Zheng Jinren stared at the underground model and ran through the possibilities for a moment. The red trail had already crossed the preset interception sector and was rapidly moving away through the complex rock strata.
He raised a hand to stop the pursuit order the staff officer was about to issue.
"Forget it. Stop the pursuit."
The staff officer froze, his fingers still resting on the console.
"We're giving up on this target?"
Zheng Jinren shook his head.
"It's already left this round's kill zone. There's no point in continuing the pursuit."
He paused, his gaze shifting to a deep passage off to the side that led toward the base's outer perimeter.
"Have both machines move to the backup ambush positions. Shut down active detection, maintain silence, and wait for the next one."
The staff officer immediately nodded.
"Understood!"
The fourth ambush team's attempt was declared a failure, but the two Earth Dragon Type Ones did not return.
Thousands of meters underground, returning, along with the drones involved, meant a lengthy expenditure of time and resources.
The two robots quickly changed their mission and went dormant where they were, waiting for a "dragon" destined to cross their path in the fighting to come, though the odds were extremely low.
Over the next several hours, reports continued to arrive from the underground battlefield.
"Seventh ambush team lost the target. The Burrowing Earth Dragon changed direction before entering the ambush zone."
"Ninth ambush team's target skirted the blast radius and burrowed into an abandoned mining stratum. The geological structure is too complex to pursue."
"Twelfth ambush team encountered a high-hardness rock vein. The lead unit's arrival was delayed, and the target has already passed the preset node."
"Fifteenth ambush team completed the first detonation. The target escaped with severe injuries. The support