As Fang Senyan heard Lieutenant Kirgisna's reply, the hand that had been holding a coffee cup suddenly stiffened.

The Lost Temple… Upon hearing this name, Fang Senyan felt an inexplicable surge of solemn and chilling reverence, as if he were walking through a martyrs' cemetery or the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the real world—a place where distracting thoughts naturally vanished.

"The Lost… Temple? There shouldn't be any ruins or remnants here, right?" Fang Senyan couldn't help but inquire.

Lieutenant Kirgisna hesitated for a moment, then tapped rapidly on the computer a few times:

"Based on the current available data, no."

At that moment, an SCV glided in, roughly stating while carrying a fusion cutter:

"Sir, fuel is down to the warning line. We must decide on a route immediately."

Fang Senyan nodded:

"Target, the Lost Temple planet. The coordinates are…" The SCV answered in its distinct, rough voice, executed a cursory salute, and immediately bustled about, assisting where needed.

It is worth mentioning that during the flight, they managed to pick up three rescue pods, containing Engineering SCVs, based on intermittent radio signals. These Engineering SCVs were different from the maintenance SCVs equipped on the Ghost fighter; their memory banks contained precious blueprints for human command bases and complete documentation for all military base structures.

Given sufficient Vespene Crystals, theoretically, with enough time and enough crystals, a single Engineering SCV could establish an enormous empire!

The Ghost fighter’s fuel reserves dwindled further, causing the ghostly blue exhaust from its thrusters to extinguish one by one. Eventually, they were forced to fly through space using only the most economical twin engines. This meant a journey that should have taken three hours stretched out to four and a half.

Finally, the pale gray planet slowly magnified ahead, then materialized fully in everyone's sight. As they entered the atmosphere, the entire Ghost fighter groaned ominously, with electrical sparks beginning to erupt from various points, making it seem as if it could disintegrate at any moment.

Fortunately, thanks to the diligent welding efforts of the onboard maintenance SCVs, now assisted by the three Engineering SCVs, they managed to pull through. The Ghost fighter, trailing black smoke, entered from the void. The landing process was arduous, culminating in a violent shudder as it finally came to a halt.

The dark cyan earth stretched boundlessly into the distance—a landscape imbued with solemnity. Approximately every thirty to forty meters, two or three strange plants, intertwined, grew together; these plants were also a dusky iron-blue, resembling bean sprouts magnified thousands of times.

The sky was a murky gray, with the clouds strangely condensed into discrete, ash-white dewdrop-like formations across the firmament. On Earth, this kind of milky cloud cover signaled extreme weather conditions, like a Siberian cold front, but here it was a commonplace sight, with weak visible light filtering down through the gaps in the cloud layer. There seemed to be air movement, but it was slight.

The red light on the air analyzer beeped incessantly: "Drip, drip, drip," yielding a final conclusion: Oxygen content was 11%, Nitrogen 28%, Argon 35%, alongside sulfur dioxide, ozone, methane, and traces of plant spores and moss fragments.

The final recommendation was clear: unless absolutely unavoidable, do not breathe this air directly; exposure should not exceed 30 minutes, or severe complications were likely. Of course, for Fang Senyan, an 11% oxygen content was more than sufficient.

Those disembarking began attending to their assigned tasks. The maintenance SCV, unable to repair the exterior shell in space, now had the perfect opportunity. The Engineering SCVs started deploying their instruments to conduct crystal scanning and prospecting. Although this area had been heavily mined before, in this manner of large-scale operation, some lower-concentration crystal veins and peripheral deposits were often overlooked—much like the scraps wasted during mechanized farming.

For these Engineering SCVs, securing enough crystals meant they could theoretically construct an entire transport fleet.

Meanwhile, Kirgisna focused on calibrating encrypted frequencies and scanning for any undiscovered human caches. After a moment, she gasped and turned to Fang Senyan:

"Brigadier General! I have received a secret dispatch ordering us to converge at a designated location!"

Fang Senyan's heart stirred:

"Read it."

Kirgisna hesitated, then read aloud:

"All units, effective immediately upon receipt of this message, proceed to coordinate N49, P59 for assembly…" The signature, GHOST, appeared in crimson letters. Fang Senyan looked towards Old Charlie, the servant, and knowing he wouldn't be knowledgeable about such matters, asked Kirgisna instead, who, being straightforward, immediately explained.

It turned out that GHOST was the most unique and mysterious special forces unit among the Terrans, possessing the formidable capability to decide the outcome of an entire battle!

Ghosts represented the zenith of Terran evolution and physical capability. These individuals were born with incredible Psi potential and were recruited and trained by the government from childhood. They channeled their Psi abilities to enhance their natural physical strength and endurance.

This process was further amplified by the specialized suits they wore, lined with Psi-reactive artificial muscle fibers. Thus, a typical Ghost was a unit stronger, more capable, and faster than even a highly trained Terran soldier.

They could sustain cloaking indefinitely by draining mental energy. Their equipped 25mm scattergun possessed a range approaching that of a sniper rifle. More terrifyingly, they were among the rare humans capable of engaging powerful mechanical units with sheer psychic force, as GHOSTs could fire powerful homing psionic rounds that enveloped the target in a strong bio-electric field, locking them into a state of chaotic paralysis, leaving them defenseless.

Of course, the GHOST’s most devastating ability lay in using their cloaking to sneak close to the enemy, activate a precision targeting device, and summon the devastating impact of a nuclear payload shortly thereafter—a terrifying assault.

Therefore, GHOSTs held extremely high status within human forces. A GHOST whose name appeared in red signified a legendary veteran Ghost, a super-elite survivor of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of brutally fought campaigns. Their authority was in no way inferior to that of a regular Major General, though compared to a legend like Fang Senyan with a +2 Legend Factor, it was an entirely different matter.

Suddenly sensing something amiss, Fang Senyan turned and saw the welding torch of the Maintenance SCV repairing the exterior of the Ghost fighter spewing vast showers of steel sparks, cascading down like a waterfall. These sparks pooled on the ground, forming distinct characters.

Time: Galactic Calendar Year 401, February 7th, 08:00 hours. Location: The Lost Temple / Sector Eleven / Desolate Plains (13° 29' South Latitude, 74° 02' East Longitude) Scenario: Starship Troopers Difficulty: A (Grade A) Pain Attenuation: 20% Personal Ability Enhancement Factor: 0%. Current Scenario Exploration Progress: 1.2% Supplemental Information: This scenario is a slaughter zone. Exercise extreme caution toward all Contractors around you. The digitized character information module is now active. Contractors can check personal attributes via the Nightmare Imprint on their chests at any time. You will automatically master relevant languages and can interact fluently with the characters in this world. This knowledge will fade upon leaving. This world plot is an emergency rare mission; there are currently no achievable Milestones. Number of Accepted Missions: 1 Side Mission: Rescue Contractor Ronnie and ensure his successful transfer to Noah Space C. Mission Objective: Contractor Ronnie must not die. Failure to complete this mission will result in a 5% deduction from your base attribute points. Mission Note: Ronnie and his pursuers have been on this world for three days; any dangerous situation may arise. You can seek out relevant plot characters in this world to learn of their whereabouts. Your appearances have been altered and will automatically revert upon returning to the real world. You can also adjust appearance settings within the Nightmare Space. If you have questions, you may silently recall them via the Nightmare Imprint to query; an answer will be provided if your authorization level permits. Your weapons and relevant abilities have been disguised, thus avoiding drawing undue attention from plot characters. TERRN standard armor will provide 1-2 points of defense but will slightly reduce your movement speed. Please determine for yourself whether or not to wear it.

These flickering sparks caused no notice from anyone else. When the text display concluded, the SCV moved away automatically, clearly unaware that it had just been utilized by Noah Space C to display its "miracle."

Undoubtedly, under these circumstances, if Fang Senyan wanted speed, his only option was to follow the route indicated by the radio signal to rendezvous with the location designated by the red GHOST. Of course, this could easily be an elaborate trap set by someone who had cracked Terran communication codes, but Fang Senyan was pressed for time and had no choice but to march resolutely toward the indicated direction.

After traveling about twenty kilometers, Fang Senyan suddenly noticed a series of sunken craters ahead. These pits were smooth, level, and highly regular, stretching onward toward the distant hills. Nearby lay scattered pellets, faintly glowing blue. Crossing over the hill, Fang Senyan's field of vision suddenly widened, and before him unfolded a scene he would never forget!