It was a Burrowing Worm from the Swarm!
The driver of the sixth assault vehicle had no ti to react. At a speed exceeding 300 kiloters per hour, the vehicle crashed directly into the massive body of the Burrowing Worm. The imnse recoil left the Daqi passengers with no ti to feel pain—they were launched into the air and killed instantly.
The Burrowing Worm let out a sharp screech. However, with its thick hide and a tallic layer excreted from its body—ford by digesting and expelling consud tal—it absorbed the impact with its soft inner body, dissipating the force. Although the collision left it montarily uncomfortable, it suffered no significant damage.
The seventh assault vehicle followed closely behind. Despite the driver’s desperate attempts to brake, the short stopping distance ant the vehicle also crashed into the Burrowing Worm.
Due to its slower speed and the military-grade build of interstellar vehicles, most of the passengers survived the collision. Only the unlucky gunner manning the heavy machine gun on the roof was flung from his position, breaking his neck upon impact and dying instantly.
The remaining survivors were far from unscathed. Blood oozed from their orifices, their bodies twisted unnaturally, and bones pierced through their protective suits. Their anguished groans filled the air. Compared to the sixth vehicle’s passengers, it was debatable whether their fate was any better.
The eighth assault vehicle, given more ti to react, managed to stop just short of a collision. The Daqi soldiers aboard, visibly shaken by the carnage ahead, couldn’t help but feel both relief and dread at their close call.
Behind the assault vehicles were nearly ten transport vehicles. Traveling at slower speeds, they had more ti to react and stopped safely before reaching the blockage.
However, seeing the devastation wrought on the vehicles ahead, so of the Daqi passengers began screaming in terror, while others felt a morbid sense of satisfaction. To them, the combat squads in the lead had seemingly been trying to abandon them monts earlier.
The Burrowing Worm’s massive body completely blocked the tunnel, leaving no room for passage. A few remaining Daqi soldiers jumped out of their vehicles, retreating while firing their weapons frantically at the enormous creature.
But the Burrowing Worm’s defenses were far too formidable. The earlier collision, as powerful as a missile strike, had done little more than inconvenience it. Small-caliber weapons were utterly ineffective.
One particularly brave Daqi soldier climbed onto the roof of a nearby vehicle and mounted a heavy machine gun. The large-caliber rounds managed to create a few dents in the Burrowing Worm’s tallic outer layer, but it was no more than superficial damage.
The tallic coating was rely the worm’s waste material, expelled after consuming large amounts of tal in a short ti. Even if the layer were shattered into pieces, the Burrowing Worm would feel no pain or discomfort.
The Burrowing Worm’s task was to block the tunnel. With no imdiate threats, it ignored the screaming and shooting Daqi soldiers, leisurely gnawing at the tal wall on the opposite side of the tunnel as if enjoying a al. Its relaxed deanor further agitated the desperate Daqi.
One soldier, his face twisted with determination, pulled a bomb from his tactical pouch. Unfortunately, these regular soldiers weren’t equipped with tactical nuclear warheads. The bomb he carried was rely a standard explosive charge. Seeing his actions, the other soldiers stopped their futile gunfire and began pulling out their own explosives.
“What’s happening on your side?!” a voice suddenly called from the other side of the Burrowing Worm. It ca from the Daqi soldiers who had managed to evade the worm’s interception earlier but, for so reason, had now returned.
Initially, worried about alarming the Burrowing Worm, they had attempted to use their communicators to call softly. However, interference blocked their signals. After observing the worm’s lack of aggression and sluggish movents, they reluctantly resorted to shouting.
Hearing the inquiry from the other side, the Daqi trapped near the worm felt a renewed glimr of hope. While they had only one functional assault vehicle left, the other side still had five.
“Squad six is gone. There are survivors from squad seven, but we haven’t had ti to assess their condition. Everyone else is safe,” soone from the trapped group called back.
“Check on squad seven. Don’t worry—this big guy won’t attack unless provoked,” the voice from the other side reassured them.
At the sa ti, the soldiers on the trapped side realized the Burrowing Worm was more focused on blocking the tunnel than attacking. Following the suggestion, the squad eight leader signaled for two soldiers to put away their explosives and inspect the seventh vehicle.
The soldiers approached cautiously and were visibly shaken by what they saw inside. Grimacing, they gestured to their squad leader, who nodded and sent a few more soldiers to assist. The rest remained on guard.
One by one, the injured were carefully carried out of the vehicle. So groaned in pain, while others were eerily silent. After a grim few minutes, more than ten bodies lay on the ground.
Despite their care, the handling aggravated the injuries of several Daqi, who soon stopped breathing. Those still alive were barely clinging to life. The accompanying dics gave each a quick examination and then shook their heads grimly.
“Squad seven is gone, too. What do we do next?” the squad eight leader shouted, his voice tinged with frustration and despair.
During this ti, the soldiers on the other side had been examining the Burrowing Worm more closely. Despite its massive size—about seven or eight ters in diater—they noticed that it didn’t entirely block the tunnel. There were gaps around its sides. ꞦÅΝȰʙÊ𝙎
“This way!” a voice from the other side called out. The squad eight soldiers soon spotted a narrow gap where the voice was coming from.
The gap was incredibly tight, only wide enough for a single Daqi to crawl through at a ti. Once the squad eight soldiers located the opening, the voice from the other side lowered considerably: “Send your squad leader over.”
Recognizing the voice as that of the squad three leader , a soldier nodded and gestured to his own leader. Without hesitation, the squad eight leader approached.
“Bring the equipnt from squads six and seven and crawl through here. Move quickly!” the squad three leader instructed in a low voice, pointing behind the squad eight leader.
Turning to look, the squad eight leader imdiately understood. The gap was too small to accommodate vehicles—only Daqi could fit through. On the other side, they had just five vehicles left, but if they squeezed, they could fit an additional squad. However, the transport vehicles behind them carried a large number of Daqi passengers.
If they didn’t move quickly, once the remaining convoy discovered the gap, the soldiers on the other side might decide to abandon them to ensure their own safety.
The squad eight leader nodded and signaled his soldiers. The troops, no fools themselves, quickly grasped the situation. Silently, they rose to their feet.
There wasn’t much equipnt to carry. Squad six’s vehicle and gear had been completely obliterated in the collision, and squad seven’s supplies were roughly scavenged from the wreckage.
Acting as though they were conducting a routine patrol, the squad eight soldiers began slipping through the gap under their leader ’s direction, one by one.
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