Due to the anti-air defenses of the Swarm, which had been thoroughly neutralized by the cooperation of the near-orbit fleet and unmanned fighter drones, any surviving installations were now in stealth or mimicry mode, too afraid to fire recklessly. As a result, the Ji race had temporarily seized control of the planet’s airspace. With the help of unmanned fighter drones, any Swarm units still surfacing on the ground were being systematically eliminated.
The negotiation grounds, once an important battlefield for both sides, were now in ruins. The conference buildings constructed by the Ji race had collapsed, and it was the Ji race itself that caused this destruction.
Inside the venue, the Swarm forces engaged in combat had nearly been wiped out under the relentless aerial bombardnt. A few survivors remained but were already under Ji control.
Amidst the battlefield wreckage, Ji soldiers celebrated as if it were a festival. The spoils from this operation were imnse, particularly the thousands of armored Swarm bodies.
Although so speculated these armored bug-like humanoids were rely biological weapons, many within the Ji race believed them to be intelligent Swarm entities, true mbers of the Swarm species.
These specins were invaluable for experints. After exhausting their previous stock of over three thousand Swarm researchers, various secret laboratories had long lacked materials to conduct further tests. Now, even though most of these specins were dead, they could still serve nurous purposes, with so believing they might unlock the mysteries of the Swarm.
Besides the armored Swarm mbers, the Ji race also recovered several remains of Red Fang Breakers. Frankly speaking, in the eyes of many Ji researchers, these held far greater value than the armored Swarm mbers. After all, they were advanced Swarm units capable of utilizing negative energy. Gaining insights into their workings could provide significant breakthroughs in miniaturizing negative energy devices along their chanical research path.
Thus, the Red Fang Breakers received the highest level of treatnt, each stored in a separate sealed cryogenic chamber.
As for other units like the Modified Spider Combat Bugs, the Ji race showed little interest. These were primary combat units of the Swarm, encountered and killed in vast numbers before. Even now, tons of their corpses are still piled up in many Ji laboratories.
However, the internal planetary versions of these units might have slight differences, so they were collected as well — though their treatnt was nowhere near as ticulous as that of the Red Fang Breakers.
The soldiers on site were jubilant, not only because the fallen enemies counted towards their rits but also because they had important tasks to complete and had just finished intense fighting. They were therefore spared from entering the perilous underground tunnels, which naturally brought them joy.
In contrast to the soldiers’ elation, the mood at the rear command center was somber. Both the commanders and their advisory staff wore grim expressions.
This gloom was due to a major blunder during the recent operation. The delegation led by Elder Ambros of the Ji race had altered their evacuation route without authorization and failed to communicate promptly with military headquarters. As a result, they were mistakenly identified as enemy forces and subjected to devastating bombardnt.
Although the command center quickly realized this blunder, the attack efficiency of the unmanned fighter drones was simply too high. Apart from a few representatives from Outer-ring and Mid-ring civilizations, the entire team — including all Ji elders and Inner-circle civilization leaders — perished in the assault.
While the unauthorized change of the evacuation route was the primary cause of the accident, it was unimaginable that such a basic error in identification could occur given the technological prowess of the Ji race.
Nevertheless, the commanders and advisors responsible for orchestrating and overseeing the battle had to bear undeniable responsibility for this incident. The concentrated deaths of over ten Ji elders were unprecedented in the history of the New Ji race.
Faced with such a grave accident, the Ji Council of Elders responded swiftly, albeit with sowhat ambiguous attitudes. They issued a few mild rebukes to the command center, then demanded they capture the Swarm Empress to redeem themselves. Otherwise, they would face cumulative penalties.
B5 bombs were not standard armants of the Ji fleet and didn’t even qualify as conventional weapons since they rarely encountered situations like the present one.
Fortunately, the strategists had accounted for nearly every variable when simulating the battlefield. To address these variables, they even reintroduced so long-obsolete weapons into their arsenal, with the B5 bomb being one of them.
At this mont, unmanned fighter drones carrying B5 bombs had reached their designated positions. Whether the slate would be wiped clean, rits and faults balanced, or their cris compounded depended entirely on this next move.
Despite the minor, negligible errors committed earlier by the Ji race, their technology was still reliable. Under the control of artificial intelligence, the unmanned fighter drones executed precise drops onto the target location.
The B5 bomb fell from an altitude of twenty thousand ters, using its unique structure to penetrate three hundred ters underground. A muffled explosion followed, shaking the earth, and raising clouds of soil and dust from the blast zone.
However, these visuals were not what the Ji race cared about; they were concerned about their target.
“How’s the situation?”
“The target’s beacon has stopped moving. It appears we’ve succeeded.”
“Success can’t be confird yet. Unfortunately, our beacons cannot verify the target’s life status.”
“How far is the nearest squad to the target? How long will it take them to reach her?”
“The closest squad is currently 5.1 kiloters away from the target. The exact ti needed cannot be estimated.”
“Why not?”
“Because the conditions inside the underground tunnels are extrely complex.”
“The near-orbit fleet should have K2N9 units. Deliver them to the marines imdiately. Ti is of the essence.”
K2N9 was a versatile underground vehicle equipped with a three-ter-wide high-speed alloy drill. Its special design allowed it to compress the loose soil excavated ahead and push it behind, enabling rapid movent through subterranean environnts.
However, due to its operational chanism, the K2N9 couldn’t create stable passages underground. It was suited only for transporting small teams for special operations.
“It’s too dangerous. If the K2N9 ventures alone, it might be destroyed by the Swarm before reaching the target position.”
“Deploy a few squads above the target area on the surface. From there, they can directly descend using the K2N9.”
“This thod is feasible. The distance from the surface to the target is just over five hundred ters. Moreover, due to the effects of the B5 bomb, the soil layers in this region have been compacted. Any Swarm units likely would have been crushed to death. For them to retake this area, they’d need to dig new tunnels.”
Due to the complexity of the underground tunnel environnt, despite the leading forces having penetrated two to three kiloters deep, a large number of Ji soldiers remained stranded at the entrance, waiting to enter.
With the new orders issued, several teams waiting to enter the tunnels were redeployed. They would execute a new mission.
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