New Main Combat Units (Part Two)

The first air units of the Swarm will choose the Flying Bug template, which is divided into two versions: Flying Bug Type I and Type II. Type I is closer to the original template, and apart from the addition of Echolocation System, there are basically no other changes.

Their primary role on the battlefield is to provide aerial reconnaissance, target acquisition, marking, and interception. Now that the Swarm has a real-time Interaction System, it must be fully utilized to achieve true collaborative combat effectiveness.

Flying Bug Type II will have some of the genes from Cannon Bug added.

They are larger than Type I, and the venom sacs in their abdomen are replaced with Storage Sac, while the stinger at the tail is replaced with a cannon barrel that can fire highly viscous venom projectiles.

The Farting Bug is no longer suitable for the current version due to its limited mobility and range. The Flying Bug Type II is its replacement.

The battlefield role of Type—I Flying Insect is to provide air fire support and precision strikes. Although they attack single targets, their much lower price compared to Farting Bug allows them to compensate for this in numbers.

The original Cannon Bug will no longer be produced due to its limited mobility, terrain limitations, cost, and poor firing angles.

In addition, their commanders, the Type I Ant Queen, will also undergo some modifications. Based on their previous capabilities, they will be given a pair of membranous wings and Optical Stealth System to adapt to the new mode of warfare.

Two days later, the first Arboreal Sub-base of the Swarm base was established, marked with a sign on a tree trunk not far away. Two Type III Ant Queen sent to develop the new base. Since they had no soldiers available in the early stages, some Worker Ant were assigned to take care of their food, nest construction, and daily maintenance.

The air force base was established so quickly because Rowan discovered a new skill: he could update the Ant Queen's gene pool through contact. This way, the Swarm would no longer need to produce a new batch of Ant Queen every time it acquired new genes.

However, the drawback is that these operations can only be completed through physical contact. Currently, the Swarm's territory is still small, so it's not a big problem. But if it develops to the scale of the past, with an area of thousands of kilometers and hundreds of thousands of Ant Queen, Rowan basically won't need to do anything else.

So Rowan started researching the cloud storage function in his spare time. Maybe in the future, once he finds the trick, he will be able to directly update their gene pool remotely through the Swarm Network.

If it works out, things will be much easier.

After finishing his tasks at the base, Rowan, who was now idle, had the urge to go out and wander around again. Otherwise, staying at the base all the time would be a serious burden on the current Swarm, given his appetite.

For the next period of time, Rowan roamed the forest, constantly expanding the area he explored. While filling his stomach, he wasn't really wandering aimlessly.

Since discovering that he could collect plant genes, although he hasn't figured out how to develop this ability yet, he has begun to consciously pay attention to those strange plants.

The forest is home to a great variety of plants, and with a little effort, Rowan discovered quite a few interesting ones. For example, some of these plants are actually carnivorous.

They use their bodies to create various traps, some unfolding, some jar-shaped, and some simply slime traps. They prey on various insects, some very large carnivorous flowering plants, and can even hunt some small animals.

Furthermore, some of them digest very quickly; for example, the flower-type species can digest a small animal in one night.

Some fungi were also among the items Rowan collected, since the Swarm had extensive experience cultivating them. Although they came in all sorts of strange shapes and had different requirements for their growing environment.

Some grew directly on tree trunks, some grew on the ground, some grew underground, and some even grew on rocks, which broadened Rowan's horizons, as he had not paid attention to these things before.

At the same time, some algae are also included in the collection. As the most primitive plant species, the fact that they have continued to thrive and not been eliminated after so many years proves in itself that they have many merits.

Besides these plants, Rowan also discovered many other strange creatures.

After all, such a vast forest is teeming with countless species of life.

Among them, insects are naturally the most numerous. Now relegated to the bottom of the food chain, they can only survive by sheer numbers.

However, although they are numerous, their talents are all very similar, with only a few possessing skills that can truly impress Rowan.

For example, there is a large golden beetle with an exceptionally thick Exoskeleton Armor that is covered with sharp spikes, and even a long, conical, spiraled horn on its head, just like a unicorn.

Putting practicality aside, the appearance is incredibly imposing and handsome. Rowan plans to get this golden armor to show off when the Swarm has grown stronger again and he no longer needs to do anything personally.

Some insects, however, are far less impressive; their evolutionary talents can be considered utterly useless.

For example, there's an insect whose body is covered with long, twisted exoskeletons. It has no defense, no attack power, and it's also incredibly ugly.

Rowan initially thought that such an abstract design must possess some special, stunning talent. However, after several attempts, he discovered that it served no purpose other than being an eyesore.

This somewhat overturned his understanding, since before encountering this insect, he had always thought that insects were pragmatists.

Besides insects, there are many birds, varying in size and color. Some have short beaks, some have sharp and long beaks, and some have beaks that are not only long but also thick.

Some of them have very pleasant calls, clear and melodious, like a clear spring flowing into the heart. Others are simply noise, very disturbing to the neighbors. Whenever Rowan encounters these disturbing ones, they are all sent to a meeting in Duli Village.

Rowan also encountered many snakes, some small and brightly patterned, most of which were venomous. They hunt prey by sensing heat sources, so Optical Camouflage is ineffective against them.

However, Rowan unexpectedly discovered that when he activated his Hibernation Talent, although his limbs became somewhat stiff and his flexibility decreased, he could still mask the heat source sensing of these snakes.

As a result, the number of snakes attending meetings in the Belly Village has increased considerably during this period.

Besides these smaller snakes, there are also some large snakes, perhaps they should be called pythons. They have huge bodies and thick waists. The largest one that Rowan had ever seen was more than 20 meters long, making it the second largest creature he had ever seen after the Diplodocus.

Their bodies were covered in large scales, and their strength was astonishing; they could easily snap tree trunks as thick as buckets. These creatures posed a much greater threat to him than the Diplodocus, after all, the Diplodocus was a herbivore.

After comparing their sizes, Rowan kept his distance from them.