Two hundred rounds of earth-boring missiles totaled 1.1 billion Xin New Dollars. Including the other bombs and batteries, the cost would total at least be one hundred million.
Money was being burnt the moment they hit the launch button.
Less than two weeks after TS Expedition departed, it reached out to the headquarters for a supply of more than a billion. Even with the behemoth empire Jiang Chen built, he was still shocked by how fast it burned through cash.
In fact, not accounting for the expenditure costs related to the Expedition, so far, Celestial Trade and Future Group spent 20 billion on Mars. But in contrast, disregarding the values of the Gaia civilization, the value created by the Mars colony was less than half of the total bill.
This was probably the most painful element of building a farm on another planet.
Before the crops grew out, you don’t even know what would grow out.
But fortunately, the frontline didn’t just send him bills, there were some other things.
In mid-February, through a comprehensive analysis of formation information and vital signal volatility, researchers at the Mars colony concluded that there was an eighty percent chance a Devil Worm’s nest was located in a granite-like cave located about one kilometer deep in the northern part of the colony.
If the information was reliable, this may be the shallowest Devil Worm nest found so far in the Mars colony.
With this information in mind, TS Expedition immediately sent a ground force to encircle the nest.
By using a vehicle equipped with a large drill bit, it managed to create a 30-degree tunnel to the target formation. The drilling vehicle was often used on Earth to build undersea tunnels, so it was capable of completing work on the relatively loose rock formation on Mars.
While they drilled down, the rear engineering vehicle built steel brackets on the tunnel wall, poured cement, and cast a concrete wall to prevent Devil Worms from destroying the tunnel.
Who said humans can’t drill holes?
The Celestial Marines proved that humans could not only drill holes but could also build roads in the holes. Devil Worms could not destroy the tunnel despite all their efforts because of the concrete wall reinforced by Grade-A steel.
When the drilling vehicle penetrated into the nest, the armored vehicles rushed in and immediately unleashed its firepower against the Devil Worms.
A bloody massacre began.
The shells accelerated to beyond the speed of sound rendered the shell of Devil Worms to be useless. But behind them were their eggs, which made it almost impossible for them to combat effectively against the enemies inside their nest.
The hoarse screams echoed in the tunnel and were overwhelmed by the explosions.
Green blood splashed everywhere, and in just ten minutes, at least fifty adult Devil Worms fell inside pools of blood. Except for a few Devil Worms that escaped after they recognized the situation, there were no Devil Worms alive in the pot-shaped cave.
After the soldiers exterminated the biggest threat, soldiers in kinetic skeletons jumped out of the armored vehicles’ rear cabin door. They carried wire mesh and rushed toward the eggs, then created a “safety belt” between the armored vehicles and eggs.
This kind of wire mesh could not be recovered after deployment, and possessed high strength, especially to shear forces.
After the soldiers completed these tasks, six soldiers spread out to form a defensive formation. They raised their rifles while they waited for the scientists on the vehicles to collect specimens.
A Devil Worm suddenly attacked from below!
However, after the mandibles broke the wire mesh, it could not bite through the wire and became stuck in the mesh. The medics immediately rushed out with stretchers and dragged the soldiers who had been attacked from below into the vehicle.
The Devil Worm with its teeth stuck in the wire could only squirm its head madly. It desperately attempted to pull its mandibles out, but everything was futile.
The Celestial Marines next to it immediately stepped forward and fired a dozen bombs at its head before it no longer irritated the crowd. Several researchers in heavy protective suits once again walked out and carefully dug out the half-person tall eggs, then stored them in a large freezer.
New enemies continually rush out from below, but they all got stuck in the mesh.
These Devil Worms who were not afraid of death brought a lot of difficulties to the sample collection process. Fortunately, except for the two soldiers who received minor injuries, there were no casualties.
After the samples were collected, the soldiers began to evacuate from the tunnel, and left only pools of green sap and severed legs.
All eggs were to be sent back to Celestial City for research.
It was the first time Celestial Trade received such a complete egg. It marked this mission a huge success!
And in addition to those eggs, a frontline scientist also found a unique red fungus in the cave.
These fungi were extremely small and grew on coarse sandstone; it appeared to be part of the rock. If not examined under a magnifying glass, it could be mistaken for hematite.
After an analysis was done by scientists from the TS Expedition, it was confirmed that the fungus may be the oxygen-forming fungus scientists speculated to be capable of surviving in an anaerobic environment. It was the provider of oxygen and food for underground Mars creatures such as the Devil Worm.
The eggs and oxygen-forming fungi were loaded onto the rocket. After more than a week’s flight, the freezer compartment was recovered at the Celestial City port.
These samples once again completely astounded the scientists.
As for how they have refreshed their understanding of biology and what new breakthroughs were made in biotechnology and chemical technology… Jiang Chen had lost interest in knowing about these astonishing breakthroughs.
…
It was almost March.
Xin was ready to vote for their president.
Although he was not a candidate, as a behind-the-scenes ruler of Xin, he still had to pay attention to the election.
In addition, at the end of the same month, the primaries of the UA was also set to take place. Future Group and the B City Consortium had invested a lot of chips on Joseph Kennedy.
Hill’s internal support rate in the party had fallen to a new low, and it was unlikely she would win the primaries. Only two candidates remained hopeful; Kerry backed by the Morgan Consortium, and Joseph Kennedy.
The victor who would come out in the primaries to represent the Democrats in the battle in November still remained unknown.
Jiang Chen temporarily delegated the matters of the Mars colony and the related research to Kelvin as he began to shift his focus back to Earth.
The first day of March was also the last day of the Mars exhibition.
Jiang Chen came to the outdoor venue next to the Heart of the Sea. In front of the cameras, he delivered the closing remarks to all the visitors and viewers around the globe.