The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 215: Dig deep and expand widely

The first batch of exploratory workers were quickly produced in large numbers and moved around from the location of the mother nest. Their well-developed compound eyes and other sensory organs searched every inch of nearby land.

What is certain is that the traces of Bao's past life have been completely destroyed. At this time, Mars is not much different from those of later generations in terms of appearance. As far as the eye can see, there is only a desolation.

The use of radiant energy by the hybrid autotrophic synthesis system of the exploration vehicles allows them to operate for a long time on the surface of Mars, which is full of ultraviolet rays and cosmic radiation because there is no ozone layer and geomagnetic field.

Previously, when the carpet was proliferating, the composition of the Martian soil had been analyzed. As in later studies, its surface was rich in iron oxide, which gave the appearance a rusty red color. But there are some other ingredients mixed into it.

The largest component is potassium carbonate, or plant ash, and there's a lot of it - which seems to explain why a planet that may once have been lush and green now has nothing left, not even fossil remains in this area.

After cutting off the cluster consciousness connection between Bao, the unknown intervenor may have done something similar to Lin Yi - setting fire to the forest and using the simplest and crudest method to bring destruction.

Considering the opponent's strength, even arson, a skill that has been mastered by civilization long ago, is shocking and spectacular when used by unknown intervenors.

Perhaps using orbital bombing, a large number of spaceships - or battleships - covered the sky and the sun, and a large number of specially-made incendiary bombs fell from the sky with tail flames produced by friction when passing through the atmosphere, turning the earth into a sea of ​​fire.

The largest fire attack in the history of human warfare was a large-scale napalm bombing of a small island country. The damage caused by it may be even more shocking than the subsequent secondary bombing in the physical sense.

Exploring underground is relatively easy, but extensive expansion is a bit difficult with these exploration tools alone. Although the surface of Mars is not as large as the Earth, it is still a planet after all. Even if there is no ocean, if you want to expand rapidly simply by relying on your legs, Not very realistic.

After some exploration, Lin Yi came to the conclusion that it was probably impossible to find the remains of Bao on the ground, at least in this area.

The scene of the unknown interventionist's fire attack on Bao must be even more shocking, and may be enough to destroy the entire ecosystem - the sky-high fire and thick smoke covered the entire planet, which was clearly visible from outer space. This caused There is such a thick layer of vegetation ash on the ground now.

As for the cooling of the earth's core, the weakening of the magnetic field and the dissipation of the atmosphere caused by it, there is currently no evidence that this is related to unknown intervenors, but everything is not easy to say - at least judging from the fifth planet that has become the asteroid belt , the strength of the unknown intervener is unimaginable.

Then there are two directions left - explore underground, or continue to explore farther away, build more nests and carpet organizations, and conduct an extensive carpet search to find traces that Bao may have left.

And although the density of the current Mars atmosphere is not as low as one percent of the density of the Earth's atmosphere in later generations, it is only about 10 to 20 percent of the Earth's atmosphere. Ku-winged Divers and Shadowflies cannot fly.

Using rockets is one way - to be precise, it is similar to the opening method of intercontinental ballistic missiles. It shoots the carpet tumors out of the atmosphere, advances a certain distance in the orbit and then re-enters the atmosphere to strike, no, release the carpet.

But considering the cost of launching a biological launch vehicle like Cornerstone 1, Lin Yi gave up this plan. After all, even though Mars has a smaller gravity, the first cosmic speed is also lower than that of the Earth, which is also an astonishing speed. The newly improved Mars nest cannot withstand such heavy consumption. Lin Yi must find a more economical way to fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars.

After some thinking, Lin Yi thought of a balloon - the main component of the Martian atmosphere is also nitrogen, followed by carbon dioxide. If a bladder-like structure is created in the body and filled with gases that are lighter than the main components of the Martian atmosphere, it can be achieved in the Martian atmosphere. flight.

Since there is no need to consider safety issues, hydrogen has become the best choice - the extraction method is very simple, electrolyze water, and then use the different boiling points of hydrogen and oxygen to separate the two, and hydrogen can be prepared on a large scale.

This structure, installed in the germ carpet and mother nest structure, can inject hydrogen into the body when producing grade individuals, producing floating grade individuals.

As for the specific appearance and related design of the new grade, Lin Yi had a rough idea as early as when he was fighting wits with the terrestrial arthropod nests. However, the idea at that time was to use the related reactions of sodium to prepare hydrogen.

Later, due to the advent of the more efficient grade of Kingwing Diver, the design fell into disuse and eventually became a technical reserve, waiting to be reactivated when it comes into use, such as now.

The grade of this design is overall rugby-shaped, with a smaller head similar to a shadowfly and well-developed compound eyes. There is also a pair of chelicerae and three pairs of paddling-like appendages hanging below the body, which play a role in balance and stability. limb.

In the body, two bladders that primarily store hydrogen are located approximately at shoulder level and are independent of each other. The overall exoskeleton has a very streamlined appearance and can minimize resistance.

Its main power source is the biological rocket jet propulsion system in the body. It is not the same type of real rocket engine as the Cornerstone series, but an upgraded version of the jet propulsion system that was similar to that of later generations of Airborne Armors.

This system has been improved several times and the composition ratio has been modified. It is still used in the nest group. Moreover, its reaction process already contains oxidants, so the entire reaction process can be completed in the Martian atmospheric environment.

Although this system is not as violent as a real rocket engine, which can accelerate objects to the first cosmic speed, it is more durable and can propel level individuals to cruise in the air for a long time and expand to farther locations.

It is envisioned that they have a huge space in their abdomen, which will accommodate a large amount of nutrients and carpet spore structures. When necessary, they can pour out all these substances, which has the ability to proliferate large areas of carpet and generate carpet tumors. .

Of course, as the specialty of nest creatures, the new grades also have the ability to turn into pupae into mother nests, and based on their size, the mother nests they proliferate will directly have the ability to produce exploration workers.

After a small amount of modifications, the first one of this grade was soon produced in the specialized pupa sac of the mother nest, preparing to continue to expand its sphere of influence on Mars.

(End of this chapter)