Just as the mine shaft in the Moon's underground world was opened, the Prototypes that had reached lunar orbit completed half a circuit around the Moon and dove toward the Lunar Surface.
Boom, boom, boom... Amid a succession of thunderous tremors, seven enormous humanoid statues plummeted down, raising seven columns of dust along the thirty-kilometer line between the East Factory base and the mine entrance, each landing several kilometers apart.
One of the Prototypes landed... right near the mine entrance!
The Mechanical Insects scattered immediately after landing. Following the development model of the East Factory steelmaking base, they began building Miniature Robot production lines and steelmaking equipment. Each landing site would become a subsidiary base!
Of the Mechanical Insects at the mine entrance, half split off to build the base, while the other half poured into the shaft. They began clearing and leveling it along the newly opened passage while also... sending reinforcements into the underground world!
In Nie Yun's plan, the East Factory base would connect with the mine entrance, then expand outward from that connecting line to complete the base's expansion!
This would be Nie Yun's publicly visible Lunar Base, while the main Mining Base underground would be converted into an energy crystal Mining Base and a secret reserve of strength!
Facing Extraterrestrials of unknown strength, Nie Yun had even prepared for the worst: if they showed clear hostility and possessed overwhelmingly superior technology, everyone would withdraw from the Earth-Moon System. This underground base would then serve as the bridgehead for his counterattack after that strategic retreat.
As for the safety of Earth after his strategic retreat, Nie Yun was not particularly worried.
Judging by the Extraterrestrials' past behavior, they did not want to destroy Earth or humanity, at least in the short term. Otherwise, they could have