Black Smoke issued the command, and Caoyuan immediately pulled the trigger. The ONC anti-materiel rifle emitted a low roar like artillery, shattering the grenade launcher of a Mechanical Desert Spider with one shot.

Guo Li Cheng and Ma Lou then charged forward. The other players lined up in two columns behind them, spreading out to the left and right sides the moment the two tanks engaged the enemy.

There were 3 Mechanical Desert Spiders in this wave, but under the encirclement of 16 players, they were quickly defeated. One of them was even captured alive.

What awaited it was Xue Jie's training.

Lu Yuan didn't even need to fire. He just quietly followed at the back of the team, keeping a close eye on everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

After the battle, the players sat down to rest and manage their ammunition; the pack beasts entered the field to collect the spoils.

The only one not sitting was Ye Xing. He stood aside, looking at the dark cave fork in the road, sniffing hard from time to time.

"Found anything?" Lu Yuan walked over.

"Team Leader, do you smell a strange odor?"

Lu Yuan: "If there is, you'd smell it first. What does it smell like specifically? Machine oil?"

Ye Xing: "Not like machine oil, very faint. Could it be methane?"

Lu Yuan: "Definitely not. Pure methane is odorless."

Ye Xing: "Is that so... I can't quite describe it. It smells a bit like fertile soil."

Fertile soil...

There shouldn't be soil in the Desert, let alone fertile soil. Soil means there is water.

Lu Yuan pondered for a few seconds, then patted Ye Xing's shoulder.

"Then you might have smelled the right thing."

"Huh?"

"Everyone, rest is over. We continue forward, take the fork in the road."

The team continued forward. After walking for a few minutes, everyone smelled the earthy odor and then saw something unexpected.

It was a massive area of leafless vines, breaking through the rock and soil from all directions of the cave and growing in. The thinner ones were as thick as a person's arm, and the thickest ones exceeded two meters in diameter.

"What are these, underground fruits?"

Everyone followed Ye Xing forward and found many pumpkin-sized nodules growing on the vines.

Ye Xing took out a scanner and scanned them, finding that the nodules were mostly water and sugars, storing a large amount of energy. They were not fruits but underground tubers.

"This is... giant taro!?"

Finally, for the first time, the players discovered alien plants on Li Star.

The exploration had made significant progress!

Lu Yuan paused the dungeon progress and had Ye Xing perform a more detailed scan.

The scan results showed that the underground vines generally grew from the east, which is the direction of Oasis City, but several thick root veins also burrowed deep into the ground, far exceeding the scanning range.

Moreover, there were signs that the vines had been harvested and collected.

Lu Yuan had long questioned the energy source of the Mechanical Desert Spiders. Why do these guys use explosive gas like methane as fuel?

Initially, he thought Mechanical Desert Spiders would hunt Desert Spiders and moles, then put them inside their bodies to catalyze the production of methane.

But according to the blueprint, Mechanical Desert Spiders do not have a digestive system and lack this function.

Moreover, there simply aren't that many prey animals in the natural environment.

Now the answer is obvious. Desert Spiders and moles are probably not their 'staple food'; these underground plants are.

Mechanical Desert Spiders regularly harvest the 'taro' from the vines, then put them into some kind of device to concentrate the sugar and convert it into methane, producing the fuel they need.

In other words, there is likely a corresponding fuel conversion device blueprint inside the Mechanical Hive, and these plants can also be a source of food, water, and fuel for humans.

They are truly treasures all over.

After some research, Jubian presented his initial conclusions.

"The vines should have grown all the way from Oasis City; only there is a water source. As for the energy needed for growth, it should come from geothermal heat deep underground, because structures similar to heat pipes were scanned in the root system."

"With geothermal heat and water, plus inorganic salts in the soil, this plant can fix carbon elements from the atmosphere without photosynthesis and continuously proliferate."

"It should be a product of human genetic engineering," Lu Yuan added. "The first generation of colonists on Li Star might have used this plant to improve the deep soil, making the environment here closer to Earth."

"During the apocalypse, the planet was scorched by high-power plasma weapons, leading to the extinction of all surface flora and fauna, with only the underground ecosystem surviving."

"Furthermore, the scorching must have produced a large amount of carbon dioxide, which ironically provided a more favorable environment for the growth of the underground vines."

The players looked at each other, showing expressions of "So that's how it is."

So this is the ecosystem in the Desert. No wonder Desert Spiders are more common underground.

In terms of world-building, this game is as meticulous as ever.

The underground vines are producers, the cornerstone of the ecosystem, providing a food source for all other life forms, including the mechanical race.

So, are there perhaps larger, apex predators deep underground that even Mechanical Desert Spiders dare not provoke?

Everything is unknown, everything is possible.

After giving the vines a very rough name, "Ground Vine," the dungeon continued to advance, and Lu Yuan called Ye Xing over again.

"Based on your judgment, in which direction are the Ground Vines more prosperous?"

Ye Xing perked up his nose and sniffed hard a few times.

"Southeast direction, there are more over there. Should we go that way?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

"I think the location of the Mechanical Hive might not be fixed. It should periodically migrate to the most prosperous areas of the Ground Vines."

"That makes sense..."

Facts proved that the Executive Officer's judgment was extremely wise.

After continuing on for ten minutes, Ye Xing, who was at the front, suddenly made a gesture, signaling the team to stop.

There's something ahead!

He himself slowly advanced, cautiously exploring around a corner, and shared the footage captured by his tactical helmet with the others.

Two exceptionally large, eight-legged Mechanical Desert Spiders guarded a slightly glowing cave entrance.

After nearly a week of scouting and 5 days of concentrated clearing, the Mechanical Hive, along with the gatekeeping BOSSes, had finally been found.

"They're really two big guys!" Black Smoke exclaimed, looking at the image transmitted by Ye Xing.

The BOSSes were about 4.5 meters tall, and their tails even curled up to the height of four stories. Their eight long legs formed a huge melee attack range.

Describing them as "spiders" was no longer appropriate; they were completely colossi.

"This is a typical twin BOSS configuration, a relatively difficult type to handle," Black Smoke quickly got into character. "Fortunately, the area is large enough for a thrilling BOSS battle."

"Same as usual, heavy weapons start the fight. Try to break the BOSSes' main weapons at the beginning. The two tanks enter simultaneously, each pulling one BOSS, making sure their sides face the team, and be careful to pull them in opposite directions to avoid the two BOSSes' kill zones overlapping."

"The others provide suppressing fire while entering in batches, quickly hiding behind the rock cover around the area. Then listen for my command to fire and output damage rhythmically."

"After firing, immediately duck back to reload. Try not to let the BOSSes notice you; the lower your presence, the better. At the same time, ensure accuracy. Unlike other online games, we have friendly fire."

"Understood!"

The team members listened very carefully.

Black Smoke: "Executive Officer, do you see anything else we need to pay attention to?"