Chapter 55: Space Sand Thief

  （0055）

  The essence of space sand thieves is actually artificial humans.

  The so-called hybrid human is a fork in the road that humans took during their long process of reproduction. After humans entered the starry world, in order to make themselves stronger, they actively merged the genes of other cosmic creatures. Usually, it's just blood recombination, by changing a certain part of DNA composition, or changing the arrangement sequence of a segment of DNA, to get new genes. This is the origin of hybrid humans.

  When the hybrid humans first emerged, they indeed gave humanity a glimmer of hope. After merging with the genes of other organisms, humans became extremely powerful for a time. The genes that humans merged with were the most superior ones from other cosmic life forms, greatly making up for their own shortcomings. To give a simple example, ordinary humans who merge with the genes of an octopus-like creature can have their strength increase exponentially. Lifting tons of heavy objects with one hand is no problem at all.

  It must be acknowledged that when humans first ventured into space, the emergence of synthetic humans made great contributions to humanity. At that time, in order to expand their living space, humans continuously dispatched powerful synthetic human armies to advance into the surrounding starry sky, clearing all obstacles that hindered human progress. The synthetic human army was once invincible.

  For practitioners, the greatest advantage of synthetic humans is that they have integrated the basic abilities of other cosmic beings, allowing them to absorb and transform stellar energy. This is the most extensive form of energy aside from the primordial energy of heaven and earth. With the aid of stellar energy, synthetic humans can be said to have added wings to a tiger. As a result, humanity was able to rapidly develop into the depths of the galaxy.

  However, unfortunate events followed. Humans gradually discovered that under the influence of various cosmic rays, the harm caused by artificial humans to humans became increasingly apparent. Among them, the greatest harm was that artificial humans were prone to losing consciousness and falling into a state of frenzy. Once they lost their sanity, they would cause harm to anyone around them, including humans themselves.

  After all, there are two different genes in the human body. These two genes cannot be completely merged. Humans previously thought that the genes of both had been perfectly merged, but the judgment was wrong. In areas where human technology has not reached, genetic differences still exist. Therefore, the possibility of genetic variation is very large.

  It is well known that the human brain is the most precise organ in the human body, and even a slight error can lead to problems with a person's mental faculties. The organ where genetic conflicts are most concentrated happens to be the human brain. Once a genetic conflict occurs in the brain, this person is done for. With the current level of scientific technology in the Starry Sky world, there is no possibility of eliminating the hidden danger.

  Once humans lose their sanity, they will cause serious harm to others. They are bloodthirsty, brutal and ruthless. They are eager to wage wars, whether it is war within humanity or war between humans and non-humans. During the reign of the hybrids, they once controlled the entire human world. If not for the rise of cultivators, this world might still be ruled by hybrids.

  Adults themselves, because they have incorporated the genes of other organisms, lose their reproductive capacity and are unable to reproduce. Their lifespan is also less than half that of a normal person. Therefore, even if they do not lose their sanity, their way of thinking is very different from that of ordinary humans. Infighting and riots are simply routine for hybrids. And each infighting and riot will bring unprecedented harm to the human world.

  The second era of humanity began with the riot of synthetic humans. For a full 500 years, the human world was a sea of blood and darkness. Later, historians estimated that during the 500-year period when synthetic humans wreaked havoc, the total population of humanity decreased by more than 90%. It can be imagined what kind of dark days it was.

  The rise of the cultivators effectively curbed the rampage of synthetic humans, allowing humanity to return to its normal course. In the Third Era, the highest council of humanity finally made a decision to ban the emergence of new synthetic humans. The original synthetic humans were also not allowed to enter human society and had to naturally perish. To let these synthetic humans perish, humanity even specially designated a starry sky for them to live out their lives on their own. This starry sky was later known as the Alashan Gobi Desert.

  However, becoming a hybrid is after all a quick and easy way to gain powerful abilities. As long as one fuses the genes of other cosmic life forms, they can immediately obtain powers many times stronger than before. Therefore, despite its numerous drawbacks, there are still people who risk everything to secretly modify their own genes. Thus, even after several eras have passed, hybrids continue to appear without end.

  The Space Sand Thief is a type of artificial human. The "sand" represents the Sand Clan, which is also a series of cosmic life forms. They live in the Alxa Desert region and do not possess high intelligence, nor are they considered to be highly intelligent beings. However, as a race, the Sand Clan also possesses its own special ability - sandification.

  Some humans merged with creatures like Sand Worms, Sand Wraiths, Sand Scorpions and Sand Crabs through genetic fusion, causing their bodies to become sandy and transforming them into Sandmen. These were the precursors to the Sand Thieves. Later on, the Sandmen were classified as a dangerous species by the highest human council, prohibiting them from entering areas where humans lived, resulting in constant bloody conflicts between the two sides that eventually escalated into war.

  The biggest feature of the Space Sand Thief is that their body becomes sandy. Sandy, almost all of their body turns into sand-like particles. Specifically, the surface of their body has granular protrusions, as if covered with a layer of yellow sand. This body has strong resistance to impact and good absorption effect on various energies.

  Against this sandy body, ordinary light weapons are completely ineffective. Whether it's a cold weapon like a laser knife, arc knife, or string knife, or a hot weapon like a pulse energy gun, electromagnetic gun, or ray gun, none of them work. Even the Crescent Moon Knife used by Major Zhang Feng has its power greatly reduced against the Sand Clan.

  The best way to deal with space sand thieves is to use brute force. Regardless of three seven twenty one, a single heavy punch can directly shatter the target's internal organs. This is also the most direct way to deal with the vast majority of cosmic creatures. Because, for the vast majority of space creatures, their internal organs are as fragile as those of humans. Of course, mechanical species are an exception.

  At the beginning, the Sand Bandits were not a force to be reckoned with. Even the Starlight Federation's army could gain an overwhelming advantage over them. In the Fourth Era, the Starlight Federation's army repeatedly swept through the Sand Bandits, once penetrating deep into the Alashan Gobi Desert. However, this situation changed greatly when the Eight Great Human Empires were established.

  The establishment of the eight great empires of humanity was also a bloody and dark history. The winners ascended to the throne of the emperor, seized the highest power, while the losers escaped into the Alashan Gobi Desert, becoming members of the sand thieves. Their arrival caused the sand thieves' strength to double continuously. In the end, the sand thief group took shape, and the federal army was powerless.

  Now, the sand bandits lurking in Alashan Gobi are divided into ten legions: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, white and gray. Each legion has its own flag. Among them, the five legions of red, yellow, blue, white and black are the most powerful. The legion leaders of these five sand bandits all have combat power above level 23. This time, the sand bandits who attacked the Mian Luo military base were from the gray flag legion.

  "Fall back!"

  Sun Shiwei gave the order decisively.

  Xia Xingxiao and others quickly retreated backwards.

  The Sand Thief came with a mighty force, and the federal troops stationed on Ayleaf Star were simply no match.

  They had to wait for the 112th Division of the Federal Army stationed in White Egret Star to launch a counterattack. To deal with the Sand Thieves, the Federal Army had tens of thousands of troops stationed around White Egret Star. Among them, the main force was the 11th Army, and the main force of the 11th Army was the 112th Division. When Aye Star was attacked, the first to send reinforcements was the 112th Division.

  The Federal Army of Aye Ye Star actually belongs to the border defense sequence. The Federal Army has two major combat sequences, the Central Army and the Border Defense Army, which are field troops and local garrison troops. The weapons and equipment and combat effectiveness of the Border Defense Army are slightly inferior to those of the Central Army of the Federal Army. The 112th Division is a central army unit.

  "Knock knock knock!"

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble!"

  "Hoo-hoo-hoo!"

  All sorts of energy fluctuations keep coming.

  In space, there is almost no air to transmit sound, but the propagation of energy is extremely sensitive. For practitioners, the vibration of energy is equivalent to sound. Different energy fluctuations are various different sounds.

  As the frontline against the Sand Bandits, Ailuoxing naturally had sufficient defensive facilities. The six-armed robot that Xia Xiang and others saw was just the tip of the iceberg. When the Sand Bandits approached Ailuoxing, all sorts of defense weapons on Ailuoxing were activated, continuously firing energy bullets at the Sand Bandits. The entire starry sky instantly boiled over.

  The large-caliber energy cannons surrounding the Mynlo military base continuously fired energy shells into the midst of the Sand Thieves' troops. The energy shells exploded one after another, blasting the surrounding Sand Thieves into disarray. Sometimes, after an energy shell exploded, the originally dense Sand Thieves were swept away, leaving not even a trace behind.

  Not only could Sha Ze feel the power of these energy bullets, but Xia Xingxiao and others could also sense it. The destructive energy contained in these energy bullets was too great, and when they were fired, the entire Mian Luo military base seemed to be shrouded in a layer of deadly energy. This deadly energy had an extremely destructive power, and if one wasn't a cultivator, they would likely be disintegrated instantly in the face of this deadly energy.

  However, the counterattack of the sand thieves is also very powerful. Their most deadly weapon is those sand worms that are hundreds of kilometers long. Their bodies are moving artillery platforms. They only need to open their mouths to spit out a huge energy ball.