hydrogen bomb! hydrogen bomb!

The black insects, like a vast, dark curtain, slowly enveloped the ground, advancing relentlessly towards Base No. 3.

When the distance narrowed to just three meters, Xiao Yu gave the command to fire.

Facing the direction of Lake No. 2, dozens of massive flamethrowers simultaneously unleashed their fiery torrents!

Dragons of flame swept across the ground. Instantly, the once-quiet black wave began to boil. Under the glare of powerful searchlights, Xiao Yu observed as the insects caught in the flames immediately burst apart, their charred bodies writhing before death claimed them. Even those not directly touched by the fire perished from the searing heat transmitted through the air.

Killing them was far too easy. Even hurling a chunk of the coldest ice from Antarctica at them would do the job—not because of the cold, but because the ice would be unbearably hot to them.

The coldest regions of Antarctica reach only minus seventy degrees, but to these creatures that thrive at minus one hundred and sixty degrees, it is scorching.

In a matter of moments, thousands upon thousands of black insects were exterminated. The liquid methane within them was heated to the boiling point, causing their bodies to rupture before evaporating, leaving behind a landscape littered with desiccated corpses.

Yet, their numbers were overwhelming—seemingly endless. Like moths to a flame, the insects were not deterred by the intense heat but driven into a frenzy, rushing towards it as if eager to meet their demise.

Their fearless tenacity astonished Xiao Yu, if only for a fleeting moment. Watching the growing piles of insect carcasses, he felt a surge of excitement. After all, these were perfect materials for constructing an interstellar spacecraft. Where else could he find such excellent radiation shielding materials?

"Hmph, if you're not afraid to die, I'm not afraid to kill! Come, I'll kill as many as you send!"

Xiao Yu laughed heartily, his heart pounding with excitement.

The robots arrayed before the base seemed to sense Xiao Yu's exhilaration, intensifying their flames with greater ferocity. Every moment saw thousands of insects perish, and every moment saw thousands more rush forward to replace them.

The brutal battle raged on.

Three hours into the conflict.

Xiao Yu's initial excitement had faded. In this time, he had annihilated at least billions of the black insects, yet the relentless tide showed no signs of stopping.

The flamethrower robots had to pause occasionally as their nozzles overheated. Out of over two hundred robots, more than a hundred now stood on the front line, while the rest retreated behind the defenses to cool down. Once cooled, these robots would return to the front, replacing those in need of respite.

In this relentless cycle, the robots held their ground, preventing the black tide from advancing even an inch.

Before him, the insect carcasses had piled up to a meter high. At least tens of billions of insects had fallen here, yet still, more surged forward. One robot, unable to evade in time, was engulfed by the rising mound of corpses and lost its signal in an instant.

There was no choice; Xiao Yu had to order a slow retreat.

His mood grew increasingly grave, as he began to truly regard the insects as formidable adversaries. He realized that without an effective strategy, he might indeed lose Base No. 3 to the onslaught.

The tide continued its advance, surmounting the meter-high mound of insect corpses.

Gradually, after retreating five meters, the robots once again faced a growing mountain of bodies.

Xiao Yu could only silently curse.

"Fuel reserves are low; we can only hold out for another three hours," Xiao Yu received a warning.

Previously, fuel had been drawn directly from Lake No. 2, with oxidizers delivered by Fengshen No. 1. But now, returning to the lake was out of the question, and fuel supply had become a critical issue.

"Damn it, you're forcing my hand," Xiao Yu growled, immediately ordering Fengshen No. 1 to return and load up ninety tons of fuel before heading back to Base No. 3.

This round trip consumed an hour. During that time, the robot defense line was forced to retreat three more times. On several occasions, collapsing insect mounds caused five robots to lose their signals due to their inability to evade.

Including the initial loss, Xiao Yu had now lost seven robots.

Xiao Yu piloted Fengshen No. 1 towards Lake No. 2.

The distance between Base No. 3 and Lake No. 2 was about twenty kilometers. With searchlights on, Xiao Yu looked down at the ground. What he saw left him silently stunned.

Insects… too many!

The endless tide of insects formed a massive flood, a kilometer wide and twenty kilometers long, stretching from Lake No. 2 to Base No. 3.

At the front line of Base No. 3, countless insects died every moment, which meant countless more were emerging from Lake Weilan.

"Damn it!" Xiao Yu cursed, quickly steering Fengshen No. 1 back to base. After half an hour, Xiao Yu had manufactured a few methane incendiary bombs, loaded with sufficient oxidizers, and loaded them onto Fengshen No. 1.

An hour later, Fengshen No. 1 hovered over the black tide once more, then without hesitation, dropped the bombs.

Boom! Flames erupted skyward, the high-temperature fire from the specially-made incendiary bombs engulfing an area of several dozen square meters, with the blast radius extending over several hundred square meters!

In that moment, Xiao Yu estimated that at least ten million insects were obliterated, yet even more surged forward!

They were utterly fearless, and the harsh environment had driven them to seek heat, even at the cost of their lives.

Xiao Yu continued to drop incendiary bombs, and the insects continued to surge.

Xiao Yu had to admit that Fengshen No. 1 could not halt their advance.

"This is insane…" Xiao Yu muttered to himself.

During this time, the robot defense line was forced to retreat another ten times, nearly fifty meters. Just a hundred meters behind lay the area where the machinery for Base No. 3 was stored.

"This isn't working. I need to come up with a plan," Xiao Yu gritted his teeth, thinking rapidly.

An idea began to take shape.

A massive digging machine was modified, with steel plates added to its sides, and it roared to life, charging into the insect horde.

The robot defense line opened up a gap, allowing the massive digger to pass through. It plowed through the towering mound of insect corpses, demolishing it in an instant. The moment the collision occurred, the digger was engulfed by insects, and Xiao Yu lost its signal. But through the optical sensors, Xiao Yu could see that the digger, propelled by momentum, continued forward several hundred meters before finally coming to a stop.

The digger had bulldozed through dozens of meters of the insect mound.

In truth, these insects posed little direct threat to Xiao Yu. The greatest danger came from the mounds of dead insects. As soon as a mound formed, Xiao Yu had to retreat. If it collapsed, it could bury the robots instantly. Even if it didn't, the height of the mound would severely diminish the effectiveness of the flamethrowers.

Seeing that the digger's method worked, Xiao Yu felt a surge of relief and sent out the remaining diggers to completely demolish the insect mound before him, calming his nerves slightly.

But Xiao Yu quickly realized that this tactic could only buy him time. There were only a few dozen diggers at Base No. 3. Once they were used up, what then?

"I need another plan," Xiao Yu thought hard. Gradually, a mad idea formed in his mind.

"Damn it, you're pushing me to the limit," Xiao Yu muttered, "Can't kill you all? Then I'll destroy your nest!"

Xiao Yu's plan was simple: build a hydrogen bomb and drop it into Lake No. 2. A high-yield hydrogen bomb would be enough to evaporate the entire lake!

Base No. 3 was twenty kilometers away from the lake, well within an acceptable range of impact. Even if there was some damage, it was better than being overwhelmed by the insect tide.

Xiao Yu gritted his teeth and began executing the plan.

At Base No. 2's fusion research lab, there was enough fusion fuel to build a hydrogen bomb. Although controlled fusion hadn't been developed yet, building a hydrogen bomb was still feasible. The old spaceship contained enough uranium-235 to make an atomic bomb, which could serve as the trigger for the hydrogen bomb.

No sooner said than done, Xiao Yu piloted Fengshen No. 1 to transport the uranium-235 to Base No. 2. Fusion research was halted, and work began in earnest on the hydrogen bomb.

A hydrogen bomb requires a trigger, usually an atomic bomb. This alone illustrates the power of a hydrogen bomb. The infamous atomic bomb is merely a trigger in comparison.

Building the hydrogen bomb took Xiao Yu half a month. During this time, he lost another twenty robots, and the insect tide advanced ninety meters, now just ten meters away from reaching Base No. 3.

But the insects from Lake No. 2 kept coming. Xiao Yu didn't even dare to estimate how many there were left.

"Hold on, just five more days…" Xiao Yu muttered. Although the hydrogen bomb was ready, it couldn't be launched yet. A bomb of this magnitude required a rocket for deployment, not Fengshen No. 1, which would be destroyed in the process—a risk Xiao Yu couldn't accept.

Five days remained until the rocket would be completed.