Restraint

The Riken Race, after all, a highly intelligent and civilized race. When Swarm small units were thwarted in the face of new weapons, and were being worn down by free attacks, they chose to go all in. This situation had already been predicted by the Riken Race during simulated warfare.

Therefore, when faced with the Larval Form suddenly abandoning their opponents and turning to charge, the Riken Race only panicked for a brief moment before immediately acting according to their contingency plan.

The Riken Race fighters arrived first along the Larval Form's path, but their long-range firepower was insufficient to quickly eliminate Larval Form, especially when the Larval Form huddled together, using their companions' bodies as cover.

"Show them our little gadgets!"

Suddenly, several small metal balls, each tens of centimeters in diameter, were launched from the fighter jet's cockpit.

The metal sphere itself has no propulsion device and moves through space entirely by the inertia of its launch. Not only is it slow, but given the amount of ammunition it carries, it is unlikely to cause any damage to the Swarm units.

However, the Riken Race would never make such a basic mistake. After the ball had floated for a distance, it suddenly exploded, and a large net was instantly spread out.

Once unfolded, this giant net can cover an area of several hundred square meters. It is made entirely of metal fibers with a diameter of less than one millimeter. Without any cloaking coating, its size alone makes it almost invisible in space.

These fibers are the latest technological product of the Riken Race. They are not only extremely lightweight, heat-resistant, cold-resistant, and corrosion-resistant, but also incredibly tough. Despite being less than a millimeter in diameter, they can withstand tensile forces of several tons. Combined with their scientific arrangement and stress distribution, the entire net is strong enough to resist the tearing of the Larval Form.

Furthermore, their slenderness also endows them with remarkable cutting ability; if one's own defenses are not strong enough, attempting to violently tear them apart while they are covered by this will only result in injury.

Even artillery fire couldn't change the Larval Form's trajectory, let alone the harmless metal spheres.

But when those countless metal spheres exploded overhead, the sudden unfolding of the giant net formation left the Larval Form troops no time to dodge, forcing them to crash headlong into it.

If such a giant metal net were to be deployed freely without being secured or pulled, the damage it could cause would be extremely limited.

Even if wearing them isn't very comfortable, if you ignore them, it's just discomfort and a slight restriction on movement.

However, in the current situation of such a concentrated attack, the damage caused by this metal mesh will increase exponentially.

Each net, covering an area of several hundred meters, can simultaneously ensnare several or even a dozen Larval Form charging in a dense formation. However, the Larval Form's speed during the charge is difficult to maintain consistently due to their varying growth rates.

The difference in speed will result in some advancing and others retreating during a sudden movement. If they are caught in the same net, they will naturally be pulled apart.

Unless the Larval Form immediately stop moving and remain still, these metal nets will naturally no longer pose a threat.

But in the tense and fierce battlefield, it's obviously impossible.

And this is not just a matter of a few hundred Larval Form and a few metal nets. The Larval Form move at an extremely fast speed. Even if they cannot sprint at full speed due to the complex battlefield environment, their speed still exceeds ten kilometers per second.

So, although the Larval Form scattered to both sides the moment the giant net exploded, and the vanguard immediately tried to stop and retreat, some chaos was still caused in a short time. When the front line retreated, it collided with the rear line and was pushed forward. In just the blink of an eye, more than 220,000 Larval Form rushed into the giant net.

Although tens of thousands of Larval Form at the back of the procession managed to break free before the giant net closed in, more than two hundred thousand Larval Form remained trapped inside.

These 200,000 Larval Form were tightly wrapped in more than 100,000 giant nets. In this complex and intertwined situation, their struggles were not only futile, but the more they struggled, the tighter the giant nets tightened.

The fine metal fibers are extremely tough; they separate the outer skin of the Larval Form as they are pulled apart, and as the giant net tightens, they cut into the Larval Form's interior.

Some of the Larval Form had their arms and legs severed, and some had their bodies cut into two or even several pieces.

"Ha, look at how desperately they struggle, only to cut themselves into pieces. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"That's ridiculous!"

Haha~

A group of fighter pilots watched as the Larval Form, trapped in a net in space, slowly shrank into a large ball of flesh, with limbs constantly floating out of the net.

Amidst the laughter, the struggling Larval Form suddenly froze completely in an instant—a true stillness, as if they had been petrified, utterly motionless.

The cutting force generated by the metal mesh comes entirely from the struggles of the Larval Form; when they stop struggling, the metal mesh loses its ability to attack.

"Hmph, even if they don't move, they've lost their threat. Once we win this battle, they'll still be sitting ducks." Seeing that the Larval Form had stopped struggling and the "ridiculous" scene was no longer happening, a Riken Race driver said angrily.

"Ignore them, change targets, stop the other Little Octopus Monster!"

Each of the Swarm's combat units has a very official name in the Riken Race, but those long numbers make communication very inconvenient in daily battles.

Therefore, the combatants of the Riken Race usually use conventional and simple nicknames.

"Little Octopus Monster" is the nickname for the Larval Form.

A tactic or weapon is generally most effective the first time it is used. Once its data is known to the enemy, it becomes difficult to achieve the same impressive results as before.

At this point, the scattered Larval Form did not regroup; instead, they spread out even further.

A single metal net, once deployed, covers only a few hundred square meters. Thousands upon thousands of giant nets cover an area of tens of thousands of square meters, making them very effective against Larval Form that have formed a cluster. However, once the Larval Form disperse, there is no need to look around, and with additional defenses in place, a single metal net poses almost no threat to Larval Form.

Even if the Larval Form collide with the net, they don't even need to run back. They just need to stop moving immediately. The metal net, which has no moving mechanism, will continue to move forward due to inertia and detach from the Larval Form.

However, if too much metal netting and a large array are used to capture just a few or even a single Larval Form, it would be a waste of resources.

However, once the Larval Form disperse, they lose the cover of the group, which greatly increases the threat posed by machine guns to them.

In close-quarters air combat, Missile Drone block the way, preventing them from getting close to the fighter jets. In long-range firefights, their firepower is insufficient. Group breakouts are blocked by metal nets, while dispersed attacks are subject to long-range attrition by fighter jets.

Through a series of actions, the Larval Form assault team was completely restrained, and without external assistance, it would be difficult for them to escape this predicament.