his imagination was, he had to connect it to reality under certain conditions.

Zhao Feng recalled a template—it was from a game he used to play. Yes, that's it!