Impact

Although these Intellect Mine have friend-or-foe identification systems, they only activate their automatic tracking devices when friendly forces pass by. However, if a friendly force is blind and deliberately runs into them, these mines will most likely not tolerate it.

Therefore, passageways are reserved between minefields for the rapid passage of friendly personnel.

"What are those things?" Sarah asked, looking at the images in front of her.

The Riken Race's assumption that their Optical Observation technology for Swarm was inadequate is entirely based on their own overconfidence.

When radar technology was underdeveloped, Swarm mainly relied on developing Optical Observation systems that relied on the naked eye. The earliest observation organs inside Swarm Meteor were all of this type.

The Giant Eye Bug that once inhabited the Red Moon Base could even see light-years away and scan a range of tens of thousands of kilometers at close range. Now, after several rounds of upgrades, the Swarm's technology in this area is even more advanced. Large units like the Ancient Class are equipped with relevant target acquisition organs in later stages.

Therefore, the cloaking coating of the Riken Race is basically ineffective against the Swarm. These small creatures scattered in space are detected by the Swarm the moment they appear.

"Your Majesty, according to intelligence provided by the Intellect over there, it's a self-destruct device capable of automatically locating enemies," Terra reported after connecting to the Swarm Network and exchanging information.

She also recounted the Riken Race's speculations about the Swarm.

"..." This thing has a similar function to one of the bugs in the Swarm. If you didn't know that, it could cause some minor trouble, but now that you know, it's not such a big threat anymore.

Sarah was speechless at the Riken Race's speculations about Swarm technology; it seemed that the threat of extinction had paralyzed some of them.

Is this the only way to build confidence?

"Since they've set us up this way, let's play along, pretend we don't see it, and keep playing along," Sarah said slowly, her former queenly authority beginning to reappear.

Little did they know that the Riken Race, whose own ranks had been riddled with holes, thought they had outsmarted the swarm. They were overjoyed as they watched the minefield gradually take shape, which the Swarm did not react to.

Several days later, Laze Planet was in sight, and the anomalies on the planet's surface could no longer be effectively concealed. Even with the inferior technology of the Swarm, they had already begun to react.

"Have the insects retreat a certain distance, avoiding Laze Planet's path," Sarah ordered.

--

Upon receiving the order, the Swarm fleet immediately began adjusting its formation, while the Riken Race fleet, which had been monitoring the Swarm's movements, quickly detected the anomaly.

Based on the adjustment angle of the Ancient Class, the fleet's mainframe worked overtime and quickly calculated the Swarm's possible next move, with a 96.5% probability that the Swarm's adjustment was to avoid Laze Planet.

"They're trying to escape! Notify the Second and Third Fleet to cut off their retreat route at all costs!" Hamis gave the urgent order upon receiving the data.

Its fleet then charged ahead.

Over the past few days, as the Swarm's artillery firepower continued to weaken, Hamis took the opportunity to command his fleet to accelerate suddenly several times, closing in on the Swarm fleet. The Swarm fleet, "forced" to do so, had no choice but to open fire at full speed, with 8,000 Electromagnetic Cannon firing simultaneously, driving the Riken Race fleet to a "safe distance".

Although this increased the First Fleet's losses somewhat, Hamis, who felt it was worthwhile after consuming a large amount of the Swarm's ammunition, could see this from the fact that the Swarm's subsequent artillery firepower dropped to less than 20%.

With such a shelling density, barring extremely bad luck, even if one fails to escape the area of fire, the sparse shell density makes it difficult to pose a threat to the fleet.

Meanwhile, a large number of minefields have been laid around the Swarm fleet, so all they need to do now is block the Swarm fleet's retreat path.

Although their First Fleet had been fighting the enemy for more than ten days and was exhausted, the other two legions that had flanked them from the side were fresh and energetic forces.

When they arrive, they'll teach the other side a lesson!

Because this situation had been anticipated, this route was given special attention by the Mine-laying Ship. With a large number of minefields blocking the area, Hamis and his team only needed to block off a very small portion of the route.

After "accidentally" entering a minefield and detonating several mines, the Swarm fleet "timely" displayed caution, and its withdrawal had to slow down.

At the same time, some small Space Octopus were sent out to probe the coverage area of the surrounding minefield.

"Hmph! These guys really can't detect landmines from a distance."

"Of course. Even our own warships suffered heavy losses from these landmines when simulating battlefield conditions."

Seeing the performance of the Swarm fleet, mocking voices from captains could be heard intermittently in the communications channel of the Riken Race First Fleet. It seemed that they had all suffered at the hands of these little guys in the virtual exercises.

"However, the enemy was very cautious; they retreated as soon as they touched the minefield. It seems the mines won't be able to eliminate any more of their units."

"That's good. Our mission wasn't to kill them anyway. Now that they've slowed down, they'll be sitting ducks when the other two fleets arrive!"

"That's right, this piece of fatty meat has been cooking for so long, it should be done by now. I don't want to be forced to leave the battlefield before I can even eat it."

Many captains nodded in agreement; this was a shared thought. They had persevered for so many days, and the encirclement phase was fast approaching. If, due to recklessness, their warships were damaged and unable to continue fighting, it would be a great injustice.

The First Fleet now has fewer than 700 warships still in combat order. More than 100 warships have withdrawn from the battlefield, and two of them, which were damaged during their previous incursions and were unable to withdraw quickly, have been completely destroyed.

As for Mine-laying Ship, these types of vessels would have already withdrawn from the battlefield once their own torpedo reserves were depleted. Their firepower was too poor; in a real battle, they would be nothing more than targets, offering negligible support.

The Riken Race First Fleet hovered back and forth at the furthest range of the Swarm fleet, occasionally making sudden advances to further slow down the Swarm fleet and force them toward the minefield.

The Ancient Class were finding it difficult to move forward.

At this moment, Laze Planet was less than 100,000 kilometers away from the battlefield. Two fresh forces of the Riken Race also emerged from the back of the planet. With their engines running at full power, they were expected to reach their designated positions on the battlefield in just one hour.

The energy fluctuations of the engine cannot be hidden at such close range.

The Ancient Class swarm "immediately" discovered them and "quickly" understood the Riken Race's strategic intentions, and their retreat accelerated dramatically. Large numbers of Mature Form Larval Form were released, even at the cost of their own lives.