I Am The Swarm-Chapter 736: Conversion

With the Ji race’s level of technology, they quickly delivered the necessary equipment to the required locations. However, during the installation and debugging process, they encountered a minor setback.

Even though the Ji race had already gained air superiority, without ground forces to intercept attacks from the underground, those reconnaissance points still struggled to withstand attacks originating from below.

The soldiers, along with their machinery, had already been partially deployed to the target battlefield for search operations. There were no extra troops available to defend other areas.

As a result, the Ji race had no choice but to detonate several more X-576 bombs, relying on their radiation range for defense. This way, they only needed to station a small number of troops to guard against any possible space-based biological units.

Under these circumstances, when the Ji race’s detection equipment finally began working and providing feedback, it was already a day and a half later.

“We have less than half of our time left. The Swarm’s space fleet is approaching, and yet we’re still here like fools, with nothing to show for it.”

“We’ve already detonated several rounds of X-576, using radiation to seal off a 500-kilometer radius around the battlefield. But the Swarm simply retreated beyond that distance. Even their fastest units would take ten minutes to reach the battlefield from there—far too long for any rapid response.”

“Exactly. If we find the target, that amount of time would be more than enough to capture her and retreat. By the time the Swarm forces arrive, our shuttles will already be at the near-orbit fleet.”

“If you were the Swarm’s commander and the Empress was still alive, would you do the same?”

“If I did that, it’d mean I had a serious grudge against her…”

“As far as I know, the Swarm is very united…”

The people in the command room were somewhat disheartened. The current signs increasingly indicated an unfavorable situation.

“Don’t lose heart, everyone. We’ve just received the latest intelligence confirming that the target is still alive. Tell the soldiers not to slack off.” Suddenly, the commander dropped a bombshell, affirmatively informing everyone that the target was still alive.

“Commander, which channel provided this information?”

The commander shook his head.

Everyone understood. It was likely still the same channel that confirmed the presence of the real Swarm Empress earlier. That channel was so covert that the commander either couldn’t or didn’t even know the specifics.

However, since it came from that channel, the credibility was extremely high. With renewed spirits, everyone urged the soldiers to accelerate the search.

For the soldiers conducting the search mission, they felt frustrated but couldn’t voice it. The underground environment severely restricted their range of movement. They could only follow behind the digging equipment, conducting more meticulous searches.

In reality, much of their effort went into reinforcing the tunnels. The area near the battlefield had already been excavated into a labyrinthine network. Relying solely on the original soil and rock layers for support, it would have collapsed long ago.

“How much longer until our Hercules reaches the battlefield?”

“Not long. It will be escorted by the third wave of reinforcements to the target planet’s near-orbit.”

“I never expected the situation to escalate to this point. Thankfully, we still have an ace up our sleeve; otherwise, completing the mission within the allotted time would have been uncertain.”

“Urge the frontline soldiers to push harder. If we can locate the target before the Hercules arrives, that would be ideal.”

“Commander, the frequency of Burrowing Worm appearances beneath the target battlefield is increasing.”

Due to the limited detection range of the Ji race’s equipment, the Burrowing Worms occasionally entered the detection zone while moving deeper underground, leaving traces before quickly exiting again.

This situation wasn’t frequent before, but according to reports, it was happening more and more often. This could only mean that the number of Burrowing Worms below was increasing. The once relatively spacious activity range had become crowded, forcing the Burrowing Worms to move upward.

Data from another instrument corroborated this. While this device couldn’t accurately detect individual sizes or shapes of underground targets, it could probe deeper and mark the number of biological entities.

According to this instrument, there were already over five hundred Burrowing Worms underground. These massive creatures, each nearly a hundred meters long with diameters of about ten meters, managing to squeeze over five hundred of them into such a confined space was no easy feat.

“Commander, something seems off.”

“What is it?”

“There are too many Swarm Burrowing Worms.”

“It’s fine. I’ve ordered more minefields to be set up, and I plan to launch another X-576 to drive these large bugs away.”

“Commander, I believe the enemy might not intend to use the Burrowing Worms to continue assaulting our defenses.”

“?” The commander made a puzzled expression, signaling for him to continue.

“They may plan to hollow out the soil layer directly beneath us. Look here—over five hundred Burrowing Worms, each capable of occupying tens of thousands of square meters. They consume the existing soil layers and then gather together, using their bodies as new supports to prevent the upper layers from collapsing. Once they’ve consumed enough soil, if they suddenly leave en masse, they’ll leave behind a massive pit. And then…”

The advisor mimed a free-fall motion. Instantly, the commanding officer understood his meaning.

The original target battlefield had already been fortified into an impregnable fortress by the Ji race, further sealed off by the radiation zones. In this situation, it would be extremely difficult for the Swarm to break through.

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Thus, the Swarm devised an alternative strategy: digging a massive pit beneath the target battlefield and sinking that entire area deeper underground.

Although some Ji soldiers and defenses would remain in that region, compared to the overall force, they would no longer pose a significant threat. The Swarm would instantly seize the initiative on the battlefield.

“Devious Swarm!” The commanding officer cursed under his breath. Due to the late acquisition of intelligence, the Swarm had likely already completed most of their preparations. Even if he launched an offensive now, eliminating the Burrowing Worms wouldn’t help.

While the corpses of the Burrowing Worms could still provide structural support after death, one mustn’t forget that the Swarm had a gene lock. Activating this lock would reduce the biological entities to pools of unidentifiable liquid.

“&*#!” The officer cursed again. Evacuating the troops and fortifications above wouldn’t make much difference—they weren’t fighting a conventional battle.

“Arrange for the orbital fleet to deliver engineering machinery units. Order all K1KN10s to assemble beneath that area and form new supports. Keep the K2N9s on standby, ready to fill any gaps.”

“Commander, if we do this, the Swarm likely won’t give us a chance to repair and stabilize. They might trigger the collapse early.”

The commanding officer cursed again in anger. “If they want this area, it means the target is here. Concentrate all soldiers and search this area thoroughly!”