A box of mixed explosives can turn a three-story building into ruins.
With four boxes of mixed explosives, the entire front line of the insect swarm is cleared out.
Even though Zhou Yuan and his team had run a distance, they were still sent flying by the shockwave. Luckily, there were no live insects around them anymore.
"Keep up with the team, go!"
The moment Zhou Yuan hit the ground, he immediately got up, spraying the oncoming swarm with his machine gun while urging the generator and shockwave to retreat.
"Ding!"
The generator and shockwave turned around and fled, but before leaving, they threw a few grenades to relieve the pressure on Zhou Yuan.
After the grenades exploded, Zhou Yuan turned around and followed the retreat.
"Something's not right!"
While running, Zhou Yuan occasionally looked back, shooting and retreating at the same time.
He noticed that the pursuers were only a small faction within the swarm, numbering less than a hundred.
Meanwhile, the main force of the swarm had returned to their original path, continuing their march towards the right side of the cave without hesitation.
The soldier insects had intelligence, but not much of it.
They were like mindless warriors, getting excited when they fought. It was nearly impossible to make them give up their current target.
Unless they received orders from the higher-level insects!
"Should I go check it out?"
Zhou Yuan suddenly felt tempted, but he couldn't make up his mind.
If his guess was correct, then the area around the starship insect would definitely be swarming with a large number of combat insects, potentially even forming a massive insect tide.
Sending a small team of ten people over would be like sending them to their deaths.
But...
Taking down a starship insect could destroy at least two insect nests and earn him a great achievement. The temptation was strong.
"Captain, the bugs didn't catch up!"
"They've circled around to the right flank of this mountain."
At this moment, the voices of the team members interrupted Zhou Yuan's thoughts.
They noticed that the main force of the swarm hadn't caught up, so they turned back and killed dozens of chasing insects to help Zhou Yuan.
"Check your weapons, we're going after them!"
"Do you remember what I said earlier? The starship insect might be protected by many combat insects."
"These bugs are probably going after the starship insect. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let us go so easily."
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yuan decided to follow them.
He released the laser bird and the command center deployed their aerial units.
As long as he remained cautious and acted based on detailed intelligence, they shouldn't encounter any danger. After all, they still had five tactical nuclear bombs as a last resort.
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words, the team members replied excitedly.
That was the starship insect! Who wouldn't want to kill it?
Glory in the present, a beautiful future, and a legendary past – the starship insect embodied all three. Killing it would bring immense rewards.
It was worth risking their lives!
"Very well, let's begin the operation!"
Zhou Yuan was very satisfied with the enthusiasm of his team members. At least none of them were cowards.
After a short rest, Zhou Yuan personally led the team and followed the route left by the insect swarm.
During the next hour, the team continued to march on, but they didn't catch up to the swarm. However, they did track down its footprints. The insects' legs were as sharp as a long spear, leaving small craters on the ground.
Along the way, Zhou Yuan also received a lot of intelligence. Some were reports of laser birds, while others were about temporary command centers.
The contents of the intelligence were all the same: nearby insect swarms were gathering at the edge of the mountainous region, with a minimum of 100,000 insects and still increasing.
The temporary command center took this very seriously and sent several special forces teams to move closer to the swarm's location.
However, the starship insect still hadn't appeared, not even a single trace.
After another half-hour of walking, they reached the rendezvous point. Because of the insect tide in the target area, the temporary command center ordered all small teams to gather and form a fully equipped special operations team.
The rendezvous point was bustling with activity since other small teams arrived earlier than the third small team, which was the slowest.
"Good job," said Buck, relieved and encouraging as he saw Zhou Yuan bring in a fully equipped team.
He received the mission briefings from each small team and knew that the third small team had discovered an issue with the insect swarm's movements, earning them the first military merit.
"Captain, what's the situation now?" Zhou Yuan asked along with the other team leaders.
Buck shook his head calmly. "There's no situation. The insects seem to be having a beach party and won't leave the beach."
"Let's go. Our lookout is on the mountain. You'll see when we get there," said Buck, gesturing for the team to move out.
This was the foot of a tall mountain, and there were many neighboring mountains, with several tall peaks lined up to form a giant pirated mountain range.
When they reached the top of the mountain, Zhou Yuan finally understood what Buck meant by the beach party.
The mountain range was shaped like a crescent moon, and the crescent's gap was a large sandy beach where the insect swarm gathered and roamed.
Beyond that was the coastline, with the vast ocean stretching as far as the eye could see.
He used binoculars to check the surroundings. Many special operations teams had already been deployed on the mountain tops, almost every one to two kilometers apart.
"The aerial team said the insects have been here for two hours, and there are still more insects coming this way."
"The intelligence department believes that the starship insect is hiding nearby, and these insects are here to protect it."
"To lure out the starship insect, the intelligence department didn't let the aerial team bomb here, but instead had them lure away the locusts and cut off the insect's support route."
"Oh, and the intelligence department has canceled the capture plan. If the starship insect appears, they will use a tactical nuclear bomb to bomb it right here and now."
Buck quietly relayed the latest intelligence as he watched the insect tide on the beach ahead.
"Got it!"
Zhou Yuan nodded slightly, thinking that the Strategic Department had finally made a smart decision. This matter might even be related to him. It could be the incident of the Pluto Brain Parasite "disappearance" that made the people in the Strategic Department cautious and unwilling to take any more risks with capture plans. The evolutionary secrets within the parasite were indeed important, but the question was whether they could successfully capture it. What if it escaped? Killing the enemy was much better than taking the risk of capturing them, even if they carried a treasure map on them. If you don't eradicate the root, the grass will grow again with the spring breeze!
"Send out the reconnaissance team and communication soldiers. I want to know the movement of the parasite swarm as soon as possible."
"The rest of the team, stay put, inspect your weapons, and be prepared for combat. You must execute the orders immediately upon receiving them."
After informing Zhou Yuan of the real-time situation, Buck began giving orders.
"Yes, sir!"
The team leaders saluted respectfully and quickly found their respective team members to relay the latest orders.
... ...