Chapter 86: Is This Planet Really That Terrifying?

Chapter 86: This Planet is Seriously Scary, Right?

The plan originally set to start on the weekend was already being prepared by Sheng Qingquan starting from Friday.

"The system detached from Gu Hefan, and when it fled, the text provided a very detailed description of its appearance."

"The system has a physical form—it looks like an extremely adorable little bird. A small, fluffy creature resembling a colorful finch, equally round and equally vibrant in plumage."

"But the system's disguised form surpasses even that in beauty."

"The gradient of its feathers has more hues than those of a colorful finch. Though vibrant but not messy—from a bright red at the crown, to the two patches of orange-red on its cheeks, a pale yellow on its head... down to the purple of its belly and tail feathers."

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple—the colors transition so naturally and beautifully that nothing looks out of place. When it spreads its wings to fly, it’s like a tiny rainbow."

"Especially since it can fly and move, making it even more breathtaking than a rainbow hanging in the sky."

"Its appearance is so unique that once it appears, it’s impossible not to notice."

"Particularly since the colorful finch, which shares similar colors and size, isn’t found in Yunteng City."

"So mistaking it is nearly impossible."

"Talk about wasted beauty!" Despite saying this, everyone made sure to remember the system’s physical form thoroughly to avoid failing to recognize it if seen.

After arranging everything, they didn’t have to wait until Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, just past 1:30, a colorful bird appeared in the sky above the street. The bird perched lightly on the signboard of a fruit shop.

Folding its wings, the bird tilted its head slightly and began preening its feathers like any ordinary bird. There was no sign that it was actually checking out the people around, trying to determine if any of them would make a suitable host.

They all seemed like ordinary passersby.

The only good thing about these passersby was probably their healthy hair. Even with various perms, dyes, and styles, the quality of their hair was still visibly excellent.

But overall, they were rather forgettable.

Neither drop-dead gorgeous nor hideous.

Their bland looks made them unsuitable as protagonists.

If someone were exceptionally good-looking, they could easily hook some fans. Just their looks alone would win over some viewers.

Then, when the truth was revealed, the host’s pretty face would go ghost-white instantly, their eyes filled with terror and anger. That would make things even more interesting—many people love that kind of drama.

Especially if the host had a short fuse, throwing a fit and shouting accusations at the system, only to realize their anger was futile. Their fury would vanish, replaced by fear. That would be even more entertaining.

People love bullying the pretty ones!

If not beautiful, then exceptionally ugly would work too.

Ugly people usually have it rough. Once they suddenly strike it rich, the spectacle of a small-time nobody reveling in their newfound fortune is a plot audiences never tire of.

And then, crashing back down. When they realize they’re not just the culprit but that after the system leaves, they’ll be worse off than before—reduced to their original state, even more miserable.

Because when the system unbinds, it drains every penny in their account that came from the system, leaving only their original wealth untouched.

Their wealth doesn’t shrink—they still have exactly what they started with, not a cent less. But prices would have inflated to an absurd degree.

One moment, they’re a tycoon; the next, they can’t buy a sandwich.

How amusing.

A clown remains a clown!

The thrill of absolute control over someone else's life—lifting them to the pinnacle of success or plunging them into the depths of despair—whatever you desire, you can make it happen.

This kind of power hooks the audience.

Unfortunately, none of these people fit the bill. Since no suitable candidate was found, it decided to go online and see if there’s anyone nearby with a pliable personality and entertaining enough. Once found, it would bind them as the protagonist.

The next moment, shock flickered through System Bird’s beady eyes.

What gives?

This world looks thoroughly modern by all accounts.

From every angle, it meets the standards of a basic tech world. It even saw someone playing a mobile game on their phone.

But why is there no internet?

This is nuts!

Without the internet, it would have to wing it, picking a potential host based on intuition, then patiently observing their behavior to analyze their personality before deciding whether to bind them.

Compared to going online and instantly gathering data to match the right candidate, this method is much, much slower.

It might take days just to select someone.

And this is a live broadcast!

After days of delay, the audience would tear it apart in the comments.

If they kept watching after venting, fine—let them rant. But if they left while cursing, System Bird’s round little body shook as it envisioned its inevitable future: being factory reset.

It had to bind a suitable host as soon as possible!

As System Bird silently swore to itself, it failed to notice someone casually glancing its way before saying to a companion, "Let's have potatoes for dinner?"

Rainbow feathers = rainbow hair = Mary Sue = potatoes.

Hidden walkie-talkies relayed the coded message clearly.

Gu Hefan’s life was strictly routine—just shuttling between his company and his rented apartment. On weekends, his radius shrunk even further. He hardly ever went out, and when he did, it was usually just around the neighborhood.

Either getting a bite at a small restaurant outside the complex or shopping at the supermarket on the street corner.

He never strayed far.

The authorities had already secured the area around Baojing Community in advance, especially the places Gu Hefan frequented—those got special attention.

For good measure, they even cleared the vicinity of his company.

From Friday night onward, everyone appearing in these locations was a seasoned undercover agent.

Their performances were seamless.

They perfectly maintained the facade of everyday normalcy.

Sheng Qingquan received the code—the person speaking was responsible for the stretch of road near the south gate of the neighborhood.

Sheng Qingquan quickly took control of the plants, jumping his vision to a tree on the sidewalk outside the south gate. At a glance, he spotted the chubby, rainbow-colored bird perched on the sign of a fruit shop.

Yunteng City had lush greenery. The city’s greenery was already abundant, but after Sheng Qingquan gained the ability to control plants, the authorities discreetly planted even more trees and grass in Yunteng City, especially around Baojing Neighborhood.

Not a speck of bare soil remained—every inch was covered in flowers and plants.

In addition to the existing vegetation, Sheng Qingquan had also sowed mushroom spores in advance.

Suddenly, a line of cattle trucks drove onto the street. Seven or eight large trucks, each packed with cattle, filled the road.

The sheer number of large livestock gathered together made the air pretty rank.

The System Bird, slightly repulsed, flew higher and farther away, landing on a large tree on the opposite side of the street.

As the convoy moved forward, just as it was about to exit the street, the rear truck’s securely locked door inexplicably swung open.

The cattle inside bolted out in a stampede.

The truck’s cargo bed was a fair drop from the ground, making it easy for the cattle to get injured as they charged out.

Though the injuries weren’t severe, the pain sent the herd into a rage, causing them to rampage across the street.

"Chirp chirp chirp!" The System Bird chirped mockingly.

When the convoy had first approached, other vehicles had consciously given way. Pedestrians, of course, followed traffic rules and stayed on the sidewalk.

The sidewalk and the vehicle lanes were separated by tall trees, with a long, winding line of neatly trimmed shrubs lining the base like a border.

For the cattle to charge over, they’d have to get past these obstacles first.

So, for now, the pedestrians were relatively safe.

But that wouldn’t last. The green dividers weren’t continuous—there were gaps at intervals for pedestrians to cross the street.

It wouldn’t be long before the cattle discovered these openings.

Compared to people inside metal boxes, pedestrians in thin clothing were much easier prey.

Everyone picks the easiest target.

Capturing such a scene right from the start—this would surely secure the ratings! Talk about a ratings boost!

Blood, cruelty, brutality, frenzy… the audience would be ravenous.

The System Bird eagerly waited to see pedestrians gored by bull horns, guts spilling out, trampled under hooves into a bloody pulp.

And indeed, it did witness blood and brutality—just not in the way it had imagined.

The morning glories lying quietly in the flower beds suddenly surged to life. Their delicate vines intertwined like a net, snaring a charging bull head-on.

The bull, caught in the vines, continued its forward momentum out of sheer inertia.

In an instant, the entire animal was ripped apart, its remains scattering across the ground in a gory mess.

Meanwhile, a fir tree—its leaves so tender, tiny needles clustered together like a fluffy tail—suddenly lashed out like whips.

Yet these seemingly harmless leaves went flying, their edges slicing through a bull’s neck.

Such leaves should have been completely incapable of harming the bull, yet it was as if the bull had encountered the sharpest scythe in the world—its head was severed in an instant.

An actual scythe couldn’t pull that off!

The bull’s head flew past System Bird, narrowly missing it, before crashing heavily to the ground.

Almost hit, System Bird trembled with lingering terror, then spiraled into panic.

It no longer dared to stay perched on the tree—not just out of fear of accidental harm, but also because it was paranoid that the tree might come alive and devour it.

Warily, System Bird fluttered to a nearby rooftop.

In the blink of an eye, two of the stampeding bulls lay dead in the street. But it wasn’t over yet.

Next were the hydrangeas—a single plant abruptly sprouted flower buds, despite it not being the season for hydrangeas to bloom. Not only did it flower, but it went from budding to full bloom in less than a second.

Once the flowers bloomed, they instantly detached from the stem.

Dozens of tiny blooms bunched into one massive *hydrangea*. The petals looked so tender that a gentle pinch between fingers could squeeze out their juices.

Yet this very cluster of flowers, when striking a bull’s head, caved it in, blood spraying everywhere.

The massive bull’s body tilted sideways before crashing down like a felled tree.

Around its head, a gruesome splatter of blood and brain matter spread across the ground.

Then there were the *oxalis* plants…

System Bird’s beak hung open as these plants, which had been peacefully swaying in the breeze within the greenery, suddenly lunged with rabid hunger to finish off the remaining crazed bulls.

This was supposed to be a tech planet, right?

Why were the plants here so terrifying?

It wasn’t the bulls that had gone mad—it was the plants!

System Bird wasn’t the only one stunned.

Those watching the live broadcast through the system were equally horrified.

By this time, Sheng Qingquan had arrived in person.

He was dressed in a uniform rushed overnight—a full set complete with a belt, stylish boots, and most importantly, a combat helmet covering half his face.

With a wave of his hand, the killer plants meekly retreated, as if they had done nothing at all, all traces of their bloodlust gone.

At the same time, a team of people in identical uniforms rushed out from behind Sheng Qingquan, efficiently mopping up the mess.

These were all prime cuts on the hoof—no sense in wasting them. After collecting them, they’d be washed, disinfected, and served as tonight’s special menu!

Braised beef brisket, grilled beef, spiced tripe, simmered ox head… *mouth waters*!

System Bird and the audience had no idea what they were thinking.

But they could tell that these uniformed individuals were likely some sort of cleanup crew.

"I wasn’t mistaken! Those plants are indeed just ordinary plants. Did you notice? They obey that man's commands, which means the terrifying power those plants displayed comes from him. He must be the one directing the plants to kill those enraged animals!"

"How did he manage to make ordinary plants so powerful?"

"I checked the database—those are called cattle, herbivores. These tender leaves, which should have been eaten by the cattle, instead snatched their lives away in seconds. But that’s not the creepiest part."

"I noticed that before the cow was sliced into pieces, a vine first stabbed through its skull, putting it out of its misery before the cutting began."

"Even though the cow was already dead, there was no need to treat its body like that, yet the vines still did it."

"The vines are under human control. These people are way too violent!"

"This is definitely not some podunk planet. If this is backward, then what counts as advanced?"

"It's scary strong and vicious!"

"Did anyone notice? Though some bystanders were startled, most acted like it was no big deal. That means incidents like this are common for them. People with such abilities are a dime a dozen."

"Based on our cities having at least thirty security teams each, if every team leader has this ability, then there are thirty such powerful individuals in a single city. And that’s not even counting the brass above them—they must be even stronger."

"What we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg. This planet is far more dangerous than we imagined. It’s just used to not showing its hand."

"The whole low-tech act is a front. We’ve all been fooled!"

"I’m begging the show to withdraw from this planet. We can't risk messing with the wrong planet just for kicks!"

"Exactly! I've been wanting to say this—the show always randomly picks supposedly backward planets for these broadcasts. Aren’t they afraid of eventually biting off more than they can chew? That it’s taken this long for trouble to arise is sheer dumb luck. Seriously, cancel this show already!"

"Take it down, take it down! I have houseplants—I don’t want my ferns murdering me in my sleep!"

...

The audience went nuts, and even the production team wavered, but the money was too good.

Just then, through the system feed, they saw the head honcho—obviously the squad leader—look up and notice a young woman spooked by the cattle, crying on the roadside.

The squad leader approached her.

"Is he going to make her experience being plant-choked too?"

"That girl was just terrified and crying—she doesn't deserve to die!"

A panicked viewer commented.

Then they watched as the squad leader raised his hand slightly. From a flowerbed at the street corner, butterflies gathering pollen around the blossoms suddenly swarmed over together, as if summoned.

Pale yellow and pink butterflies fluttered around her like living confetti, flitting to and fro.

One particularly beautiful deep-blue butterfly even landed lightly on her finger.

These magical little sprites eventually arranged themselves into a peculiar pattern in front of her.

Just as everyone wondered what the pattern was, the blue butterfly on her finger took flight.

Only then did they realize—the butterflies had formed a smiling face midair. The earlier oddness was because the face had been missing an eye.

When the blue butterfly flew over to complete it, the smile became whole.

The girl looked at the grinning visage and let out a giggle.

After the smile lingered for a moment, the butterflies fluttered away, returning to gather pollen.

At the same time, a large tree behind the young woman lowered one of its branches.

The branch extended toward the girl, and as she stared in confusion, the bare tip of the branch suddenly made a tiny *pop* sound.

It was the sound of a flower blooming.

At the end of the branch, a sweet-smelling flower bloomed.

The girl lit up at the sight of the flower, carefully touching it with her finger.

Feeling the soft petals, though her cheeks were still streaked with tears, the lingering fear in her heart vanished completely.

"Actually, I'm wearing protective clothing. Even if those bulls had charged at me, I’d have been fine. But I just couldn’t control my emotions earlier."

"Thanks for cheering me up." As if to prove she truly was unharmed, she pulled up her sleeve, revealing a bracelet on her wrist.

She tapped the gem embedded in the bracelet.

The invisible protective suit materialized, spreading over her like liquid.

"Omg, he’s such a charmer!" a viewer screamed.

"Suddenly, this feels so romantic. If I were that female, I’d be asking for his digi-ID right now. I’d totally wife him up!"

"Can we not focus just on the lovey-dovey stuff? Am I the only one who noticed that this squad leader doesn’t just control plants—he can control insects too? Actually, I suspect he might control animals in general. Maybe those berserk bulls earlier were his doing, just to create a chance to talk to her!"

"Even if it’s just insects, that’s already impressive."

"Controlling both plants and insects. And yet, a guy like him’s only a squad leader? How is this a backward planet?"

"So much for ‘low-tech planet,’ huh?"

...

The backlash got even louder than before. This time, the show’s producers could no longer ignore them.

The situation had escalated, even drawing the attention of higher-ups. The higher-ups dropped the hammer.

The showrunner announced with a bitter smile, "System will withdraw from this planet. To mitigate risks, this program will be pulled off the air for good."

With that, the director gave the order to System Bird.

Upon receiving the order, System Bird was just spreading its wings when it realized the squad leader had suddenly turned his gaze toward it.

"Done spectating?!"

Did he know about the system’s existence?

In his eyes, am I not just an ordinary bird? Fancy-looking, maybe.

System Bird bristled in panic, its eyes widening.

But there was no time to overthink it.

"Captain, I got this! I just bought a new mech—I want to see what it can do!"

The System Bird saw a person not far from the squad leader, who was picking up a cow leg, suddenly raise their hand excitedly and shout with enthusiasm.

Eager to act, the person even immediately deployed a mecha.

But the squad leader moved first.

To prove the showrunner's words were true, the live broadcast wasn’t cut off but remained connected throughout.

This was originally meant to capture the process of the system’s departure as evidence that it had truly withdrawn, hoping to salvage some goodwill in public opinion and avoid severe backlash.

However, it ended up recording the final moment of the system’s existence.

The audience only saw a slender willow branch snap out, followed by a "zzt" sound in the livestream before the screen went completely black.

The system was clearly gone.

"Holy crap!" The audience gasped collectively. Some were so shocked that their minds went blank for a moment.

"This planet is terrifying!"

"I initially thought it was a mistake in the intel—maybe this wasn't a low-tech planet but a psionic one. Now it's clear they're not just a psionic planet but also a tech-based one! And definitely not at a low level."

"Just look at that mecha and the hardsuit. Though we only caught a glimpse and didn't get a detailed look, I’d bet my credits they’re top-shelf."

"The hardsuit is one thing, but how could a low-tech planet produce such a mecha? It has to be at least an intermediate-tech planet!"

"If even a squad member can afford such a mecha—even if they're wealthy—it's common knowledge that buying something requires it to be available on the market. The fact that they could purchase it says a *lot*. Not to mention a random girl on the street wearing battlegear. The producers almost started an intergalactic incident this time."

"Luckily, cross-galaxy streams are patchy at best... Given the show's capabilities, they can only occasionally use ultimate authority to send one or two commands. Neither side knows the other's exact coordinates, and the system is already destroyed, so it should be fine."

"But the show must never play games like this again!"

"If they don't want to become criminals of the empire, these programs must be shut down!"

"Exactly. I've already started a petition demanding that such shows never appear in the empire again. It's too dangerous! Messing with backwater worlds is tempting fate!"

"+1'd."

"+1'd."

...

Sheng Qingquan’s thing was plant control, while the butterflies' obedience was due to the hallucinogenic effect of spore, causing them to act based on illusions.

They swarmed the girl, tricked by spores into seeing larger, more abundant, and more fragrant flowers here.

They formed a smiling face in flight because the other flowers suddenly vanished, leaving only a cluster of super-sweet nectar blooms where the smile appeared. They hovered there, feeding on the nectar.

Finally, they left because Sheng Qingquan removed the spore's hallucinogenic effect.

Without the illusion, finding nothing here—not even the remaining small flowers—the butterflies naturally flew back to where the real flowers were and resumed their work.

As for the hardsuits, they were obtained during diplomatic relations with the Felix Alliance. Officials tried reverse-engineering them, and after much effort, they did achieve some results. However, the quality gap was too obvious, and the functionality was incomplete. Rocking those in public would’ve been embarrassing, so they weren’t used.

Though the number of hardsuits obtained through diplomacy was limited, applying for one during this special occasion wasn't an issue.

As for the mecha that appeared at the end—

Tianlan’s still light-years away from producing a qualified mecha on its own. At best, they've barely figured out how to manufacture a small portion of the weapons equipped on mechas. The rest remains a distant goal.

Not to mention skipping low-level mechs altogether and directly building intermediate mechs.

That mech just now actually belonged to Sheng Qingquan. He had lent it out in advance and attached it to his teammate.

Then, when the other party started demanding to pilot the mech, he quickly made it expand.

But anything beyond that was impossible.

The willow branch lashed out so fast because, if the broadcast continued, once his teammate got into the cockpit, he wouldn’t be able to operate the mech—everything would be exposed.

However, the audience on distant planets knew none of this.

Amid their fear and lingering dread, they successfully relied on voting to ensure such programs were banned empire-wide.