I Am The Swarm-Chapter 729: Pursuit

Guided by the beacon’s signal, the Ji race’s team quickly located the spot where the armor beetle had burrowed into the soil.

“It’s here! The target entered the soil layer from this point.”

“Hah, it’s hard to imagine what posture an Empress would use to dig through mud.”

“To preserve Her Majesty’s dignity, let’s hurry and invite her out.”

“Go for it, K2N9!”

The large squad of Ji soldiers, unable to operate effectively within the soil layers, could only wait in the tunnel. Dozens of K2N9s detached from the group and began drilling toward the beacon’s position.

The armor beetle, being small and equipped with specialized digging limbs, moved swiftly through the soil.

However, lacking advanced energy propulsion, no matter how fast it was, it still had its limits and was no match for high-tech mechanical constructs like the K2N9.

Thus, merely two minutes later, the armor beetle, despite having dug a considerable distance ahead, was caught up to.

“Be careful, the target is right ahead.”

“I can’t see her! The instruments haven’t detected anything either.”

“The target’s armor has stealth capabilities and may even possess mimicry abilities, but the beacon won’t deceive us. Be cautious, don’t harm her.”

“Heh, don’t worry. Our Empress isn’t that delicate. As long as she’s wearing that armor, even if she’s hit head-on at full speed by a K2N9, she’ll probably be fine.”

“The beacon indicates she’s here, but as you can see, there’s nothing.”

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“Could she have found a way to remove the beacon?”

“Impossible. Even if she found a method, without specialized equipment and time, she absolutely couldn’t remove it. Remember, even we, as users, need at least five minutes with specialized equipment to remove the beacon.”

“Exactly. Our people have been tailing her; she didn’t have time to do that. Moreover, our teams are certain nothing suspicious passed through.”

“Don’t let your guard down. There’s much of the Swarm’s technology we don’t understand. Perhaps they have their own methods.”

“Like what?”

“Like sending some kind of bug to eat the beacon?”

“How is that possible? The beacon isn’t something easily removed. It’s encoded on the target’s cells via a specific light beam and has self-replicating properties. If physical means could remove it, she’d have to cut herself into pieces at the cellular level.”

“That’s precisely why I’m worried. This kind of micro-operation at the cellular level is the Swarm’s forte.”

“Stop arguing. Carefully search every inch of sand and soil around. First, find the beacon!”

When the K2N9 approached, the armor beetle stopped moving forward and chose to mimic, transforming into sand and stones and lying low. However, this wasn’t a long-term solution. The beacon could narrow its location to an extreme extent, and even with the help of the mimicry system, it couldn’t delay for long and would expose itself, giving the Ji race more information.

Therefore, when the K2N9 used its mechanical arms to search the surroundings, grabbing all the sand and soil and further crushing them, the armor beetle began collapsing at the cellular level. Soon, it turned into a pool of thick liquid.

“The beacon disappeared!”

“This can’t be!”

“The tracker wouldn’t deceive us!”

The soldiers crowded around the instrument. Indeed, the beacon’s dot, which had almost overlapped with their position, had vanished.

“Who knows what happened?” The soldier monitoring the instrument was baffled; everything had been fine just moments ago.

“Is the instrument broken?”

“The chance of this thing breaking is lower than the chance of the Swarm Empress falling in love with you.”

“In that case, it’s very likely broken.”

“Shameless.”

“Shut up. Ask the other squads about their situation.”

“We’ve already checked. The beacon indeed disappeared.”

“Report the situation! Continue searching around where the beacon disappeared. The beacon wouldn’t vanish without reason; there must be traces left behind.”

At this moment, in the rear command room.

“What? The beacon disappeared? What about the people?”

“Don’t know. After our people approached the beacon, it suddenly disappeared from the instruments. We were tricked by the Swarm Empress.”

“How did she remove the beacon?”

“Based on comprehensive big data analysis, several possibilities were deduced, with only one being the most likely.”

“What is it?”

“Our new marker tags organisms at the cellular level from a distance. Ordinary organisms naturally can’t remove it. But remember, broadly speaking, the Swarm Empress’s armor can be considered within the biological category.”

Everyone present were elite personnel and immediately understood the implications of this person’s words.

“You mean our marker didn’t actually hit the Swarm Empress but was blocked by the bio-armor?”

“Exactly. Although we can’t dissect the bio-armor sold to us by the Swarm, based on accounts from some users and other information, that armor indeed possesses biological characteristics, and the cells within it blocked the beacon.”

“Even so, isn’t the armor permanently bound? Can it really be taken off?”

“With your IQ, how could you ask such a ridiculous question?”

“But isn’t that armor supposed to be an ancient relic? Would the Swarm Empress really discard it?”

“The ancient relic is just our speculation. If the Swarm can now produce it independently, it might not be as precious as we imagined.”

“Oh, that’s bad news. If that armor becomes standard equipment for the Swarm, it will be quite troublesome.”

“Not necessarily. Perhaps our previous speculations were wrong. The armor is one thing; the negative energy power source and accompanying weaponry are separate systems.”

“The possibility you mentioned is high, but we still can’t rule out the first possibility.”

“Found it. The information sent back from the front indicates that some unknown fluid was discovered where the beacon disappeared. After comparison, it matches the products left after the genetic collapse of Swarm organisms with over 99% similarity.”

“It’s clear now. Our new marker indeed hit the target’s bio-armor. The target shed it and escaped alone.”

“The target couldn’t have gone far. The area around is under our surveillance. Whether she activates the Negative Energy Shield or physically digs, she can’t escape our eyes.”

“Exactly. She’s likely hiding near where the beacon disappeared. After all, the armor wouldn’t move there on its own.”

“That’s uncertain. Now we know that the Swarm’s armor has more functions than the export version. The Empress’s armor might even have the ability to move independently.”

“Then expand the search range and send all the K2N9s over.”