10: Chapter 10: Discovery of Carbon Mines, The First Battle

Su Yang looked at the pulsating biological fragment in his hand, his brain rapidly searching through the data provided by the military department.

Like many insect races, the Tyranid Swarm possessed a highly differentiated social structure.

Each Tyranid Swarm was led by a Tyranid Brood Mother.

The Tyranid Brood Mother usually remained entrenched in the heart of the nest and would not move easily.

She was a tool that had lost all other abilities, retaining only the functions of reproduction and signal transmission.

The Tyranid Brood Mother would continuously produce various offspring, which would then differentiate into different functional types based on corresponding needs.

For example, the Stinger Bug that they had already encountered was a killer responsible for predation.

They had no brains; all their actions were directed by the Tyranid Brood Mother or brain bugs.

The brain bug, on the other hand, was a unit that had lost its offensive capabilities and was specialized in command and signal transmission.

The biological signal fragment in Su Yang's hand at this moment was likely the organ used by a brain bug to receive and transmit signals.

The pulsing of the organ meant that it was receiving signals; clearly, they had entered the coverage area of the Tyranid Brood Mother's signals.

Su Yang's eyes lit up, and his thoughts raced.

Theoretically, as long as they followed these signal fluctuations, they could find the nest near the base!

He took the fragment and quickly walked around the perimeter.

Based on the intensity of the fragment's pulsing and glowing, he quickly identified a direction.

If nothing went wrong, this was the direction of the nest!

The Tyranid Swarm possessed territorial awareness; within a single area, it was only possible for one swarm to exist.

As long as they uprooted their lair, they could eliminate the danger around the base for a long time, which would be of great help to the stable development of the base later on.

Besides being beneficial to the base's development, Su Yang was also worried that the Insect Swarm would affect the search mission at night.

During the search, the Armored Elite Soldiers were in a dispersed state, and dispersed forces were extremely dangerous when facing the Insect Swarm, making them easily picked off one by one.

Only by eradicating the nest could Su Yang feel at ease letting the Elite Soldiers continue searching for carbon mines.

He had to assemble his forces and launch a preemptive strike!

With his thoughts racing, Su Yang issued orders to the entire army.

Once the order was given, the Armored Elite Soldiers scattered throughout the area quickly gathered at Su Yang's location.

While waiting for the troops to assemble, Su Yang sent two Armored Elite Soldiers as a reconnaissance unit in the direction from which the signal originated.

About ten minutes later, the soldiers returned.

In addition to bringing back the location of the nest, they also brought back an unexpected surprise.

A carbon mine!

The nest they discovered was located beneath a carbon mine!

Upon hearing the news, Su Yang was overjoyed, his eyes gleaming.

"After searching high and low, I turned around to find it right there, smiling in the thicket!"

After several hours of searching, with the energy of the first batch of soldiers about to be exhausted.

Carbon mine resources had finally appeared!

And it appeared together with the nest.

As long as they eradicated the nest, they could simultaneously resolve the base's security crisis and the energy reserve crisis!

The dawn of a breakthrough was right before his eyes; Su Yang perked up and carefully analyzed the intelligence brought back by the Elite Soldiers.

Only one entrance to the nest was discovered, and there was a five-unit Tyranid Swarm squad outside.

The focus of this battle was the entrance to the nest.

Because the number of enemies inside the nest was still unknown, conducting a siege at the entrance was the best choice.

If they were allowed to set up their formation on the ground, his side would likely fall into a numerical disadvantage.

The first step was to take down the five-unit Tyranid Swarm squad as stealthily as possible.

Afterwards, they had to quickly surround the nest entrance and occupy a favorable terrain.

The strategy was set.

After waiting for the entire army to assemble, Su Yang looked toward the direction of the nest.

"Move out!"

In the dense forest where light and shadow intertwined.

The Armored Elite Soldiers adjusted their steam devices to minimum power and marched slowly.

Although this would slow them down, it ensured maximum stealth.

As they moved forward, the damp and soft humus layer on the ground began to disappear; clearly, some kind of change had occurred underground.

They had already entered the mining area.

Su Yang ordered the troops to stop and dispatched two Elite Soldiers to scout.

The reconnaissance result was that there was still only one Tyranid Swarm squad on the ground.

Fortunately, the number on the ground had not increased, otherwise the danger level would have risen.

The remaining troops were divided into an eight-man squad and a six-man squad.

After the battle started, the six-man squad would first deal with the ground Tyranid Swarm, while the eight-man squad would head straight for the nest entrance.

Pushing aside the last few layers of fluorescent vegetation, a large area of exposed carbon mines appeared before Su Yang.

Energy, a massive amount of energy.

Su Yang's eyes trembled; the ore vein was right before his eyes.

However, to obtain this large batch of resources, they still needed to overcome the final hurdle.

Hiss, hiss...

Above the carbon mine, a brain bug was directing four Stinger Bugs, constantly emitting a buzzing sound.

A short distance away, a nest entrance about three meters wide led deep underground.

Success or failure depended on this single move.

"Charge!"

Su Yang shouted in a low voice.

Boom...

The steam devices were set to full power, bursting out clouds of white mist.

Fourteen Armored Elite Soldiers shot out of the dense forest like arrows released from a bowstring.

Hearing the noise, the Tyranid Swarm quickly became alert.

The brain bug's original low-frequency buzzing turned into a sharp, piercing sound.

It was transmitting information, calling for reinforcements, while the four Stinger Bugs surrounded it for protection.

However, it was all in vain.

The Armored Elite Soldiers arrived, and the protection instantly collapsed.

Before the steam-powered bronze swords, the insect shells were as fragile as paper.

[Killed Level 1 Tyranid Stinger, command points + 20]

[Killed Level 1 Tyranid Stinger, command points + 20]

The defense collapsed, and the brain bug hiding behind was exposed.

The front-line Armored Elite Soldiers who had completed their kill mission also moved slightly to the side.

The main attacker at the rear of the squad used a steam boost, and the bronze sword thrust forward.

Sizzle...

Amidst the high-temperature steam, the bronze sword pierced through the entire body of the brain bug.

The piercing sound stopped instantly.

On the other side, after the eight Armored Elite Soldiers reached the nest entrance, they immediately deployed their formation and surrounded the opening.

Su Yang held his breath, keeping himself at an appropriate distance from the Armored Elite Soldiers.

At the same time the brain bug emitted the sharp, piercing sound, the inside of the opening also fell into turmoil.

A rustling sound continuously emanated from the opening.

The insect chirping, mixed with movement sounds, grew louder and louder.

The Insect Swarm was approaching rapidly!

The Armored Elite Soldiers held their swords with both hands, ready for action.

Hum...

Suddenly, two insect blades pierced through the darkness of the opening.

Before Su Yang could clearly see the full body of the Tyranid, the waiting Armored Elite Soldiers swung their swords.

The first Stinger Bug was cut in half at the waist, blood spraying everywhere.