The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 141 Giant Horseshoe Spider

Previous aerial reconnaissance flights showed that the scale of this mound group was the largest one Lin Yi had encountered so far. It stretched for more than several kilometers along both sides of the river, and the number of combat-level individuals it could support was also staggering.

But with the support of hundreds of crazy-toothed saw ants and mixed fire-breathing saw ants, no amount of ancient web-winged cockroaches alone will help.

In the swarm of ancient net-winged cockroaches, which are as dark as black clouds over the city, blazing orange-red fire pillars cut through the group of cockroaches, harvesting the lives of the ancient net-winged cockroaches.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt proteins, and the charred remains of Mars were dragged down like raindrops, accumulating a thick layer of remains on the ground.

The appendages of the crazy-toothed saw ants stepped on the burnt remains of insects everywhere, making bursts of clicking sounds.

Those ordinary crazy-toothed saw ants sprayed out two rounds of barrages from time to time, waving their claws and swooping with their bodies, driving the ancient net-winged cockroaches to one place as much as possible, so that the fire-breathing saw ants could kill them.

The scene was like taking an electric mosquito swatter and sweeping the river bank where mosquitoes are densely populated in summer, and the crackling sound was endless.

The figure of the fire-breathing saw ant is particularly ferocious against the firelight. Their entire abdomen does not have propellant, but an air-breathing pressurization device based on a water jet propulsion system and a super-large-capacity "fuel tank". Can afford a long spray.

In future human battlefields, it is a classic rumor that the safety of flamethrowers is very low. Without contact with an open flame, even if the fuel tank is directly penetrated, it will only cause leakage, but not a fatal explosion.

But it’s true that the casualty rate of fire-breathing soldiers is very high, and the reason is very simple - this thing is too hateful.

Carrying a big jar on its back is conspicuous enough, and the fire spray makes it even more difficult not to notice. In addition, being burned to death by a flamethrower is an extremely painful way to die. Taken together, it has a low hatred value. Weird.

And now, in the eyes of the hostile nest group, this is obviously the case - from the rear, a large number of mesoscythorid spiders and strange arthrothoracic worms poured out from the mounds, directly attacking the fire-breathing saw ants that were outputting their power.

Seeing this, the ordinary Crazy-toothed Saw Ants scattered around under the control of Lin Yi, waving their claws and killing the Terror Spiders. At the same time, they bent their abdomens to kill the strange knots in the distance that were trying to sneak attack. Chestworm.

The projectiles roared out, and the strange worms that raised their upper bodies to spray were immediately shot through their bodies and fell down screaming. And more Crazy-toothed Saw Ants took advantage of the situation and rushed forward. Swinging its claws, it tore each of the spiders into pieces.

Blue blood homologous to the horseshoe crabs surged out. Facing the saw-toothed saw ants whose size and muscle strength were far superior, the terrestrial spider was still powerless to resist.

During the fight, the distance between the swarms of the Mesoporus and the ancient web-winged cockroaches was getting further and further apart, making it impossible for them to effectively cover each other.

But at this moment, the view from the air showed that another wave of reinforcements from the opponent had arrived.

Since the beginning of the battle, the flying reconnaissance drone has been hovering over the battlefield, scanning the ground with its compound eyes, observing every move of the opponent's level individuals.

At this moment, a huge figure emerged from the rolling mounds of the other side, shaped like a horned spider, with sharp edges and corners, a thick exoskeleton, five pairs of thick and long appendages, and joints still growing. The thorn-like protrusions, a pair of compound eyes and multiple single eyes are particularly ferocious.

This figure has a span of nearly five meters. Although it is not as big as the fearless soldier, it is still extremely large on land.

Moreover, it can be seen from the deep footprints made by the ends of its steps when they step into the soil, that it is definitely not light. If it weren't for any special structure in the body, it would naturally mean that its exoskeleton is extremely thick. Compared with the mesopogon spider, their appearance is closer to the traditional horned spider shape. The jackknife-shaped chelicerae are covered under the body by a cap-like head armor and extend downward. The chest and abdomen are connected by a special locking structure.

An arthropod of this size cannot support its body by conventional means alone. It is probably because the corpses of individuals killed by previous exploration workers were absorbed by the opponent, allowing the structure of the double-layered muscles and inner shell to be analyzed by the opponent, which is why an arthropod of this size appeared. grade.

However, the size of this level has not reached the limit, and it must not be a decisive battle weapon like the "Kraken", but just a large-scale individual.

In addition to the horned spider, the shape of this thing is also somewhat similar to the spider horseshoe crab of later Carboniferous Period, but the main form is still similar to a spider, so Lin Yi decided to call it the giant horseshoe crab.

The huge figure of the giant horseshoe crab walked out of its hiding place step by step under the guard of a large number of ordinary spiders. At the same time, two more giant horseshoe crabs emerged from the ground and continued to move forward against the backdrop of the sky full of ancient web-winged cockroaches. Come to kill.

Fire-breathing saw ants may not be able to get a good deal from these "tanks" with thick armor and huge bodies. Therefore, Lin Yi had to let them spray two rounds of flames to kill a group of ancient net-winged cockroaches that rushed forward again. , and then retreated.

A large number of ordinary crazy-toothed saw ants swarmed forward, waving their claws and walking six legs, and surrounded the three giant horseshoe crab spiders from the sides at the fastest speed, which began to close together.

The several Crazy-toothed Saw Ants in the front row bent their abdomens, and several rounds of bullets shot out. Seeing this, the Mesozoon Spiders hid behind the huge body of the Giant Horseshoe Crab Spider, and the Giant Horseshoe Crab Spider also lowered its body. , blocking the deadly shotgun barrage for the Zhongtu Terror Spider at the rear.

The angular structural shape of some horned spiders gives the giant horseshoe crab's exoskeleton an effect similar to the sloped armor of later tanks. Those bead-shaped projectiles that can easily tear the horned spider's exoskeleton are shot at the giant horseshoe crab's exoskeleton. On the page, some people jumped away immediately.

Although the remaining part did not bounce away, it was deeply embedded in it and did not penetrate completely, as if the giant horseshoe crab had a pockmarked face.

Immediately, the fuse was triggered, and the liquid capsule inside the projectile ruptured, causing the projectile to explode from the inside.

A few more cracks appeared on the giant horseshoe crab's exoskeleton, and blue insect blood seeped out slightly, adding a bit of evil energy to the giant horseshoe crab's already ferocious head.

There was also an unlucky giant horseshoe crab whose compound eye was hit by a projectile. The projectile penetrated the eye and exploded below the compound eye, leaving a huge bloody hole in its face, with blue blood gushing out.

However, this injury was not fatal for a while, and the opponent still moved forward with ten steps, guarded by a large number of mid-throat spiders.

However, facing the approaching giant horseshoe crab, Lin Yi did not panic at all. Instead, he asked some of the crazy-toothed saw ants to retreat backwards, controlled the ammunition supply muscles in their abdomen, and slowly retreated from the previous bead-shaped shotguns. , loaded with a new type of ammunition.

(End of this chapter)