Chapter 26: The Vanishing Trail and the Impending Attack

“Ah, so that’s it…”

The supreme commander heard the words and instinctively glanced at the other man’s hair. While anti-hair loss technology was now incredibly advanced, it still couldn’t withstand the toll of such intense intellectual work.

Typically, when hair was lost, it was gone for good.

No one would bother with outdated hair transplant methods, grafting foreign hair onto their scalp. It was pointless, and eventually, if their natural hair all fell out, they’d be left with a patch of transplanted hair.

Wearing a wig was far more comfortable and sensible.

“That certainly sounds like a troubling predicament,” the supreme commander remarked, stroking his own luxuriously thick black hair.

It was no wonder that many older research scientists he’d seen were bald, some even sporting tattoos on their scalps, resembling gang members.

So that was the underlying reason.

Fortunately, his position didn’t demand the same immense mental exertion, for his wife, apparently, wasn’t fond of bald men.

As the two men stood there, chatting pleasantly, the massive insect hidden on the desolate planet suddenly opened her eyes.

Once the last warship crossed the red line she had drawn in the star map within her mind, the massive insect immediately shuddered, swallowing the entire planet beneath her body whole.

She then commanded her children to begin their operation.

Inside the warship, everyone tensely watched the dark matter channel before them. Most felt a profound conflict.

They yearned to swiftly locate the accursed monster, blast her to oblivion, and then return home as heroes, dragging their spoils of war.

Yet, they also feared the Zerg’s power. After all, an entire star system had been wiped from the star map, seemingly out of nowhere, with even its sun devoured.

Everyone began to doubt whether the Imperial Main Cannon, their primary battleship, could inflict any damage upon that damned creature.

As the fleet pushed further, they suddenly noticed that the dark matter trail ahead had vanished, as if erased.

Deep ravines marked its abrupt end, yet there was no trace of the Zerg anywhere in the surrounding space.

“Something seems to be wrong?”

Hearing the startled cry from within the vessel, the chief technical officer and the supreme commander exchanged a worried glance, their brows furrowed, before quickly rushing back, coffee in hand.

“What’s the situation?”

“Report, supreme commander! The enemy’s location trail has suddenly vanished. We cannot effectively pursue them.”

“Vanished?”

The supreme commander instinctively looked back at the chief technical officer, who, upon hearing the soldier’s words, also frowned deeply.

He then turned to face the other scientific engineers.

The scientific engineers, sensing the chief technical officer’s gaze, merely spread their hands and shook their heads, indicating their complete bewilderment.

Witnessing this, the chief technical officer felt a headache begin to throb.

Given the energy output of that star, it was inconceivable that the mother organism could completely shield the energy leaking from her body, even if she fled dozens of light-years.

But how far had they traveled so far? Ten light-years? Twenty?

Most importantly, the termination point of this dark matter trail was eerily precise, as if it had simply ceased to exist.

This led the chief technical officer to instinctively believe the enemy might have used their innate wormhole ability, chewing through space to instantly traverse to another location.

However, during their studies of cosmic space, everyone knew that wormholes were highly destructive to spacetime.

Whenever one opened, a very obvious void in cosmic space would inevitably appear at the passageway.

Yet, a quick scan of their surroundings revealed no such cosmic void. Not even the slightest ripple was detected on the space stability gauge.

The question then arose: if the enemy hadn’t escaped via a wormhole, and their trail abruptly ended here with no Zerg presence nearby, did this signify a failed operation?

“Analyze the subtle fluctuations in the surrounding cosmic space,” the chief technical officer stated after a moment of rigorous analysis.

“Then, search the periphery of this dark matter trail for any minute traces.”

Everyone quickly nodded in agreement and busied themselves once more.

Meanwhile, on an escort vessel at the fleet’s perimeter, several pilots yawned as they gazed at the unchanging darkness and star-filled sky, then grumbled impatiently.

“What’s going on? Why are we always stopping and starting on this mission? Isn’t it just a damn ordinary massive insect? We’ve brought out the Imperial Main Cannon! Once we catch that cursed monster, we’ll just blast her rear end, and then we can all go home, can’t we?

“I have no idea what command is thinking, dragging their feet like this. Can’t we just get moving faster!”

“You should speak less,” another pilot retorted. “The ones leading this mission are the Alliance’s supreme military commander and the chief technical officer, who’s practically the Alliance’s brain. They aren’t as foolish as you, so save your breath. If they’re doing this, there’s definitely a reason. What nonsense are you spouting, you grunt?”

“Damn it, you’re asking for a beating! Let’s step out and settle this one-on-one!”

“Try leaving your seat. If you dare, the captain will be the first one to shoot you dead.”

The other speaker instinctively glanced at the captain, who sat impassively.

“Tch, coward… ” the man muttered under his breath.

He knew this was a state of maximum alert and readiness. If he truly caused trouble, the captain had every right to draw his weapon and kill him on the spot.

After all, if even a minor mishap occurred, it wouldn’t just be one pilot who died.

Deprived of his only amusement, he reluctantly returned his bored gaze to the radar screen. What could this thing possibly scan all day long… Hmm?

Suddenly, noticing a bizarre change on the radar, the man acted without thinking, instinctively smashing a crystal cover next to the radar and triggering the alarm.

The ship’s crew were startled by his sudden action. Upon hearing the alarm, the captain’s gaze immediately shifted to the map that had instantly popped up on the central screen, triggered by the emergency alert.

As the man regained his senses, he found his right hand covered in blood, while the radar screen was swarming with countless tiny light points rushing towards the spaceship.

“Zerg attack!!!!”