Juggernaut: Rise of the Zerg

Chapter 220 Channels
In the past 50 years, in addition to continuing to promote the expansion of the Zerg, there are two things that Zero is most concerned about.

One is the vision of the Crichtel galaxy, and what kind of state the bugs are in that they can't observe but are still alive.

The second is undoubtedly the trace left by Mira.

22 years ago, that is, Zerg 1074, a space anomaly appeared again in the Crichtel galaxy, and the large bug species that had been waiting there also suddenly disappeared!

Even if its volume is dozens of times larger than this spherical area, it can't slow down the process by even a millisecond.

The difference is that this time, Zero actually felt that it was dead!
From this, another question was born, why did the small insect species like the observer lose contact after entering it, but still survived, while the large unit died immediately after losing contact?

Is it because its size exceeds that mysterious spherical area?

It is possible, but remains to be verified.Zero needs more experimental results to confirm this conjecture, and at the same time, in this short incident, he, who was carefully prepared, also did not feel the trace of the group of bugs.

Before that, Zero guessed this vision with his existing thinking.

If it is a kind of energy mineral vein, then is this spherical area in appearance its "entrance"?

Similar to a pocket, it seems to be a reasonable explanation to "spit out" energy crystals and swallow Zerg units through this entrance.

Before the incident, Zero felt that if this was the case, at the moment when this "entrance" opened, he might be able to detect the traces of the previous batch of Zerg units that entered it, and thus draw some conclusions.

This time, however, he got nothing.

There are two more valuable experimental conclusions. One is the disappearing but dead large insect species, which seems to mean that this "entrance" does not allow living creatures that exceed its size to enter, and the specifics still need to be verified.

As for the second, under the observation of the densely arranged Zerg scientific research units in advance, at this almost uncapturable moment, they really observed something unusual!
At that moment, within a short microsecond or even an even shorter time, the gravitational force of this place changed extremely drastically, and it was fleeting!
Zero seems to have realized something, but everything is just speculation.These phenomena exceeded what he and the Zerg had known about the entire universe in the past. Even the first octopus who discovered this place could not provide any valuable conclusions for Zero.

Therefore, even if there are many conjectures, He still needs to verify them one by one, and the waiting time can range from a few years to decades!
In the few observations made by the Zerg, Zero also discovered a phenomenon that seems to have little to do with the current conjecture, but it also explained the problem of hundreds of energy crystals hoarded here before.

This kind of vision is not only the time when it occurs is not fixed, but also the number of energy crystals that are "spit out" each time is not fixed!
For example, this time, after the incident, the Zerg found three energy crystals in the originally empty space!

This seems to have nothing to do with the insect swarm that lost contact with it, but Zero knows that the occurrence of this phenomenon must be inseparably related to the cause of this cosmic spectacle itself. These seemingly ordinary events must have a reason for their appearance .

But this is not the point, at least the Zerg has no way to investigate this now, so they can only put it on hold temporarily.This kind of experiment only happens every few years or even decades. What Zero wants to know most now is the whereabouts of the Zerg that entered it.

...............................

After the Zerg found the traces left by Mira in the HE-1067 galaxy in 002, Visser presided over the Zerg Swarm to conduct a thorough search of the entire galaxy.As expected, Visser didn't get any useful information, but he was sure that it had been there and still existed.

As for where it went, the Zerg did not have such tracking technology, and Zero had no way of knowing.

It was confirmed that this enemy still existed, which made Viser a little nervous for a while. It was almost thoroughly researched by Mira at the beginning, and even the next action plan was guessed to be accurate, which also made it very useful for this mechanical civilization. A trace of fear, but also eager to eliminate it!

But it's useless to think too much now, Mira is not here, maybe we will meet again in the future, but right now it is really impossible to catch up.

Visser kept the swarm vigilant and continued to expand outwards. The endless universe is a huge treasure. All it has to do is to lead the swarm into the embrace of the swarm bit by bit.

In 1097 of the Zerg, the Zerg unit that was almost exactly the same size as the "cave entrance" was "swallowed" by Zero, leaving only one energy crystal.

However, this time, the bug did not die!
At the same time, this time, the Zerg observers, who have undergone another strengthening, once again observed an abnormal change in gravity.Similarly, this time Zero still failed to get in touch with the bug swarm that entered it first.

This seems to confirm the previous inference, but not enough.

What does this spherical, ephemeral special area represent?
In this regard, Zero has a bold guess, but it cannot be confirmed.

There was once a deduction about latitude in the Octopus civilization.If a sufficiently regular and smooth sphere is placed on a plane, there is one and only one intersection point between it and the plane.

This point is the only connection between the two.

Similarly, if an object with a spatial structure is placed on a plane, the point where it touches the plane is the common intersection of the two.

This is the projection of the three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional. Assuming that there is a two-dimensional life on the plane, it cannot observe what the object that touches the plane is like. Just click.

It cannot touch any region of three-dimensional space other than these points, and if it does, it spans latitudes and has spatial properties.

Then, if this relationship is lifted up by one latitude again, it becomes the relationship between three-dimensional and four-dimensional or even higher latitudes. The projection of a three-dimensional object on two-dimensional is a plane figure, then the projection of a high-dimensional object in three-dimensional space What could it be?

A three-dimensional area!
And this spherical area, isn't it just a real three-dimensional area that exists in the cosmic space but is inseparable from it? !

Zero boldly diverges his own thinking, which seems to involve some concepts that are difficult to describe intuitively, and can only be speculated through imagination.After all, the Zerg are still creatures that exist in three-dimensional space, which naturally dooms them to not being able to observe the whole picture of higher latitudes!

It is mysterious, and cannot be touched and understood by any three-dimensional life.

Zero is just a bold conjecture based on the current situation. It is impossible to determine how it is, and it is even impossible to verify it, because all the Zerg units that entered it have lost contact!
At this moment, Zero deeply realized the inadequacy of the Zerg.Even though they now occupy tens of hundreds of star systems, and their sphere of influence spans hundreds of light-years, their basic understanding of the universe cannot match such a vast territory.

The cerebrates are already trying their best to promote the progress of basic technology, but Zerg technology has developed to this stage, and every bit of progress is commendable. It is impossible to develop as rapidly as before, and they need time.

The only shortcut is to plunder other civilizations!
But it is a pity that no signs of civilization have been found in this star field that has been occupied by the Zerg.

Life is really a miracle. Although there are many galaxies, none of them can provide the perfect conditions for the germination of life like Ori.

Those huge celestial bodies are either hot or cold, and the stars are active or are about to age and die, all of which make the birth of life a luxury.

The swarm is slowly promoting its own technological development, generally moving towards a few conjectures that exceed the speed of light. This is the current mainstream direction of the swarm, but hundreds of years have passed, and the progress is still slow.

Zero knows that this matter will not be able to produce results in a short period of time. It has been a long time since the breakthrough of controllable nuclear fusion, and the space speed of the Zerg finally stopped at 0.25 times the speed of light.

This relative speed is a quarter of the speed of light, and it is also the limit that the Zerg can reach after various tests. At this point, it has little to do with their size, strength and other factors. What it receives comes from the universe. its own limitations.

Perhaps using a larger number of energy crystals to supply energy can break through this speed to a certain extent, reaching 0.3 times, 0.4 times or even higher than that of the optical drive, but in conventional navigation, no matter how fast it is, it cannot exceed the speed of light, let alone the speed of the Zerg nowadays. The reserves of energy crystals simply cannot support such a large-scale consumption.

Zero can't help thinking, assuming that there are more advanced civilizations in this universe, what is the navigation method they use?If you travel at the speed of light, it will take hundreds of thousands of years just to cross the river system, not to mention the barren cosmic belts between the star fields that are hundreds of millions of light years away.

It's a pity that the answer is unknown until we actually meet them.

Before Mira "exploded himself", Zero once learned some words about the Hero Federation from its self-introduction.That seems to be its mother civilization, and it would be possible for an existence like Mira to be born. This Hero Federation must be unusual, and it is very likely to be an advanced civilization.

But I don't know where it is in the vast universe.

Mira was vague at the beginning, because even its own database was incomplete, and there was no need to explain it to the Zerg.

But Zero did not expect that the advanced civilization he was guessing at this moment would "meet" him in a strange way soon after!
However, it is not the Hero Federation.

In Zerg 1109, everything is developing step by step, which is not surprising at all.

The Zerg's technology has improved slightly, but they still haven't found a way to actually exceed the speed of light. The cerebrates are still groping, and at the same time, they are strengthening all aspects of the Zerg's performance generation after generation, just like what they have done for thousands of years. like that.

Various observation experiments on the wonders of the universe are also continuing. Three years ago, it appeared again, taking away another batch of Zerg individuals guarding there, leaving behind an energy crystal.

In addition, the Zerg had no other gains.

But it was at this time, that is, in 1109 of the Zerg, an event that was enough to record the development history of the Zerg happened!

Zero once again felt the Zerg individual who "entered" into the spherical area that brought cosmic wonders in the Krichtel galaxy!

It was the bug that Zero specially modified to verify whether the spherical area could only allow the "entry" of beings smaller than it, and it was almost the same as it!
It appeared in the real universe again, and it was alive!
Only this time, Zero couldn't confirm where it appeared for a while.

—that's not any known system occupied by Zerg at all!
This represents an astonishing discovery, which means that perhaps the mysterious spherical area is not connected to a "mine", but a "passage", a channel leading to other star fields that will not cause harm to Zerg life. aisle!

However, Zero hadn't had time to let this bug, which was only about one cubic meter in size, mobilize its vision to observe carefully, and it was already under attack the next moment!
That is a very common attack method, intensive but not fatal.However, this "tiny" worm originally existed as a scientific research "guinea mouse" and didn't have much resistance. It was subdued by the opponent in an instant and lost control of its body!
It is not dead, through the will of the hive, even if the worm is unable to move and loses the stress response as a biological instinct, as long as it is still alive, Zero can observe a part of his vision there, of course, only limited to this around the bugs.

Losing all-round vision, Zero couldn't observe the specific environment it was in. He could only confirm that the bug was floating in space, and he didn't even know the appearance of the enemy.

But he knew very well that since the other party had launched an attack but did not kill the bug, it was obvious that there was a conspiracy, and he just needed to wait and see what happened.

Taking this opportunity, the "immune system" located in this worm, to be precise, in almost all macroscopic worm species, started to work, and Zero could feel that the other party seemed to use a long-range attack method to attack the worm. A substance was injected into his body, supplemented by means similar to electric shocks, which successfully made it lose its mobility in a short period of time.

But this is definitely not permanent damage to the Zerg. If the opponent does not do other things, the bug will soon become active again.

Of course, since the other party didn't kill, Zero is more willing to use this bug to obtain the other party's information, but before that, he still needs to make some preparations.

Sure enough, not long after, before it fully regained its mobility, it was approached by the other party.

A "nail" driven by kinetic energy is embedded in its body, causing damage while still being non-lethal as before, but it is continuously injecting substances into its body that can reduce life activity and other effects.

"Nail" is connected to the rear through a tough pipe. It is a small space vehicle that is smooth and regular in the shape of a column. The overall size should be about one-sixtieth of the standard space unit of the Zerg. It's just that a cubic-sized bug is completely overkill.

Zero quietly passed through the connection between the two parties, releasing a large number of microscopic insect species into the cosmic space and all the substances it touched, just like what it did to Mira at that time.

This place is unfamiliar to the Zerg. Although they haven't fully figured out the situation, the other party obviously wants to capture this bug and go back to study it. Then Zero must leave some backup hands for himself, at least not because of this bug. If you lose the loss, you will lose your vision of this completely unfamiliar star field!
Based on the general reaction of the other party, it should be that they didn't notice Zero's small actions. After all, even the existence of Mira, without targeted intelligence as a premise, could not defend against the Zerg's move.

As the long chain dragging the Zerg units gradually shortened, and the two sides slowly approached, the bugs released by Zero also began to stick to the surface of the spaceship, silently blending with it.

They have entered the deepest dormant state since their birth, and they will not have any life response to the outside world. This is a method carefully prepared by Sass, which is enough to deceive Mira. aware.

They are like invisible dust in the universe, passively adsorbed on the surface of all adsorbable objects, without any specificity and inconspicuousness.

Zero didn't do extra actions. In fact, he couldn't do anything more at this time. The dose injected by the other party was obviously adjusted according to the actual situation. The "nail" inserted into the Zerg's body must have a detection function. As it shows signs of activity, the dose is increased immediately.

Zero looked on coldly, he had already accomplished what he wanted to do, and was just waiting for a result.

At this moment, there is only one bug here macroscopically, and his vision is limited, but if nothing else happens, with the biomass he just released, as long as he has the opportunity to develop, he will soon be gone.

The other party was very cautious. Zero looked at this creature that had never shown up, and manipulated the mechanical arm to send the bug into an openable structure, and then there was a violent killing activity. After five times, this The poor worm was put into an airtight container in an unconscious state, while still being anesthetized continuously.

The other party extracted the biological structure from its body, and at the same time, the bug also lost some of its many external organs.

Zero couldn't observe what the other party did to these biological tissues, but he thought it was just a slice study, and he didn't care.

From the physiological structure of the Zerg, there is no doubt that some information about the Zerg can be obtained, such as their tolerance to the cosmic environment, body strength, various parameters of their body, the structure of each system, and so on.

These data may be some valuable information for the other party, but Zero doesn't care at all.From this bug, no matter how much they study, they will never be able to get the core secrets of the Zerg.

——Only when they have seen it with their own eyes will they understand what kind of race it is!
(End of this chapter)