After Gaia's voice rang out, the sparse sounds from the bushes in the distance became even more intense.
Within a few seconds, these venomous bugs flew out from all directions.
There was a huge swarm of them.
"Buzzzzz!"
The sound of the venomous bugs' wings flapping could be heard throughout the entire area.
Gaia immediately felt a chill down his spine as he frantically ran backwards. A few soldiers who had been chopping trees beside him also threw down their machetes and followed suit.
The venomous insects flew at high speeds, almost catching up to Gaia and the others.
At that moment, the laser shooters were finally activated.
Hundreds of laser beams formed a fine net with grids much smaller than the size of these venomous insects.
The swarm of venomous insects collided into the laser net and the insects were burnt to a crisp.
"Sizzzzzle!"
Instantly, the smell of burnt protein enveloped the area.
Gaia sat on the ground with a terrified expression on his face. On the other hand, the other soldiers looked very calm, though quite a few of them had pale lips and were drenched in sweat. It seemed like they were generally unaffected by what had just transpired.
Philip saw this and came over to pat Gaia on the back.
"You've worked hard. Drink some water to calm your nerves!"
"Okay." Gaia nodded. He took out a tube from within his protective suit and sipped on the water slowly.
Before coming here, Gaia had gone through training on the plane.
On a completely foreign planet like Planet Mushu, he had to be cautious about everything.
The protective suit that was used to block out the outside air and bacteria had to be kept sealed at all times.
Even if they needed to drink water, they had to drink the mineral water that was stored within the protective clothing. They could not simply remove their respirators just to drink water.
Philip then arranged for other members to collect samples of the venomous insects.
They collected the insects' carcasses. body fluids, exoskeletons, etc.
There were even professionals to measure the swarm density, flight trajectory, and flight speed of these venomous bugs. Together with the video of the bugs in action, they could obtain a lot of useful data.
"Keep at it, everyone, we're almost done! We will aim to return to Planet Azure in half an hour!" Philip said loudly.
"Sir! Yes, sir!" Everyone replied in unison.
...
After the vanguard team left, everyone's eyes were on the stone door.
Countless people were eagerly waiting for the return of the heroes.
An hour passed, but there was still no movement from the stone door.
Kerry did not know about the other troops, but his heart was getting more and more nervous.
His hand that was holding the shield also started to break out in cold sweat.
As time passed, everyone's heart began to sink bit by bit.
At this moment, the vortex in the door suddenly rippled.
"On alert!" Bill shouted loudly.
Everyone aimed their muzzles at the stone door.
Then, they saw the silhouette of a man fall out from the stone door and roll onto the ground.
Everyone was relieved, but they maintained their positions.
"Safe!" Philip knelt on the floor, giving a thumbs-up to the crowd, as he looked up with a big grin.
Immediately after that, Gaia, William, Douglas, and other figures also appeared one after another.
——————————
They were not immediately taken in for questioning, but instead, were taken to separate quarantined zones.
The three sides of each of these zones were all made of one-meter thick lead. The was mainly as a precaution in case Gaia and the others were carrying high levels of radiation.
Other than that, it also served to stop any germs that they might be carrying.
The last side of the zones was made of special transparent glass. A few medical workers in white coats sat across from them on the other side of the glass panes.
After going through their individual physical examinations, disinfections, sterilizations, and other procedures to ensure that they were safe, the workers released Gaia.
As for the waste produced in this series of processes, it would be specially collected to extract special substances such as bacteria.
Currently, the primary goal of the troops stationed here was to obtain as much information and data on Planet Mushu as possible, so even these microscopic bacteria were worth their attention.
After Gaia and the others came out, Bill, who had been waiting outside for a long time, quickly walked up and asked anxiously.
"How was it? Did It succeed?"
Philip just looked at Gaia. Gaia immediately understood and said, "Luckily, we succeeded with no casualties!"
Bill was ecstatic. He said happily, "That's great, then we can arrange for the first batch of troops to enter by noon."
Gaia also nodded,
Collecting the data was only the first step.
The next step was to pass the samples to the lab for analysis. They could then accurately analyze the various aspects of the forest outside the Stargate to determine if it was suitable for the entry of troops on a larger scale.
If deemed appropriate, then at 12:00 noon, three battalions of soldiers will enter Planet Mushu through the Stargate to build Planet Azure's first base in Planet Mushu.
——————————
It was twelve o'clock sharp, and three battalions of soldiers were all ready to go. They were just waiting for the order from the upper brass.
Bill took the results from the lab, and looking through a long list of data, he read the big words written at the very end.
"Planet Mushu is deemed safe to enter!"
A hint of joy flashed across Bill's eyes as he shouted.
"Let's move out!"
Without any hesitation, the troops started to enter the stone door.
Although it was deemed safe from the data gathered earlier, it did not mean that they would be safe forever.
Speed was of the utmost importance. Their current priority now was to set up a line of defense and build a forward operating base before nightfall.
Everyone knew that the jungle at night was much more dangerous than it was in the day.
When Gaia entered the stone door, he once again experienced the dizziness and fell from the altar.
When he got up, he saw that the others were ready to make preparations for battle.
The heavy weapons platoons had already finished setting up their mounted machine guns.
The muzzles were aimed in all directions away from the altar.
"It's safe for now."
"Move up."
"Wait!" Gaia suddenly yelled.
Seeing the others looking over, Gaia said, "I'll go ahead first. You guys help set up the defenses at the altar."
Philip immediately remembered Gaia's magical ability and nodded. "Okay.
"William, Brad, you guys go with him. Your main priority is to protect Gaia's safety."
"Sir! Yes, sir!"
Brad was a scout with a babyface. He held a submachine gun in hand and carried dozens of throwing knives at his waist.
As an expert in jungle combat, Brad was very well-versed in the art of throwing weapons.
Throwing knives, pebbles, and tree branches all became weapons in his hands. He could even kill with a single leaf if the situation called for it.
When it came to combat inside a jungle, the most important thing was stealth.
If one made too much noise, it was very likely that they would alert the enemies.
In this kind of environment, cold weapons were the best choice.
Gaia did not bring a gun. Instead, he was wielding a machete.
Based on the current situation, normal guns were not very useful here. Just like the Spider Monster from last night, the survivability of creatures here was extremely high. If a person were to fight these creatures with a gun, they might as well be serving themselves up on a silver platter. If they really had to fight, they would at the very least need a rocket launcher.