Reboot the Galaxy

Chapter 23 Mission Completed

Through the earpiece, Xavier warned Di Yan to proceed with caution.

Although native alien species do not inherently possess aggression, they can secrete a certain catalytic fluid.

This slurry catalyzes any solid matter it comes into contact with, rapidly weakening the molecular bonds of the substance. Eventually, the alien species can easily scrape off a large amount of matter with its mouthparts, turning it into food for them to swallow.

The feeding activities of native alien species are mostly unconscious, so if they are not careful and come into contact with the catalytic liquid, or are surrounded and eaten by them, they will be in a very dangerous situation.

Di Yan followed the instructions carefully, walking through the gaps between groups of native alien species, always being careful to avoid their bodies and trying not to come into contact with them.

These things are generally between one and two meters tall, only reaching the mech's knees, but their presence should not be underestimated.

Walking on the ground covered with viscous slurry, Di Yan could hear hissing sounds under his feet. He knew that the mechs that had come into contact with the catalytic fluid were being continuously corroded.

Fortunately, the catalytic effect only stayed on the surface, and the surrounding aliens seemed to be behaving themselves and not making any big moves, so he felt relieved and quickened his pace, hoping to leave this place as soon as possible.

He passed through the hall and entered a tunnel. The tunnel was still narrow, only three or four meters wide, with uneven side walls, looking as if it were unfinished.

Gradually, his feet began to tremble, as if an earthquake had occurred, and a low rumbling sound appeared in the distance, like a train approaching.

"Stop immediately! The shield-boring worm is about to pass by; it's extremely dangerous ahead."

Di Yan immediately stopped. The shield worm that Xavier mentioned was the giant worm that he and his teammates had destroyed a few hours earlier in the main hall when they first entered the nest.

Its circumference is as large as six meters and its length reaches one hundred meters. As its name suggests, the purpose of this strange creature is to dig burrows.

The ground tremors grew stronger and stronger, and Di Yan could clearly hear the muffled thunderous roar gradually approaching from the right side of the stone wall.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred on the right wall of the tunnel ahead, and a white phantom emerged.

The phantom didn't stop; instead, it traversed the tunnel and burrowed straight into the left wall, the explosive sound making Di Yan's heart pound.

The enormous worm, now passing by like a white train, was breathtaking.

Two minutes passed, and the worm's body was still there, moving from right to left. Di Yan felt that its length was definitely more than 100 meters, probably two or three hundred meters.

The tunnel boring machine process lasted for a full three minutes. Finally, the tail of the tunnel boring machine appeared from the right side, where the color was darker, a grayish-yellow colloid.

At the end of the tail is a large hole that constantly spews out substances.

The substance was sprayed on the ground like freshly mixed cement, and soon it spread out, even flowing in front of Di Yan, forcing him to take a few steps back to avoid it.

The shield worm's tail also disappeared into the left-hand opening, leaving behind only a large patch of thick, grayish-black paste and a stunned Di Yan.

This was so shocking that he would never have imagined such a scene if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

The rumbling sound faded into the distance but remained clear. Di Yan looked at the nearly two-meter-high pile of material on the ground and felt a wave of nausea.

Simply put, the shield-boring worm eats a large amount of rock, roughly processes it inside its long and huge body, and then excretes it from its tail.

These things may be eaten by other things, leaving behind only the tunnel space they are used to.

This vast underground world was created by these shield-boring worms.

"Do not touch these remaining black substances, as they contain extremely strong catalytic fluid."

"I wouldn't touch them unless you reminded me."

Di Yan pursed his lips and shone his lamp on the road ahead. "Do I really have to go this way?"

"That's right, you're in the outermost nest that the aliens are building. There's no other way; you can only get through here."

Di Yan looked at the narrow cave, which was three or four meters wide on both sides, and suddenly he had a way to get through.

He faced the left wall, put his right foot on the wall, leaned forward, supported himself with his hands on the left wall, and finally put his left foot on the right wall, thus lifting his entire body parallel to the ground.

The mech stands five meters tall, and if its arms are raised to the top, it can reach more than six meters. In this narrow cave, Di Yan couldn't even straighten his legs, and his shoulders were almost touching the left wall.

But at least this allows him to continue moving forward without touching the materials on the ground.

He slowly made his way to the crossroads formed by the shield-boring worms. The wall on the other side seemed very far away, and he began to figure out how to get there.

"If I have to touch these things on the ground, how long should I preferably not touch them for?"

After careful consideration, Di Yan realized that he needed to go down to the ground to reach the other side; it was unrealistic to do so without touching the ground.

"Eight seconds," Xavier stated.

"Within this timeframe, the mech's armor can still withstand the damage, but it will still suffer significant losses. Beyond this timeframe, the outer armor will be completely catalyzed, the internal structure will fail, and the mech may become paralyzed."

Di Yan couldn't help but marvel at the power of the shield-building worms.

It is precisely because of their highly efficient catalytic fluid that they are able to excavate underground caves on a large scale.

"Eight seconds? That's enough."

Di Yan gritted his teeth, staring intently at the dark, viscous remnant below, which looked like the black slime that was everywhere in the nest.

After mentally preparing himself and carefully considering his plan, he finally made a snap decision, used both hands to forcefully pull against the stone wall, and simultaneously exerted force with his legs, propelling the entire mech towards the tunnel ahead.

His movement was perfect; the landing point was not far from the walls on both sides in front of him.

At this moment, his legs were almost completely submerged in the thick black substance, which not only created great resistance for him but also constantly eroded and disintegrated his outer armor.

A hissing sound came from the air, and the substance near the body resembled a black, boiling soup, bubbling away—proof that the armor had been disintegrated.

Not a second could be wasted. Di Yan immediately took a few steps forward, using both hands and feet to pull himself out of the "mud pit," and was able to support himself on the cave walls on both sides again.

He breathed a sigh of relief, having managed to complete the series of actions within 8 seconds without any major incident.

He continued to dawdle forward for a few more minutes before finally landing. The nightmarish black substance was right behind him, and he didn't want to look back even once more.

"Proceed one kilometer to reach the outermost edge, please prepare to set up the special frequency signal device."

Finally, they were almost there. Di Yan felt as if he had overcome countless difficulties to reach the mission destination. He finally understood what it meant to "go to places that ordinary soldiers cannot go".

But upon closer reflection, He Xu and the others hadn't encountered any danger; they had simply been traveling ever since they came down.

On the other hand, Di Yan's side suffered a series of misfortunes, including raiding the hall of dozens of mutants, entering the hatchery to deal with the oviparous creatures, and finally being chased and killed by them.

He remembered that Xavier had reported to him on the casualties of the other squads, and that the fourth squad's casualty count had already exceeded half long ago.

"How are the other squads doing now?" Di Yan asked Xavier.

"The fourth squad has suffered the most losses so far, with only five members surviving. However, they have successfully escaped danger and will reach the outermost part of the territory in about two hours."

The casualty rate of the third and fifth squads was about 45%, and the remaining members' mechs were severely damaged and their combat effectiveness was weak.

The casualty rate of the second and sixth squads was around 20%. The mechs were generally damaged, but they were still able to cope with emergencies.

The first and seventh squads lost five and six members respectively, and some of their mechs sustained damage, but they still possessed relatively complete combat capabilities.

Two members of the eighth squad died, and some personnel sustained damage to their mechs; their overall combat strength remained largely unchanged.

Di Yan was startled: "Who were the two people who died in the Eighth Squad?"

"Number 36 Charon, and number 13 Lucas Abbottlau."

Almost instinctively, Di Yan asked, "How did Number 13 die?"

"Insufficient permissions, I cannot provide further information," Xavier said in a cold and cruel tone.

As Di Yan moved forward, he pondered the implications of the phrase "insufficient permissions."

The assumption that the other party died in an accident or was killed by a different species is clearly untenable.

According to his observation, Xavier was fully capable of saving everyone's lives and choosing the best route.

Although he was still unclear why the other squads had such an exaggerated casualty ratio, and even some squads were almost completely wiped out, the situation of the eighth squad was completely different.

They are well-trained soldiers who can carve out a way to survive even in dire circumstances.

All things considered, the death of Lucas is quite intriguing.

It is highly likely that there exists a second, similar "executioner" figure carrying out similar orders, responsible for "executing" those who disobey.

Who could this person be?

After thinking on and off for a while, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared in the light-illuminated area ahead.

Just a few dozen meters away, the tunnel was filled with many native alien species, wriggling on the ground like a pile of randomly placed black marbles.

Ahead was a slope that went up at a certain angle, leading straight to the top of the cave. There, a native alien species was clinging to the rocks in front of it, struggling to wriggle its body.

Di Yan instantly realized that he had run into a native mutant that was clearing a path.

These native alien species dug by feeding, forming the narrow passage he was in. After a while, shield-boring insects would dig over from somewhere and widen the original three or four-meter-wide tunnel into a regular six-meter-wide tunnel.

As for what will happen to the remaining black substance, Di Yan is still unsure.

However, he always felt that those things were very similar to the black slime on the ground of the nest, except that there were some large pebbles in them, making them almost indistinguishable.

"Eliminate the native alien species ahead and prepare to deploy the special frequency signal device."

Di Yan estimated the number of aliens in front of him to be around thirty, then took out his plasma gun and began to eliminate them one by one.

The alien species were blasted apart by the high-temperature ionized gas cloud. After losing their grip, they slid down the slope, sparks still emanating from their wounds.

These native alien species lack intelligence and have no judgment about what is happening; they simply dig and devour without thinking.

Soon, Di Yan ran out of energy from the plasma gun, so he put it away and switched to the electromagnetic gun.

The bullets explode the instant they penetrate the smooth surface of the alien's body, each shot creating a large hole in the tissue, giving a strange sense of relief.

Even after all the alien species had been eliminated, Di Yan still felt a sense of unfinished business.

He glanced again at the mangled corpse, but ultimately suppressed a certain inappropriate impulse within him.

The future is uncertain, and wasting bullets is not a good choice.

Following instructions, Di Yan embarked on his journey home, intending to return to the hall filled with native alien species to install the special frequency signal device.

Arriving once again at the area where the shield-boring worms had passed, the black substance had now spread even further, and Di Yan was still almost a hundred meters from the crossroads.

Following the same method as before, Di Yan braced himself against the cave wall and arrived at the crossroads.

"In my current mech condition, how many more seconds can I last?" Di Yan hoped to hear a conclusion of more than 8 seconds.

"About 30 seconds."

Di Yan's eyes widened in surprise: "It's that long? Are you sure you didn't miscalculate?"

"The potent catalytic fluid contained in these substances is very unstable and time-sensitive. It has been some time since they were expelled from the shield-forming insect's body, and their effectiveness has diminished considerably."

With a long sigh of relief, Di Yan jumped down. After another effort, he was finally about to say goodbye to this annoying and terrible place.

Returning to the hall that was previously filled with native alien species, the place is a maze of interconnected passages, where numerous alien species gather as if they are in hibernation.

He carefully walked through the gaps between the different species and came to a stone staircase more than two meters high.

He piloted his mech, using the stones for support, and climbed up. Now he could stand there and overlook the spectacular view in the hall.

After taking out the special frequency signal device from his back and laying it flat on the ground, Di Yan raised the electromagnetic gun, aimed it at the ground, and began to "drill holes" in a crude and primitive way.

The high-speed bullet shattered a large section of the ground. He reached out and dug the broken earth and rocks aside, then fired again at the bottom.

As he went deeper and deeper, Di Yan created a small hole more than half a meter deep in the ground.

He picked up the signal transmitter, placed it in the hole with the thicker end down and the thinner end up, and then added gravel and sand to secure it.

Press the red button on the signal device, and the special frequency signal device will start working.

Di Yan could not sense any change, only that the coil on the signal device seemed to be vibrating slightly, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

Looking back at the alien species in the hall, they were still gathered there quietly, motionless, as if they would remain like that until the end of time.

In any case, he had completed his mission, and Xavier began to guide him back.

Di Yan wasn't sure if he was going back the way he came. After all, the lair was intricate and complicated, and he had been following instructions the whole way without ever trying to memorize the route on his own.

However, when he turned several times and came to a cave, there were two mechs standing in this not-so-large space.

"Hmph... You really did come."

One of the mech pilots said in an unfriendly tone that the mech had lost an arm.

"I knew we would meet again."

Accompanied by a deep, melodious voice, Di Yan revealed a smile.