“It’s not here!”
“I haven’t found anything on my side either.”
“Nope.”
“Looks like it’s gone. Gwendolyn, send the repair machines over.” After searching a few more rounds, Knox finally confird the area was secure.
“Captain, we can’t just passively wait. That thing is on the ship, like a ticking ti bomb. Who knows where it’ll strike next? If it infiltrates the command bridge, whatever damage it causes will be unbearable.”
“But we don’t have a better solution. We can’t use Z1 to search bit by bit, can we?”
“Of course not. Their numbers are too limited to form a blockade network. This way, even areas we’ve searched can’t be considered absolutely safe.”
“This matter should be left to the Captain to worry about. Gwendolyn, upload the mission report from earlier!”
“Understood.”
“Be careful, Kari!” Everyone had already assud the mission was over, and their guard had naturally dropped. But at this mont, Gale shouted a warning.
As soon as his words ended, a loud explosion rang out. Kari, who was scanning near the wall, never expected a translucent tentacle to suddenly extend from the wall. If it weren’t for the blue electric arcs flickering on its surface, it would have been nearly impossible to spot.
The electromagnetic burst accelerated the attack, catching the unsuspecting Z2 robot completely off guard. The sharp tip of the tentacle pierced straight through the main body of the robot. A flash of blue arcs later, a powerful electromagnetic pulse instantly overwheld all of the Z2 robot’s defenses from within.
“#……&*……” Kari climbed out of the operating cabin, spewing a string of profanities filled with strong racial characteristics. He frantically checked his entire body, and only after confirming that all parts were intact did he let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, operating machinery was done remotely these days. If he had been physically present today, this day next year might very well have been his death anniversary. However, Kari, who usually prided himself on his exceptional skills, now felt sowhat embarrassed to be the first one eliminated from the battlefield.
“How’s it going? Any issues?” Captain Knox’s voice ca from the nearby operating cabin. He hadn’t disconnected from Kari but simply switched the audio to public broadcast.
“All good. How about you guys?” Kari asked anxiously.
“We’ve enabled squad-wide vision sharing. Check it yourself!” Knox didn’t have ti to focus too much on Kari. As long as no one died, everything else wasn’t a problem.
Kari didn’t say much. Although the robot he controlled had been destroyed, after lying back down in the operating cabin, he could view the perspectives of other team mbers. At the sa ti, he connected to the team channel.
“Haha, Kari, did you wet your pants?”
“Shut up!”
“You should’ve trained more. You always bragged about being a natural talent who didn’t need practice. Now you know how tough it is, huh?”
“Shut up!” Since they were remotely controlling chanical units, even if their robots were destroyed, they wouldn’t suffer any harm. While this had many advantages, it also lacked the life-or-death tension. And Kari was now feeling the backlash of his usual boasting.
However, he quickly adjusted his mindset, ignoring the taunts, and instead reviewed the footage of when he was “killed.” Through Gale’s aerial perspective, he saw the entire process—albeit slowed down hundreds of tis.
The attack was as fast as ever, extrely fast. In fact, before Gale’s instrunts alerted him and he shouted a warning, Kari had already been hit and destroyed. The speed of those tentacles clearly surpassed the speed of sound.
The blue arcs evidently provided so kind of electromagnetic acceleration function, then converted into an electromagnetic pulse after penetrating the body. Kari had only heard of the Swarm using such an attack mode before; this was the first ti he’d seen it firsthand, though the experience wasn’t pleasant.
Now, through his teammates’ robot perspectives, he saw that the tentacle that attacked him had been obliterated by a dense hail of bullets. The tentacle seed to have grown out of the wall. Though it had excellent camouflage and its attacks were extraordinarily swift, it lacked mobility. Once exposed, it beca an easy target.
“This thing only has one shot—it’s do-or-die. Kari’s luck is really sothing. To get caught by this ambush tactic… hahaha.”
“Wow, it corroded a hole in the wall and patched itself in there. How co sonar detection couldn’t find it?”
“You guys went overboard. You turned it into mush. This is the first appearance of this type of Swarm unit—it has great research value. The science team is going to kill you for this.”
“Give a break. The Swarm has gene locks. Even with a complete sample, the science team wouldn’t be able to figure much out. Besides, you were the one hitting it the hardest, so stop pretending now.”
“What do you an? I only fired a few shots.”
“If you don’t believe , check your weapon’s remaining energy!”
“Never mind, why be so serious? It’s not worth ruining the mood…”
“Hmph!”
“Shut up. Clean up the battlefield and see if there’s anything else to discover. Stay away from the walls, and feel free to fire at suspicious targets to investigate!” Knox interrupted the team’s chatter and issued orders.
His request to fire at suspicious targets had been approved almost instantly, indicating that the Captain was indeed paying attention to their situation. It seed Knox needed to remind the team to watch their mouths and avoid joking about the Captain.
“This Swarm unit not only has powerful stealth capabilities but also possesses incredible mimicry and color-changing abilities, blending seamlessly with its surroundings without leaving a trace.” Using a set of code phrases and subtle gestures, Knox conveyed so information to the team. Imdiately, the tone of the communication channel shifted.
“It’s truly amazing. I watched the video recording again, and even knowing what to look for, I still couldn’t spot anything unusual. Incredible.”
“But I noticed a problem.”
“What problem?”
“Is this Swarm creature acting alone, or does it have companions?” This question was critical. If the creature was alone, they could wrap things up now.
But if it had companions, that would be a major issue. It could evade almost all detection thods on the ship. If it embedded itself in the walls, not even sonar detectors—or even gravitational sensors—would be able to find it.
“As much as I hate to admit it, there’s a high chance it’s not alone.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Don’t forget, when we examined where B-3 was destroyed, there wasn’t a single hole there.”
At this reminder, everyone was startled. They quickly raised their weapons and aid at the marked area nearby.
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