179: Chapter 179 Welcoming the Swarm

Iron Man 73's voice was more urgent than ever before, "Radar has detected a massive amount of unknown biological signals! They appear to have been affected by large-scale space folding technology and have materialized out of thin air on the periphery of the target star sector! The system is urgently cross-referencing the signal characteristics!"

Upon hearing this alert, Lin Li's heart skipped a beat.

"Eight astronomical units? That far?" Lin Li frowned, "Could it be that the squad from the Blood Ravens Chapter came back? But at such a distance, they shouldn't be here to cause us trouble, right?"

Perhaps due to the vast distance and the complex space environment, it took Iron Man 73 several full minutes of data cross-referencing to reach a final conclusion.

When the result appeared on the screen, the entire bridge fell into a deathly silence.

"Identity confirmed!" Iron Man 73's synthesized voice even carried a hint of anthropomorphic tremor, "On the periphery of the agricultural world Ceres... what has appeared is the Tyranids' tentacle vanguard fleet!"

"Enemy quantity confirmed: one small hive ship over three kilometers in length! Three hundred and forty-four biological frigates! And... approximately thirty thousand assault drop pod biological reactors!"

With the sudden appearance of the Tyranids' vanguard fleet, that massive hive shadow, capable of obscuring the starry sky and distorting the laws of physics, instantly enveloped the entire Yuanwang Star System!

This was not merely a psychic blockade at the Warp level. The massive biological mass of the hive ship caused terrifying, visible interference with the gravitational fields within the galaxy!

A natural disaster sweeping across the major planets erupted without warning.

On Outpost Planet, where the Fire Seed Shelter was located, the once calm ocean suddenly surged with fury. A terrifying tsunami, tens of meters high, churned up white foam and slammed violently against the continent with the force of an avalanche!

The breakwaters of Red Lake Town and Coastal City were instantly hit head-on by the tsunami, and sirens blared throughout the cities.

On the neighboring Abyss Prison planet, the already harsh ecology became even more violent. Super hurricanes capable of tearing apart steel swept across the surface, snapping large, thick mutant trees in half.

Boulders lifted by the gale slammed like cannonballs into the prison's thick metal outer walls, emitting teeth-grinding, thunderous bangs.

On Gorgon Industrial World, a muffled wail emanated from deep within the earth. Countless towering metal forge towers tilted under the gravitational pull. Within just a few minutes, a large number of dilapidated heavy factories collapsed with a roar, sending flames shooting into the sky.

And Mobius Prime, serving as the main battlefield, erupted in a violent earthquake!

On the surface battlefield of Mobius Prime, Black Tiger A-Fu, Commander of the Hand of God legion, was sitting on the armored hatch of a heavy troop carrier, preparing to lead a large force to charge the city walls.

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from beneath the tracks. The road on the ground instantly tore open into an abyss-like chasm over ten meters wide! The abandoned buildings on both sides collapsed one after another like building blocks. The massive armored assault group was forced to halt its advance.

"What the f***! What's going on?!" Black Tiger A-Fu gripped the turret handle tightly, staring at the dust-filled sky, "Is the developer really that good at stirring up trouble? Who puts an earthquake event in the middle of a siege battle?"

Beside him, the vice-guild leader Hunger Tycoon swallowed hard, watching the ruins that were still shaking: "Something feels wrong, Boss. We were halfway through the job when the system suddenly spawned a map-wide natural disaster. This is clearly the developer forcibly ramping up the difficulty for this dungeon run! We might be about to spawn some major boss!"

Compared to the players' optimistic mindset of enjoying the spectacle, the Defense Force within the capital of Mobius had already fallen into complete panic and despair.

For the Defense Force, which relied on tall, sturdy buildings for defensive firepower, the earthquake was nothing short of a catastrophe!

Inside the Governors Mansion, Governor Cromwell scrambled out from under a wobbling desk and ran out of the room in a panic. He grabbed the old butler who had rushed over to protect him and roared hoarsely, "What is going on?! Do those lunatics from the Spark Alliance have a death wish?! How dare they use such a destructive, high-powered weapon against the Hive City?!"

The old butler, covered in dust, hurriedly explained, "No, my lord! This is not a weapon at all! This magnitude... it looks more like a major earthquake triggered deep within the crust!"

"An earthquake?" Governor Cromwell was stunned for a moment, then his face turned even paler. "It's over! The Spark Alliance army will definitely seize this opportunity while the city walls have collapsed to launch a full-scale assault on us!"

Governor Cromwell completely lost his reason and screamed, "Go! Go and get all those sealed heavy combat Servitors from the family's underground vault! Bring them all up! Surround the Governors Mansion tightly! Kill anyone who dares to approach!"

"Yes!" The old butler scurried away to pass on the order.

Just as the Governors Mansion fell into chaos, Marshal Miller of the Adeptus Arbites, who had just returned to the surface fortress by spaceship, also felt the violent tremors beneath his feet.

Marshal Miller stood before the bulletproof glass, watching the billowing smoke rising from the city. The moment he felt the tremor, his heart sank to the bottom of the abyss.

"It's the bugs! They're here!" Marshal Miller clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, "Why so fast?! And why now of all times?!"

The current situation was absolutely dire! The Spark Alliance's army and the Governor's Defense Force were locked in a death struggle. The armed forces of the entire Mobius system were scattered like loose sand, with absolutely no capacity for unified pre-war coordination!

How could such a loose and chaotic defensive structure possibly withstand the Tyranids' overwhelming biological frenzy?

"We can't wait any longer!" Marshal Miller turned sharply and roared at his adjutant behind him, "Quick! Go to the Astropath Tower immediately! Tell the choir to send a distress signal into the Warp at any cost!"

The adjutant turned pale, "But Marshal! The Warp storm is too strong; the Astropaths cannot penetrate it with their messages. If they try to force it, their brains will explode from psychic overload!"

"Remember my words! At any cost!" Marshal Miller's eyes showed a trace of madness, "Drag out all those illegal Psykers stored in the underground prison! Use their lives as fuel to fill the gap! Even if a thousand Psykers die, the distress signal must be sent out!"

"Yes!" The adjutant gritted his teeth and accepted the order.

Marshal Miller grabbed the bolt pistol from the table and strode out, "Where is Archbishop Anthony now? Send someone to notify him; I am going to the Cathedral immediately. It is time to reveal all our trump cards!"

High orbit, bridge of the sea breeze no. 9. When Lin Li learned for certain from Iron Man 73's report that the Tyranids' vanguard fleet had warped to the periphery of the agricultural planet, he was so angry that he slammed his hand on the command console and cursed aloud.

"F*** you! Why the hell did you have to show up and steal the spotlight at the most critical moment?!"

Lin Li looked at the dense swarm of Tyranid biological signals on the screen, his scalp tingling. Although it was only a tentacle vanguard fleet, this hellish configuration was enough to give his players a massive headache!

That so-called small hive ship was a full three to four kilometers long! This scale was even larger than the Blood Ravens Chapter's strike cruiser!

Coupled with the three hundred or so thick-skinned biological frigates, and thirty thousand assault drop pods filled with who knows how many bugs, once this force landed, it could gnaw the agricultural planet into a barren death world within a few hours!

Of course, this was only the immediate threat. The arrival of the vanguard fleet meant that in the distant deep space behind them, an even more terrifying Tyranid main force, numerous enough to obscure the galaxy, was approaching at full speed! That was the true catastrophe!

"Lord," Commander Ushtan stepped forward with a grave expression, "The agricultural planet Ceres is too far from us now. If we turn around immediately, with our fusion engines, we might still have a chance to intercept and rescue it before the planet falls completely."

Ushtan paused, then gave his optimal tactical advice as a cold-headed Commander: "However, other than food, the agricultural world does not have any rich strategic resources."

"I suggest we abandon the agricultural planet! While the Governor's defense line has collapsed due to the earthquake, we should immediately launch an all-out assault and seize Mobius Prime! Once we have integrated all the fleets and industrial resources on this capital planet, we can then turn back to establish a defensive line against the bugs, which would give us a better chance of winning!"

After listening to Ushtan's advice, Lin Li was faced with a difficult choice. This was indeed the most rational tactic. Either harden his heart and abandon the agricultural planet, take Mobius at maximum speed, and consolidate strength before fighting the bugs; or abandon the Governors Mansion that was almost in his grasp, turn his guns around, and cross the galaxy to engage the swarm head-on!

"Number 7!" Lin Li suddenly raised his head and looked at Iron Man 73, "Can our mass-energy cannon reach the agricultural planet? Can it inflict fatal damage on the hive ship?"

If he could bombard the surface, the tactical options would be much broader. Iron Man 73's cold, mechanical voice shattered Lin Li's fantasy: "Creator, the mass-energy cannon has very limited one-shot kill effectiveness against the thick biological shells of the Tyranids, which can rapidly adapt to energy strikes. It is very likely that it cannot penetrate the core of the hive ship."

"Furthermore, the current orbital position of the agricultural planet is exactly on the other side of the star. We would need to fire across the star's surface. The star's massive gravitational field would cause unpredictable and severe distortion and deflection of the antimatter particles' flight trajectory. The hit rate would be less than five percent."

The bombardment plan was completely rejected. Lin Li gritted his teeth and fell silent. Just as he was about to give the order to adopt Ushtan's conservative tactic and prioritize attacking the Governors Mansion...

"Ding!" A system pop-up window flashing with blinding red light suddenly appeared on Lin Li's pv terminal!

[Challenge Mission Triggered!] [Mission Name: Hunt the Starry Wolves!] [Mission Objective: At all costs, annihilate the Tyranids' tentacle vanguard fleet! Defend the agricultural planet Ceres!] [Mission Reward: Core Points: 200,000!]

Two hundred thousand Core Points?! Seeing that string of zeros, Lin Li was moved. What was the concept of two hundred thousand points? This f***ing thing could directly draw a whole bunch of lethal Golden Age black tech!

With these two hundred thousand points as a safety net, what the hell was there to be afraid of?!

Lin Li stood up abruptly from the captain's chair, his eyes showing an unquestionable decisiveness. "Screw the Governors Mansion! A lousy governor can be killed anytime, right?"

Lin Li waved his hand, "Pass on my orders! All landing forces, immediately abort the siege mission! All troops return to the warships!" "All fleets, change course! Turn on all fire control radars! Push the engines to the overload threshold!" "Target: Agricultural planet Ceres! Full speed ahead!"

A few minutes later. For all The Fourth Calamity players who were confronting the Defense Force in the ruins or waiting in their warships, a heart-pounding, blood-red server-wide announcement popped up right in the center of their vision!

[Server-wide Announcement!] [Epic Campaign: Mobius Siege. Due to force majeure, it has been officially upgraded to — Legendary Campaign!] [New Campaign Objective: Abandon Mobius! All members, hunt the swarm! At all costs, annihilate the Tyranids' hive vanguard fleet that has appeared in the Yuanwang Star System!] [Prepare to welcome the wrath of the swarm! The Fourth Calamity!]