The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 339 Contact
"Can you tell me about the Fifth Exploration Fleet? Have they found a stable place to stay? What is their current situation?"

After a period of discussion, a message was once again sent out from the escort ship, trying to get some new intelligence indirectly - the previous events were so strange that any unreasonableness would be infinitely magnified.

"The other party is currently in good condition and has found a habitable planet suitable for survival. It is located in the Tianyuan 4 system, which is the ** star cluster **** star system in your coordinates."

The other party responded very quickly, almost immediately except for the moment it took for the radio signal to cross the star system, and this information was quickly analyzed again.

"It is indeed close to the coordinates that the Fifth Fleet sent last time. It is shown in the database as an orange dwarf star. The probability of a habitable planet with suitable conditions is not low. There should be no problem with its authenticity."

"But we still can't prove that the other party has nothing to do with those being manipulated. The original plan remains unchanged for the time being. The temporarily modified small unmanned shuttle will contact the other party's detector, and the warships in the rear will remain on standby at all times."

While waiting for the probe to fly to the target location, Lin Yi did not stop his actions - in this star system, there is also an asteroid belt at a relatively marginal location, which is near the orbit of the reconnaissance star scorpion.

The reconnaissance star scorpion does not have too many nutrient reserves in its body, but it still has enough energy, and if things don't work out, there are some temporarily useless tissues that can be dissolved. In short, there are always more solutions than problems.

These detectors have not been improved. They are all stealth versions with optical and infrared dual-band stealth and electric rocket engine power. They have only removed the original series of complex structures inside, leaving only the basic observation compound eyes that passively receive optical and infrared signals.

All the space is used to store nutrients to supply a layer of space-based fungal carpet tissue under its outer shell for rapid proliferation, forming a series of self-sufficient structural tissues.

A suitable asteroid has been selected as the target nearby. At this time, the probe organization is activated with the ejection system, and it silently ejects from the side of the reconnaissance star scorpion and flies towards the asteroid.

The matching electric rocket engine ejects an imperceptible ion jet, which perfectly blends into the cosmic background radiation and cannot show any light or infrared thermal radiation signals in distant observation systems.

And up ahead, the improved detector that had been sending out position signals and preparing to establish communication with the other party was getting closer and closer to the other party and would soon be received by the other party.

A smaller structure had detached from the enemy's battleship. Its outer shell, which had not undergone any special treatment, was extremely conspicuous under the light of the stars. Judging from its appearance, it was undoubtedly the small shuttle carried by the Ezki battleship.

Due to size limitations, this small shuttle cannot carry much propellant and is not equipped with any form of reactor. Instead, it is only powered by solar arrays to drive electric rocket engines for limited short-distance travel.

In most cases, their main function is to transport personnel and materials between warships. Some with special needs have limited round-trip capabilities within the atmosphere, but they are generally simply equipped with parachutes and part of the cargo cabin is converted into traditional chemical propulsion, which is not much better.

This one seems to be a larger model, usually carried on the Ezki transport ship. If it is the same as the model carried by the Fifth Exploration Fleet, the internal space is indeed enough to hold this probe. The size of these probes is similar to that of the Baghorn III, but because of their different uses, they do not need to install a series of complex structures. The working fluid requirements of the electric rocket engine are also much smaller than those of the traditional chemical thrusters, so the internal space is relatively large and can accommodate enough substances.

At this time, the internal imaginal disc structure has been initially formed in a large amount of nutrients, and it is only waiting for actual contact with the other party before it pupates into a series of signal transmission structures to relay signals from the members of the Fifth Exploration Fleet far away on the Tianyuan Four Dicla Stars.

The small shuttle had already arrived at the location. At this moment, a pair of hatch structures that seemed to be installed extra slowly opened on the belly of the aircraft. Then, a huge folding mechanical arm stretched out from it, with the end attached to the surface of the detector structure.

The entire structure does not seem to be much different from the structure of satellite releases by later space shuttles, except that it has a wider range of uses and a larger carrying capacity. It can not only release but also capture some relatively small structures, such as today's probes.

Afterwards, the two hatches closed again, and several lights on the inner wall lit up, illuminating the interior. Through the observation compound eye on the surface of the detector, the internal structure was clearly presented to Lin Yi.

No Ezki individuals were seen inside. Given their current situation, it was normal for them to be cautious, but Lin Yi was still a little disappointed. After all, direct parasitism was no longer feasible.

In fact, even if there were people, the huge hatches that almost occupied the entire bottom of the main body made the design similar to the airtight compartment no longer realistic. There was definitely no life circulation system containing gas inside, so it was naturally difficult to invade.

But this is not the point at this moment. Inside, a series of mechanical arms that seemed to be connected to it through simple modifications have gathered from all over the top, surrounding the entire detector structure.

Some robotic arms are equipped with camera-like structures at the end. Needless to say, they must include observation and scanning in more than one band, in order to clearly see the inside and outside of the detector structure.

However, compared with later humans and the current mechanical technology civilization such as the Ezki civilization, the nest's biotechnology is really unique, and the other party can hardly see any useful information.

Then, something even stranger happened, but the structure with optical observation characteristics could still be seen. They began to examine the tiny parts of the detector surface. No one knew what they were trying to do. Perhaps it was some kind of magnifying or microscopic structure to facilitate more detailed observation at a microscopic level.

After some struggle, these robotic arms retracted one after another, leaving only a few even stranger robotic arms that slowly stretched out and approached the head exoskeleton of the detector structure, as if they were preparing to do something again.

In the field of vision of the compound eye, a structure with a tip that seemed to be somewhat like a "hammer" slowly approached the outer shell of the detector. Then, the end of the mechanical arm slightly lifted up, as if it was slowly starting to accumulate power.
Lin Yi suddenly had a bad premonition - was a classic scene that also happened on a certain detector structure that was temporarily captured going to be repeated here?

(End of this chapter)