Response

The arriving testing personnel included forensic scientists, criminal investigators, and well-known detectives; they all wore uniformly issued white coats as they arrived at the scene.

"Everyone was killed instantly, with almost no signs of resistance!"

"It should be a combat unit that excels at stealth and ambush. The Zerg's cloaking technology is very advanced, so it's normal that they can create something like this. It's just that this fighting style has refreshed my understanding of the Zerg." In the eyes of this inspector, the Zerg are synonymous with recklessness.

"Then your previous understanding may have been biased. Perhaps this is the true style of the Zerg, but it cannot be used in the space environment."

"Agreed. In early Zerg records, especially the records of the Riken Race, the Zerg are depicted as mysterious and eerie."

"Stop with the useless talk. What other discoveries have you made? Can you deduce the appearance and abilities of these Zerg?"

The group exchanged glances and nodded. One of them said, "We've already made some progress on one of them."

"One of them?"

"That's right, at least two types of insects were used this time."

"Go on."

An investigator, turning over the body, said to the commander, "Let's start with the ones that seem promising. Look here, here, and here—there are marks from being stabbed by a sharp object." He pointed to several tears in the body's protective suit.

The commander stepped forward and took a closer look. Sure enough, there were some abnormal tears on the limbs and back of the body suit. Moreover, the tears were clean and fresh, and some were even oozing blood, indicating that they had been inflicted recently.

"Our Sentry are deployed in groups of several, standing at an angle, helping each other keep watch. To get close to them, these insects are likely to be able to hide and are also very agile. At the same time, to prevent the Sentry from sounding the alarm, they must have extremely strong communication and coordination so that they can act simultaneously."

The commander nodded in agreement. The inspector then braced himself on all fours around the corpse, adopting a prone position, and said, "That's how it suddenly attacked those poor people from behind. But our soldiers are no pushovers, so these insects must be large enough, heavy enough, and powerful enough to subdue their target instantly. Finally, like this..."

The inspector, holding a hand to a wound, mimicked a puncture. "Every action must be clean, swift, and seamless. Only in this way can the target be prevented from calling for help or issuing an alarm. They are excellent assassins, killing machines."

"You just said you had some guesses about what they look like?"

"That's right. We've seen videos of soldiers surrounding the Zerg airdrop and noticed a spider-shaped insect in them. If we enlarge this insect proportionally, it would fit the profile of the attackers."

The commander looked at the corpse on the ground, recalling the posture the inspectors had taken earlier, and then replaced it with a larger spider, matching the holes in its clothing one by one.

He nodded, agreeing with this statement.

"So what methods do we have to defend against them?" the commander asked.

The inspector stood up and shrugged. "You'd have to ask the military, but I think sonar might be able to detect them in advance."

"And what about the other kind of insect?"

"Look here, sir." Another inspector in a white coat stepped forward. He walked to the two corpses and showed them their wounds, which were in similar locations, concentrated near the head. But upon closer inspection, the commander noticed something different.

One of the dead Meto Race had a ferocious face, but his body was in a normal posture, with some signs of struggle on his clothes. Another Meto was clean-clothed, with no signs of struggle or resistance, but some parts of his body were abnormally twisted.

What's going on?

The inspector pointed to the corpse behind and said, "These are clear signs of nerve poisoning. He was poisoned first and then killed. Those Zerg have the ability to administer poisons."

"The insects I mentioned earlier are very robust; there's no need to poison them first. Therefore, we suspect that the poison was administered by a different type of insect."

"All the poisoned soldiers wore relatively simple combat clothing, with some body parts directly exposed. However, none of the soldiers wearing full-coverage combat suits were killed after being poisoned, indicating that full-coverage combat suits are effective against these poisoned Zerg."

Is there anything else?

Another investigator stepped forward, turned the body over, and pointed to a patch of exposed skin, saying, "There's a needle prick mark here, very slight, even showing signs of healing. I suspect it's from some kind of insect capable of shooting venomous stingers from a distance."

After saying that, he took out a thin needle and a laser pointer from his body, fiddled with them around the marks, and then said to everyone, "The attack came from above them. If there are no high points around these people, then these insects that can spit poisonous stingers and are capable of flight are likely to be the ones that attacked them."

"If they can actually fly, and that hasn't alerted the soldiers, simply being invisible isn't enough."

"That's right, they shouldn't be very big, and they make very little noise when they fly."

How can we defend against these insects?

"Theoretically, these insects would be relatively thin and weak, with limited frontal combat capabilities and a significant limitation in their ability to ambush. Soldiers wearing full-coverage combat suits can effectively defend against them."

"So, is there any way to treat or eliminate this neurotoxin?"

"It's hard to say. We don't know its specific components and operating mechanism right now. Perhaps we can find some residue in the bodies of these soldiers and use that to find a way to deal with it."

"Very good, any other discoveries?"

"That's all for now. Further dissection might yield new discoveries."

"The situation is urgent. You need to proceed immediately. Report to me directly if you need anything."

"Yes, sir."

After the testing personnel left, multiple laboratories were urgently established around the world. Based on the information just obtained, the commander ordered the military to make some responses and changes.

The Meto Race didn't know when the Zerg would attack again, but they hadn't been attacked all day, and the two types of Zerg that attacked were both adept at ambushes. Experts concluded that the Zerg would most likely attack again at night.

Soon, it got dark again.

The Meto soldiers were prepared; for example, everyone wrapped themselves up tightly, and even those who did not receive full-coverage combat uniforms covered their exposed skin with other clothes.

For example, sentry posts have been equipped with lighting equipment, acoustic positioning devices, fences and barbed wire, and heavy weapons.