Capítulo 101: Chapter 101: Strategies Against the Queen
The Federation's leadership was not foolish. Despite internal conflicts over interests, they stood united against the alien insect horde, a foe with whom no negotiation was possible. They constantly sought ways to eliminate the true enemy—the Queen, the mind controlling the insects.
The Queen remained elusive, only appearing in emergencies to release hordes of soldier insects. For instance, during the encirclement of the Thirteenth Division, a new Queen landed in Haicheng, coordinating with another Queen to trap the retreating forces.
In the current Wu City battle, the Queen, eager to expedite her conquest, would likely choose between breaching the defense or tunneling beneath it. The latter was more probable, as the former would cost time and many low-tier insects—achieving human strategic objectives.
The human plan was to evacuate and strip Jin City of resources, restarting heavy industries and military factories in the rear to supply the frontline with weapons and ammunition.
If the Queen tunneled beneath the defense line, her massive body would inevitably cause significant disturbances. Detectors installed within the defense line could pinpoint her location, allowing prepared secret weapons to come into play.
Cheng Zhan, through his promotion, learned of this operation and sought to uncover the hidden weapons. His inquiries revealed that during the defense line's construction, several bunker-buster missiles equipped with powerful cloudburst bombs were embedded.
These liquid-fuel bombs, three times as potent as TNT and ten times more harmful to biological targets than high-energy solid explosives, would detonate in two stages. The first explosion dispersed fuel into an aerosol cloud, filling the tunnels and caverns of the Queen's lair. The second explosion ignited the cloud, causing massive blast effects and asphyxiating large organisms within.
The Federation's 6-ton cloudburst bombs could devastate a 200-meter radius, covering 120,000 square meters—equivalent to fifteen football fields. A direct hit would grievously wound or even kill the Queen.
The Federation wouldn't rely on a single missile. Once confirmed by the swarm's disruption, multiple bunker-buster missiles would follow, flattening the underground insect lair.
Aware of this, Cheng Zhan ordered the Queen to halt and sought the missiles' locations to sabotage the plan. An opportunity arose when intense frontline battles prompted the command to dispatch a senior staff officer to the second defense line for guidance.
Cheng Zhan seized and secretly detained the officer in a dimly lit bunker. His guards were already controlled by secondary parasitic entities, their brains penetrated by the Queen's progeny.
Like Cheng Zhan, they became human thralls of the parasite.
However, the parasite inhabiting Cheng Zhan was a higher-tier, a second-tier mutant under the Queen, possessing a mental value in the hundreds. It deeply fused with Cheng Zhan's brain and body, allowing it to spawn progeny from his abdomen to control other thralls and comprehend human intelligence.
Its disguise was flawless, undetected by Cheng Zhan's former comrades in the awakener camp.
The lesser thralls suffered extensive memory loss, capable only of executing simple commands and unable to grasp complex tasks.
Interrogation required Cheng Zhan himself.
The senior staff officer, however, was not stupid. Rising to his position, he quickly discerned Cheng Zhan's nature from his cold demeanor and the blank stares and wooden movements of nearby guards.
"Speak!"
"Where are the bunker-buster missiles hidden?!"
Cheng Zhan's eyes were fierce as he struck again.
Despite the officer's bruised and battered face, he refused to talk. Cheng Zhan picked up a pair of pliers, targeting the officer's shackled hand. These methods, gleaned from Cheng Zhan's memory—mostly from films—were employed to extract information.
As fingernails were ripped away and bones snapped, screams filled the bunker, muffled by the thick concrete walls. The guard squad had already been deliberately reassigned by Cheng Zhan.
Half an hour later, the low-tier awakener officer finally spoke:
"If you have intelligence, why not negotiate with us?"
"Must the universe's races only face mutual destruction?"
Cheng Zhan sneered, crouching beside the dying human:
"You have no right to negotiate."
"Upon reaching the top of the food chain, did you humans leave other species a chance at survival?"
"But one thing is certain."
"You humans are stubborn."
"No matter, I can find out anyway."
With that, Cheng Zhan opened his mouth, his abdomen contracting as a fist-sized object squirmed up his esophagus.
He spat out a curled, gray-black worm egg onto the officer.
The egg's mucus was pierced by the wriggling parasite within, which began seeking a host.
Guided by the Queen, it crawled onto the officer's face, prying open his mouth and burrowing inside.
Covered in slick mucus, the officer couldn't bite it in half. It slithered down his throat, embedding its limbs into his spinal nerves.
Even the most resolute human...
Would become a parasitic thrall.
These progeny parasites couldn't fully integrate like the Queen, so their memory retrieval was incomplete.
A last resort for Cheng Zhan.
Direct interrogation was preferable.
But the officer resisted, leaving no choice.
As the parasitism completed, the officer-thrall spoke in insect communication, conveying fragmented memories.
Cheng Zhan's expression shifted...
He had misunderstood.
The bunker-buster missiles weren't hidden in the defense line.
They were launched from strategic bombers stationed over a hundred kilometers away.
Yet, the defense line played a crucial role.
It was key to locating the Queen.
Humans planned to exploit insect behavior, tagging Tier 2 insects like Tiger Bugs with trackers to mark coordinates.
If signals clustered at one spot, the Queen was likely present.
This would pinpoint her location precisely!
As for deploying the trackers...
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