Hundreds of rounds of ammunition were fired at the humanoid monster made of mycelium in less than two seconds. However, the armor-piercing incendiary bombs that were powerful enough to penetrate ten millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor were unable to break the thin carbonized layer, leaving only a few inconspicuous cracks on it.

"Why is this thing so hard?" The old dog turned his head and looked at Ke Lan, "What should we do? Should we just use heavy weapons?"

"No need." Ke Lan shook her head. "Use a high-pressure water gun."

"What's the use of a water gun--" The old dog suddenly stopped talking halfway, "Are you planning to...use the principle of thermal expansion and contraction to destroy the carbonized layer on the surface of that thing?"

"Well, it's also to collect more data... If that layer of material has such strength and good thermal stability, I even think it can be used as a new armor material." Ke Lan said calmly.

"No way...you are still thinking about this at this time?" The old dog was a little surprised.

"Is there any problem?" Ke Lan tilted her head. "If this fungus really has good economic benefits, then the loss of car number 10 would not be in vain... Miss Yui, don't you agree?"

"Indeed." Yui nodded. "If this material can really be used in the development of new armor... no matter how dangerous this creature is, the top management of the consortium will definitely ask us to keep the living strain, and everyone here will receive a very generous reward."

She even emphasized the words "extremely generous reward".

Ke Lan and the others naturally knew what a generous reward meant to the Soma Group... The recycling price they could offer would be at least ten times higher than the official price.

In addition to the one-time remuneration, if this new material can really be put on the market, the subsequent patent fees and profit dividends will be a huge sum of money - this money originally had nothing to do with them, but now Ke Lan is a senior executive of the Soma Consortium with L8 authority, everything is different...

"I suddenly feel that the girl hired you as a special consultant and it seems that she really found the right person." The old dog nodded meaningfully.

"It's just a professional habit." Ke Lan rubbed his chin like an old dog, "It's just that we are not in the ruins now."

The machine gun, whose muzzle had turned red, stopped firing. Then, a high-pressure water gun was raised by a mechanical arm and aimed at the humanoid monster that was somewhat dizzy from the impact of the shell.

The powerful water flow pushed it out in an instant, and it rolled several somersaults on the ground... and under the influence of the rapid alternation of hot and cold, the cracks on the carbonized layer were also rapidly expanding. Ke Lan could even see with the naked eye a lot of charred small fragments falling from it.

"Now, switch to armor-piercing incendiary rounds!"

"Bang, bang, bang--" The deafening sound of machine guns rang out again, but this time, the shells successfully tore open the carbonized layer that had already been shattered into pieces, exposing the white mycelium inside the monster's body!

As the second section of the armor of the incendiary bomb warhead ruptured, the incendiary agent pre-loaded in the warhead gushed out and burned directly in the body of the humanoid monster. The exposed white mycelium quickly turned into a charred black color.

"Although the thermal stability is not ideal, we can try to make living armor and use multiple layers of carbonized layers to weaken the attacks... But the disadvantage is that living mycelium will generate spores, which will increase the risk factor during transportation and storage, and it is also not conducive to post-war battlefield cleaning and personnel rescue operations..." Ke Lan pondered to himself.

"But if we can use biotechnology to preserve the activity of the mycelium while cutting off their ability to reproduce... Well, let's leave this kind of thing to the top students at the research institute."

The sound of machine guns stopped, and the water vapor and smoke surrounding the monster gradually dissipated. Only a tattered corpse was seen kneeling on the ground, and a human figure could still be vaguely recognized.

"Is this solved?" Old Dog asked uncertainly, "I always feel that this kind of guy...is not so easy to kill."

"It's true that it's not easy to kill completely. As long as there is a living spore left, as long as we can find enough prey, mass production of things like this is not a problem—" Ke Lan stopped talking abruptly. He suddenly realized that the greatest value of this fungus might not lie in the carbide layer that is as hard as alloy, but in its strange mimicry ability...

As long as enough "nutrients" are used, this fungus can be used to replicate a terrifying army. Compared with human soldiers, this army not only retains a certain degree of combat skills, but is also invulnerable and fearless... This is just like the Nazi zombie army in old-time movies...

No, they are stronger than zombies... These fungi must be able to replicate more than just humans... What if they were allowed to devour a thunder beast?

Or maybe something more daring... the Corrosion Seed? The giant worms underground? And the Fusion Seed lurking in the abyss?

Even if it was just a Xibei product, it would be shocking enough...

Judging from the characteristics of this fungus, the larger the size, the harder it is to kill the complex - because it does not have any vital points, and if you want to kill it, you must kill every individual in it.

If they could simulate all the primitive species...

"Ke Lan?!" The old dog's voice suddenly brought Ke Lan back to reality. "What happened to you just now?"

"I think... this fungus is not a native organism of Alpha Planet."

"Not a native creature? Could it be an Earth creature?"

"No... I suspect this is a biological weapon created by the Alpha Civilization, just like the Seed of Corrosion."

Ke Lan pursed his lips and stared at the pile of coke in the distance... If this thing was really a creation of the Alpha civilization, then why didn't the same information emerge from his memory as before? Was it because the corresponding triggering conditions were not met?

What is the trigger? A name? A scene? Or something else?

"You mean there are ruins nearby? That's impossible. This area has been scanned countless times by the Ark."

"It's possible that I'm overthinking..." Ke Lan took a deep breath, "Okay, it's time to clean up the battlefield."

"Do we need to collect living spores?" Yui asked.

"There's no need. Since this material is not suitable for making armor, it has no use value." Ke Lan said, and then silently uploaded the combat records to the Ark's official database.

He did not directly mention the possibility of the second use... In his opinion, this thing was different from the black skeleton. Its potential value was too terrifying. If even one person among the senior management of the Soma Group was blinded by the benefits, the result would be a disaster.

Compared with that astronomical sum of money, Ke Lan would rather hand over the information about this fungus to the authorities.

As for the problem of living spores, as long as we trace back along their route, with the Ark's capabilities, we will be able to find them.