The Trap
"Ah!" The sizzling sound turned into an even more ear-piercing buzzing sound. Several members of the Duoqi team couldn't stand it and hurriedly took off their helmets, throwing them to the ground. Fortunately, they were on Life Star, so they wouldn't feel uncomfortable even without helmets.
They shook their heads, still dazed from the shock. The sudden buzzing had caused them considerable damage; they were gagging, and some team members were even bleeding from their mouths and noses.
It took them a while to feel a little better.
"Ugh... Captain, it's EMP!" a Duoqi People shouted, but his deafness persisted, and the Duoqi Captain, dizzy and lightheaded, couldn't hear what he was saying either.
The Captain patted his head, trying to suppress his discomfort, but the intense unease still prevented him from hearing anything. The other team member, much stronger than the Captain and having been standing further back, had recovered somewhat. He laboriously moved to the Captain's side and drew an EMP symbol on the ground with his weapon.
The Captain rubbed his eyes, looked at the crooked pattern, and nodded. Although the Zerg followed the biological route, their technology in Controlled Fusion and magnetic fields was quite mature, so creating an EMP was not a difficult task for them.
He was puzzled as to why an EMP was placed here; wouldn't a high-powered bomb have been better? The All-Terrain Robot leading the way were already out of commission, sparking and completely disabled.
When the Duoqi Race left, they had already taken most of the good stuff with them. They couldn't take the large defensive structures, but they could still take some small robots if space allowed.
Therefore, all the advanced robots have been taken away, leaving behind only outdated models. Although they have some EMP protection capabilities, they still couldn't withstand such close-range attacks.
The Captain, a retired veteran who didn't want to leave his hometown, cursed under his breath as he watched the robots perform. He thought to himself that if they were the latest main battle models, they wouldn't have performed so poorly.
He picked up the helmet from the ground and tried it out; the communication equipment was broken, and they had lost contact with the command center. The veteran, accustomed to modern warfare, felt somewhat lost without long-range information support.
He suppressed his discomfort, waved his hand, and led his team toward the Zerg Storage Sac crash site. The Swarm hadn't planted a single bomb to destroy this place, so they must have a purpose, and there might be clues ahead.
Suddenly, he looked up into the distance and saw several small black dots rapidly approaching. He moved the binoculars on his helmet to his eyes, and the familiar shape and paint scheme made him recognize them as his own Drone.
It seemed to be reinforcements dispatched from the command center, but just then, a sharp whistle sounded again, growing louder as it approached. The Duoqi member looked up and saw only a small black dot rapidly enlarging.
The Captain only had time to utter a curse before the small black dot enlarged into a metal rod. The moment it fell, the Captain and his men were thrown out and lost consciousness.
The earth's crust was smashed through, and the shockwave, mixed with mud and dust, spread far and wide. Several arriving Duoqi Drone swayed in the air for a long time before finally regaining their footing.
Meanwhile, the location where the Zerg Storage Sac had fallen, including the Duoqi Race, had vanished without a trace. Dark red magma flowed from the cracks, leaving behind only a small magma pool.
From the Duoqi's squad was attacked by the EMP to the current situation, only a few minutes have passed. The range of the Swarm EMP is very small, less than 100 meters. Although the Assault Squad has lost contact, various surveillance systems further away have not been affected.
Therefore, the Duoqi center and the spectators witnessed the entire event. The EMP explosion and the high-altitude orbital metal bar drop occurred almost simultaneously, so the fate of the Assault Squad was sealed the moment they stepped into the blast radius. Even if they had turned back immediately, with the airship's electronic systems destroyed, they probably wouldn't have escaped the ensuing catastrophe.
"This is a trap!"
"Even a fool could see it without you saying it, but the question is, why would the Zerg do this?"
"Indeed, they had countless simple ways to eliminate that team, but they chose the most cumbersome one."
"Perhaps among those Duoqi, there is some important figure."
"Impossible! If he were a person of value, even if he wanted to stay, he would be forcibly taken away." The speaker was from the Duoqi Race, who were the most qualified to speak on this matter.
"Could it be that some of them are impersonating others and have already defected to the Zerg? Now the Zerg are using this method to make us think these people are dead, but in fact they have been secretly taken away by the Zerg?" Someone brainstormed and came up with a far-fetched idea.
"Impossible. If that were the case, wouldn't they just take it away openly? Do you really think Duoqi left behind could stop them?"
"That's not necessarily true. Perhaps their target isn't just those few Duoqi; they're just rehearsing to see if we've discovered their true purpose. Maybe next time they'll try to switch us out with you and me."
"Although your idea is absurd, I agree that they are conducting some kind of drill or experiment. Elena, please analyze the data from earlier."
Elena is the name of the artificial intelligence that the Epoch Clan sent to support them. It has no emotions and cannot understand absurd meanings, but analyzing data is indeed its forte.
A moment later, a mechanical voice announced, "All 191 video data points collected have been reviewed. The identities of all personnel involved in the operation are confirmed. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of their behavior over the previous 72 hours revealed no signs of camouflage. The footage of the 30 seconds preceding and following the Zerg weapon's contact with the ground, slowed down a thousandfold, showed no signs of Zerg interference. All mission members are confirmed dead."
None of the analysts doubted Elena's report, "Why would the Zerg do that?"
"Maybe they just don't want us to know what was hidden inside that projectile."
"But there's no need to go through all that trouble. Couldn't it just be destroyed on its own after landing?"
"Perhaps they are just creating a diversion."
"..."
--
The Swarm has always presented itself as a highly efficient race. They don't do unnecessary things; if they do something, it must have a purpose. Rowan consistently attempted to confuse the enemy by doing seemingly meaningless things.
However, it is not meaningless in this matter.
The one now battling the Swarm is the Epoch Clan's artificial intelligence, and all it can command are a bunch of weaklings.
This is a great opportunity to test and record how artificial intelligence responds to various situations under a high level of safety.
Thank you to reader 160305023117147300 for the Qidian Coins reward, and thank you to readers 160305023117147300 and 100 Qidian Coins respectively for the rewards.