The moment he answered the phone, Jiang Ye glanced at the time displayed in the upper right corner of his phone. He had slept for over ten hours.
"Hello? What's going on?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Reporting, Commander. Some small teams have already gone to the fifth continent. As soon as they landed, they encountered beasts, Four-Eyed Deer. There are a lot of them, and they've been surrounded," Che Zhen said urgently. "I'm leading the air force to provide support and reporting to you."
"Okay, I understand," Jiang Ye nodded. "Make sure everyone is brought back safely. Be careful."
The call ended, and Jiang Ye couldn't sleep anymore. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a bag of food, and went straight out, taking a car to the military base.
On the way, he looked up the species information of the Four-Eyed Deer from the military database. This creature seemed quite troublesome.
[Species Name: Four-Eyed Deer]
[Species Description: Large omnivorous deer with a ferocious appearance. They have four compound eyes on their heads. Adult deer can reach two meters in height and possess sharp antlers, adept at ramming other animals to death at high speeds. They have a manic temperament and are extremely aggressive, often appearing in groups of hundreds or even tens of thousands. They frequently exhibit over-hunting behavior.]
[Attack Strategy: When in large numbers, this deer species is fearless and cannot be deterred by any attack. However, when their numbers decrease, they become calm and timid. As they can only be eliminated in large quantities with heavy firepower, there is no easy method to drive them away.]
Jiang Ye noticed one of the terms, "over-hunting behavior." He had learned about this term a few days ago when he was studying on Yongye Star.
Normally, wild animals eat only what they need. They kill as many small animals as they can eat and leave the rest to be killed and eaten later.
However, some animals kill animals indiscriminately and in large numbers. For example, a fox might jump into a chicken coop. Its stomach can only hold one chicken, but it will go mad and kill hundreds of chickens, leaving a bloody mess, and then carry away just one, causing a lot of waste. This is called over-hunting behavior.
The textbook described animals with over-hunting behavior as having strong bestial natures, being difficult to tame, and akin to madmen, making them very dangerous species.
It was clear that they had encountered a tough opponent this time.
The car arrived at the military base and landed. Jiang Ye got out and went straight to his office, opened the holographic projection, and connected to Che Zhen's aircraft.
Che Zhen's flapwing aircraft formation had already arrived at the fifth continent.
On the yellowish-brown wasteland, dust from artillery shells continuously kicked up. Dozens of spider-like armored vehicles were moving erratically while firing. The entire ground was covered with charging giant deer, an uncountable number from above. They moved back and forth like a tide, giving the same feeling as zombies in a zombie movie.
"Prepare to drop bombs at any time. No need to wait for approval. Be very careful not to injure our comrades on the ground!" Che Zhen shouted.
The flapwing aircraft formation began dropping bombs. One bomb could take down more than a dozen Four-Eyed Deer, but more Four-Eyed Deer continued to charge. The bombs seemed to fall like rain on a lake, creating ripples everywhere but having little overall effect.
After the bombs were dropped, the cabin doors opened, and the prepared machine guns sprayed bullets outward. They hardly needed to aim; any shot could hit a target. The flapwing aircraft's cannons also swept across the ground, leaving streaks.
Bloodstains were scattered on the yellowish ground, forming small puddles like plum blossoms. Thick smoke permeated the air.
The spider-like armored vehicles seemed to have run out of ammunition and were now running like they were in a marathon, followed by thousands upon thousands of Four-Eyed Deer.
The scene was too grand, something rarely seen even in cinemas. Jiang Ye gasped. The first four continents were barren, so why was the fifth continent so ferocious? What did so many deer eat to survive?
"Lower the altitude. Try to see if we can make the deer herd follow us," Che Zhen's voice rang out again. "Be careful not to fly too low. These deer are very strong and might be able to jump three to four meters high. Don't get hit and knocked down."
The flapwing aircraft group lowered their altitude, chasing the deer herd and constantly firing to provoke them.
It worked! Many deer stopped chasing the spider-like armored vehicles and instead angrily lunged at the flapwing aircraft, jumping up repeatedly, trying to ram them down with their antlers.
Che Zhen directed the flapwing aircraft to turn and fly in the opposite direction of the spiders, successfully luring away a large wave of deer.
Just then, the second reinforcement flapwing aircraft formation arrived and dropped bombs on the crowded deer herd, causing flesh and blood to fly into the air!
The repeated slaughter and pursuit lasted for an hour.
Wave after wave of flapwing aircraft came and went, continuously bombing and strafing, bombing and strafing, their firepower density rivaling that of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. The plain was covered with more craters than the small dots on a pear's skin. Thick smoke enveloped the ground, as if the entire earth was burning.
The number of deer was astonishing. They were as numerous as sardines in the sea. Although many were killed by bombs, more deer kept arriving from the wasteland, possessing the momentum of a vast army. Jiang Ye was dumbfounded. The land was yellowish-brown, with no green plants visible. Where did so many deer come from? Could they survive by eating dirt, or did they grow fat by feeding on the wind?
"Report, Commander. There are too many deer. We can't finish them off in a short time. We plan to pick up the brothers in the spiders and fly away. We'll leave the armored vehicles for now and deal with them later," Che Zhen requested via voice.
"No problem, evacuate quickly! The armored vehicles are not worth much, so don't be stingy!" Jiang Ye said urgently.
The flapwing aircraft accelerated and flew to the spider-like vehicles, hovering in the air. The spider-like armored vehicles stood upright, their height almost matching. The crew members inside opened the hatches and jumped onto the aircraft, already sweating profusely from fear. As the rotorcraft lifted off, the armored vehicles, still standing in place, were rammed by the surging wild deer and instantly overwhelmed.
Finally, all the trapped personnel were picked up and began their return flight.
"Che Zhen, ask them where all these deer came from. Did they see them eating anything?" Jiang Ye sent a voice message.
Che Zhen immediately went to ask and returned with a report a moment later.
"They said that as soon as they landed, they encountered deer. There weren't this many, only a few dozen. So, they used artillery to kill some of the deer. When they scanned the antlers, they discovered they were very valuable. A pair of antlers could sell for a hundred thousand yuan. They were all surprised and started looking for deer everywhere to kill. As a result, they disturbed too many deer, and the situation got out of control."
"You should know when to stop when pulling aggro! If you pull so many monsters at once, you won't be able to clear them," Jiang Ye remarked.
"The deer are eating something on the ground that resembles lichen," Che Zhen continued to report. "From high above, it looks like a yellowish-brown wasteland, but in reality, the entire ground is covered with a thin layer of vegetation. However, the vegetation is not green but earth-colored yellowish-brown, possibly some kind of camouflage."
"No wonder!" Jiang Ye suddenly understood and then gave instructions. "Since the deer antlers are so valuable, we can't just keep bombing them. Send warships to bring the troops over, bring enough machine guns, and sweep the deer herds with gunfire. Kill them all before coming ashore to collect the antlers. If the deer herd is not by the shore, use aircraft to lure them."