Mech: Shattering of the Galaxy

This is not normal, this is very abnormal!

Black can confirm that its aircraft has definitely undergone special modifications.

For the jet tiger insects among the Zeg Clan, there is absolutely no possibility of the drones produced by the Shadow Base being detected.

However, the drone that just survived clearly captured four jet tiger insects lying in ambush at the base of the tree roots, and their attack angles and timing have far surpassed the normal abilities of the jet tiger insects.

"What's going on?" Mu Fan asked in a deep voice as he saw another surveillance screen go dark.

"There is something wrong with these Zeg, there must be higher-level insects nearby; otherwise, these combat species wouldn't be able to discover this master's drones."

Nearby, six drones instantly ascended, starting to converge on this area, while directional radar began overlay scanning in that region.

The six regions in front of Mu Fan's eyes instantly changed color, and simultaneously, Black's voice sounded: "Perform specific frequency scanning on the jet tiger insects, activate airborne missile deployment mode."

Four small red dots were clearly displayed on the map.

All six drones were equipped with small air-to-ground missiles from the Shadow Base. In Master Black's view, since these damned insects dared to provoke, they must be prepared for death.

A slight whistling sound came from high above, and six silvery-white drones hovered in the air, approaching the previous area.

In the area where the four jet tiger insects were located, a buzzing sound that human ears couldn't hear appeared again, a savage glint flickered in the compound eyes of the jet tiger insects, and they pulled out the pinning claws from the giant tree, quickly crawling towards the nearby tunnel opening amid rustling sounds.

They actually knew the upcoming attack couldn't be withstood and wanted to evade.

This is extremely rare within the Zeg Clan.

However, these drones had already locked onto these fast-moving insects in the radar.

The six drones immediately dove in unison, white smoke erupted fiercely from their underbellies.

In an instant, six missiles broke the sound barrier together, trailing long white tails as they shot down from high altitude,

splitting into two areas amid sharp, piercing sounds, crashing directly toward the burrows the jet tiger insects had entered.

With a puff, the slender missiles drilled into the ground, sending up towering dust clouds.

In less than 0.1 seconds, intense flames spewed out high from the burrows.

Simultaneously mixed with some charred body fragments—the scorched Zeg limbs.

"Discovered by Master Black and you still want to run?"

Seeing a shockwave rise in the vision area, a crater over 300 meters in diameter appeared, with nearby trees all toppled, a huge fire cloud rising from the spot.

Just from this scene, it's clear that whatever lower-level Zeg remains hidden in this area would likely not escape death.

The intense high temperatures and oxygen-deficient environment created by those burrowing incendiaries would definitely be the most hated survival conditions for those Zeg.

Even if there were higher-level insects that could survive, they would surely be forced out.

So those six drones continued circling high above, scanning below, but they found nothing.

"Satisfying! This is a weapon specially developed for you by Grandpa Black."

"How do you feel!"

"Surprised? Unexpected? Hahaha, this master is simply irreplaceable."

Black said excitedly, feeling that its weapons being so effective was surely a merit-worthy thing to show off to its host?

However, Mu Fan did not show a pleased or joyful expression; he frowned and said, "Won't this scale of attack trigger a reaction from the Zeg Clan?"

"Hmm..."

Black's excited tone immediately halted and wanted to avoid this topic, "I was careless, from now on, deploy more reconnaissance ships, double the number of released reconnaissance drones, double the detection range."

Hearing these satisfactory countermeasures, Mu Fan silently nodded.

Little did he know, when those burrowing incendiaries exploded, besides the four killed jet tiger insects, two flat insects hidden beneath the humus were also consumed by flames.

These flat insects emitted a final, faint, and sharp buzzing sound before dying, clearly transmitting it through the roaring explosions to a distant place.

In the Primitive Forest that neither Black nor Mu Fan could observe, these two shrill bug calls were only the start of numerous resonances, as mysterious information began spreading deeper at a speed beyond sound waves.

A rustling sound instantly arose in the farther parts of the forest.

And in the fourth-layer area where Mu Fan hadn't reached, under the almost impenetrable canopy, a cruel red gaze suddenly lit up like countless stars dotted in the night, and shadows rose from beneath the canopy.

The mysterious pheromones had already been transmitted to their spinal nerve centers within seconds.

These Zegs, with their outlines indistinct, seemed invisibly unified by a giant hand.

The savage red gazes blinked simultaneously, then scattered instantly, as a black flood began surging under the canopy's shadows toward the periphery.

As for the Fifth Layer and the rarely-trodden Sixth Layer areas, the disturbances coming from them were known to none.

...

What puzzled Mu Fan was that, since Black's attack, for two consecutive days, they hadn't discovered any trace of the insects, as if they had disappeared overnight.

Though it appeared safe, Mu Fan's expression grew more solemn by the day, and Black's alert level was elevated to the highest.

The Zeg were truly born hunters evolved for slaughter and predation.

They were ruthless, cold, and possessed absolute order and discipline, lacking only the fear innate to other living creatures.

These fearless organisms completely went into hiding, and for every day they remained unseen, the level of threat continued to increase.

With the lesson from last time, the reconnaissance ship's altitude was now increased by 50%, and dozens of small gunboats were arranged around the fleet body for additional security.

Meanwhile, to further distribute risk, Black began releasing reconnaissance fleets in five more directions.

Even so, two days passed without Black making any gains.

"According to the system risk assessment, our danger index is continuously rising, these cunning and ugly bugs!" Black said through gritted teeth.

Although it won the first encounter, it immediately fell into a passive position.

This clearly showed that the insects had become cautious of their presence.

However, things changed on the ninth day of Mu Fan's reconnaissance!

In the darkest hour before dawn, the temporary base built at the boundary of the Second and Third Layer regions had fully taken its form. Barely after Mu Fan's reconnaissance fleet took off, several protruding Earth Dragons suddenly moved towards the metal walls on the outer edge.

When they were over a hundred meters away from the high-voltage electric fence, those towering "Earth Dragons" abruptly split open, with dust raining down, revealing dozens of gigantic and deep pits, from which black shadows began to emerge.

Simultaneously, a visible brownish slippery Insect Moss began rapidly spreading outward.

It turned out to be a main battle marker of the Zeg Clan—Insect Moss!

In fact, this was the fringe of the Second Layer region—Mu Fan and Black couldn't even find a trace of Insect Moss at the edge of the Third Layer.

And now, they appeared in large numbers.

At that moment, countless bright red dots suddenly appeared on the otherwise empty radar in the temporary base.