Chapter 1

In the military base outside of Xingang City, the higher-ups of ppdC stared, dumbfounded, at the images on the large screen, captured by surveillance cameras.

The plant bombs, with their precise calculations, landed accurately in construction sites, city parks, green belts, riverbanks, and other areas of other city districts.

They landed on exposed soil.

*Pa.*

The plant bombs burst open in unison, spewing out a large amount of willow catkin-like white flocculent matter, covering the soil.

These flocculent substances spread out naturally, rapidly growing intricate, thread-like structures resembling lichen and moss, taking root in the soil,

and further growing root-like structures similar to those of advanced plants, drawing nutrients from the soil.

The white lichen moss efficiently eroded and expanded, centering on the exposed soil.

The lawns, flowerbeds, and shrubs in the green belts seemed to be gradually stained by white fuel, covered with a thick layer of moss,

while the taller ornamental trees,

golden raintrees, phoenix flowers, eucalyptus trees, king palms, fan palms...

while becoming targets of lichen and moss erosion, also became natural springboards for the expansion of mycelium—

The lichen mycelium rapidly corroded the internal structure of various trees, poisoning their branches, leaves, and fruits.

Every flower, every leaf, every fruit,

had white mold growing on its surface.

Whether deciduous or evergreen,

all the fruits fell to the ground,

the flowers withered, and the leaves fell off.

Some of the already light leaves, because of the growth of fluffy, pure white spherical mycelium,

floated freely in the breeze after falling, like dandelions,

landing elsewhere.

When they landed on the water, the pure white mycelium would float on the surface, drifting along with the water, waiting to be naturally carried by the current to the soil on the shore, expanding along the river.

When they landed on the cement pavement, the pure white mycelium would follow the cracks, pass through the cement, and look for soil.

Even if they landed on inorganic matter such as bus rooftops, tall building glass windows, and metal billboards, the white mycelial balls had a way—

They would spread out as much as possible, expanding their area,

waiting for other factors to carry them away and spread them.

For example, people.

The pedestrians on the street were terrified by the sudden white tide,

screaming, crying, and running away.

They drove vehicles, carrying clusters of cotton-like, constantly expanding flocculent matter, speeding away.

They stepped on carpets made of white mycelium, creating pure white footprints in places where the mycelium had not yet reached.

They pushed and shoved, squeezing into underground air-raid shelters, or running towards tall buildings,

completely unaware that the white mycelium was attached to their clothes, waiting for an opportunity to expand.

The overhead view of the entire city looked as if dozens of drops of white paint had suddenly been dripped into it, allowing them to flow freely.

"Mold is the collective term for branched mycelium, which is a type of fungus.

Its characteristic is that the mycelium is relatively developed, without larger fruiting bodies. You can imagine an orange that has been placed on a shelf for a long time, so long that yellow-green mycelium grows on its surface.

And in contrast to branched mycelium fungi, there are fungi with larger fruiting bodies, that is, mushrooms."

Li Ang calmly faced Fang Xuewen's glaring gaze, and said calmly: "Mold mainly relies on various sexual or asexual spores to reproduce.

Mold spores are small, light, dry, and numerous,

with different shapes and colors, long dormancy periods, and strong resistance. Each individual can produce thousands, millions, billions, tens of billions, hundreds of billions of spores,

drifting with the wind, flowing with the water,

spreading everywhere, reproducing everywhere, omnipresent, ubiquitous.

What you are seeing are lichens, a special composite of algae and white fungal mycelium,

just like the first cooperation between algae and fungi 500 million years ago.

Algae contain photosynthetic pigments, which can carry out photosynthesis to provide nutrients and a solid foundation for the existence of fungi,

while fungal mycelium provides algae with water and inorganic salts, protecting the algae.

At the same time, the fungal mycelium can also generate a large number of visible mycelial spore balls, carrying mycelial fruiting bodies and algae, and continuously expanding through air, water sources, and biological channels.

The first stage, which is what you are seeing now,

is when lichen grows on soil and other plants, secreting enzymes to expand in situ.

The lichen in this stage is relatively fragile and harmless to humans.

If handled properly, it can be burned to ashes by fire,

or it can be isolated by using a large amount of parasitic insulators such as metal and glass to create 'firebreaks.'"

As if to verify Li Ang's words,

a ppdC member at the bottom of the building controlled a mech and activated a flamethrower to burn the ground infected by white mycelium in his line of sight.

The flamethrower spewed out a blue flame, and wherever it went, the mycelium melted and dissolved.

Some ppdC members whose mechs did not have flamethrower functions also wisely followed suit, using the vector nozzles on the back of their mechs to scorch each other's mechs,

clearing away the white mycelium attached to the mechs.

"However, the sheer volume is enough for the lichen to enter the second stage."

Li Ang, stepping on the plant carpet, casually said: "They will sink deeply into the soil,

reaching a depth of ten or even twenty meters,

weaving a giant network of thousands of kilometers in diameter underground that humans cannot imagine,

and then emerge from the ground like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Human civilization does not have the technological ability to renovate the soil of an entire continent,

nor does it have the technological ability to cover every piece of soil with metal plates.

Therefore, lichen will inevitably enter the third stage."

Li Ang said: "A large amount of lichen uncontrollably emerges from the ground, spreading and expanding.

Even if humans burn it with fire extinguishers, it will never be completely eradicated.

There will always be new lichens that emerge from the ground in places beyond human reach.

The lichen in the third stage will form structures similar to Prototaxites—special fungi from the Silurian period 438 million years ago, shaped like giant pillars six meters high and one meter thick, resembling termite mounds.

The lichen in this stage no longer relies on the fallen leaves of surface trees for ultra-long-range propagation, because I know you will definitely try to cut down trees.

They will self-eject white dandelions fused with fungal spores and algal cells from the thousands of holes in the pillars,

and the dandelions will expand with the wind and water.

When they fall on the water, the algal cells will activate, forming a water lily-like structure,

giving the fungal spores the ability to spread across the sea.

And human civilization has no room to resist this process.

Thus, the lichen comes to the fourth stage."

Li Ang tilted his head and said calmly: "The fourth stage, that is, the final stage,

is when lichen will cover 70% of the world's land, parasitizing all large plants, secreting enzymes, and decomposing their organic matter while the plants are still alive.

The soil will turn white and become uncultivable.

Wild trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses will not be able to survive and will no longer produce food and oxygen.

Herbivores and carnivores will all die out.

This is not the end. The white fungi will begin to evolve,

Cryptococcus, Candida auris, Mucor...

They will evolve into hundreds or thousands of deadly fungi, causing damage to human hands, feet, eyes, nose, ears, respiratory tract, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract.

Any unprotected act of walking on the surface will be fatal.

Human civilization will be forced to huddle in a limited number of underground cities, relying on canned food and earthworm farms to obtain protein.

And on the surface,

land, ocean, high mountains, snowfields, deserts,

everything will be dyed white.

The entire process will take three years."

Li Ang said calmly: "You may think this is cruel, but I call it efficient.

In my creation sequence,

its name is,

Pale World."