183: Chapter 183 Reconnaissance

"Check the signal source."

The technician's hands tapped rapidly on the keyboard, and the data jumping on the screen refreshed over and over again.

"The signal is normal, the equipment is normal, and the thermal imaging module is also normal." He raised his head, his forehead covered in sweat, "Group Leader Su, this humanoid heat source really exists."

Su Mingyuan stared at the screen.

That white outline was very clear, standing deep within the ruins, with a body temperature completely identical to that of a human.

The surrounding area was a blue low-temperature zone, and only this single point was orange-red.

"Increase the resolution."

The image zoomed in.

The details of the humanoid outline began to appear—about 1.7 meters tall, with normally proportioned limbs, and signs of long hair on the head.

General Chen squeezed over from behind, glanced at the screen, and his expression changed instantly.

"Impossible!" His voice was trembling, "It's impossible for anyone to be alive there!"

Lin Wan also leaned over to look, her eyes wide: "This... is this really a human?"

"The core area fell on the very first day of the Zerg outbreak."

General Chen gripped the back of the chair, his knuckles almost digging into the leather, "I've read the historical records; the military sent three divisions to rescue them at the time—15,500 people—and all of them were lost inside."

He took a deep breath, his voice lowered: "There won't be any living people there."

Su Mingyuan turned around: "Then what do you think this is?"

General Chen opened his mouth, unable to speak.

Tao Zhe walked over, patted General Chen, and motioned for him to step back first: "How did the drones crash? Have you found the cause?"

The technician brought up the records: "All drones that penetrated deep into the core area lost contact within three seconds.

Radar shows they plummeted vertically from an altitude of one thousand to three thousand meters, as if they were slapped down from the sky by something."

"Slapped down?" Tao Zhe frowned.

"Yes." The technician zoomed in on the radar trajectory, "Look, the falling trajectory is vertical, with no gliding and no tumbling, just like it suddenly lost all power."

Tao Zhe stared at the trajectory map for a few seconds: "It doesn't look like conventional weaponry."

"What do you mean?" General Chen asked.

"Conventional anti-air weapons are either hit by missiles, blasted by anti-aircraft guns, or subjected to electromagnetic interference." Tao Zhe tapped the screen, "But all these methods leave traces—explosion fragments, ballistic trajectories, electromagnetic fluctuations. Yet this time there was nothing."

He raised his head: "It's more like some kind of... superpower."

There was another silence in the command vehicle.

The word superpower sounded absurd, but in a world where bugs could grow to tens of meters tall, it didn't seem entirely impossible.

Su Mingyuan stood up: "Gather all commanders of the Zerg World, meeting in ten minutes."

The meeting room was full of people.

Daxia's officers, some survivors of the Zerg World, and technical personnel were all staring at the projection screen.

On the screen was a close-up of that humanoid heat source.

"We need to figure out what this thing is," Su Mingyuan stood in front of the screen, "whether it's a survivor, a hostile faction, or something else."

"It can't be a survivor," General Chen shook his head, "The core area has fallen for fifty years; even if someone survived, it's impossible for them to hold out this long."

"Then it's an enemy," Tao Zhe said, "and it's very likely related to the Zerg."

Lin Wan raised her hand: "If it's an enemy, why is it only appearing now? We've fought so many battles before, and it never showed its face."

"Because it didn't need to show its face before," Su Mingyuan said, "There were enough bugs, and we couldn't fight through them all. But now it's different—we used nuclear weapons to clear out seventeen million Zerg, and the other party can no longer sit still."

He turned to the technician: "Can you determine what it's doing?"

The technician shook his head: "Thermal imaging can only see the outline, not the details. However, judging from the movement trajectory, it seems to be walking inside a building."

"A building?"

"Yes." The technician brought up another image, "Look here, infrared scanning shows that there is a regular structure in the core area, which is very well preserved. The surrounding ruins have all collapsed, but this complex of buildings is still standing."

Su Mingyuan stared at the image for a few seconds: "Can we detect the energy fluctuations in that area?"

"We've tried." The technician tapped the keyboard and brought up the data, "The energy detector shows abnormal readings, but it's neither electromagnetic waves nor thermal radiation. It's a kind of... energy field we've never seen before."

"Never seen before?"

"Yes." The technician pointed at the waveform chart, "Look, this waveform is very strange, with an extremely low frequency but very high intensity. Our equipment can only capture the edges, and the core part is beyond the measurement range."

Tao Zhe walked up to the screen, stared at the waveform chart for a long time: "Could this thing... be somewhat similar to the energy of the portal?"

The technician was stunned for a moment, and brought up the portal's energy waveform for comparison.

The two curves were placed together.

They were indeed somewhat similar.

Both were low-frequency and high-intensity, both exceeding conventional physical laws.

"Damn it." Tao Zhe took a breath, "This world is much more complex than we thought."

Su Mingyuan looked at the crowd: "I've decided to dispatch a reconnaissance team to investigate the core area at close range."

"With what?" General Chen asked.

"High-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, at an altitude of 20,000 meters, carrying the most advanced optical equipment," Su Mingyuan said, "In addition, mobilize radar trucks and drone swarms to provide multi-angle coverage."

"Do we need mecha escort?" Tao Zhe asked.

"Yes." Su Mingyuan nodded, "A reconnaissance team composed of twelve mechas will stand by on the periphery. They won't go deep, but they must be ready to provide support at any time."

He paused: "Also, notify the Main World and have them send over another batch of reconnaissance equipment. I want the most advanced kind."

Three hours later.

The portal opened again, and a batch of new equipment was transported over.

High-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, radar trucks, drone swarms, and several pieces of electronic warfare equipment recently developed by Daxia.

Technicians were busy in the open space, assembling, debugging, and testing.

General Chen stood in the distance, watching those huge reconnaissance aircraft, his Adam's apple rolling.

The wingspan of these machines was over thirty meters, with streamlined fuselages and radar-absorbent coatings on the surface, shimmering with a dark gray light under the sunlight.

"Can this thing fly to 20,000 meters?" he asked Lin Wan beside him.

"Yes." Lin Wan nodded, "Group Leader Su said this is specially used by Daxia for high-altitude reconnaissance, capable of flying in the stratosphere, and ground weapons can hardly hit it."

"I hope that thing can't hit it either," General Chen muttered.

Lin Wan didn't speak.

She was also worried.

That humanoid creature, or rather that thing, could shoot down a dozen drones in an instant.

Who knew if it could hit a height of 20,000 meters?

By dusk, all preparations were complete.

Three high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft parked on the runway, their engines emitting a low hum.

Su Mingyuan stood in front of the command vehicle, and the pilot's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Aircraft Number One is ready."

"Aircraft Number Two is ready."

"Aircraft Number Three is ready."

"Take off."

The three reconnaissance aircraft taxied out of the runway, getting faster and faster, then pulled up their noses and charged into the sky.

White vapor trails drew three straight lines across the gray-black sky, and the planes quickly turned into three small black dots, finally disappearing into the clouds.