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Was it a trick of the eye, or a coincidence? Only after the biological samples are collected and returned will the truth be revealed.
It was, indeed, mind-boggling to suddenly encounter mutants, which were rampant on Blue Star, now appearing on Cangqiong Star.
According to widely recognized research reports, the main cause of these mutants was the post-nuclear weapon strikes, where residual nuclear radiation pollution led to biological mutation disasters. It's possible some restless individuals or organizations also played a role in inducing these events. However, Cangqiong Star had never experienced the large-scale use of nuclear weapons, not even a nuclear test. The environmental conditions for inducing mutations through radiation pollution simply did not exist.
Moreover, the ecological environment of Cangqiong Star was not conducive to the survival of mutants. The planet teemed with wild animals and magical beasts far more ferocious than mutants. Intruders in the local food chain would likely just be serving themselves up as prey and have no chance to thrive and reproduce.
"Magical beasts? I see!"
Ballerina did not probe further; it was ordinary to encounter beasts and magical beasts in the deep mountains and forests, and their position was still some distance from the mercenaries' location.
She immediately ordered everyone to be cautious of the predatory creatures lurking around them.
Currently, two teams were operational; Chen Fei directly controlled the intelligent combat mechs to spearhead the mercenaries, as per the plan set from the start.
Intelligent combat mechs were fearless of casualties, so there was no need for mercenaries to serve as cannon fodder. The latter's main job was to assist in reconnaissance and solidify the front lines, filling in where manpower was lacking.
A few moments later, two cooperative ships alternated their bombardments on the ground, not limited to 152mm caliber heavy cannons, but also a fiercely powerful, dense array system.
About a dozen creatures resembling large, white bats rose from the dense forest. 30mm caliber armor-piercing incendiary shells came flying toward them. As the dense barrage swept over, one after another, the large white bats fell apart and plummeted to the ground.
The "Dark Moon Snow Bat" was a gregarious and ferocious magical beast, likely stirred up by the combat mechs during their cave search.
Actually, the airship battle group would not have fired if the creatures hadn't initiated an attack.
But once combat started, it would be a fight to the death.
In no time, the group of "Dark Moon Snow Bats" were completely annihilated; their Wind Series sound wave spells stood no chance against the ferocious firepower.
As the 30mm caliber twelve-barreled railgun dense array system unleashed a fierce barrage of projectiles, a yellow, tiger-striped deer-like magical beast with a single forked horn leapt nimbly several times in quick succession, reaching the treetops more than three hundred meters above the ground. It looked up, its body surrounded by a shimmering magic shield of different colors, slowly rotating and intertwining.
After cautiously observing the airship battle group in the sky for a while, it turned and disappeared into the canopy, vanishing without a trace.
The artificial intelligence AI "Adam" received instructions from Chen Fei and autonomously distinguished between rational and ferocious magical beasts, and identified the single-horned deer-like magical beast. The "Tricolor Unicorn" was a rational beast and was not subjected to focused fire as the "Dark Moon Snow Bats" had been.
On the AR visual interface's terrain map, red dots indicating mechanical scorpion losses began to cluster densely.
The intelligent mechanical beings deployed into the forest were the real expendables, as death held no meaning for the artificial intelligence AI.
Before being sequentially destroyed, the mechanical scorpions, only over a foot in length, managed to send back a sufficient number of clear images due to their numbers.
Deep within the mountain, where the target resided, a large number of creatures resembling the mutant XR-0079 were found; there were more than one. The "Headhunter Excavator Shell" was naturally gregarious, adding to the suspicion.
A line of text appeared before Chen Fei.
Adam: Biological sample testing result, confirmed as mutant XR-0079, scientific name "Headhunter Excavator Shell".
Adam: The number of mutant XR-0079 "Headhunter Excavator Shell" confirmed is 75.
It really was them...
Mutants + Parasitic Species, such a combination is truly a headache.
The "Water Bear" organization's intelligence will likely need to add new data, as colluding with the extraterrestrial race "Sagali" is already a heinous crime, and now they deserve to be wiped from the face of the earth even more so.
According to intelligence from the Blue Star Global United Defense Committee, the "Water Bear" organization is linked to the upper echelons of the Lin Family, though the depth of that connection remains unknown.
The sudden, unprovoked attack on the Lin Family by Sovereignty, and the Lin Family's subsequent disappearance, suggest that the truth is not as simple as it appears on the surface.
Rumors from various sources hinted that while the Lin Family protected the skies of Blue Star, they also became an obstacle to Blue Star's ambitions toward Cangqiong Star, and with the Lin Family bloodline poised to dominate the profits from Cangqiong Star, it was bound to arouse envy.
After thirty-odd years of peace and the transition from old to new generations, as well as changes in governance, Blue Star's grace toward the Lin Family was coming to an end.
News of the Lin Family Title's settlement being breached had not been out long before the media went silent in less than three days. Despite various civilian speculations, the media had cooled down the topic forcefully.
Sometimes, news suppression also implies a particular stance.
Adam: The number of mutant XR-0079 "Headhunter Excavator Shell" confirmed is 193.
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As the Mechanical Scorpions pressed forward in an unending stream, they discovered more of the mutant XR-0079s, and Chen Fei immediately activated the Particle Beam Cannons of the cooperative ships. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
Such tactical-level weapons were not only immensely powerful but also consumed a lot of energy, so they weren't easily used unless necessary.
Although the Airship Battle Group was collectively equipped with "Energy Gathering Shells," which could continuously draw elemental energy from the atmosphere and convert it into usable power, replenishing Crystal Energy was never an easy task.
Each sortie resulted in immense consumption, so Chen Fei couldn't strike frequently, quickly annihilating the parasites on the hunting list.
A series of blue-white beams of light descended from the sky, effortlessly piercing through the mountain, piercing the caves inside like a hot knife through butter, causing local collapses that blocked the escape routes of the mutants, after which a large number of combat mechs rushed in, engaging with various firearms continuously, the ground trembling slightly non-stop as if a minor earthquake had occurred.
XR-0079 "Headhunter Excavator Shell" were Hive Type mutants, and as long as the Breeding Matrix and the Egg Incubation Area were destroyed, victory would be achieved in one fell swoop, even if a few individuals managed to escape, they would quickly die off naturally.
Following the passages explored by the Mechanical Scorpion Swarm, the Combat Mechs controlled by the artificial intelligence AI "Adam" were like a real army, decimating the XR-0079 "Headhunter Excavator Shells" who were left disarmed and dismembered, their limbs torn apart, unable to withstand the penetrative shots from the Railgun Weapons despite their thick armored casings and chest segments, and if the warheads carried Explosives in their combat sections, they could easily inflict fatal damage.
By the time the mercenaries arrived at the various cave entrances, the battle inside the mountainous combat zone had already ended.
The Holy Flame Sun gradually set below the horizon, while the Mechanical Scorpions and Combat Mechs turned the caves and crevices within a ten-mile radius upside down.
Adam: The search mission is complete, no parasitic species detected.
Besides 113 large beasts, 3298 medium and small beasts, 41 Magical Beasts, 241 XR-0079 "Headhunter Excavator Shells," and countless insects, the parasitic species' trace was not found.
"No parasitic species?"
This result inevitably made Chen Fei start to doubt the Royal Breed "Taga" that was parasitizing inside the "Mystic Fog Specter" beast within the Rebel Army Southern Warzone Headquarters.
Could it be that this hunting list is a mix of truth and falsehood, and the first sortie was a fluke, hitting the mark by luck, and now the second sortie's target turned out to be a fake?
What's the point of such a scheme? But Chen Fei couldn't figure it out!
He immediately called the Southern War Zone Headquarters, conveying through the commander Bartona to the other party that he had hit a blank, while also concealing the existence of the mutants.
Yet "Taga" assured him earnestly, guaranteeing the list was authentic, and the update was just a month ago, ensuring that those of his kin were at the locations on the list.
This made Chen Fei even more perplexed. To be honest, he had never engaged in strategic planning, and a fake list wouldn't have much effect, at most resulting in a wasted trip, without the possibility of being exploited for an assassination.
Killing "Sagali" was acceptable, but accidentally harming other Intelligent Species?
Chen Fei was not that foolish!
Whether there was a parasitic infection, there were already existing reconnaissance methods for accurate identification, and under no circumstances would he carelessly strike at an Intelligent Species that had not been parasitized.
Chen Xiao'er's shortcomings were apparent; he might be occasionally eager, but he was not reckless, as there's an essential difference between the two.
As he went over Taga's reply and continuously reviewed the photos and videos sent back by the Mechanical Scorpion Swarm, his eyes finally settled on a particular video.
"'Adam,' retrieve samples from this video, it should be feces."
In the still frame, among a pile of filth, pale bones could be vaguely seen, seemingly remains that had not been entirely digested.
The exposed parts looked strikingly like a skull, small, no larger than a fist, like the cranium of an infant.
In these primitive woodlands, the likelihood of mutants capturing Human Race or human-like younglings was not common.
For any species, based on biological instinct, the young are often given the best protection.
Another species' offspring bore resemblance to those of the Human Race and human-like species, making the suddenly discovered tiny skulls and nearby bone fragments immediately suspicious.
Near where the frame was taken, several Mechanical Scorpions returned to the scene, their claws menacing, and in no time, they collected over a dozen pounds... of excrement.
Looking at its dried surface, it seemed to have been there for some time.
However, the detection equipment on the airship didn't care about these details, directly "eating" a pound and then "consuming" several pounds more, breaking down the returned feces into thousands of tiny testing chambers.
Half an hour later, results quickly emerged.
Chen Fei's guess was right on the money, the remains of the one-third skull and the dozen bone fragments indeed belonged to the parasitic species.
It seemed the truth was out; the parasitic species had indeed "fused" with the mutants, but it was a special form of "fusion."
