Zhu Ziwen's expression twisted as he watched the swarm of giant, abandoned insects rushing frantically toward the vicinity of the helipad.

"This, this is impossible!!!"

His hands trembled slightly as he quickly adjusted the images in the holographic projection.

In the footage, the number of dark green dots around the tarmac is increasing.

As if guided by something, these lost giant insects gathered in this unusual area!

It completely covers the entire tarmac without leaving any blind spots.

"Based on the previous detection data, although these giant insects are more active at night, they mainly concentrate around the water!"

"Why did they all end up here?!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Zhou frowned immediately.

But the increasingly shrill alarm interrupted his thoughts. He raised his hand and pulled Zhu Ziwen forcefully.

Never mind those reasons!

"They could attack at any moment. You should go back to the starship!"

Zhu Ziwen was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously asked, "And what about you guys?"

Xia Zhou turned his head and looked at the planetary explorers who had not yet returned to the vicinity of the starship in the distance.

"We need to wait for someone."

"Attention all personnel, activate radiation imaging."

Xia Zhou's eyes sharpened instantly: "Prepare for the first wave of attack."

"Cover your teammates as they board the starship!"

Radiation imaging is an additional feature added to the second-generation exoskeleton armor.

Its function is similar to that of a radiation detector.

However, it can use zero computing power to perform real-time simulated imaging of the detected radiation data.

In other words, those abandoned giant insects with extremely strong stealth capabilities will be exposed in the face of the second-generation exoskeleton armor with radiation imaging capabilities!

Zhu Ziwen stood still, silently observing Xia Zhou, Su Pengfei, and the others who had become fully armed in just a few seconds.

At the same time, he used an EEG reading device to quickly record the defects he observed.

The plasma cannon deployment speed is too slow...

The location of the Type III laser cannon needs improvement...

[...]

"Hey! Dude, what time is it? Stop standing there!"

Su Pengfei noticed Zhu Ziwen standing there dumbfounded and shouted angrily, "Get back to the starship! We won't have time to worry about you once they launch their attack!"

Seeing that Zhu Ziwen did not react, he hurriedly turned to Xia Zhou for help.

"Captain Xia! Academician Zhu is terrified! Quickly control the exoskeleton armor and get Academician Zhu back to the starship!"

Zhu Ziwen suddenly snapped out of his daze: "???"

The next second, he felt an irresistible force coming from his limbs.

Seeing his body being forced towards the starship's hatch by the exoskeleton device, he quickly shouted loudly.

"Captain Xia! Captain Xia!"

"etc!!!"

The mechanical exoskeleton stopped moving.

"What's going on?!" Xia Zhou said anxiously, his tone becoming more forceful. "Academician Zhu, this is not the time for jokes! You..."

"I need to observe exoskeleton armor in real combat scenarios!"

Zhu Ziwen raised his voice, drowning out Xia Zhou's: "For the development of the next generation of exoskeleton armor!"

Xia Zhou: "..."

He frowned, clicked his tongue softly, but still unlocked the exoskeleton armor.

"Su the Fool! You're in charge of protecting Academician Zhu!"

"If anything happens to Academician Zhu, you might as well die too!"

"Did you hear me clearly?!"

"Yes!" Su Pengfei straightened up and responded loudly.

...

As explorers arrived near the starship, the dark green dots in the radiation detectors gradually increased their speed.

They started to get restless.

A sharp hiss, mixed with the rustling sound of the giant insect moving its body, filled the entire "landing pad".

Even so, the forest under the high-powered searchlights remained incredibly calm, as if nothing had happened.

This bizarre scene, so drastically different from reality, sent a slight chill down Zhu Ziwen's spine.

"Gulp..."

Zhu Ziwen broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed hard.

suddenly!

The alarm from the detector reached its peak, with the rapid beeping almost becoming a continuous chorus!

"They're here!"

Xia Zhou's shout rang out in the communication channel: "All explorers, form battle formations immediately, in squads!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a sudden change occurred!

Under the illumination of the searchlights, a dense trail of footprints appeared at the boundary between the forest and the helipad!

But Zhu Ziwen did not focus his attention on these footprints.

He looked at the scene in the forest with rapid breathing, his eyes revealing an indescribable fear!

root!

Tree roots everywhere!

He finally understood why these lost giant insects had changed their habits and come to the vicinity of the helipad!

It was the giant trees that did it!

Using the tree roots, they drove these giant insects into this area like sheep!

Suddenly, an inconceivable thought arose in Zhu Ziwen's mind.

Look at how skillfully these giant trees are operating...

Is it possible that these lost giant insects were livestock that were kept in captivity?

The thought had barely surfaced when it began to linger in Zhu Ziwen's mind.

"drop!"

An electronically synthesized voice announced: "Radiation imaging function is activated."

The scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

The whole world turned into a pale fluorescent green!

Zhu Ziwen also successfully saw what those lost giant insects looked like.

Although this is still an image of Zero simulated using various data, it is already very close to the real scene.

"Damn it!"

The moment he saw the image clearly, a scream rang out from Zhu Ziwen's mouth: "Zero! You call this thing a pill bug?!"

"This isn't a pill bug at all!"

"This is practically a giant centipede!!!"

Zhu Ziwen stared at the group of giant centipedes with a pale face and a slight tremor in his body.

Although they are similar in size, pill bugs and centipedes have completely different visual impacts!

(I won't post pictures, but you can search for "centipede" if you're interested. It's also known as a money spider or millipede.)