Chapter 325: Chapter 325
325: Chapter 105: Take Over 325: Chapter 105: Take Over The first to enter the shaft were some micro-robots.
Most of these micro-robots were about five centimeters long, closely resembling six-legged spiders.
At this size, the robots not only retained reconnaissance capabilities but also had a certain degree of information processing abilities.
At the same time, a type of linear robot also entered.
This robot could easily be mistaken for a multi-legged creature like a house centipede.
These special robots were actually data lines, with electronic muscle fibers wrapped around their exteriors—a lower-tier product of advanced synthetic muscle fibers, rarely used in a Martial Artist’s body but sufficient for civilian use or on noncombat equipment.
On the outside were pairs of mechanical legs.
It was one kilometer long, with signal transmitting and receiving devices at both ends, capable of pathfinding and maintaining smooth communication underground.
Of course, despite being “non-combat equipment,” the electronic muscle fibers were also capable of providing a considerable amount of strength.
This thing had only a few centimeters in radius, but its strength far exceeded that of the “Anaconda” and “Senran” of the Old Era.
Even a Martial Artist might be tripped up by this data line, or even strangled to death.
The Martial Artists had also updated their equipment.
Now, the height of the Mobile Cavalry had been reduced from over two meters to less than one meter sixty, making their entire bodies appear more stout.
Some Martial Artists had even changed to spider-like prosthetic limbs more suitable for the cave environment.
Their radar components were also uniformly replaced with narrow-band sonar—just like bats.
These devices, along with the previous drones, formed a powerful reconnaissance network.
This would help them to identify enemies in the unknown darkness.
Three Life-Chasing Cavalry were the first to enter.
C·Shivaji-21 followed closely behind.
But soon, C·Shivaji-21 encountered them again.
Several Life-Chasing Cavalry had arrived at the first fork in the road.
On the rock wall, they saw two very small QR codes.
These QR codes were engraved in a very inconspicuous place, easily overlooked if not carefully observed.
“What’s this?” asked C·Shivaji-21.
The Life-Chasing Cavalry shook their head, “I haven’t participated in the Burrow Dragon containment mission before, so I’m not sure.
I guess it might be a way to mark the path, but there is no record of it in the data.
Maybe it’s just something this group of Burrow Dragons do.”
These rangers served directly under King Aqini, constantly targeted Earth’s famed heroes, and suffered high casualty rates.
Although Burrow Dragons were important, they were not strong in combat and relied heavily on their specialized cavernous environments.
Compared to the local rangers, this group of King Aqini’s rangers lacked such experience.
“Making physical markings instead of memorizing the map?” pondered C·Shivaji-21, “That’s not very smart.
True, not relying on memory can prevent information from being extracted through interrogation, but it exposes the symbol system to the enemy, giving them a chance to decode it.
While they spoke, three flocks of drones rushed out toward different forks in the path.
A moment later, they had intelligence.
“‘The middle and right paths are impassable,’ ‘there are landmines on the right path’—probably electromagnetic pulse weapons—then ‘the left path can go downwards,'” said C·Shivaji-21.
“Record these two symbols.
These symbols must represent the information mentioned earlier in some form and could be decrypted using the power of supercomputers remotely.
If we encounter similar codes again, we should handle them in the same way.” ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveIꜰire.net
The old man and Scott continued walking downward.
Scott, still shaken, leaned against the wall.
Just moments ago, there had been a rumbling that shook the earth.
Scott feared he’d be buried alive and was truly frightened.
The old man, on the other hand, comforted him, “It’s just the stirrings of space-based weapons.
They’re probably trying to use the seismic waves to estimate the general information about our cave.
As Burrow Dragons know, after every seismic wave, there’s a need to prepare for relocation and interdiction, and, if necessary, to prepare a priority list for evacuation.”
“I can understand… but does this happen often?
The Protectors are so extravagant,” Scott said.
“Just throwing out the trash,” the old man sighed.
“My parents told me that at the end of the Old Era, humanity enjoyed supreme glory.
Human shadows appeared in every corner of the Earth, even spilling into orbit.
Trash often fell into designated desert areas in the form of ‘meteors’…”
Scott was stunned, “Why?”
“Back then, trash was just trash, unlike now where it’s used as a weapon.” The old man shrugged, a gesture made particularly pronounced by his stature.
He continued, “Back then, everyone needed a clean outer space…”
“The end of the Old Era, huh…?”
“Before the secret wars of heroism and all that,” the old man sighed.
“Nowadays, everyone is more concerned about the Sublimation War.
But for someone my age, the secret wars, even earlier history, are just as important.
My parents were nostalgic for the era when humanity was like one big family until the day they died.”
Scott sighed, “I don’t know where I can learn about this history.”
“Young man, if you don’t mind my old chatter, I could talk to you about it while we walk,” the old man turned and continued forward, “But we still need to run.”
The two ran for a few minutes.
Suddenly, the tunnel shook again.
Startled like a frightened bird, Scott clung to the wall, “What’s happening now?”
The old man stopped, gazed upward, and said dreamily, “I wonder how many Houndhawks were killed this time.”
“Judging by the vibrations, it should be our landmines,” said the old man.
“I hope it’s not some drone.”
C·Shivaji-21’s breathing light flickered with red anger.
He felt as though he had been tricked.
Those QR codes, indeed, pointed to some kind of symbol, a logical system of some sort.
But it seemed that the symbol system had no direct connection with the environment of the tunnels.
The Burrow Dragons might as well have continuously carved “The moon shines bright before my bed,” “It seems like frost upon the ground,” “I look up to the moon, the same moon,” “As I think of home and feel profound.” Letting an Internal Strength Master judge, supercomputers trying to decode it based on semiotics would easily conclude: “This is a system with regular symbols.” Yet, the pattern of these symbols had no relation to “which side of the cave has no bombs.”
If you tried to make a literal connection and then choose your path based on it…
You’d likely end up just .
These QR code symbols seemed like they were designed to deceive their computational resources.
The squad expended a substantial amount of computing resources but ended up with erroneous results.
And just moments ago, this “wrong result” led to a reduction in the squad’s personnel.
A cold-blooded rider had tripped a landmine and was buried in the collapse, clearly beyond rescue.
The Protector’s squad dared not use high-explosive ordnance.
They feared it would trigger a chain collapse, burying themselves in the process.
But the Burrow Dragons knew where they could safely detonate, and where they could not.
Among these Burrow Dragons, there must have been experts who studied Earth geophysics and had an in-depth understanding of the local rock layers.
The subsequent steps might be fraught with anxiety.
“Just playing some petty tricks,” C.
Shivaji-21 said, “Release all the drones!”
This command was rapidly relayed by the wired system to the ground.
The Rangers left behind no longer hesitated and dispatched all the remaining drones into the caves.
The Burrow Dragons initially worked underground for the purpose of mining.
The direction of the ore veins was random, and the Burrow Dragons would build tunnels following those with radioactive elements.
However, the paths of the ore veins weren’t entirely without pattern.
Even to confuse the enemy, the Burrow Dragons would deliberately carve out some false routes.
But there was a limit to these false routes.
To “create a labyrinth” at the expense of “mining” was to put the cart before the horse.
Under the Protector’s brute-force attack, more and more passages were exposed.
Shivaji-21’s mind, a three-dimensional map quickly formed.
The drones were continuously adding various details to this map.
Afterward, he finally heard the sounds he had been longing to hear.
The sporadic sounds of gunfire.
This group of Burrow Dragons hadn’t completely evacuated.
Xiu lay on the ground.
His body was coated with a soundproofing layer, over which were stuck pieces of ore.
When he heard the rustling sound of drones, Xiu lay on the ground and shut down most of his functions.
As a “Deep Soil” Burrow Dragon, Xiu hadn’t surfaced much but was very familiar with the kinds of sounds that might be present in the tunnels.
In an emergency, upon hearing an “unfamiliar” sound, he would hibernate .
Soon, he saw the small drones.
Xiu sized them up internally.
He didn’t know their manufacturing cost, but from a Caster’s perspective, they should be a bit more expensive than the standard Prosthetic Bodies used by people.
Watching the swarm of drones passing by like ants, Xiu thought that if he had one of them, he could exchange it for a spare Prosthetic Body.
Only those from the Shallow Soil could have spare humanoid Prosthetic Bodies, and after gaining leadership in the underground community, the Shallow Soil residents were also required to hand over their spares and no longer surface.
As someone from the Deep Soil, Xiu had only been to the surface once.
That was when his master borrowed a Prosthetic Body from a Shallow Soil comrade to take him up.
His master had told Xiu to always remember what it was like up there—the irrationality of it all, and the beauty of the sunlight.
His master had told Xiu to remember that everyone must live reasonably under the sunlight.
But Xiu often harbored ulterior motives.
He had been weighing up the possibility of getting himself a spare Prosthetic Body.
—If only I had one of those…
Xiu watched the Reconnaissance Robots pass by, watched the Wire Worms, and then spotted a Life-Chasing Cavalry.
He suddenly stood up and embraced the Ranger.
It was like a bear hugging a human.
—If only I had a body …
Then came the sounds of gunfire, electric shocks, and blunt force.