409: The 4th generation.

The mantis lay flat on the ground, its scythe-like forelimbs tucked against its sides and its triangular head bowed low, remaining motionless.

Chen Xing's car was parked a few meters away, engine off. He pushed the door open and stepped out but didn't approach—he just stood by the door, one hand resting on the silver briefcase at his waist, his gaze locked tightly onto the giant insect.

Ye Ouyang looked at him, then back at the mantis lying on the ground.

"Keep an eye on it," Chen Xing said. His other hand had already pulled out a phone; he pressed a few keys and held it to his ear.

The call connected quickly. He spoke briefly—location, situation, target status—then hung up.

"Wait."

Ye Ouyang nodded. His golden claws remained unsheathed as he stood beside the mantis, watching its every move.

The mantis didn't move. It maintained its submissive posture, though its compound eyes occasionally shifted, scanning the surroundings.

About ten minutes later, the sound of an engine approached from a distance. A greyish-white van drove up from the highway and stopped behind Chen Xing's car. The door slid open, and three people jumped out.

The leader carried a silver-grey metal case. He walked quickly to the mantis, knelt down, and opened the case. Inside were several large syringes and some unidentifiable instruments. With practiced movements, he drew one, plunging it into the wound on the mantis's flank—the mantis's body twitched slightly, but it did not resist.

"Inhibitor," the man said without looking back.

The other two had already begun fitting specially made restraints onto the mantis's limbs. The restraints looked light, but once they were on, the mantis's body visibly stiffened, as if its strength had been drained away.

"Let's go," the leader said, standing up and nodding toward the mantis.

The mantis stood up, its movements much slower than before. It followed the man step by step toward the greyish-white van. At the vehicle's door, it looked back at Ye Ouyang, its compound eyes flashing once before it crawled inside.

The door closed. The engine started. The van made a U-turn and quickly disappeared at the end of the highway.

Only Chen Xing, Ye Ouyang, and two of the three newcomers remained. The driver had left with the van, while these two stayed behind.

"What happened?" one of them asked, walking over to look at the bright green algae on the river surface before turning to Chen Xing.

Chen Xing briefly recounted the events—the old man releasing fish, the abnormal algae, the excessive oxygen levels, the giant ants, and the surrendering mantis. He spoke concisely, but included all the necessary details.

Just then, Li Zhe stepped out from behind the large tree in the distance. Big Orange followed beside him, remaining invisible, though the slight distortion in the air by his side revealed its presence.

Chen Xing glanced at them but didn't ask questions, simply continuing his explanation.

"The issue with this algae is very serious." He pointed toward the river. "When I went back to drop off the samples, the preliminary analysis from the lab came out. This stuff has an incredibly strong oxygen-producing capability—beyond ridiculous. The oxygen content in the water is already several times over the limit, and the air will be affected too."

He paused.

"This is an ecological threat. A massive one. It must be cleared."

Ye Ouyang was stunned for a moment. He looked at the dense green flocculent material on the river surface, then back at Chen Xing.

"So how do we clear it? High-tech?"

Chen Xing glanced at him.

"No high-tech," he said, walking to the back of the car and opening the trunk. He pulled out several rolls of green mesh nets and some long poles. "Just these. We scoop."

Ye Ouyang: "..."

Chen Xing pulled a few more items from the trunk—they looked like masks connected to small gas cylinders.

"And these." He handed one to Ye Ouyang. "Because the oxygen level is over the limit, watch out for Oxygen Toxicity. Put this on."

Ye Ouyang took it, turning it over in his hands.

"An oxygen tank?"

"Yes." Chen Xing picked one up for himself and tried it on. "Breathe the normal air from inside this; don't inhale the outside air directly. Let's go, get to work."

Li Zhe walked over, took a mask, and silently put it on. Big Orange appeared beside him, its dark orange skin shimmering slightly in the sunlight. Its reptilian vertical pupils stared at the algae on the river, its thoughts unknown.

The four of them stood by the riverbank with nets and poles in hand, the breathing valves on their masks emitting a faint hissing sound.

Then, they began to scoop.

One scoop down brought up a green, gooey mass. They stuffed it into a bucket and went for another. The algae on the river didn't look like much, but they realized how dense it was once they started scooping—every net came up packed full. The buckets filled quickly, and Chen Xing brought out several large woven bags from the car.

Ye Ouyang sighed as he worked.

"Our tech tree is really lopsided." He poked a clump of algae in the water with his net. "We have robots and all sorts of high-tech drones, but we don't have high-tech for scooping algae."

Chen Xing didn't look up. "Stop complaining and keep scooping."

He gestured with his chin toward the side. "Look at Li Zhe. He hasn't said a word, just silently scooping over there."

Ye Ouyang glanced over—Li Zhe indeed hadn't said a word, net in hand, filling bucket after bucket with mechanical but efficient movements. Big Orange sat on the bank, remaining invisible, but the air around it could be seen shimmering slightly occasionally, as if it were supervising the work.

"Fine."

After scooping for a while, Ye Ouyang spoke again. "This isn't going to work. This algae clearly has a very strong regenerative ability. It grows back right after you scoop it up. It's never-ending."

Chen Xing tossed a net's worth of algae into a woven bag and straightened up to catch his breath.

"There's no other way. We scoop as much as we can for now. The report on how to handle this has been sent up; the higher-ups will figure something out. We just need to control it for now so the situation doesn't keep getting worse."

Ye Ouyang opened his mouth to say something but ultimately closed it.

Scoop.

Scoop, scoop, scoop.

After a long time, the algae on the river surface was finally visibly reduced. It wasn't completely gone—looking closely, there was still some beneath the surface—but at least the layer on the water's surface was mostly cleared.

Ye Ouyang tossed the last net of algae into a woven bag and wiped away his sweat.

"That's it for now," he said. "But it will definitely grow back."

Chen Xing nodded without a word and began packing up the bags and buckets filled with algae. Some of the bags were transparent; Ye Ouyang leaned in for a look and froze.

"Hey, this—"

The algae inside the bag was glowing in the shadows. A faint blue-green fluorescence pulsed, like some deep-sea creature.

"It glows on its own in the dark?" Ye Ouyang poked the bag curiously.

Chen Xing walked over to take a look.

"Stop looking." He tied the bag shut. "Cover it up quickly. Let's go."

The group loaded the bags and buckets into the car, filling the trunk to the brim. The doors closed, and Chen Xing started the car, driving toward the base.

—

The next day, in the office.

When Ye Ouyang pushed the door open, several people were already sitting inside. Golden Bone leaned against the window, holding a document; Shen Mingyuan sat in a chair with his legs crossed; Wei Ziqing sat in another chair, looking down at his phone.

Ye Ouyang sat down next to Shen Mingyuan.

"What did you call me here for?" he asked.

Golden Bone waved the document in his hand.

"Regarding that mantis. The interrogation results are in."

Ye Ouyang's eyes lit up. "Oh? What's the word?"

Shen Mingyuan uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.

"How is it? I heard that... uh..." He paused, scratching his head. "That mantis was captured?"

Wei Ziqing looked up from his phone screen and glanced at him.

Shen Mingyuan ignored him and continued looking at Golden Bone.

Golden Bone flipped the document open.