Chapter 173 Between the Flickering Lights
"Calculate the time it will take for the swarm to catch up with the transport ship."
"Eight minutes."
"Prepare the transport ship to jump towards us!"
"Boss, there is a high probability that the Zerg will also follow the jump."
"Don't think too much," Yang Ming said firmly, "Just calculate the shortest way for us to come into contact with the transport ship. The Feinan will fly beyond the limit."
"Yes, the calculation has been completed. The transport ship has begun to jump. Our ship has begun to fly beyond the limit."
With a slight tremor, the speed of the Feinan increased again. Even Yang Ming's body felt a little uncomfortable at this moment.
In order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble for Luo Feng, after deciding to enter the New Federation to avoid the insect plague, Yang Ming had already ordered the previous escort formation to evacuate the vicinity of the transport ship.
Now there are only 026 and Hera, as well as some mechanical guards in the transport ship.
This amount of defensive power is not enough to withstand a wave of attacks from a few insects.
The transport ship began to be coated.
This high-level Zerg seemed to be alert, and the "advance team" began to prepare for the jump almost simultaneously.
Yang Ming clenched the rudder with both hands, and there was a little more bloodshot in his eyes.
A countdown appeared in the upper left corner of the projection screen in front of him. This was the countdown calculated by the law firm for the intersection of the Feinan and the transport ship.
Whether from numerical calculations or Yang Ming's intuitive feelings...
They are all bugs that need to be faster.
The transport ship started the jump, crashed into the ripples and disappeared, appearing in the desolate star field directly ahead of the Feinan.
The small warship sent by the Zerg started the jump and landed right behind the transport ship, chasing it madly.
Damn!
Yang Ming couldn't help but swear.
But now, he could only rush to the transport ship as fast as he could.
A cloud of material erupted from the tail of the Feinan, leaving a brilliant trail in the starry sky.
…
Inside the transport ship.
The fully armed 026 rushed into the experimental cabin with several mechanical guards.
"Ms. Hera! We must prepare for evacuation immediately. Please follow me to the bridge escape pod...uh."
026 looked at the scene in front of him in some surprise.
Hera took off her white coat and put on a gray tights. The robot next to her was walking out, carrying two instruments that were full of wires and were obviously completed in a hurry.
"They're coming, aren't they?" Hera asked softly.
"Yes," 026 said quickly, "We must prepare to leave our ship now. According to Lu's prediction, the bugs are aiming to capture you, Miss Hera. The boss is about six minutes away from us. The bridge is right next to us, and we must rush over immediately."
Hera nodded calmly: "Okay, I'm not good at fighting, I'll follow your command."
"Then I am being rude!"
026 took the initiative to move forward and picked up Hera horizontally before Hera could react.
Hera subconsciously hooked her arms around 026's neck.
026 turned and ran, with a faint light emanating from his back. Several robots began to run at the same time, steadily keeping up with 026's pace.
The front hatch opened, and more than a dozen robots in the bridge were ready for battle.
The mechanical guards shouldered their laser guns and single-barrel laser cannons;
The robot butler whose program was temporarily rewritten by 026 was now wearing a tuxedo, holding a laser pistol and breathing heavily. This civilized and peaceful machine was obviously under great mental pressure;
A few tracked robots that didn't look very smart held up some small instruments, ready to throw them forward at any time.
Although this is destined not to have much lethality.
The passage to the escape pod was open. 026 almost stuffed Hera inside and turned to run to the transport ship's control panel.
"Ms. Hera, the emergency space suit is under the seat, put it on yourself!"
"Okay, bring in my equipment and plug it into the lifeboat power supply. This can be used to fight the bugs."
026 shouted quickly: "You give orders directly to the robot."
"Oh! Please let me do this dirty work!"
The robot butler volunteered to rush forward.
It stuffed the pistol into its jacket pocket and carried the equipment with two mechanical guards. Its silver-gray metal face was full of depression, and it kept repeating that he loved peace and opposed war.
The corners of 026's mouth twitched slightly, and he lamented the difference between high-end intelligence and low-end mental retardation.
The transport ship's engines were already running at full power.
026 was trying to tap the engine potential of the spacecraft, but after her operations, she only increased the propulsion efficiency of the spacecraft by a few tenths of a percent.
The radar showed that the Zerg warship was getting closer and closer.
And there was no news from the boss's Feinan.
026's eyes suddenly widened.
On the radar, the Zerg battleship suddenly became smaller, and after flashing a few times, it suddenly disappeared!
She was wondering when the early warning system nearby rang loudly and a red insect icon appeared in the corner of the projection screen.
026 quickly turned on the optical detection radar and felt a little tingling on his scalp.
Behind the transport ship, insects flying at super high speeds with golden patterns on their bodies slowly pounced towards them.
Transport ships hurtle through the interstellar wilderness;
The group of golden adult insects split from the battleship spread their wings, their abdomens flashing with blue halos, and they continued to shrink the distance between themselves and the transport ship.
Forced jump?
026 kept adjusting the data, but found that even if the transport ship risked its life to make continuous jumps, it would have to wait for the curvature engine to cool down, and the coating machine and polarizer would also take several minutes to resume work.
Continuous transition is not a continuous and uninterrupted transition.
026 I feel a little dry in the mouth.
"To the escape pod."
Lu's voice suddenly sounded: "The boss has rushed to the tail cabin. He will drive the Ghost to pick you up."
"Isn't the HMS Ghost still under repair?" 026 asked subconsciously.
"It's ready. Go to the escape pod first." Lu's projection appeared in front of 026, his eyes a little stern. "I will find a way to help you buy three minutes of escape time... If you can't save Hera, you should focus on protecting yourself."
"Hera is the boss's partner," 026 reminded, "We can't abandon Hera casually."
Lu nodded slightly: "If you can't even protect yourself, how can you protect others? Just do your best, the boss won't blame you."
026 was a little speechless.
Lu urged, “Go quickly!”
026 turned his head and jumped to the side. A strand of blue hair fluttered gently in his ear-length hair. He jumped into the escape pod in a few steps.
The two instruments have been set up and the mechanical guards have returned to the bridge ready for battle.
The old robot butler walked out of the connecting passage reluctantly. Although he was very hesitant, he still turned his head and asked a question.
"Oh, great boss assistant, do I have to fight with a laser gun? I can use my fists, I have a boxing program... Letting a robot whose core function is to serve humans use firearms is really against my core protocol!"
026, who was wearing an emergency space suit, waved his fist and cursed: "Go quickly! I have left your information here! I will revive you later!"
"Okay, but this..."
boom!
The hull suddenly shook.
The old butler hurriedly pressed the button to close the cabin, grabbed his pistol in a panic, and pointed it at the passage in front of the bridge.
The tail compartment of the spacecraft was hit.
One by one, the golden adult insects pounced on the metal shell near the tail cabin, with their blade-like limbs embedded in the hull and their thin wings vibrating at high frequency, spreading special electric currents.
The spacecraft engine has shut down!
The spacecraft lost its acceleration. Although its speed did not decrease and it still maintained super-high speed, this meant that more and more insects would catch up in a short period of time.
In just a dozen seconds, the adult insects filled the stern hold of the transport ship.
They gnawed at the ship's armor, their blade-like limbs cutting through the composite deck.
Due to the pressure difference between inside and outside the cabin, a large amount of gas was ejected outward, and the two adult insects were directly blown away.
The spacecraft's built-in emergency gas barrier net had just been opened when a blade-like limb tore through the barrier net and a long and narrow body filled with terrifying power drilled into the tail cabin.
Then, the second one, the third one...
The transport ship's stern hold was nearly torn apart, as bugs swarmed in, tearing open safety doors, cutting open bulkheads and engine rooms, searching for any empty spaces, and swarming toward the bridge.
They are being attracted by Hera.
The only target they locked onto was Hera herself.
In the cockpit of the escape pod, 026 saw Hera's hands trembling, so he took the initiative to reach out and hold Hera, whispering:
"Don't worry, we'll be fine, the boss will be here soon."
Hera nodded and continued to watch the situation in the bridge.
The bridge security door suddenly deformed, as if it had suffered some kind of heavy blow, and the next moment, several sharp blades pierced into the security door at the same time, sliding to the left and right...
Before the hatch was torn open, the bulkhead had already broken, and seven or eight adult insects that looked like long and narrow spiders rushed into the bridge.
The mechanical guards opened fire fiercely.
The robot butler frantically pulled the trigger of his pistol.
The light bullets passed by, leaving the adult insects without any damage, except that their shells were a little charred.
If these guards had any emotions, they would probably only be in despair now.
Looking back from the bridge, adult insects of this strength were densely crawling all over the rear bulkhead.
Dozens of bugs were frantically gnawing at the spacecraft's engines.
The bugs were about to rush towards the escape pod, and the escape pod, which had been waiting for a long time, finally ejected at this moment, spewing out strong flames at the tail and accelerating towards deep space.
The swarm of insects immediately rioted and was about to rush out of the transport ship.
"stop!"
Visible ripples broke out on the center console of the spacecraft.
This is a simple strong electromagnetic interference eruption at the expense of shipboard system hardware.
Then, according to Hera's research results, a series of biological signals appeared on the center console, and a fiery red figure slowly condensed.
The swarm of insects paused, and the compound eyes on their tiny triangular heads flickered gently.
The fiery red figure is like a goddess.
Six burning wings slowly spread out behind her. Her slender figure had golden proportions. She wore a golden mask, held a scepter, and slightly raised her smooth chin.
Looks very handsome, but actually... just very handsome.
This is naturally the law.
She opened her right hand towards the swarm of insects, continuously releasing biological signals and calculating the intervals between the escape pods.
After a dozen seconds, the escape pod had reached a safe distance.
Lu's outstretched right hand turned gently, and his five fingers slowly clenched into a fist. When the insect swarm tilted their heads to look at it, a middle finger as white as jade jumped out straight.
The swarm is confused.
Three faint flames appeared simultaneously at the rear section, middle section and bridge of the spacecraft, and then expanded rapidly. Three super-high temperature fireballs completely enveloped the ship, and ring-shaped ribbons spread into the universe.
"How rude," the old robot butler muttered, raising his hand to adjust the collar of his tuxedo before the flames engulfed him.
The transport ship exploded.
In the escape pod, Hera turned her head and looked at the scene with a blank expression.
"You planted so many bombs where I live?"
"Uh," 026 muttered guiltily, "It's an antimatter bomb. It's very small and usually very safe."
The corners of Hera's mouth twitched slightly.
026 reminded: "The swarm is still there."
Hera turned her head again, just in time to see, at the edge of the exploding fireball, a group of adult insects flying past, chasing after their tiny escape pod.
"My instrument may be able to help," Hera said quietly.
026 swallowed, his face tense, and drove the escape pod at full speed.
The boss will come.
Definitely.
Hera grabbed the instrument's control panel and pursed her lips tightly.
The swarm of insects that rushed towards the escape pod seemed to be afraid of directly smashing the target organism, and actually began to adjust their speed, surrounding the escape pod and remaining relatively still.
The swarm of insects swarmed in.
Hera pressed several buttons in succession.
The instrument strapped to the back seat emitted a series of biological signals.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet. Insects fluttered their wings and hovered in the air, with a hint of confusion in their eyes.
“Amazing!”
026 almost jumped up and said hurriedly: "Let them all stop outside!"
Hera whispered, "I can only use it twice."
"Uh, because these are the only two instruments?"
"Yes," Hera said, "This kind of bio-wave requires the consumption of microorganisms extracted from insects, and my technology is not yet mature."
The insects around have begun to wake up.
And another group of adult insects came from behind.
The corner of 026's mouth twitched slightly, and he said quickly: "If we can delay for a while, the chance of survival will be much higher. Let's cooperate. I'll start counting down... five."
026 raised his hand and took a picture of the emergency space suit installed on Hera. Both of them were wrapped in a thin layer of light film.
"Four."
Hera gripped the control panel tightly, with only the last button left.
"three."
The surrounding swarms of insects surged in like a tide. Their ugly, terrifying, yet extremely solid bodies had already blocked out the outer starlight.
"two."
026 pressed several buttons in succession, and the escape pod suddenly shut down. She raised her hand and grabbed Hera's arm.
"Turn on the instrument!"
Hera immediately pressed the button at hand, the biological wave appeared again, and the swarm fell into silence for ten seconds.
The hatch above the escape capsule ejected, a large amount of gas gushed out, and two seats rushed out of the escape capsule and flew "upwards".
The propellant under the seat was quickly depleted in a matter of seconds.
026, who had already unbuckled his seatbelt, quickly untied Hera and held her in his arms.
A faint circle of light appeared on the soles of her feet. The rocket shoes that she had originally worn just for fun now provided a little thrust, pushing them above the swarm.
The swarm began to revive.
The escape pod was torn apart, and without any connectable equipment, the mechanical spine behind 026 lost its glow.
The adult insects raised their heads and chased after 026 and Hera.
Through the light film of the space suit, 026 pursed his lips and gave Hera a slight smile.
Hera frowned slightly and subconsciously wanted to hold 026 tightly, but 026 was faster, with both hands on Hera's chest, pushing upwards with all his strength.
Hera got a new push.
026 began to fall in the opposite direction.
'026!'
Hera's shouts could not be heard through the space suit.
026 waved gently to Hera and curled up as best as he could.
Several adults brandished their knife-like limbs.
"Mr. Yang Ming, this is the best I can do..."
'Thanks.'
026 pursed his lips tightly and closed his still clear eyes.
A faint light suddenly appeared on the spine of my back.
"The device is connected."
"Particle transport initiated."
It’s Xiaolu!
A beam of strong light shone, and before 026 could even open his eyes, his figure disappeared in a flash!
The two blade limbs pierced through the phantom!
Four deep purple ion beams streaked across the sky, causing a series of explosions in the insect swarm below!
Seeing this scene, Hera looked up suddenly and looked towards the source of the strong light and ion beam.
A ball of colorful light was flying at high speed in the universe.
In the ball of light, the Feinan had begun to slow down, and on the back of the Feinan, a red mecha was half-kneeling there, tightly holding on to the deck with a pair of large mechanical hands.
The evil ghost attacks!
Yang Ming's mecha leaped up, with a butterfly-like trail of fire spurting out from behind it , and crashed into the swarm of insects surging under Hera's feet.
