117: Chapter 117 Fuel Chainsaw Sword, New Area Crystal Mining Zone

"Retreat, all forces!" Su Yang ordered the frontline soldiers.

He had them withdraw from the front line to make way for the Rank 4 Imperial Armor Troops.

The Rank 3 Armored Soldiers quickly retreated, and as they looked back, they saw rows of Rank 4 Armored Elite Soldiers advancing in unison.

Their silvery-white steel Imperial Armor was dazzling under the sunlight.

"Form Ranks and meet the enemy!" Su Yang commanded.

"Screech—"

The Armored Elite Soldiers raised their longswords high; the fuel engines roared, and black smoke billowed wildly.

The Chainswords on the side of their blades began to spin madly, emitting a terrifying roar.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"

The frontline soldiers retreated, but the Insect Swarm that had been entangled with them had no intention of letting them go.

They roared as they pursued, their pale blue insect blades gleaming with a cold light.

"Boom—"

The Bug Swarm Tide crashed into the Armored Elite Soldiers, who were bracing with heavy steel shields.

They shrieked, brandishing their insect blades in a frenzied attack.

No matter what was in front of them, they were determined to scatter it and tear it apart!

However, this time, they were no longer crashing into Rank 3 Armored Elite Soldiers, but Rank 4 Armored Elite Soldiers that had undergone a comprehensive upgrade.

The fuel-powered drive Systems roared, and countless plumes of black smoke poured out.

The Armored Elite Soldiers on the very front line used brute force to knock aside the leading Stinger Bugs, and while they were off-balance, they struck with their Chainswords.

The immediate effect of the Chainsword striking the insect shell was not much different from a regular iron sword; no cracks appeared on the shell.

But the next moment, as the coarse Chainswords spun at high speed, cracks instantly appeared on the shell where they made contact, and the cracks continued to expand.

Then, with a "bang," the shell shattered, and the Chainsword cut inward, slicing the Stinger Bug in half from its shoulder down to its leg.

Pale blue blood sprayed continuously, and the Stinger Bug that had been roaring a moment ago instantly collapsed like a pile of mud.

After the first row finished their slaughter, the next row of Armored Elite Soldiers stepped forward, seamlessly connecting with the next wave of the Bug Swarm Tide.

Through such a cycle, the Rank 4 Imperial Armor Troops acted like a meat grinder, turning wave after wave of incoming Xenomorphs into minced meat and mud.

The Rank 4 Crossbowmen did not have much room to maneuver, but whenever they found an angle, they fired a barrage of Armor-piercing Arrows.

As the Imperial Armor Troops Advanced, the Xenomorph Bug Swarm Tide instantly collapsed.

The Armored Chariots and artillery units that had completed their delaying tasks returned once again behind the defensive line of the Armored Elite Soldiers.

The hundred-man Imperial Armor Troops Advanced unstoppably, pushing the front line all the way to the entrance of the Insect Nest like a bulldozer.

With no tactics, they simply pushed straight through.

This insect race, whose main advantage was its armor, could only be reduced to wreckage and minced meat in the face of the Chainswords.

command points flooded Su Yang's panel.

[Killed Rank 12 Tyranid Titanium-Crystal Stinger Bug (Variant), command points +120 (30% bonus)]

[Killed Rank 11 Tyranid Titanium-Crystal Stinger Bug (Variant), command points +110 (30% bonus)]

[Killed Rank 11 Tyranid Titanium-Crystal Stinger Bug (Variant), command points +110 (30% bonus)]

...

After pushing the front line to the entrance of the Insect Nest, the Armored Elite Soldiers stood guard at the opening and began a massacre.

Finally, after General Meng Tian and General Li Xin came up and applied buffs, the Armored Elite Soldiers even put away their shields.

They wielded their swords with both hands and slashed away, cutting through two or even more Stinger Bugs with a single strike.

The blood sprayed everywhere as the Chainswords cut into the bodies of the Stinger Bugs, staining everything around the entrance.

The Armored Elite Soldiers in the front row could no longer even distinguish the original color of their armor, as it was completely covered in the blood of the Stinger Bugs.

After blocking the entrance and slaughtering nearly 200 Stinger Bugs, General Li Xin and General Meng Tian led the troops into the Insect Nest.

The structure of the Insect Nest was no different from other nests, except that it was reinforced with some kind of pale blue crystal.

Based on the name of the Stinger Bug variant, Su Yang guessed that these minerals must be anatase.

It is a mineral form of titanium dioxide, usually appearing as pale blue square crystals.

Just by looking at the name, one could tell that titanium could be extracted from this mineral.

Titanium is an extremely rare metal, generally used as an aerospace material in reality.

Titanium can also be fused with steel to form alloy steel, a much harder material.

Su Yang's eyes flickered; it seemed he had a direction for the next Rank of armor upgrades.

The troops continued to move deeper, and in the brood chamber, they saw a Tyranid Brood Mother with pale blue patterns, the first of its kind they had encountered.

Inside the brood chamber was a large anatase Ore vein, with hundreds of units similar to Iron-Eater Bugs distributed above it.

They continuously secreted acid to dissolve the titanium Ore, and after the Ore dissolved, they swallowed the solution into their bodies.

The Iron-Eater Bugs, once fully absorbed, would return to the Tyranid Brood Mother to be broken down again into biomass, providing the titanium to the Tyranid Brood Mother.

"A miraculous mining method," Su Yang thought to himself.

Besides the mining method, there were many other points about this Insect Nest that puzzled Su Yang.

For example, its Insect Swarm consisted only of Stinger Bugs, and the Iron-Eater Bugs that broke down the minerals were not like those in other nests; they had no offensive capabilities at all.

This made Su Yang suspect whether the insect race, like humans, had a different technological System for every Insect Nest.

They chose different troop types and different combat methods based on their species and environment.

Compared to the Double Mother Insect Nest, this titanium-crystal Insect Nest was clearly following a "mass-production" strategy.

It produced only melee units and did not develop any other troop types.

Su Yang estimated that this Tyranid Brood Mother must have thought that the Titanium-Crystal Stinger Bugs were invincible and that no other troop types were needed.

"What a pity," Su Yang sighed.

"Before a Chainsword, everyone is equal."

"Screech—"

General Li Xin thrust his spear into the flesh wall of the Tyranid Brood Mother, and countless blood sprayed out.

[Killed Rank 13 Tyranid Brood Mother, command points +1700 (30% bonus)]

[Obtained Expert E-Rank drop: Heart of the Hive]

[Greatly increases technology research and construction speed]

[Obtained Expert D-Rank drop: Splitting Synapse]

[Can unlock the Xenomorph Splitting Device at the Xeno Experiment Station, used to split the Heart of the Hive and its effects]

[Discovered new area, Crystal Mining Zone: A series of Advanced Ores and high-level Insect Swarms are distributed here]

[Obtained Achievement: The dazzling world is mesmerizing, command points +4000]

[Discovered new mineral type: anatase]

[Obtained Achievement: Above Steel, command points +4000]

[Successfully destroyed ten Insect Nest brood chambers]

[Obtained Achievement: Warmonger, command points +5000]

Expert D-Rank drop!

Su Yang's gaze caught the most important information.

Splitting Synapse, can be used to split the Heart of the Hive and its effects.

This meant that from now on, he wouldn't have to use the entire Heart of the Hive at once; he could use it in parts.

This way, he would never have to worry about waste again!

For the thrifty Su Yang, this technology was simply fantastic.

Aside from the Expert D-Rank drop, there was also a series of achievements, the most important of which was the discovery of the new Crystal Mining Zone.

According to the description, this area had many Advanced crystal Ores and high-level Xenomorphs.

It seemed there would be plenty of opportunities to come here in the future, Su Yang thought as he opened the resource panel.

This battle had yielded the highest amount of command points since entering the Forbidden Ground.

Just from killing enemies, he had obtained 38,620 command points, which came to 50,206 after the 30% bonus.

Adding the command points obtained from unlocking achievements, the total command points reached 63,206.

Sixty thousand command points from a single battle—how exaggerated!

With this batch of command points, he could once again increase the combat power of his troops.

After tallying the data and just as he was about to have the troops return, a global announcement rang out.

[Lord of Dragon Kingdom Su Yang discovered new mineral anatase, unlocked achievement: Above Steel]

[Lord of Dragon Kingdom Su Yang discovered new mineral anatase, unlocked achievement: Above Steel]

...