Chapter 80: The Emergence of Starship Worms!

"Captain, there are fifteen soldier worms on the left flank, four hundred meters away."

"There are also over thirty on the right flank, six hundred meters away."

"The rear is secure, no worms within one kilometer."

As they moved forward, Zhou Yuan would occasionally receive reports from his nine team members, who were cautious and alert as if facing a formidable enemy.

This was typical of rookies—they were afraid of making mistakes and preferred to be extra cautious.

Zhou Yuan didn't let his team relax; instead, he urged them to remain vigilant.

Instilling caution as a habit might just save their lives at some point, and that's what he had been doing all along.

Half an hour later, the team arrived at Stone Lake.

Stone Lake was a barren land located to the right of the Garden of Life.

There wasn't much sand on the wasteland; instead, it was covered in rocky banks. Numerous rocky banks gathered together, forming a stony surface, hence the name "Stone Lake."

Compared to deserts, places like this were more likely to have worm nests.

Worms wouldn't dig their nest entrances near deserts, as a random sandstorm could bury the nest.

"Keep your eyes wide open and search carefully."

Zhou Yuan used binoculars to scan Stone Lake and then signaled to proceed.

"Buzz!"

"Drip, drip!"

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan's combat device vibrated, and the red light kept flashing.

"What the heck, I already have a mission!" Zhou Yuan's expression turned serious as he opened the combat device.

The red light indicated an emergency mission, while the vibration meant the mission information had been received.

[Enter Level 1 combat readiness. All special operations units are to immediately return to the fortress.]

"Level 1 combat readiness?!" Zhou Yuan was taken aback and immediately shouted to Coffee and Demon King, "Communication soldier, inform the transport plane that we need to return now!"

Entering Level 1 combat readiness was no small matter.

There were four levels of combat readiness, with Level 1 being the highest.

Even when the fortress was under attack by a worm tide, it wouldn't enter Level 1 combat readiness. Level 2 was considered the limit for normal situations.

"Could something have happened at the fortress...?" Zhou Yuan's face tightened, and his heartbeat quickened.

Today was September 15th, the day the large communication window opened.

Could it be that the fortress had been breached by the worm tide?

That couldn't be possible!

The fortress was well-equipped, with not only conventional weapons but also strategic weaponry capable of wiping out all life on Mars.

Even if the worm tide was too massive, the fortress still had the strategic nuclear option to eradicate the planet. How could it be overrun?

"Captain, what's happening?"

"My combat device's red light is on, and so are yours. It means we've received an emergency mission!"

"An emergency mission? Really?"

The team members gathered around Zhou Yuan, talking excitedly.

As they weren't in command, they only knew there was an emergency mission but hadn't received the mission information.

"Silence!"

"I don't need your chatter; I only need you to follow orders!"

"For now, rest in place and wait for the transport plane!"

"Yes, sir!"

Upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words, everyone closed their mouths and sat quietly, waiting.

At that moment, Zhou Yuan opened the combat device and checked the mission details.

"Starship Worm!"

When he saw the mission details, Zhou Yuan's pupils contracted, and he instinctively stood up.

The fortress intelligence department had sent him a photo.

The protagonist in the photo was a super giant worm, resembling a legless golden beetle with a dark brown shell.

It had two pairs of wings that formed a cross shape when spread out, resembling dragonfly wings.

Underneath the wings, there were rows of openings on the lateral abdomen, emitting a faint blue glow, resembling energy vents.

He knew it was a Starship Worm!

The Arachnis insect species had many methods for colonization, but using Starship Worms for transportation was undoubtedly the most convenient and fastest.

Once the Queen and Sandshell Insects were transported to the target planet, that planet would quickly become a colonial planet for the insect species, turning into a desolate worm planet.

"An adult Starship Worm!"

Zhou Yuan continued reading, realizing that the Starship Worm was enormous.

It was nearly a kilometer long and around three hundred meters tall.

It was propped up in a valley, its massive body towering above the height of the valley, undoubtedly an adult Starship Worm.

It was discovered on Pluto by the mechanical troops, who took this photograph.

When the mechanical troops were clearing Pluto, they stumbled upon the Starship Worm in this valley.

The mechanical troops initially intended to capture the Starship Worm, but when they discovered it, the Starship Worm also noticed them.

The Starship Worm released a swarm of soldier insects from its body, blocking the path of the mechanical troops, before departing itself.

According to the commander of the witnessing troops, the Starship Worm ascended to several hundred meters just with a flap of its wings.

When the Starship Worm emitted a pale blue glow from its lateral abdomen, it transformed into a streak of blue light and disappeared, only to reappear on the distant horizon.

"So that's it!"

After reading the mission intelligence and requirements, Zhou Yuan suddenly understood.

The Starship Worm was most likely going to pick up the Brain Parasite.

The Brain Parasite's telepathic communication spanned across star systems, so calling for reinforcements would not be difficult.

However, the Starship Worm didn't expect that the Brain Parasite had died several days ago. Instead of receiving the Brain Parasite, it was discovered by the mechanical troops.

Its appearance caused a massive earthquake within the Federation forces.

Did this mean that the insects had the ability to travel through space?

Didn't this imply that the insects could invade colonial planets and even Earth at any time?

The Federation's high-ranking officials couldn't sit still.

To them, capturing one hundred insect planets was less important than killing a Starship Worm. It represented the strategic might of the insect species.

Therefore, all starship fleets not currently engaged in emergency missions were mobilized to track the Starship Worm.

A net was cast, and indeed, the starship fleet managed to locate it.

The Starship Worm seemed tired and stopped after entering the GJ-1 galaxy.

It landed on a planet called Hydora.

Hydora was larger than Earth and possessed an abundance of rare radioactive ore veins, making it highly valuable for development.

However, the GJ-1 galaxy was the territory of the insect species, so the Federation had never considered attacking Hydora.

Due to the strategic importance of the Starship Worm, the Federation's high command couldn't afford to ignore whether Hydora had become an insect planet.

The starship fleet blockaded Hydora, and the mechanized troops landed on the planet.

The mission this time was to capture the Starship Worm alive.

Of course, due to the high mobility of the Starship Worm, the mission did not explicitly require a live capture.

If possible, they would capture it alive; if not, they would kill it!

In any case, no matter the cost, they couldn't allow the Starship Worm to leave Hydora alive.