The first batch of mechanical insects was clearly 'split' off directly from Wen Jing, while the new batch was produced from this batch of mechanical insects.
Expanding [ Standardization Meme ] on a highly advanced homeworld is far more efficient than from a barren planet.
Skip the time spent smelting materials, and directly reshape the material after absorbing it.
The energy transformed from the matter of the entire Hengshou Tower by external attacks formed the first initial swarm of insects produced by Wen Jing.
The guardian insects infected with [ Myriad Transformation Furnace ] are released to the surface to attract fire, while production insects with [ Advanced Rapid Digestion ] expand underground, devouring matter and reproducing.
"Attack!"
The command post's attack landed, knowing it wouldn't have much effect on Wen Jing's main body, so the firepower was concentrated on the insect swarm. This time, not only the surface insects, but also the underground production insects were targeted by underground defensive weapons.
"Boom boom boom!!"
A carpet bombing left the surface of the area centered on Hengshou Tower riddled with holes, exposing the city's underground pipe structures.
The construction of this home planet consumed a lot of precious resources, but for a mature interstellar civilization, even if the home planet were destroyed, it would not be considered a major blow.
However...
"Click... Scratch..."
The next moment, the sound of insect limbs rubbing together rang out again from all directions.
Under a barrage of fire, 50% of the mechanical insects were rendered inoperable and rendered unusable due to structural collapse.
But the remaining surviving parts had an even brighter sheen on their surface.
Everyone at the highest command could recognize that it was a characteristic of the blue crystal after it had been charged.
"How is that possible? How can these units, assembled and remanufactured by mechanical units, still possess energy conversion capabilities?"
The first batch of mechanical insects was produced by Wen Jing himself, and they could at least consider it a unique technology of a Level 3 civilization. However, the next batch was produced right under their noses, and they couldn't find any suspected functional modules.
"The growth of these mechanical units must be curbed; they will reach exponential growth in six standard hours and will exceed our evacuation capacity!"
Three more waves of overwhelming firepower were unleashed in a short period of time, but the number of mechanical insects eliminated in each wave decreased.
In contrast, new mechanical insects are constantly being produced.
The numbers on the command center display screen jumped rapidly; in the time it took them to launch five waves of attacks, the number of swarms had jumped from two digits to four digits.
"That's not all..."
Error indicators started appearing in the background detection window.
The alarmingly low temperature spread from the tentacle of a mechanical insect that touched the ground, disrupting the function of nearby sensors.
On the other side, laser pulses were released from the mouthparts of another mechanical insect, retaliating against the incoming kinetic weapons.
Further away, the mechanical insect that had absorbed the most energy and grown the largest began to charge outward and expand. When its forelimbs swung, they left fleeting black cracks in the air, and everything it touched felt as if it had been sliced by an invisible blade.
As time progressed, the Standardization Meme 'unlocked' its second feature bit.
In addition to infecting the guard insects, which are used entirely for combat, with different attack characteristics, Wen Jing infected another batch of production insects with the Myriad Transformation Furnace. This not only significantly improved their defense but also allowed them to absorb all surrounding material energy for regeneration.
"The functionality is still being added..." The commander's limbs went numb, and he trembled uncontrollably. "Has the command signal been deciphered yet?"
"They use a special network form based on a different technological approach, and the low-temperature interference is too severe. If there were 134 more standards, perhaps it could be deciphered and blocked..."
"134 standard hours? Too late..."
From space, a region of the planet appears to have been parasitized, visibly covered by swarms of mechanical insects.
As the saying goes, one side grows while the other grows. The previously estimated growth rate was based on the premise that their attacks could still eliminate a certain number of swarms. Now that the swarm's capabilities have increased, the growth rate has completely spiraled out of control.
The commander struggled to remain Calmness: "Immediately scan their energy chains, and sever their power cores and network nodes!"
"Yes!"
A massive scanning network instantly enveloped the battlefield.
They searched for wireless power transmission signals, invisible energy conduits, and even signs of quantum entanglement power... Supporting so many units and functions would inevitably require a massive energy supply.
However, the result was a blank.
"This is impossible!" The conclusion brought the energy experts at the command center to the brink of collapse, "This violates the law of conservation of mass-energy! Even the most advanced micro fusion reactors or vacuum zero-point energy extractors leave traces of energy conversion and waste heat emissions; how could they have nothing at all!"
Each mechanical insect is like an isolated perpetual motion energy source.
They release frost, pulses, and Spatial Cutting without any detectable energy consumption, as if their power arose out of thin air from the universe.
A belated sense of dread crept into the hearts of everyone in the command center.
What had previously puzzled them, what seemed like a joke, is now revealing its true terrifying nature.
Unfathomable energy means an uninterrupted supply.
They were facing what appeared to be a massive army that could theoretically fight indefinitely and was constantly growing stronger.
Following an urgent and intense strategic discussion, the Supreme Commander issued the final decision:
"Abandon the capital planet, execute an emergency evacuation of the civilization, and then use a 'regional spacetime solidification field' to seal the target and its creations within the solidified spacetime!"
While we cannot comprehend the other side's technology, at least based on current indications, the birth of the new mechanical insects still requires a source of material.
In near-Earth orbit, a massive force field generator began to roar, and an invisible barrier began to close, prompting all the Changheng people on the planet to urgently evacuate into space.
Their actions, of course, did not escape Wen Jing.
Soon, the battlefield changed again.
The mechanical insects, which were originally scattered outwards, received the command, abandoned their outward expansion, and rapidly converged.
"Click click click..."
They attract, rely on, and reconstruct each other. Dozens or even hundreds of mechanical insects combine to form the shape of giant insects with rough structures but enormous bodies in just one or two minutes.
In addition to the memes that the original small insect possessed, the newly formed giant insect is now also considered an individual, infected with a new meme.
The pitch-black alien insects, which had remained motionless since landing, Extreme Speed emerged from the crater beneath the Hengshou Tower and, together with the newly formed giant insects, chased after the retreating ships of the Boundary-Breaking Empire.
"Hurry! Hurry! Close the force field!"
The evacuation team was under extreme tension; the energy tower was operating at overload, and its power was pushed to the limit.
On one of the last ships in the retreating fleet, which was about to miss its chance to escape the force field, the civilization program of the Boundary-Breaking Empire was put into practice.
The Changheng members inside the ship were entwined, prepared to sacrifice themselves there.
"Buzz..."
Invisible ripples spread throughout the universe, and the spacetime solidification field finally closed.
This is also an application of regional distortion field technology, but this distortion field suppresses not the strong forces between particles, but the speed of light.
Once formed, the speed of light in this region will decrease Extreme Speed, dropping from 300,000 kilometers per second to just one kilometer per second within three seconds.
At that time, everything inside the force field will appear to the outside world like an insect trapped in amber, moving ten thousand times slower, with communications interrupted, missiles stalled, and energy beams crawling at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It worked!
The thought had just crossed their minds.
The next moment, a scene that terrified all the people of the Boundary-Breaking Empire appeared.
At the edge of the closed force field, space rippled, and thousands of giant fused insects, shimmering with a ghostly blue light, did not linger at all. In the instant before the speed of light decreased, they nimbly leaped out and broke through the force field.
Chapter 206
In an instant, the interior of the Boundary-Breaking Empire's warship was as silent as the space outside.
The cage, built at the cost of massive energy reserves, was thus easily breached.
It can't even be said that the other party cracked it; rather, they simply stepped out, as if crossing a low threshold.
After escaping the force field, the swarm of mechanical insects infected by the Gravity Silk Extreme Speed approached the fleet, resembling eerie blue demons.
"Unleash full firepower to intercept!"
The commander broke the silence.
The next moment, countless launch ports appeared on the sides of the warship, like a hedgehog's quills.
Millions of tiny kinetic energy projectiles were accelerated and launched by magnetic rails, forming a cloud of metal colliding and bursting in front of the swarm.
Following the barrage of comments, streaks of golden light appeared in space; these were plasma spears formed by high-energy lasers being focused by a strong magnetic field, capable of scorching and striking areas with energy.
At the same time, a strong repulsive field that isolates energy and matter was generated on the surface of all the warships.
However, neither attacks nor repulsive fields could stop the swarm's advance.
The metal cloud briefly inflicts damage before being quickly absorbed by the Myriad Transformation Furnace effect.
When the plasma spear struck the 'giant insects,' they scattered like fireworks, returning to their basic form of over a meter in length.
The attacks that were originally destined to hit all landed on the Afterimage left by [ Phase Jump ].
The next moment, the mechanical swarm reappeared on the other side of the warship's repulsion field.
This process is not penetration, but rather a direct crossing across spatial dimensions.
"Bang bang bang..."
The sound of raindrops striking the metal eaves echoed on the hull of the nearest warship.
The warship's hull employs deflection shield technology, which can deflect incoming energy attacks, causing physical projectiles to slide in an irrelevant direction.