Chapter 534: Chapter 390 The Path Opens Again_2
As the number of Plasma Bugs coming through the passage increased, everyone at Command Headquarters turned pale.
At this time, one of the staff suggested, "Last time, the Rooster Unit successfully executed a beheading mission. I think this time we should still arrange for the Zodiac Units to handle it."
"Judging from the current situation, the number of Plasma Bugs that has appeared this time is definitely more than the sum of all previous appearances, so I believe that relying solely on the Rooster Unit probably won’t be able to quickly deal with those Plasma Bugs."
Hearing another staff member’s rebuttal, the others thought it over. Assigning the hunting mission entirely to the Rooster Unit wasn’t out of the question, but there might be time constraints, and the longer they stayed there, the greater their chance of exposure. Therefore, for safety’s sake, Command Headquarters would surely need to arrange for more personnel to participate, to ensure nothing goes awry.
"Otherwise, why not send out all twelve Zodiac Units? Our side isn’t in danger right now, so it would be better to deal with those dangerous Plasma Bugs first."
Actually, facing the tide-like Soldier Bugs and the colossal Tank Bugs, the survivors did not feel despair, because they staunchly believed humanity was the strongest, whether they were up against middle- or small-sized prehistoric creatures or the Bug Race. Thus, most survivors were not particularly afraid of the Bug Race.
However, when the Plasma Bugs appeared, everyone began to get nervous. If those Plasma Bugs truly had the range depicted in movies, that would be the source of the survivors’ despair.
Everyone knew that in movies, Plasma Bugs could fire Plasma Bombs from the ground to attack spacecraft in outer space, so if Plasma Bugs were to gain a foothold on the ground, all countries on the surface would be within their strike range.
Kyoto’s Zodiac Units, though not necessarily the strongest team in Kyoto, had indeed appeared at many critical occasions.
No one knew whether they had read through the battle summary submitted by the Rooster Unit or consulted experts to analyze the battle situation. In any case, aside from carrying a submachine gun and a bow, their other equipment varied greatly.
After confirming that it was indeed a new space portal, Dong Tianyu employed Sword Flight to ascend to the sky and continuously approached the space portal.
Dong Tianyu realized the situation was extremely serious. As he saw the Soldier Bugs emerging like a tide from the other side of the portal, he too started to feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Dong Tianyu counted the number of Plasma Bugs and found there were over thirty on this side, and it seemed there would still be more coming out of the space portal.
Faced with this scenario, Dong Tianyu couldn’t help but want to take action and deliver them a major blow, but unexpectedly at that moment, the Zodiac Squadron arrived on the scene.
At that time, the members of the Zodiac Units below could hardly notice Dong Tianyu hidden among the clouds, whereas Dong Tianyu was able to observe the situation on the ground with the Dharma Eye he had learned in the Cave.
Initially prepared to step in himself, Dong Tianyu saw that the Zodiac Units had already arrived and were swiftly devising a plan before commencing their extermination operation.
The plan they devised was simple: they aimed to follow the previous Rooster Unit’s strategy, attacking the Plasma Bugs with arrows to blow them up. After all, eliminating the enemy from a safe distance was definitely preferable to completing the mission severely wounded or on the brink of death.
As they each found good positions to ambush from, ready to wipe the enemy out after the space portal closed, the portal suddenly contracted for a short period and then made a motion resembling regurgitation, after which countless Soldier Bugs were spewed out as if they were dumping rubbish.
This action by the space portal left many scientists at a loss, but what Kyoto was never short of were knowledgeable professors.
Although experts who studied physical science could not figure out the situation on the other side of the spatial channel, they had another idea. They hypothesized that the spatial channel was not an inanimate object but rather the mouth of a biological entity. If that were the case, the process that resembled rumination earlier could be clearly explained.
The sudden eruption of the spatial channel brought bad luck to the forces lying in ambush around it. As soon as the Soldier Bugs landed, they began to collect resources destructively from the surrounding environment. This method of collection quickly exposed the special members who had been well-hidden until that moment.
It was not until this point that Dong Tianyu realized that the ground was concealing not only the official combat teams of the twelve branches but also many civilian squads and Lone Wolves. It seemed that they were prepared to let the twelve branches’ squad lead the charge while they followed behind to take advantage of the situation.
Unfortunately, no matter how much they calculated, they did not foresee such a complication, and the difficulty had suddenly increased many times over.
However, at this point, the squad of the twelve branches had no room to retreat. Speaking to the others around them, they said, "I don’t care what mission you’re on right now, but you all know the situation. If we don’t unite, we’re likely to end up as their meal."
Hearing this member of the branches describe the situation sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Indeed, if they did not come together at this moment, they might truly not survive the next wave of attacks.
However, while forming an alliance had its place, because the Lone Wolves were accustomed to living independently, they were reticent about cohabitating with others. It was precisely this attitude that led to a decrease in their income after the emergence of the twelve branches.
As the range of destruction caused by the Bug Race expanded in the open grassland, some survivors gradually gathered together. These squads were composed either of elite hunters or well-known Lone Wolves.
When everyone had come together, a member of the twelve spoke up, "I am Charlie from the Chen Dragon group. It’s fortuitous that this accident brought us together."
Before Charlie had a chance to say more, the Soldier Bugs seemed to have discovered something and charged crazily towards their location.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the twelve branches did not consider holding their ground but instead quickly abandoned the location, shouting to the others, "Something’s wrong, let’s withdraw to safety first and then talk."
After hearing this suggestion, whether it was members of elite hunting squads or the Lone Wolves used to fending for themselves, everyone unanimously agreed. At that moment, delaying could be remedied with time, but if they lost their lives, no remedy would be of any use.
Because everyone was intent on escaping, and the Bug Race had not yet fully encircled them, the survivors on the ground managed to flee from danger unscathed.
No sooner had they reached the safety zone than the twelve branches immediately began to draft a plan. Having learned from their previous experience, members of the twelve branches’ squad produced several weapons of very unusual design.
These weapons were new experimental ones from the laboratories in Kyoto, some of which had not even been tested yet. Thus, it was necessary to bring these items along for testing in the field.
However, they were clear about the urgency of different matters. The survivors who had received weapons for testing could wait a while longer; the twelve branches had a vital task to complete.
After all, this mission was crucial to a war that concerned life and death for Kyoto.
After much deliberation, the leaders of the twelve branches decided to proceed with the plan originally devised, reasoning that only the distances had changed, so there should be no significant issue.
As the members of the twelve branches dispersed to find suitable firing positions, they completed their preparations without realizing. With a single gunshot, the giant Plasma Bugs were instantly enveloped by death.
