Helpless

The Space Octopus's body was particularly agile on the surface of the warship, twisting and turning and shifting its position. The attacks from the laser array and Close-In Weapon System mostly landed on its own hull. Although their attack power was not enough to penetrate the ship's armor, bumps and knocks were inevitable.

Although some Larval Form were shot down or even killed, the number of both defensive weapons is also rapidly decreasing. With its defensive capabilities greatly enhanced and its tentacle force output optimized, the Space Octopus has demonstrated unimaginable destructive power in close combat.

These inflexible mechanical creations proved utterly powerless when confronted by Biological Weapon.

But such a stage for showcasing talent is extremely rare these days. It is a combination of coincidences that ultimately created the current situation.

First and foremost, you must be close to the enemy. Secondly, the enemy must have a small number of warships, their commander must be inexperienced in close combat with Swarm or make a command error, and there must be Electromagnetic Megastructure present. These factors are all interdependent; you can't do without any of them.

While launching 300-meter-class Mature Form doesn't place a significant burden on the Electromagnetic Megastructure, allowing for continuous launches in a short period, even at this high frequency, only one can be launched at a time. If the enemy warships are numerous, a single salvo would obliterate the Mature Form, preventing it from getting close. Conversely, at greater distances, as in the previous scenario, a second salvo from these warships, with its energy beam mode, would also prevent the Mature Form from approaching.

The presence of the Electromagnetic Megastructure makes sense; relying solely on the power of the Mature Form itself, it would be impossible to quickly traverse the battlefield and reach the enemy warship.

Take the previous scenario as an example. If the Mature Form were to fly on its own, let alone whether it could catch up with the Duoqi warship, even if those warships remained stationary, by the time it arrived, the Duoqi warship could unleash at least twenty salvos...

It's easier to understand why the enemy commander was either inexperienced or made a mistake. If Dialo had any experience, he would have switched the main gun to Explosive Energy Mode in the first round, and none of this would have happened...

"Never mind, let them evacuate on their own! We'll retreat first!" Seeing that the warship was being damaged more and more, and one of its main thrusters had broken down, Dialo decisively gave the order.

Rescue is impossible. Once the Space Octopus gets close, the main and secondary guns of the surrounding warships are hampered, and even if the Close-In Weapon System and laser arrays are within striking range, their power is too small to be of any use.

The crew on that warship were different from the group whose warships had been damaged and forced to head to the Riken Race territory. Dialo had already recalled some descriptions from the documents. At this time, opening the hatch was tantamount to suicide, and escape was out of the question. They could only hope for friendly rescue.

In a standoff between the two sides, Drone could be deployed to assist in the gradual cleanup, but in this race against time, there's simply no way to attend to them.

Noticing the actions of the Duoqi Race, the hundred-meter-long Mature Form detached themselves from the warships that were almost unable to resist, carrying their Larval Form to other warships nearby.

"Stop them! Stop them from getting closer!" Dialo roared.

Those who get close to these things end up lying dead not far away; Dialo dared not risk it himself.

However, as mentioned earlier, launching a 300-meter-class Mature Form is not a significant burden for Electromagnetic Megastructure. Therefore, in this short period of time, the next 300-meter-class Mature Form has already rushed towards us.

"Damn it! Main gun, aim and stop it!" This behemoth poses a greater threat and must be dealt with first.

But what he could think of, the Swarm had naturally thought of long ago as well.

After the series of battles just now, the Swarm has collected all the relevant data on the Duoqi Race main cannon. The time required for the main cannon to gather energy and fire, from one stage to the next, is now accurate to the millisecond level.

Meanwhile, countless Overseer of all kinds were watching them.

So, the instant the Energy Cannon fired, the clump of Space Octopus suddenly opened its body on its own, and its dozen or so tentacles, crackling with Electric Arc, contracted and expanded, moving its body a tiny distance to the side at an extremely fast speed.

The energy beams arrived in an instant, but this very short distance caused over 90% of the projectiles to miss the Mature Form, with only two hitting it and causing explosions and burns.

This mode of movement, much like a real octopus swimming in the sea, is the movement method of Atmospheric Creature, the precursors to the Space Octopus. Atmospheric Creature didn't have Plasma Engine organs back then, but they were still able to catch up with falling Zerg Meteor using this method, demonstrating their considerable explosive power.

Thanks to this sudden display, it evaded most of the shelling. Although it still took two hits, the energy beams in the Explosive Energy Mode were really too limited in their ability to withstand and absorb the damage from the Biological Armor that could resist and absorb space radiation.

However, Dialo hadn't expected to kill it with the blaster in the first place, and now he had achieved his goal, though the effect wasn't quite ideal.

Although the 300-meter-class Mature Form was slowed considerably after being hit by only two shells, it was still quite fast. However, at this speed, it would not be able to get close to the Duoqi warship before the second salvo of main guns.

But by this time, the Electromagnetic Megastructure had finished warming up and entered full power mode. The third 300-meter-class Mature Form was launched before the second round of shelling!

Dialo was faced with a dilemma: which enemy should he fire this salvo at?

After much deliberation, neither attacking nor targeting seems to be the best option.

By the time the main guns are fully charged for the second one, it will be very close to our warship. If we can't kill it, it will be practically useless. As for the third one, after witnessing the Space Octopus's small-scale teleportation skills, Dialo wasn't confident he could hit it completely and stop it from getting closer.

With time running out, Dialo didn't have much time to think, so he ultimately chose a compromise. He used half of the main cannons and the secondary cannons in Penetration Mode to attack the second Mature Form, while the remaining main cannons used Explosive Energy Mode to attack the third Mature Form.

The scattered red beams split into two directions, shooting towards their respective targets. The second Mature Form, riddled with seven or eight gaping holes, crashed into the propeller of a warship. The third Mature Form, however, nimbly dodged all the shells fired at it due to the reduced number of projectiles aimed at it. Although the dodging slowed it down, it still approached the Duoqi warship at a faster speed than the second Mature Form.

The result of this round of shelling was extremely unsatisfactory. The back of the second Mature Form had split open, spewing out Mature Form and Larval Form over 100 meters in length. It seemed that the warship, whose propulsion system had also been damaged, was doomed.

But the worse news is that a fourth 300-meter-long Mature Form is already on its way.