Great, I'm surrounded by villains.

"Old Duan, you..."

Coyote Twelve looked at Duan Mingyuan's back as he walked out of the cave first, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

He really wanted to ask a question now, but this question seemed a little impolite.

Lao Duan, are you human?

Of course, this was by no means a personal attack, but rather he sincerely questioned Duan Mingyuan's "race".

The power of domination can manipulate human instincts, making them unable to control their own thoughts and becoming animals dominated by their instincts.

But Duan Mingyuan naturally restrained this power.

Because this... creature of some unknown race seemed to have no concept of "instinct" from the beginning.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 290 Civilization

Chapter 290 "Civilization"

This is a primitive planet.

Duan Mingyuan quickly came to a conclusion during his exploration: the trees were lush and green, and there was no sign of any human existence anywhere.

There were no tools, no buildings, no civilization, only vegetation, mountains, rivers, and some basic elements that made up the planet's ecology. He guessed that there would be no more groundbreaking discoveries along the way.

Rather than calling it a "Death Star", it would be more accurate to say that it is a planet that has not yet been touched by Homo sapiens.

It is said that there were many such uninhabited planets in the universe hundreds of years ago, but with the advent of the great universe era, most of the uninhabited planets have been planted with human flags. Planets with habitable environments are used as colonies, while planets with harsh environments have become industrial production sites for companies and chambers of commerce.

Duan Mingyuan had read in a science magazine on Blue Star that the most advanced factories today were already capable of completely mechanized production. Companies only needed to send robots to industrial planets to greatly reduce the loss of manpower.

In recent years, the company has sent drone swarms to conduct exploration and investigation on Death Stars such as Deepsea Star, which have no signs of human beings and are not suitable as industrial bases.

The entire universe is developing rapidly, and even on the Death Star, there is a trace of human presence.

The two stopped at a clearing in the woods. A little further down there was a stream, and they could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water.

Coyote Twelve sat in front of a stone and sighed, "It seems that Ava-Jo was destined to be unable to leave this forest from the beginning."

That's just an unrealistic fantasy.

Duan Mingyuan believed that this forest was as vast as the entire planet. How could it be possible for humans to walk across the entire planet?

This also meant that their subsequent hiking trip was meaningless, and even if they really traveled all over the planet, they would not be able to leave.

"So this is their plan, to trap us in the Death Star until the summit is over?"

Coyote Twelve asked.

Obviously, they don't have decades to explore an unknown planet.

Of course, there are still many questions here.

For example, why can Morgan VII's old butler use the power of "cocoon"? This power has surpassed Nagaeda Konoe and is beyond the scope of human understanding.

In the research on "Cocoon", the Chamber of Commerce seems to have left Universal Company far behind.

"It should be more than that."

Duan Mingyuan shook his head and said, "It should be forever, until the intruders are lost, and then they will be displayed as trophies in the collection room on the Laurel."

"Damn it! I don't want to be left with only my head for people to see."

"Don't you only have one head now?"

"That's not funny."

Duan Mingyuan looked at Coyote Twelve - this Bebop cowboy was a machine from the neck down. In Coyote Twelve's own words, a lot of parts in his head had been replaced.

But this is normal. It is the standard equipment for people who participate in interstellar wars all year round, and it can be regarded as a symbol of glory.

However, Jiu Yue scoffed at Coyote Twelve's statement that "scars are men's medals". She carefully examined Duan Mingyuan's body that night and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was no "medal".

Jiu Yue has always been worried that Duan Mingyuan and Cowboy Bebop would become bad people.

Smoking and drinking would be fine, but if he ended up with scars all over his body, that would be too much for her to bear.

She liked Duan Mingyuan's current body very much, but she didn't want to hug a cold machine every night when she went to bed.

Therefore, the little fox said that if Duan Mingyuan really wanted to leave a "medal" on his body, he could ask her for help. She learned a folk remedy from a book. As long as she put her lips on the part that needed to be marked and sucked hard, a bright red medal would be left.

Thinking of this, Duan Mingyuan glanced at the number on his phone.

Although he enjoyed his time exploring the strange planet, it was already getting late.

The book said that a married man should not stay out all night, and before boarding the Laurel he had promised September that he would be back before daybreak.

The situation of Coyote Twelve was similar. When the two of them walked into the space jump cabin, Mocking Dove stared at Coyote Twelve with eyes that were almost tearing.

This visit was his initiative, and it was every mate's duty to bring the crew back.

They did not have decades to waste in a primitive society.

"Old Duan, you said——"

Suddenly, Coyote Twelve stopped talking, as a nut fell at his feet. He jumped up in fright. He drew his gun and aimed upward, and saw an agile figure quickly running away on the tree, using his hands and feet like the primitive people he had seen in old movies.

"Someone, I*, someone!"

He never thought in his life that he would be so excited by seeing someone.

But this shows that they are not the only ones on this planet!

"Old Duan, did you see this? Look at this..."

Coyote Twelve wanted to bend down to pick up the pine cone on the ground, but when he was about to touch the pine cone, the fruit on the ground suddenly changed. The curled up body slowly unfolded. The little animal on the ground raised its head and looked at Coyote Twelve ignorantly. After seeing the revolver in his hand, the hair all over its body stood up and it ran into the bushes.

Damn it!

The pine cone turned into a squirrel in front of him.

Coyote Twelve found that Duan Mingyuan had no intention of paying attention to him. He ignored the figure on the tree and the fruit on the ground that had turned into a squirrel, but lowered his head as if he was lost in thought.

The weirdness didn’t end there.

The falling leaves turned into birds, a noise came from deep in the bushes, and soon a wild boar came out.

The wild boar was being chased by a group of humans holding spears and other weapons. They were screaming and making a lot of noise.

Night still enveloped the forest, but the fear of loneliness had disappeared.

When the next group of hunters appeared, the weapons in their hands had changed.

They learned to use long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, and their hunting methods became more well-trained. They no longer fought wild beasts in close combat, but set traps in advance and used bait to lure large wild beasts into the traps and kill them.

Coyote Twelve was very sure that this was still the forest they were in, but he had a feeling of extreme absurdity.

Human civilization was born on this uninhabited dead planet. This is the theory of evolution that has been verified on countless planets, and the speed of civilization is moving forward at an astonishing speed. Every second that passes will push civilization forward by decades.

Until a missionary in monk's uniform passed by him.

On the other side, Duan Mingyuan, who had been thinking with his head down, also returned to normal.

"Old Duan, what have you done?"

At this moment, Coyote Twelve was extremely sure of his previous opinion.

Creating life and building civilization are the realm of "God". To this day, there are still many people in the universe who firmly believe that they were created by gods. They do their best to preserve their worship and praise for gods.

Coyote Twelve originally only believed in guns and bullets and scoffed at theology, but just now, he seemed to witness the process of human beings building civilization.

"You…created them?"

"To be precise, it is a reappearance."

Duan Mingyuan explained, "The humans on this planet perished due to 'cocooning'. I just tried to restore the traces of their existence to a certain extent."

Coyote Twelve stared at Duan Mingyuan closely. The latter's explanation was understated, as if he was talking about something as simple as going out to fetch a pot of water.

"This planet is called 'Sea of ​​Trees' and was destroyed 378 years ago."

Through the reproduced trajectory, Duan Mingyuan captured some information about the planet.

"'Sea of ​​Trees'? I've never heard of this planet, and the company hasn't collected any relevant information."

As early as when he was working in the company, Coyote Twelve wrote down the names of all the "cocoon" planets, but there was no information about the "Sea of ​​Trees". If this planet was destroyed 378 years ago, the company should have recorded it.

"Before the company discovered this planet, the inhabitants of the Sea of ​​Trees were destroyed by a 'forest disaster'. First the livestock, then the humans and buildings, were assimilated by the vegetation and turned into plants on this planet. After hundreds of years of baptism, no trace of them can be seen anymore."

This was the conclusion Duan Mingyuan came to after investigating the memories of some trees.

The existence of humans in the "Sea of ​​Trees" was very short-lived. They disappeared before the universe could become aware of their existence.

What surprised him was that the people on this planet did not try to fight against the "forest disaster". Under the brainwashing of a church called the Sacred Tree Religion, they believed that transforming into vegetation was the way for the gods to accept them, and they were happy to dedicate everything they had to the sacred tree.

"The current time point is the eve of the outbreak of the 'Forest Disaster', which is also the most prosperous period of the Shenmu Sect."

Duan Mingyuan told Coyote Twelve the background knowledge about this planet.

According to the historical process of the "Sea of ​​Trees", "forest disasters" will cover the entire planet within the next year, and the last ruler of this planet will be the most devout believer of the sacred tree.

Everything was destroyed naturally.

"In this way, the source of the 'power of domination' has been found."

The "forest disaster" that swept across the entire planet, the gods worshipped by the residents of the "Sea of ​​Trees" are also the most powerful enemies that humans on this planet have ever faced.

The consciousness of this planet did not seem to intend to communicate with him directly, so Duan Mingyuan could only use this method to confirm the other party's location.

"Where the sacred tree is located is the source of energy for this planet."

"But if you say so..."

Coyote Twelve clenched the revolver in his hand. Ever since he came to the Mechanical Planet, he felt that this universe was becoming more and more magical.

"If the sacred tree is the culprit, then wouldn't the way we leave here be killing the gods?"

“You can try negotiation first.”

Duan Mingyuan said, "But you also have to be mentally prepared."

"Mental preparation?"

"He is very angry about my actions and should want to kill us."

I wish you all a healthy Dragon Boat Festival!

Small Theatre No. 15:

On Friday, early in the morning

What is supposed to come will come.

Early in the morning of that day, the elder of the fox demon clan called Duan Mingyuan out and forbade Jiu Yue to accompany him.

"You should know that Jiuyue is the daughter of our clan leader and the princess of our clan."

The solemn elder walked in front, leading Duan Mingyuan into the mountains.

At the end of the mountain path is an old Taoist temple. It has been unknown how long since the temple was opened for worship. However, the huge fox statue seems to be regularly taken care of, and there is not even a speck of dust.

"Although the princess favors you, I am the elder of the fox demon clan and I must confirm whether you can bring happiness to the princess."

At this point, the elder's eyes sparkled, and he emphasized his tone and said, "Next, please listen to the questions. The first question is, what is the princess' favorite food?"

"chicken."

"What's the princess' favorite dress?"

"Monk's clothes."

"How many tails does the princess have?"

"Kujo."

"What's the princess' favorite color?"

"red."

"When is the princess' birthday?"

"May 9th."

"Humph, it seems that you are not completely useless, but don't be too happy too soon, the next question is crucial."