Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Although the content is still shameless flattery.

This time, Lawson didn't deal with the two great demons; his attention had turned to something more important.

Consciousness sinks into the swarm network.

"Analyze the reasons for the two previous failures."

Swarm intelligence integrates all the data in a fraction of a second.

The two demonic attempts to seduce the toads, the physical approach of the animal-friendly ghouls, and the precise sensor records prior to the two barking toad explosions provide a detailed analysis report.

The first layer of analysis is consistent with Ash's previous judgment:

The barking toad exhibits an instinctive level of rejection towards any external psychic stimuli. In the evolutionary environment of Katachon, feeling comfortable is equivalent to being hit by the paralyzing toxin of the prey. The stronger the Slaanesh's allure, the more violently the barking toad's alert system responds, and the psychic pathways are deemed dead ends.

The second layer of analysis goes deeper than the Great Demon's understanding: the physical approach routes of animal-affinity-type zombies are effective in themselves.

The assassin successfully suppressed his threat signals to an extremely low level; for several minutes, the Barking Toad's binary judgment system categorized him as "low threat." Ultimately, it wasn't the assassin's behavior pattern that triggered the self-destruction, but rather the composition of his scent.

Beehive Thinking conducted spectral analysis on the trace odor molecules on the surface of the assassins and compared them one by one with the standard components in the local atmosphere of Qatar.

The conclusion is clear: the assassin's sweat and sebum contained seventeen trace compounds not native to Qatar. These compounds originated from the industrial world he had lived in for a long time and could not be removed by external washing in the short term.

The barking toad's olfactory system identifies these foreign compounds as "non-native biological signatures," thus overturning the "low threat" judgment accumulated over the previous few minutes and instantly switching to "unknown threat, self-destruct."

The critical trigger distance is fifteen meters.

At this distance, the concentration of odor molecules evaporating from the surface of the assassin's body just reaches the olfactory detection threshold of the barking toad.

After thinking for a moment, Lawson asked the bee colony a question.

"Following this logic, wouldn't two barking toads exploding if they got too close to each other? The entire species should have gone extinct long ago."

The swarm intelligence approach retrieved thousands of years of ecological observation records accumulated by the garrison in Qatar and provided an explanation.

The Katachang barking toad is a parthenogenetic species.

They do not need to mate.

During specific seasonal cycles, each adult barking toad will release a large number of egg masses, similar to tadpole eggs, into the mud pit where it sits, covered with a thick layer of gelatinous mucus.

The number of egg masses is extremely large, with thousands of eggs released in a single ovulation.

These egg masses hatch on their own in the muddy water. The larval stage of the barking toad is extremely small, only the size of a fingernail. Its self-destruction mechanism is not yet fully developed, and its toxin reserves are negligible. Even if it is startled and self-destructs, the kill radius is less than one meter, posing no threat to the adult barking toads around it.

The survival rate of the juveniles is extremely low. Predators in the Katachan jungle will eat most of the juvenile toads, and various diseases and parasites will also eliminate a number of them.

But given the existing population size, if only two or three out of thousands of eggs survive to adulthood, it will be enough to maintain the population.

In addition, there's the size of the planet Katachon itself.

Katachon is a large land planet with a diameter exceeding that of the Empire, an equatorial circumference of nearly 30,000 kilometers, and more than 70 percent of its surface is covered by primeval jungles and swamps.

The Silent Swamp is just the most concentrated area of ​​Barking Toads' habitat; large populations of Barking Toads with lower densities are also distributed in other corners of the planet.

A sufficiently large territory, a sufficiently high reproduction rate, and sufficiently dispersed individual spacing are the reasons why the barking toad has survived for millions of years despite its extreme survival strategy of "exploding at the slightest touch."

After reading the analysis, Lawson's thinking became clear.

"Provide suggestions for an arrest plan."

The advice from the swarm intelligence approach is to take a long-term, rooted approach and address the odor problem at its source.

It is recommended to establish a long-term garrison on the planet Katachon. Deploy a group of combat-order suicide soldiers based on the Katachon genetic template, allowing them to live, train, breathe, sweat, and eat local food in the Katachon jungle for an extended period.

After an adaptation period of three to six months, the trace compounds on their skin will be gradually replaced by biomolecules native to Qatar.

Select or copy animal affinity talent nodes from this group of assassins. Talents emerging from the swarm can be reproduced on new nodes by copying templates.

Using the "dead men" of the Katachon template as a vehicle, and superimposed with animal affinity, a group of professional toad catchers can be obtained who "smell like local Katachon creatures and behave like harmless animals."

After they had fully adapted, this group of assassins carried out the capture mission.

Estimated success rate: over 70%.

After reviewing the proposal, Lawson nodded.

“Establish thirty observation posts in Katachon. Each post will be staffed with thirty elite Katachon combat suicide soldiers. From now on, they will eat Katachon food, drink Katachon water, and breathe Katachon air. The first round of capture attempts will begin in six months.”

Commands are issued instantly via the swarm network.

The static force field is activated simultaneously at thirty pre-selected coordinate points around the Silent Swamp.

Boxes of high-quality sheet metal, prefabricated structural components, and basic equipment poured out from the folded space of the armory.

Nine hundred combat suicide soldiers then arrived, divided into groups of thirty, and dispersed to various coordinate points.

The observation station was set up extremely quickly.

The refined gold plates are assembled like building blocks in the hands of the Cornerstone assassins. The outer shell is a movable modular structure that can be disassembled and moved within minutes when needed.

The defense system includes automated sensor turrets and miniature void shield generators, sufficient to withstand attacks from most predators in the Katachan jungle.

The interior space is not large, but it is fully functional.

Living quarters, storage compartments, communication nodes, water purification equipment, and food storage areas.

There was nothing in the food rations. From this day forward, every bite of food and every drop of water for these nine hundred suicide soldiers would come from Qatar.

With the arrangements at the observatory complete, Lawson didn't rush to leave.

Now that he's come to Qatar, he should take a good look at this planet. He plans to make long-term plans here, so he needs to see the situation on the surface with his own eyes.

The information about Katachon in the Swarm Intelligence database mostly comes from secondary records of the Empire, and is vague, crude, and carries a strong negative attitude of "we try not to go to that godforsaken place".

Lawson descended below the canopy.

From the air, the jungles of Katachan appear as a vast, verdant ocean.

Once you pass through the canopy and enter the interior, the colors turn into deep, dark green and brownish-black, with light filtered through layers of giant fern leaves and vines, leaving only scattered spots.

The temperature remains between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius year-round.

Ordinary citizens of the Empire would suffer from heatstroke and dehydration if they stood in such an environment for ten minutes.

Lawson didn't care, and the two great demons cared even less.

However, Qianxian still complained.

"It's so stuffy." She tugged at the neckline of her purple gauze dress. "This kind of air makes my hair stick to my neck, it's very uncomfortable."

“You are a Great Demon, your hair will not be affected by humidity at all,” Ash calmly pointed out.

"I know, but I choose to feel it."

Qianxian said confidently, "Experiencing discomfort is also a kind of experience."

Lawson took a few steps forward, his boots making a dull thud as they stepped on the thick layer of humus.

The "ground" beneath your feet is actually a network platform formed by the roots of giant trees tens of meters high; the real ground is still tens of meters below in the darkness.

The psychic perception spread outwards.

Within a radius of ten kilometers, Lawson detected at least three hundred different biosignals.

Most are small to medium-sized predators, including venomous snakes, acid beetles, mimicking vines, and fungal parasites.

Several large signals came from a distance, possibly from a Katachán devil lizard or a Katachán giant bear, top predators over ten meters in size.

In this chaotic ecosystem, Lawson noticed an interesting feature: Katachon had no Imperial garrison.

There is no planetary governor, no planetary defense force, no hive city, and no city.

The planet was too harsh, and after several failed attempts to colonize it, the Empire completely abandoned the idea of ​​establishing a regular administrative system.

The people of Katachon are scattered throughout the jungle in tribes, each ranging from dozens to hundreds of people, bound together by blood ties and fighting prowess.

No one can accurately count the number of tribes.

Some tribes may still exist today, but tomorrow they could be swallowed up along with their huts by a walking predator tree.

Some tribes survived for hundreds of years, occupying a relatively safe territory in the jungle, and their numbers swelled to thousands. Then, during a seasonal migration, they were trampled by herds of wild animals and wiped out overnight.

The relationship between the Empire and Katachon was more like a transaction.

Several fixed metal platforms are scattered across the planet. These are resource exchange stations built by the Empire hundreds of years ago.

These platforms are constructed from adamantite and ceramic steel, and their defense level is sufficient to withstand the erosion of most creatures in the Katachan jungle.

Imperial transport ships regularly land on these platforms to unload weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, and small amounts of food.

The bargaining chip is the Catachan warriors.

The Katachan people grow up amidst jungle massacres from birth.

Those who survive to adulthood are the cream of the crop.

The Catachan Legion of the Imperial Star Forces are the most formidable mortal infantry in all of humanity, with individual soldier quality that even commands respect from some Space Marine chapters.

The more warriors a tribe hands over, the more supplies the empire will provide.

Simple, direct, and efficient.

Lawson went through this information in his mind.

He has begun to consider setting up small supply points near various tribes, without interfering with the internal operations of the tribes, only providing basic medical and food support to increase the tribes' survival capabilities.

As he was pondering this, his psychic senses suddenly detected a commotion.

About 300 kilometers to the southwest.

The biological signals were extremely chaotic, with signals from several large predators moving rapidly, intertwined with several human vital signs.

Several of them are already declining rapidly.

With a surge of psionic energy beneath his feet, Lawson propelled himself and two great demons into the air, rapidly traversing the gaps beneath the canopy.

Three hundred kilometers is a distance that can be covered in the blink of an eye.

Lawson stopped on a horizontal branch of a giant tree with a diameter of twenty meters, looking down at the scene below.

The battle is underway in a relatively open clearing in the woods.

Three human corpses were scattered on the ground.

Judging from his equipment and physique, he is a Katachan warrior with tribal totems tattooed on his arm.

Their deaths were all different: one was strangled and crushed by some kind of giant snake, another was pierced through the neck by a venomous stinger, and the third had half of his lower body digested by the acid from plants.