Impact

"Fire!"

The squad Captain in charge of the operation roared, snapping his teammates out of their daze at the horrific sight. Then, accompanied by a roar, he charged towards the black tide.

The Duoqi team members had transformed into sharpshooters, their shots never missing their mark, and each shot could even take down two or three targets with a single effort. However, these attacks, when they hit the black tide, only splashed up some green "soup," failing to stop its spread at all.

In just a few seconds, the defensive line formed by the two Duoqi squads was submerged by the black tide. The roars and gunfire ceased, leaving only the increasingly intense and heart-wrenching screams of countless insects.

The Duoqi Race, watching everything through the surveillance cameras, showed surprise and fear on their faces; some of them, who suffered from trypophobia, even felt a little breathless.

But in the heat of battle, there was no time for them to let their emotions run wild. Duoqi Commander was the first to recover, and his excellent combat skills allowed him to forcefully suppress his fear. "Close all passages, all personnel assemble in the command center."

The battle-hardened Duoqi Commander understood that facing such a relentless attack, dispersing his forces would only lead to being wiped out one by one. His priority was to buy as much time as possible while simultaneously regrouping his troops, and then attempt to organize a retreat or defense.

Inside the base's passageway, metal gates closed one after another, hindering the advance of the black tide.

"Boom!" The tide crashed violently against the gate, instantly crushing the Raider that formed the waves. The remains of the "waves," mixed with a green, semi-transparent, corrosive fluid, were plastered onto the metal gate.

The stripped-down version of the Raider doesn't have venom sacs, but they themselves are the largest venom sacs, and they're very easy to access—just smash yourself to pieces.

"Sizzle, sizzle..." The bodily fluids reacted with the metal, producing a sizzling sound and emitting white smoke, while also filling the air with an unpleasant odor. Fortunately, the guests waiting for the door to open didn't care about any of this.

The corrosion was rapid; the nearly one-meter-thick metal gate was quickly breached, and the black tide surged again, crashing towards the next gate in front.

Meanwhile, on the Duoqi Race's side, the base personnel who had received the news were rapidly gathering. The combat personnel who had already arrived set up simple defensive fortifications in the various passages leading to the command room, and also deployed some heavy weapons. Although using these things in the narrow passages was somewhat like inflicting heavy casualties on both sides, they couldn't worry about that now.

"Sir, are we going to hold out here to the death?" an operator asked with some concern.

"Holding here will only lead to certain death!" The commander understood perfectly well that the terrain here made it difficult to deploy and concentrate firepower. Facing such a tidal wave of attacks, trying to defend against them was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Moreover, the entire galaxy has now been occupied by the Zerg, so a war of attrition is definitely not going to work. No matter what he does, he can only delay their demise.

Furthermore, judging from the fact that the Zerg deployed units that were completely different from those before, the commander understood that the Zerg were conducting tests. They were either developing new tactics or their previous units had some flaws and were not suitable for combat on the surface of Life Star.

The commander thought the latter was highly likely; otherwise, it would be much more efficient for the Zerg to send those Octopus Monster directly than to use these inferior goods to deplete their ammunition.

He speculated that although the Zerg primarily followed a biological route, Zerg space units, much like their large warships, were unable to land on the ground, suggesting a certain constraint.

However, he couldn't understand why those small Octopus Monster had never appeared on the surface. The commander realized that there must be some secret behind this.

It's a pity that information channels are blocked now, and intelligence can't be sent out. Otherwise, he would risk his life to make some more contribution to his tribe.

Since there's no way to sacrifice oneself for the race, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. So, it's better to try to live as long as possible. As long as you're alive, there's hope. Maybe you'll find an opportunity to send out intelligence.

"Can we contact other bases? Let's see if they have the capability to support us."

"No, our signal was blocked by the Zerg at the very beginning of the battle!"

"Let's see how many transport vehicles our base has left. Can we take all of us away at once?"

"Wait a moment, sir." The operator tapped a few times and quickly reported the numbers, "Currently, there are five Transport Craft, four Gunboat, and a total of thirty-seven armored vehicles in the base. If fully loaded, that's enough to evacuate everyone in the base."

Upon hearing the operator's report, the commander fell into deep thought. Transport Craft and Gunboat, due to their frequent use, were kept in a state of constant readiness. However, the armored vehicles, because of their low usage frequency, while undergoing regular maintenance, had an uncertain number ready for immediate deployment.

Furthermore, since the base is underground, there are two ways for the tanks to get out. One is through elevator shafts. The advantage of this method is that it can quickly reach the surface, but the number of units and vehicles that can be transported in a single elevator shaft is limited. For more than thirty tanks, it would take nearly twenty ascents and descents. This would take a lot of time and would also cause the troops to be divided. If there is an ambush on the surface, they could be attacked separately.

Another method is through underground tunnels. The base cannot handle all external interactions, especially the transportation of large modules and equipment, via elevators. Therefore, the underground base also has a tunnel that leads directly to the surface.

While transferring troops via tunnels can maximize the preservation of troop integrity, the underground passages are ten kilometers long, and their protection is far less robust than the base's outer walls. If attacked en route, they could easily become completely trapped, leaving them utterly helpless.

But there's no time to carefully consider the delays now. Let's get the tools ready first. As for the route, we'll decide later. "Dispatch combat teams three and four to cover the engineering team and get all the tanks up. The rest of you, set up the defensive line!"

Perhaps the base was designed with evacuation in mind, as the command center is not far from the hangar, elevator shaft, and tunnel entrance. However, considering the possibility of enemy intrusion from these locations threatening the command center, this short distance is exceptionally well-protected.

Leaving aside the surveillance and automatic weapons, the twenty-meter-thick metal wall between the two can withstand most heavy weapon bombardments, ensuring the safety of the command center. Furthermore, there is only one passage through this metal wall, making it a typical terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.