Chapter 13: The Swarm’s Incursion

“They’re in!”

This despairing cry echoed from the drone control room.

It instantly sent shockwaves through the entire command center.

The supreme commander stared in disbelief at the screen.

It displayed a horrifying swarm of insects engulfing the ruined city.

So dense was the horde that even the high-flying drones could not discern a single human corpse amidst the urban devastation.

“Damn it! Deploy troops immediately and concentrate fire on this area!”

The supreme commander slammed his fist on the table, the heavy impact startling everyone nearby.

They quickly followed his command, arranging a high-energy, concentrated barrage on the landing zone of the smaller insects.

Receiving the order, the space battleships, previously patrolling various airspaces, instantly changed course.

They hurtled towards the designated area.

Within a mere second, countless battleships converged above the city, their muzzles uniformly aimed at the insect swarm below.

“Fire!”

With the supreme commander’s command, various main and secondary cannons, already primed, unleashed their fury.

Shells and high-energy beams rained down like a torrent upon the insects’ landing site.

Though the initial volley of artillery could inflict little harm on the first wave of newly landed hatchlings, the sheer volume of the attack instilled a degree of fear in the massive insect.

She worried about the possibility of her children being inadvertently injured by the relentless assault.

After a brief moment of contemplation, she resolved to offer her children some assistance.

Before the barrage of shells and energy beams could make impact, the massive insect’s tentacles rippled subtly.

Instantly, all the insect swarms on the ground felt a profound sense of maternal protection.

They rapidly converged, releasing their innate power to form a colossal protective barrier in mid-air.

The moment the barrier expanded, it successfully deflected the first high-energy beam.

The ensuing barrages then crashed against it, creating explosions that illuminated the screens of everyone in the command center.

Witnessing the insects, seemingly defenseless against such high-energy firepower, the personnel erupted in cheers.

However, the supreme commander’s brow remained furrowed as he intently watched the screen.

In the final second of the explosion, he thought he saw something emerge from the insects on the ground, but its speed was too great for him to clearly discern.

After a moment’s thought, he immediately instructed his adjutant to retrieve the footage of the explosion for a re-examination.

After several replays, the supreme commander finally understood what the insect swarm had done in the last moments before the attack, thanks to the super slow-motion playback.

“Is this… an energy barrier?”

As the supreme commander captured a screenshot of what he saw and shared it on the large screen within the command room, everyone present was momentarily stunned.

The sudden appearance of this protective barrier sent a jolt through their hearts.

Their gazes immediately shifted back to the continuously exploding area on the screen.

As the torrential firepower ceased, all the battleship weapon systems entered a brief cooling period.

While this was rarely a concern in the vacuum of space, the current operation within the atmosphere meant that continuous high-energy firing in such a gas-filled environment could impact the intricate space weapon systems.

However, as the bombardment gradually subsided, a startling scene unfolded.

The insect swarms, tightly packed together, had suffered no damage whatsoever.

Not a single insect corpse was visible on the ground.

Upon witnessing the situation below, all the captains urgently ordered their combat personnel to initiate a forced cooling of their weapons, preparing to reset for another attack.

Yet, this crucial reset required time.

On a battlefield, every second of delay could prove fatal, especially in such high-stakes life-and-death combat.

After enduring a round of concentrated battleship fire, the more than two hundred second-evolution massive insects immediately fluttered their wings.

Their limbs subtly bent downwards, signaling their intent to the surrounding swarm.

The smaller insects quickly piled beneath the silver-hued massive insects, flipping onto their backs and interlocking their legs with those above them, forming a massive launch platform.

With the silver insects controlling the trajectory, they gave a command.

The entire swarm beneath them propelled upwards, combined with the silver insects’ own powerful leaping ability.

They shot into the sky like arrows released from a bow, transforming into streaks of silver light that streaked toward the fleet of battleships above.

Upon seeing the suddenly airborne insects, all the battleships frantically attempted evasive maneuvers.

However, their formation had become too dense due to the concentrated fire, making collisions inevitable during normal tactical evasion.

As the battleships reeled from the impacts, a silver massive insect surged from beneath one, directly piercing through the entire vessel.

It then instantly unfurled the wings on its back, gliding through the air to launch an assault on the surrounding battleships.

Witnessing this, all battleships immediately turned their now-combat-ready secondary cannons for interception fire.

However, the secondary cannons’ attacks were utterly incapable of inflicting any damage upon these second-evolution insects.

The only effect they managed was a meager push.

Yet, amidst such a dense formation, with two hundred insects integrated, this slight push was no obstacle at all.

An aerial slaughter immediately commenced.

While the aerial forces were entangled by their larger counterparts, the smaller insects on the ground began a frenzied feeding spree, continuously expanding their feasting territory.

The heavy armored vehicles, dispatched to the ground, were no match for them.

A vast armored convoy was directly engulfed by the tide of insects during its attack run.

There were no survivors in the wake of the insect swarm’s advance!

Watching the spreading insect swarm, the supreme commander gritted his teeth in anger.

Initially, he had been concerned about civilian casualties, only deploying armored vehicles in the hope of establishing a defensive line.

However, it was clear that the armored vehicles could not stop these beasts.

Since that was the case, he would not hesitate to resort to drastic measures.

“Initiate the rocket barrage! Saturate the edges of these monsters’ positions with bombs! I don’t care what methods you use, and don’t worry about civilian casualties anymore!

“Stopping the advance of these monsters is paramount!”

After pressing a button, the supreme commander leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowing slightly, as he continued to watch the screen.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the planet, once picturesque mountains now trembled.

One side of a mountain instantly collapsed, revealing dark, cavernous missile silos within its core.

In other locations, giant armored vehicles were directly deployed, their backs laden with honeycomb-integrated missile launchers.

“Ground attack units fully deployed. Awaiting supreme commander’s orders.”

“Fire.”

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