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

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.

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!”