410: Unrestrained, unlimited reproduction

“What?” Shen Yuan’s face instantly changed upon hearing the news.

“How could he break the contract at a time like this? Isn’t this just courting death?”

A hint of coldness flashed in Tian Ming’s eyes: “He might be trying to use the infinitely multiplying zombie horde to wear down our strength, and then defeat us in one fell swoop. However, he miscalculated. Since he dared to break the contract, I will let him know the consequences of doing so. You all stay in the Space Station, do not come down. Humanity might have to immigrate.”

With that, Tian Ming’s figure flickered, appearing directly above the battlefield. He waved his hands, and the ionized energy in the air rapidly gathered, forming massive laser beams. These laser beams, like the sharp swords of a god, swept directly towards the zombie horde.

Instantly, a chorus of shrill screams erupted from the zombie horde. Wherever the laser beams passed, the zombies’ bodies exploded, turning into plumes of blood mist. The zombie horde’s offensive immediately stalled, and the mechanical legion seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Inside the human Commander room, Bai Yan and the other Commanders were dumbfounded. This ability to replicate exponentially was more than just a little faster than the rate at which robots were produced within the base. Even if they doubled every five minutes, the number of zombies would reach hundreds of billions within an hour.

“Lin Lao, Jiang Chen broke the contract!” Bai Yan looked at Lin Yao, who had been silent beside him.

“Now, it’s a war of gods; we can’t intervene,” Lin Yao sighed softly and said.

Tian Ming’s voice appeared in the Commander room.

“Bai Yan, withdraw all mechanical legions. Defend the base strictly; do not let a single zombie slip through. Any single zombie can become a replication template, and any stable element can become a replication raw material.”

For zombie replication, stable elements like iron, copper, silicon, and even carbon, as well as stable compounds, can all serve as raw materials for zombie replication. However, unstable ones are very difficult to use.

For example, reactive metals like calcium, sodium, and magnesium elemental metals would oxidize before they even became zombies. Even if they did become zombies, they would be useless because the texture of these elemental metals is simply not strong enough to form the zombie’s body. For instance, liquid mercury cannot be used as a raw material for replication. A puddle of liquid cannot stand up.

“Understood!” Bai Yan immediately responded upon hearing Tian Ming’s voice. He quickly issued orders for all mechanical legions to withdraw to the base and strengthen the base’s defenses, ensuring that no zombies could infiltrate.

Tian Ming continued to attack from above the battlefield, his laser beams constantly sweeping through the zombie horde, each attack significantly reducing their numbers. However, the zombies’ reproduction rate was simply too fast; their numbers quickly recovered.

The entire zombie horde had gone out of control. To compete for replication raw materials, they began to turn on their own kind. Aside from the more evolved zombies and the Corpse King, these lower-tier zombies began a brutal mutual slaughter.

Jiang Chen had said that once infinite replication was activated, there would only be one outcome: no winners, because the entire Blue Star would become an ocean of zombies.

This self-slaughter among the zombies was like natural selection; zombies with higher body strength and a wider range of elements, as well as stable and sturdy structures, were more likely to gain an advantage, while strange zombies, gaseous elements, liquid elements, and those made of reactive metals were quickly eliminated.

This elimination speed was very fast. Once all templates of a certain elemental type of zombie were extinct, there would be no more original copies, and thus no more replicates would appear.

Various Metal Zombies, carbon fiber zombies, alloy zombies, and even silicon-based zombie organisms began to emerge continuously from the ground. Blue Star began to stage a bizarre and fantastical feast.

“Call in the space-based weapons and conduct precision strikes on the base occupied by Jiang Chen,” Tian Ming’s voice reached the command center.

“General Lu, there are still humans being held captive there!” Bai Yan said.

“They can’t be saved. The infinite proliferation of zombies is already out of control. Those people are certainly not going to survive,” Tian Ming said sternly.

At this moment, the base where Jiang Chen was located had fallen into chaos. He could not control the infinite replication of zombies, and facing the endless ocean of zombies, Jiang Chen could no longer turn back.

On the land of Blue Star, zombies surged like a tide, slaughtering each other and vying for living space. The several underground bases in Beidu had now become a purgatory. Countless humans screamed and died under the zombies' attacks, their deaths making the zombie ranks even larger.

Jiang Chen sat in the main hall, yet there was no trace of relief in his eyes, because he knew that in this disaster, there were no winners. He also realized that his actions would ultimately push the corpse race towards extinction.

Under Tian Ming’s command, the mechanical legion fully defended the base. At the same time, Tian Ming personally entered the battle to fight the zombies. His laser beams were like divine swords, slicing the zombie hordes into pieces. However, the number of zombies was too great; even with Tian Ming’s powerful strength, he could not eliminate all of them at once.

Killing more was futile. Tian Ming looked at the boundless, surging corpse horde, could only shake his head slightly, and quickly turned back, returning to the base.

Inside the base, all management personnel held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures. The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy; everyone knew that the crisis of infinite zombie replication was unprecedentedly severe.

A biologist stood up, his face grim, and said, “Blue Star is no longer habitable. The infinite replication of zombies will consume most of Blue Star’s stable elements and may combine to form certain specific molecules. Jiang Chen has turned the entire planet into a giant furnace. The ultimate fate of these zombies is only one: extinction. And, they will drag us down with them into extinction.”

Once all elemental templates disappear, the zombies will become highly concentrated into a single type, with bodies composed of complex elements, no intelligence, but extremely strong survival capabilities. They will eventually transform all matter on the surface into zombies, until the entire planet becomes a planet composed of zombies.

If such a situation were to occur, humanity would have no foothold whatsoever.

“We need to find Jiang Chen and stop his insane actions!” Bai Yan said with a serious expression.

“Yes, we must find Jiang Chen and stop his insane actions!” Everyone nodded, agreeing with Bai Yan’s opinion.

At this moment, Tian Ming walked into the conference room, followed by a zombie covered in metal. Although this zombie was entirely composed of metal, its pupils were golden.

It was Iron Dude, the zombie Tian Ming had subjugated from the very beginning. The people in the conference room instantly fell silent, becoming absolutely still.