I Am The Swarm-Chapter 741: Collapse

The Ji commanders’ orders conflicted with their previous strategy. Initially, they aimed to capture the Swarm Empress as quickly as possible to avoid other variables.

However, upon the introduction of the J-Z-901 solution, they discovered a better option. If they reinforced this area with the gelatinous solution and added stabilizing devices, even if the ground beneath collapsed, this region would remain in place. Thus, the Swarm’s long-planned scheme would fail.

Yet, the encirclement had already shrunk significantly, and the J-Z-901 solution was still en route. To avoid excessively provoking Sarah and forcing the Swarm to trigger a collapse prematurely, the commanders decided to slow the attack temporarily. With just ten minutes, they could complete the initial soil reinforcement.

But this new plan was issued too late. Even though every Ji soldier was an excellent actor, with the encirclement already so tight, it was impossible to naturally delay for ten minutes without arousing suspicion.

Thus, some rather comical situations arose on the battlefield. For instance, Ji soldiers fled from combat for the first time, or they preemptively sealed passages with the gelatinous solution before even encountering Sarah.

These actions were too clumsy. Sarah keenly noticed the anomaly, realizing that a new variable must have emerged to cause these seemingly absurd situations.

Although the Ji fleet held the advantage in the planet’s near-orbit, the Swarm fleet hadn’t been completely eradicated. Moreover, numerous covert reconnaissance units within the planet were continuously being deployed, keeping the Ji race’s actions under constant surveillance.

The various airdropped packages launched from orbit were key surveillance targets. The Ji race had countermeasures; they understood the Swarm’s characteristics—all inconspicuous creatures might be Swarm spies.

Adhering to the principle of “better safe than sorry,” the Ji race dispatched countless miniature drones to eliminate all visible non-allied living organisms within the target area.

These thumb-sized drones could access more complex terrains to search for any possible targets. Equipped with three-centimeter-long beam-type guns, they conducted the first round of cleanup.

When encountering targets they couldn’t clear, they marked them, and soon after, appropriate armed machines, under Selina’s command, arrived to eliminate the threats.

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However, due to their size, these miniature drones couldn’t carry highly precise large instruments, limiting their detection capabilities. While they easily overwhelmed native wildlife, they struggled against Swarm reconnaissance units with both invisibility and mimicry abilities.

To minimize the Swarm’s hiding environments, the Ji race even set fire to clear all vegetation within a 300-kilometer radius. Though this indeed allowed them to discover and eliminate many Swarm units, numerous survivors continued fulfilling their duties.

Thus, when the packages containing J-Z-901 solution landed, these items, requiring special containers, immediately caught the Swarm’s attention.

By cross-referencing the obtained information, the Swarm quickly deduced what these packages were and easily guessed the Ji race’s intentions.

“Commander, the Swarm is on the move. Their Burrowing Worms are shifting positions.”

“Damn, our plan has been discovered! There are still spies we haven’t eliminated!”

“It’s normal. The Swarm has operated on that planet for so long; we can’t clear all their setups in a short time.”

“What now?”

“Proceed with the original plan. Let’s see who acts faster. Order the frontline teams to execute Plan B.”

“No problem, I hope it works.”

Large barrels of J-Z-901 solution were carried by transport robots, which sped toward the underground battlefield through the tunnels. These transport robots were equipped with anti-gravity systems, resembling flying carpets with mechanical arms, making them ideal for transportation tasks in certain environments.

Despite the Ji race’s efficient transport, the underground battlefield began to tremble. Numerous Burrowing Worms, acting as the foundation, departed, leaving the battlefield increasingly suspended. Under its own gravity, chunks of soil continuously disintegrated and fell downward.

Such extensive land movement caused each tremor to trigger massive disasters. The capillary-like tunnels surrounding the battlefield suffered first, with many collapsing successively.

The transport tunnels connecting to the surface were among them. Some transport convoys were merely cut off by collapsed soil layers, while others were directly buried.

Ultimately, only thirty percent of the transport convoy reached the designated position within the allotted time. By then, the situation was akin to a natural disaster—there was no time to equip their soldiers, let alone reinforce the soil structure.

Moreover, the Ji race faced more than just this one piece of bad news. After shifting positions, the Burrowing Worms below didn’t leave but instead charged resolutely toward the upper battlefield.

“They’re trying to detonate the high-explosive mines! Accelerate the battlefield collapse!”

These massive auxiliary units couldn’t effectively breach the radiation layer surrounding the battlefield, yet they proceeded regardless. This abnormal behavior led the Ji commanders to immediately deduce their intent.

Weapons previously intended to defend against Burrowing Worms suddenly became accomplices to the Swarm’s plan. This strategic blunder left the faces of several commanders and advisors who proposed it looking rather grim.

“Order the soldiers to accelerate, Selina, prepare the traction chains!”

Continuous thunderous explosions echoed underground. The immensely powerful high-explosive bombs not only killed and injured the Burrowing Worms but also collapsed the last solid soil layer supporting the battlefield.

Some fragments were over ten meters in diameter and weighed dozens of tons, while smaller ones were only fingernail-sized. A vast amount of rubble and soil plunged downward into the dark abyss.

The unstable foundation intensified the battlefield’s tremors, causing cracks to appear on the ground. Ji soldiers in the tunnels activated flight mode, but it was futile. The falling soil layers would drag them down unless they could escape mid-fall, otherwise, they’d face the Swarm forces below.

Some soldiers pulled out high-explosive grenades, holding them in hand. The shock from these grenades would be significantly reduced by their protective suits, ensuring even close-range explosions wouldn’t harm them. However, the grenades could create an opening for soldiers to escape when the surrounding soil layers detached. Even if they escaped the falling debris, they constantly dodged the falling mud and stones from above, which was far preferable to facing the Swarm’s encirclement.