397: resident Evil

Corpse King Ai led the poisonous corpse race south. Wherever these corpse race passed, there was only death. Acidic gases and toxic elements spread continuously as they moved south.

The poisonous corpse race's bodies evolved by assimilating toxic substances from chemical factories, such as chlorides, ammonia compounds, and toxic compounds composed of elements like phosphorus, potassium, arsenic, and thallium.

Some of these substances are lethal to living organisms. However, the energy reaction of the poisonous corpse race is not strong, because these corpse race are physically weak and their movement speed is not fast.

Under the control of Corpse King Ai, the poisonous corpse race split into hundreds of small corpse groups and advanced in a dispersed manner. This way, even if they attracted long-range firepower from the Alliance, they would not be completely wiped out. Moreover, with so many dispersed corpse groups, they knew the Alliance could not possibly cover them all.

Bai Yan stood in front of the large screen in the command center, his brows tightly furrowed. He felt a strong sense of unease.

"General Lu, a batch of corpse race emerged from chemical factories around Beidu and are now approaching our northern outposts. I feel deeply uneasy about this. But Tianquan said that these newly appeared corpse race have low energy levels and will not affect the battle."

Tian Ming, who was synthesizing raw materials in the raw material factory, heard Bai Yan's report and said, "My No. 1 clone has already gone to investigate. This new batch of corpse race is highly toxic, but they are mixed with other corpse groups, making them difficult to clear completely, and it's very hard to distinguish them by appearance alone."

Upon hearing Tian Ming say this, Bai Yan's blood pressure immediately shot up.

"General Lu, since you have the latest information, why didn't you provide it to us directly?"

Facing Bai Yan's questioning, Tian Ming calmly asked, "Now that I've told you, what can you do? Mobilize long-range artillery for pinpoint strikes? Do you think missiles are unlimited and don't require production time? Even if I replicate them, I can't replicate a hundred in a day. We don't have enough capital, and it's hard for you to distinguish which corpse groups are poisonous corpse groups. If a dozen of them gather together, are you going to use a missile costing tens of millions to clear a corpse group with only a dozen corpse race?"

Bai Yan was stunned. Tian Ming was right. After all, they were in enemy territory, and there were also radiation corpse race performing anti-missile operations. The consumption from pinpoint strikes might cause the entire base's defensive reserves to fall below the safe level.

However, the immediate problem needed to be solved; the poisonous corpse race could not be allowed to continue south. Otherwise, it would pose a serious threat to the personnel at the outposts. The current situation was very tricky, and there wasn't much time left. At their current speed, the first batch might reach the outposts in as little as two days.

Bai Yan dared not delay and immediately informed the command center and Tianquan of this news. The poisonous corpse race posed no threat to the base's mechanical legion, but the mechanical legion was blocked by the corpse race defense line at Linshan and could not pass through. Even if they did pass, the communication disruption formed by the magnetic storm corpse race there would instantly render the mechanical legion incapable of combat.

For mass production, the robots themselves had very low computing power, insufficient to support independent combat. The robot soldiers of the mechanical legion had to be connected to AI Tianquan to achieve impressive combat capabilities.

It was impossible to send robots deep behind enemy lines to deal with the poisonous corpse race. Several main Commanders discussed for a long time and decided to dispatch the Super Legion's mech units deep into enemy territory, primarily to clear out the poisonous corpse race. To ensure the safety of the outposts, the Linshan Defense Line could then be breached. Otherwise, given the number of corpse race, without containment, the Alliance would face an endless supply of reinforcements.

The purpose of the outposts was to cut off the corpse race's reinforcement supply to the Linshan Defense Line.

Lin Yao looked at Bai Yan and asked, "Since this information was obtained by Tian Ming's clone, why didn't he report it in time?"

Bai Yan paused, then said, "How should I know why he didn't report it? I can't guess what he's thinking. Production within the base is already at full capacity. Since the outposts were deployed, they have effectively reduced the reinforcement strength to the Linshan Defense Line. Our mechanical units' consumption has decreased by at least 30%, and the outposts' blocking effect is obvious. Therefore, these outpost personnel must not die at the hands of these poisonous corpse race."

Ouyang Jie, the former head of Dongshan Base, raised his hand and said, "General Lu might have just received the news and hadn't had time to report it yet."

At this moment, Tian Ming's voice came through the command room's speakers: "Stop your wild guesses. I received the news three hours ago. At that time, I was replicating industrial mother machines and was focused. I just forgot later on."

Tian Ming was not in the command room, but he could perceive every movement within the entire base and even converse remotely. It seemed as if everything was under Tian Ming's control.

"General Lu, what are your thoughts on the poisonous corpse race?" a combat staff officer asked.

"The poisonous corpse race poses a significant threat to outpost personnel, but clearing them is almost impossible. My No. 1 clone cleared one poisonous corpse, and they self-destruct, forming large contaminated areas. These contaminated areas are extremely toxic to living organisms. I have no good solution for this. If I could participate in the battle, I would be able to decompose these pollutants."

Silence fell in the command room. Jiang Chen still held over six million people captive. If Tian Ming were to join the battle, those people in the corpse race's hands would surely die. If the agreement were broken, under the current circumstances, it would be a lose-lose situation with no winners.

"Then how should we deal with it?" Bai Yan asked.

"Just handle it your way. It's not time to break ties yet. Even if we have to, Jiang Chen must be the first to do so. The base's Space Station construction is relatively stable right now and still needs time. Once the space environment ecological cycle technology is stably applied, we will have no worries and can truly break ties."

Tian Ming's meaning was clear: the Space Station project was not for scientific research but for the future of all humanity. Only when large-scale interstellar migration technology matured would Tian Ming have no reservations, for no matter how powerful the corpse race were, they were only dominant on Blue Star.

Time, they needed time. Human civilization needed to advance to interstellar travel to be without worries; otherwise, they could only slowly wear down the corpse race.

Blue Star was humanity's cradle, but humanity could not remain infants forever.

Bai Yan was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Proceed as planned. The Super Legion mechs will deploy, cooperating with high-altitude airships, to conduct material air-drops to outposts behind enemy lines, providing reconnaissance, fire support, identifying the locations of approaching poisonous corpse race, and clearing them fifty kilometers outside the outpost perimeter."

Tianquan said, "Commander Bai Yan, real-time communication might be hindered when the Super Legion is deep behind enemy lines. Messages can only be transmitted via satellite relay when the magnetic storm corpse race are resting. Information delays may lead to some losses."

Bai Yan waved his hand and said, "This is a minor issue. Mechs are piloted by humans; they will adapt to circumstances. Even if there are losses, this is the price humanity must pay. Tianquan, issue the order!"

Tianquan did not obstruct further and relayed Bai Yan's order.