The moment the news broke, the chat channel fell into a deathly silence.
The joyous atmosphere evaporated instantly, and panic began to spread.
Jiang Ye couldn't sleep.
This warning made sense; if plants proliferated, animals would likely follow.
This planet's ecosystem seemed to be the opposite of Earth's. On Earth, life flourished in summer, but here, it was the fierce beasts that thrived in the dead of winter. Jiang Ye couldn't figure out the reason for this phenomenon, the only explanation he could think of was that life had chosen different evolutionary paths from the very beginning.
He opened the Galactic Mall and bought a dose of physical enhancement serum, injecting it into himself.
In the past few days, another effect of the physical enhancement serum had been discovered: it was a potent stimulant, in other words, a great aid for staying up late.
Jiang Ye decided to work through the night to reinforce the base's defenses.
With more beasts around, his two broken guns and a pile of grenades might not be enough to protect himself. He needed to prepare for the worst!
Grabbing a shovel, Jiang Ye went out and walked around the base, surveying the terrain.
Adjacent to the base were the warehouse and the latrine, both crucial. The warehouse, in particular, stored food and vegetables, as well as bear oil, bear meat, and coal, all extremely valuable.
Therefore, not only the base but also the warehouse needed to be secured.
The warehouse door was a simple, thin metal sheet. Jiang Ye struck it twice with his gun butt, but there were no marks, indicating it was quite sturdy and likely to keep out smaller creatures. However, if a terrifying creature the size of the previous bear appeared, this door would be no match.
About twenty meters from the warehouse was a frozen lake. Apart from the lake, the surroundings were open plains. There were occasional small hills, but overall, the land was flat.
Jiang Ye pondered for a moment and decided to dig a trench around the base.
Simultaneously, he would build a low wall behind the trench.
This way, it would be difficult for ordinary small animals to enter the base area; they would either fall into the trench and be unable to get out, or be blocked by the low wall.
Jiang Ye took his shovel and drew a large circle on the ground, encompassing the base, the warehouse, and the latrine.
While drawing the circle, he counted his steps and estimated the length. The entire trench would be about 160 meters long, a considerable amount of work. If the spacing between the warehouse and latrine had been smaller during construction, the trench's length could have been reduced. But now, this was the only way.
Next, it was time to dig with all his might!
At minus twenty degrees Celsius, the ground was frozen hard, making every shovel of earth a struggle.
The beginning of the trench was quickly dug.
The trench was one meter wide and about a meter deep, as Jiang Ye could only see his upper body when standing inside it.
The soil dug from the trench was piled up beside it. Once the entire trench was excavated, this soil would be used to build the wall.
Jiang Ye felt that a trench this deep should be sufficient; small animals definitely wouldn't be able to climb out. It was possible that in the end, the trench would be filled with small animals, which he could then collect and sell.
He continued digging!
The progress was extremely slow. Jiang Ye felt he was pushing himself to the limit, his shovel a blur, yet in an hour, he had only dug ten meters forward.
At this pace, even working all night wouldn't complete the trench. By morning, who knew what the situation would be; perhaps the sunlight would cause alien creatures to emerge and feed on the snow oil grass.
Jiang Ye sat on the pile of dirt, sweating profusely, panting, feeling as anxious as a student who hadn't written the last page of an exam with only five minutes left.
After a brief rest, he decided to change his strategy.
He would first dig a trench half a meter deep to serve as a basic defense, and then come back to deepen it!
He had to finish the trench before dawn!
Jiang Ye gripped his shovel tightly, mustering his strength, and began digging the shallow trench.
The pace quickened; he advanced 25 meters in an hour!
Despite the physical enhancement serum, such prolonged strenuous work was taking its toll. The north wind howled, numbing his face and hands, but sweat still poured from his padded jacket.
By the middle of the night, eighty meters of the trench were completed, with another eighty meters remaining.
Jiang Ye's padded jacket was soaked through with sweat. When the wind blew, it felt like it was freezing into ice, clinging to him and chilling him to the bone!
Having sweated so much, he was also incredibly thirsty, his throat parched.
Jiang Ye had no choice but to return to the base, take off his wet padded jacket, and leave it to dry by the stove. He then bought a new padded jacket and put it on.
After drinking some water, he dared not rest. He pushed open the base door, stepped out into the biting wind, and continued digging.
As dawn began to break, only the last twenty meters of the trench remained.
Frost had formed on Jiang Ye's hair, making him look like Santa Claus.
His face was pale blue, and his fingers trembled slightly.
The urge to sleep had long since set in, but he forced himself to continue working.
A thought even crossed his mind:
If he were like other colony leaders, a poor bachelor with nothing, just a small base, the trench would have been dug quickly, and he wouldn't be this exhausted.
But then he thought better of it; he didn't want to be a poor bachelor.
Out of the hundred thousand who had arrived, many had already died, most of them from poverty. Their bodies were likely rotting somewhere, and in this cold weather, they were probably frozen into zombies!
Jiang Ye gritted his teeth and kept working.
The weak sun rose, like a boiled egg, appearing powerless to warm this extremely cold planet.
The surrounding area was illuminated, and Jiang Ye stared blankly for a moment.
The green snow oil grass covered the entire wilderness like a vast green sea!
Overnight, the wasteland had transformed into grassland, as if a giant hand from the heavens had brushed the entire planet with green paint.
Upon closer inspection, the snow oil grass wasn't very similar to Earth's grass; it was more like miniature aloes.
The leaves were plump and full, containing the special oil of the snow oil grass. The tallest snow oil grass was about ten centimeters high, while the shortest had just emerged from the soil.
Each blade of grass was covered in frost, making the entire grassland look as if it had experienced a light snowfall, a truly spectacular sight.
Jiang Ye briefly admired the scenery and then buried his head in his work again.
It took him another hour to advance the trench to the final five meters.
For these last five meters, he decided not to dig a very deep trench.
He only excavated a little before stopping.
If he had to abandon this place, he would need to drive the base vehicle away. These five meters were the passage for the base vehicle.
Exhausted, Jiang Ye returned to the base, added some coal to the stove, and then collapsed into a deep sleep.
When he woke up, he would get up and further consolidate the defenses.