"Look, this worm line is clearly opposed to the civilization's defensive line. There are no worms in a large area outside the defensive line. If we rashly go out like this, we will definitely attract the attention of all the worms, and we might even become the target of all the worms' attacks."
"What can we do? We can't just stay here forever," Li Zhixiong asked.
"Dear Old Li, aren't you known as the Little Zhuge' of the military? You shouldn't be asking me, someone who lowers the average IQ, about this kind of thing."
"I will observe the celestial phenomena tonight and cast a divination; a brilliant plan will then unfold."
"Alright, alright, it's installed. Let's think of something quickly. This is never a safe zone. We need to find a way out through the wormhole. Every Academician Zhong."
"Actually, I have a little idea, I don't know if it will come in handy," Li Zhixiong said with a bit of confidence.
"Oh, you really are Little Zhuge! Hurry up and tell me, if your idea works, I promise I won't laugh at your thick skin anymore."
"It's actually very simple."
"Speak up, speak up, what are you dawdling about?"
"We can create a small, localized disruption. Once the swarm is thrown into disarray, many Zerg will break away from this swarm line. We can then follow them away. Once we're outside this swarm line, there aren't as many Zerg as here, so we'll have enough space to navigate. If we're careful, we might even avoid encountering the swarm altogether."
"Hmm, what Little Zhuge said makes a lot of sense, but how do we create this chaos?" Academician Zeng asked.
"Academician, what are the Zerg swarms most interested in?"
"It seems like there's nothing they're interested in."
" Zhuge Xiong, insects don't distinguish between male and female. Your method of getting a female insect won't work, hahaha."
"Shut up, I'm being serious. The Zerg swarm is most interested in civilization; they're interested in everything civilized."
"That's right, Little Zhuge Little Zhuge, you truly live up to your name!"
"You flatter me, Academician. We just need to detach a portion of these warships, then abandon our bio-armor while the swarm isn't paying attention, and run to an open area. The swarm will inevitably chase after us, and we can take advantage of the chaos to escape the swarm's antagonistic line. Once we're out of that antagonistic line, things will be much easier."
" Zhuge Xiong, separating a portion of the Reaper is not a problem, but the separated Reaper all look the same. What if the Zerg swarm discovers that there's a problem here too?"
"You're still not convinced that you're lowering the average IQ? Warships in warp drive are undetectable under optical conditions. The swarm also has eyes. Academician Xiao has also said that the swarm uses light to perceive the world, but their wavelength is wider than that of humans. So the swarm only knows that there are objects moving at high speed, but it's impossible for them to see what is moving. After all, they are not a technological civilization and don't have as many methods as we do."
"Understood, Zhuge Xiong. I admire you. I promise I will never laugh at your thick skin again, hahaha."
"I'll fight you to the death..."
Since entering the Insect Zone, the four-dimensional portals of the fleet have been closed. All actions are pre-programmed by the computer. If it's not a complex war, these simple problems are perfectly manageable for the computer. Their logic has always been to disperse and follow the main ship. Now the situation has changed, and they must find a way to transmit information to the other Reaper so that the computers in the other Reaper can change their programs.
Chen Peng brought his flagship close to a nearby warship, and the two ships made direct contact. Electricity was quickly transmitted without alerting the swarm. Although the Reaper were completely insulated, they had specially opened some concealed interfaces to receive electromagnetic signals in order to cope with the complexities of space. This time, the interfaces were even more concealed, only opening when the two warships made contact, for the two ships to exchange messages.
The information was transmitted in less than a second. The Reaper's computer immediately modified its program and transmitted it to other Reaper in the same way.
A thousand Reaper disguised as insects broke away from the already loosely organized group and scattered among other insect swarms, now more than a light-year away from the academicians. After staying there for half a month, these thousand ships simultaneously entered warp drive without the insect swarms noticing, rushing towards the outside of the insect ray.
The Reaper's actions did not cause any disturbance among the Zerg swarm. During its warp drive, the Reaper abandoned its bio-armor and reverted to its original form, which the Zerg still did not notice. When the Reaper broke through the Zerg swarm, some of the Zerg finally made a move. Suddenly, the Reaper stopped and launched several volleys of spatial cannon attacks at the Zerg swarm, while also dropping tens of thousands of energy orbs.
The attack from the space cannon and the explosion of the energy ball immediately caused a huge uproar among the Zerg swarm. Upon seeing the civilized warship, the Zerg swarm reacted as if they had seen their mortal enemy, swarming out wave after wave like a hornet's nest that had been disturbed. The fleet immediately turned around and advanced, with hundreds of trillions of Zerg swarms chasing after it.
"Our chance has come, let's go!" Li Zhixiong shouted.
The disguised Reaper mingled with the Zerg swarm and headed forward, quickly escaping the Zerg's range. The thousand decoy Reaper ahead, under the control of automated programs, immediately split into a thousand different directions, while the Zerg swarm dispersed into even more parts, scattering across the starry sky like an exploding firework.
The fleet moved silently to the outermost edge of the swarm and sailed toward one of the outermost warships. Ostensibly, it was pursuing them, but in reality, it was taking advantage of the chaos to escape. The swarm pursued them for a long time, with more and more swarms from other star systems joining in along the way. Soon, the first Reaper was surrounded by the swarm.
This was the first close-quarters battle between the Reaper and the Zerg swarm. Unable to perform warp drive, the Reaper displayed formidable combat power, raining energy orbs down on the Zerg swarm and blasting it into pieces. However, the Zerg swarm was simply too large, and the shockwaves from the energy orbs weakened quickly after killing and injuring more than a dozen layers of the swarm.
The same applied to the antimatter bombs. The energy shockwaves were quickly weakened by the layers of the swarm, and the Reaper was beyond saving. However, the computer did not give up. After destroying all the energy orbs and antimatter in a short time, a space attack followed. But even the most powerful shockwaves could not kill all the swarms.
If there were ten thousand Reaper here, they might be able to create a defensive perimeter, leaving the Zerg's sharp teeth nowhere to bite. But now there's only one. The space cannon needs time to charge up. After firing a few times, the Zerg seem to have discovered the Reaper's weakness: the Reversed State Armor is impenetrable, but the space cannon's exit is a good place to attack. This huge opening, with a diameter of one kilometer, opens after each charge and closes immediately after the attack ends.