The unit moved quickly. By the time Jiang Ye's spider left the base gate, the troops had already disappeared.
He had no choice but to chase after them, all the way to the chalk lands.
The chalk lands had a peculiar landscape, with large swathes of white emerging from the yellow earth, alternating between yellow and white, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Jiang Ye maneuvered his spider closer to the edge of the chalk lands. The golden desert in the distance became clearer, gleaming under the sun.
Finally, he could see the spiders.
The troops were already in position. One-third of the spiders were lined up, excavating in the chalk lands.
One of the spider's mechanical legs was specifically designed for mining. It could cut through marble with ease, let alone excavate loose ore like chalk.
Campfires had also been lit, quickly billowing black smoke. What they were burning were leftovers, disposable meal boxes, and scraps from processing wood.
The fires were set at the edge of the sandy area, with a twenty-meter-long line of bonfires burning vigorously.
Hundreds of spiders were spread out in a semicircle, their cannons extended, waiting silently.
Jiang Ye did not approach. He stopped his spider a hundred meters away, observing quietly. If a battle broke out and things became chaotic, he would be in the way if he were too close.
In less than three minutes, shouts suddenly erupted on the communication channel:
Southeast direction! They're coming!
Jiang Ye immediately looked towards the southeast and gasped in surprise.
The once calm desert was undulating like the sea!
Fine yellow dust rose into the sky, approaching at the speed of a car. The area of undulating desert grew larger and larger, a large-scale attack visible to the naked eye!
Jiang Ye's blood began to race. The communication channel was filled with the shouts of the combat troops, some reporting the status of their armored vehicles, and more adjusting their attack directions based on the changes in the desert.
Boom!
Dark, colossal objects burst out from underground. More than ten jump worms leaped up at once, kicking up sand several stories high!
All the spiders opened fire simultaneously. Smoke and fire enveloped the battlefield. Shells, with clear trajectories, slammed into the jump worms. The explosions sounded like countless peals of thunder rolling by.
Jiang Ye zoomed in his view to observe the leaping jump worms.
They were indeed disgusting. The outer shells of the jump worms resembled the texture of truck tires, except they had no treads. When hit by shells, they exploded into hundreds of pieces of black flesh, scattering like shattered coal, and spewing out some oil-like fluid.
The heads of the jump worms had only a single large mouth, filled with dense, thorny fangs. The mouth's diameter was large enough to swallow a small car whole.
Jiang Ye wiped the sweat from his brow. What could be called a barbaric alien creature?
After a round of shelling, the battlefield was filled with thick smoke, enveloping the combat spiders like a dense fog.
Dozens of severed jump worms lay sprawled on the sand. Some sections were still wriggling feebly. They had been completely annihilated.
Just as Jiang Ye was about to relax, he heard Che Zhen's voice on the channel again:
The second wave is coming from the northwest! Teams Two, Three, and Four, turn northwest!
The third wave is directly in front! Approximately thirty of them! Prepare for concentrated fire!
The fourth wave is from the northeast, over thirty, reserve teams stand by!
Three waves of attacks appeared almost simultaneously. Jiang Ye adjusted his view and indeed saw the desert shaking like waves in three different directions.
The jump worms were indeed very fast. In the blink of an eye, they reached the campfires. Dozens of adult jump worms leaped up together in a spectacular display, sending dust soaring into the sky.
Rows of shells flew towards them, exploding into coal-like chunks of flesh.
Even from a distance, Jiang Ye could feel the vibrations. The battlefield's firepower had reached a terrifying intensity. Shells were fired in neat volleys, sweeping through the jump worms like sharp, cutting blades. The ground was increasingly littered with corpses.
The second wave of jump worms was cleared just as the third and fourth waves attacked almost at the same time.
The firepower was becoming insufficient. Ten-meter-long black worms began to rise into the air, lunging towards the spider formations.
But fortunately, the spiders remained at the edge of the chalk lands, just outside the jump worms' leaping range.
The battle lasted for five minutes before ending. The white smoke from the battlefield had already drifted to Jiang Ye's location.
The chalk lands were covered with golden shell casings, wisps of residual smoke still rising.
Report! Team 2's shells are depleted!
Report! Team Five's shells are empty!
Report! Team Four has ten percent of its shells remaining!
The team leaders were all reporting depleted ammunition. The battle had not lasted long, but over eighty jump worms had been annihilated, and the ammunition consumption had exceeded expectations.
"Withdraw and resupply ammunition," Che Zhen ordered decisively.
The spiders turned and left, disappearing like the wind.
Only about thirty spiders remained, continuing their silent excavation in the chalk lands.
Jiang Ye also maneuvered his spider armored vehicle away.
After witnessing this round of combat, he had a rough idea. With this approach, they could gradually deplete the jump worms in the desert without any armor damage.
The once terrifying jump worms now felt as fragile as low-level monsters in a game. Although the entire process was spectacular, it was not actually dangerous, and it reminded Jiang Ye of clearing low-level monsters in games.
However, there was a problem: the speed was too slow.
The spider armored vehicles had limited ammunition capacity. After a few rounds of engaging enemies, they had to return to base to resupply. A significant amount of time was wasted on the road.
At the current rate of clearing enemies, they could only eliminate a few hundred per day at most.
The entire desert had over eighty thousand jump worms. Even if they worked non-stop, it would take more than half a year to clear them all.
Were they going to be stuck here for half a year? Drinking sand and clearing low-level monsters every day?
That was a joke. Jiang Ye was determined to conquer the entire planet within a few years.
The spider armored vehicles sped like lightning across the wasteland. Instead of returning to the military base, they headed back to Shale Town, rested briefly, and then returned to Binhai City.
Upon arriving in Binhai City, Jiang Ye went straight to the Baiyi Property building.
As he entered, dusty from his journey, the young receptionist greeted him.
It was the same young lady he had seen before. She was on duty every time he visited.
"Do you work every day?" Jiang Ye couldn't help but ask. "Don't you switch shifts? Or take weekends off?"
The young lady was taken aback. "Yes, it's a 007 job."
Jiang Ye gave her a sympathetic look and said nothing, heading straight for the elevator lobby.
The receptionist, wearing high heels, followed him with a click-clack. She informed him that President Xu was not in the office and had gone to oversee the construction of the hot spring villa area.
"Alright, when she returns, tell her to contact me," Jiang Ye said, not lingering, and turned to leave.
He returned to his base vehicle and sat in front of the control panel.
As usual, he began his daily essential tasks.
He opened [Build Factory].
The Commercial Factory tab was still empty.
Jiang Ye clicked on [Military Factory], and selected [Spider Light Armored Vehicle Factory].
The factory construction cost was still 180 million. He clicked to place the order.
Xu Yan was still busy. Jiang Ye typed a message for her:
"The new armored vehicle factory should be built next to the chalk lands, close to the desert. Build it as soon as possible.
Besides the factory, I also need a larger military base. We'll discuss this in person."
Jiang Ye's strategy was simple. Since there were too many jump worms in the desert, he decided to build a military facility on the edge of the desert, from the base to the factories.
He would block the entrance to the jump worms' home and beat them up!
Furthermore, according to Jiang Ye's requirements, this new military base would be very expensive to build.