When they heard the intelligence Augusta provided, the bridge fell silent for a moment.
That was over a billion fourth and fifth-tier transcendent beings. If it truly came to a fight, forget a billion, the enemy would only need to dispatch a few thousand elite transcendent beings to wipe the floor with them.
Even counting the cannon-fodder units they carried with them, they could not possibly handle so many enemies.
A normal fifth-tier wizard, even one specialized in biochemical modification or mother-queen breeding, could carry at most between tens of thousands and a few hundred thousand cannon-fodder units. And among those cannon-fodder units, aside from a few leader creatures reaching the sixth tier, only a few thousand could reach the fifth tier; the rest were lower-ranked than the wizard himself.
Facing enemies on such a scale, even if they pooled all their assets, they would not be able to win. And... every wizard present understood one thing: what had been mentioned was only the number of elite units. The far more numerous civilians had not even been brought up.
As if seeing through the young wizards' thoughts, Augusta switched the display again, marking cluster after cluster of settlements across the entire plane's surface.
"As for the Mushroom People's ordinary civilians, their number is estimated to exceed a hundred billion!"
Several young wizards couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. A hundred billion!
The young wizards felt their faces turn green. Was this really an enemy they could handle?! To put it bluntly, enemies of this magnitude, even if they just stood still and let themselves be slaughtered, would be enough to exhaust these wizards and all their cannon-fodder units until their hands went numb.
Even the six wizards belonging to the elite combat units, who had barely changed expression until now, couldn't help but shift their faces upon hearing this number.
As elite combat units, they had experienced battlefields on such a grand scale before. But at that time, they had been surrounded by millions of other wizards and the cannon-fodder units those wizards commanded as support. Now... with just a dozen or so people, could they truly handle this plane?
Augusta's expression, however, remained completely unchanged. She even continued with another piece of bad news: "Furthermore, the Mushroom People possess a rather troublesome physiological trait; their reproduction rate is absurdly exaggerated! They are called Mushroom People not just because they look similar, but also because their method of reproduction is like that of ordinary mushrooms. They reproduce via spores."
"Each mushroom colony can release hundreds of millions of spores per reproductive cycle, and these spores reach adulthood in just two to three months. Combined with their partial elemental creature traits, these beings have an absurdly high tolerance. If environmental resources permit, they can expand almost indefinitely!"
Jie Ming's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing this. This reproductive ability was ridiculous; even many insect species renowned for their fecundity could not compare. In plain terms, Jie Ming had become somewhat tempted. As raw material, these things were quite excellent.
Augusta's introduction continued, "In addition, these creatures have extremely low resource requirements. When food and energy are scarce, they can even gnaw on rocks directly to barely sustain themselves. Therefore, if the war later enters a stalemate, that would be absolutely disadvantageous to us. Relying on time to wear these fellows down is basically unrealistic."
On the bridge, everyone's expressions turned even grimmer. Vast numbers, extremely fast growth rate, strong vitality, and formidable combat power... Any one of these traits alone would be enough to give an enemy a headache; all of them concentrated in a single race made it enormously troublesome. These creatures... were almost a tireless war machine!
Just as everyone was looking solemn, Augusta gave a light smile. "So, one of the most valuable objectives in this plane war is these Mushroom People. According to evaluations, the Mushroom People's body structure, reproductive ability, and survivability make them highly suitable as modified vessels for cannon-fodder troops. If the biological modification can be completed successfully, the family will possess a legion of immense size and extremely low cost in the future!"
Hearing this, the young wizards' eyes immediately lit up. This was a solid, substantial merit. If the modification really succeeded, they, as participants, would naturally receive a good share of contribution points.
"Additionally, due to the Mushroom People's long-term unchecked reproduction, the biological resources of the entire plane have become extremely depleted. Whether it's magical potions, rare plants, or magical beast resources, almost all have been consumed."
Jie Ming was not surprised to hear this from Augusta. After all, a race with such traits would inevitably become the overlords of the entire plane, and their unbridled reproduction would certainly cause considerable damage to the plane.
"However..." Augusta shifted the topic. "According to elemental spectrum analysis, because earth elements are extremely dense in this plane, mineral resources are very abundant. In particular, high-quality elemental mineral veins far exceed those of an ordinary mid-level plane. After all, the earth element is the most adept at generating material. And the formation of many elemental crystals is actually the result of certain elements being enveloped by earth element, with the outer earth element deriving material around them."
Augusta then summarized, "Therefore, the main objectives in this plane war are collecting Mushroom People samples and mining resources!"
"Yes!" The young wizards responded in unison.
Just then, the warship suddenly gave a slight tremble. A mechanical voice rang out on the ship, "Target coordinates reached. Plane barrier detected ahead."
At this alert, everyone's gaze turned simultaneously toward the front of the bridge. On the light screen, a massive earth-yellow plane floated quietly in place. Outside the plane, a layer of amber-like, thick plane barrier completely enveloped the entire world.
Augusta closed the intelligence panel and turned to look at all the young wizards present. Her gaze slowly swept across each face. "You don't need to be too pressured. This plane war will be mainly led by the two of us; you just need to do your best."
Then Augusta looked at Jie Ming beside her: "Let's go. As agreed, you handle large-scale suppression, and I'll handle high-end combat power... no problem?"
"Of course, no problem." Jie Ming smiled, slowly straightened up from beside the pillar, flexed the wrist joints of his puppet shell, and walked side by side with her out of the bridge.
Behind them, a dozen or so wizards from the Augusta family followed in orderly formation.
[Reused from translation memory.]