When the Stardust Train landed on Rust Planet in the M79 Nebula, Arui stepped onto the cracked earth and heard the crunch of shattering dust beneath her feet. The sky here was the color of rust, and the crops in the fields resembled dead wood, their leaves covered in patterns resembling symbiotic marks, yet utterly devoid of light. Ice Drip's detector projected a spectrum chart onto the ground: "The symbiotic microorganisms in the soil are dying. They have lost their connection with the plants, like kites with snapped strings."
At the village entrance, an old farmer wrapped in patch-upon-patch of cloth garments clutched a withered stalk of Star Wheat—a crop that had once been the pride of Rust Planet, its ears of grain capable of emitting a faint glow, but now as shriveled as iron wire. "In the old days, Star Wheat roots would hold hands with the symbiotic fungi deep underground," the old man said, pointing at the earth, his gnarled face full of sorrow. "Now each grows on its own. The Star Wheat cannot absorb nutrients, the fungi have lost their light, and slowly, they are all dying."
Arui squatted down, her fingertips touching the roots of the Star Wheat. The symbiotic mark in the center of her palm suddenly glowed faintly—the dim patterns on the roots resonated with the mark, oozing a few drops of transparent sap. "They are still trying to connect," Arui said softly, thinking of the wheat fields back home on Earth, where the waves of wheat would "nod" to one another when …
Chapter 308