BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1293: The bugs (19)

"We can't be sure of that," Mira said. However, the real problem remained.

"Then where are the warrior and leader eggs?" Emily went into the crux of the matter, keeping her rifle trained on the bugs scuttling in the distance.

Erik pointed toward the deeper tunnels. "The warrior and leader eggs must be kept in the safer chambers, deeper underground, probably near the queen's main chamber. The queen is too smart to leave her most valuable offspring exposed like this. She knows we're a threat, and she'll protect those elite eggs at all costs, keeping them behind multiple layers of worker defenses."

He gestured at the hanging sacs. "The workers must be expendable, so she must be keeping the most valuable eggs close to her and using the rest of the space to rebuild the workers' numbers quickly."

Amber frowned. "Isn't she prioritizing quantity over quality this way? That doesn't seem like a winning strategy."

"She lost half her hive," Erik said. "What did you expect? The battle at the cave entrance must have depleted her forces more than we realized. She needs bodies to maintain territory control, even if they're weaker ones. Besides, we don't know how many warrior and leader eggs she made."

Erik paused.

"The queen is powerful, but not exceptional by Mur's standards. Though she's strong compared to us, I've seen many stronger thaids in the forest. She ranks in the upper range of middle-tier creatures here on Mur—at least among those I've encountered."

"So that's why she compensates for her relative weakness with sheer numbers," Mira said, looking at the countless egg sacs. "She knows she can't match other thaids in raw power, so she focuses on overwhelming her enemies with masses instead."

"Yeah. What it lacks in individual strength, it makes up for in coordination and reproduction speed, and the more bugs she has, the stronger the hive is. It's a kind of horde tactic. The queen probably knows that another major battle like the one at the entrance would put the hive in a bad situation."

Erik moved to the edge of the city, keeping low behind a broken concrete pillar while scanning the darkened structures ahead of them for any movement.

<System, can you tell me when the eggs should hatch?>

[On it.]

It took the system less than ten seconds to scan the closest eggs.

[It looks like the queen is buying time. These workers will hatch within days, giving her a buffer force.]

<I need more information. When did the queen make the eggs? What is the spawn time?>

[Based on the egg development I'm seeing, the queen likely began laying these eggs immediately after the battle at the entrance. Worker eggs appear to have approximately a two-week maturation period, which explains their current state.]

<What about the warrior and leader eggs?>

[I can't get data on those. They're being kept deeper within the nest. You were right about that; they are outside my current sensory range. They likely need more resources and time to develop, but I cannot confirm their exact maturation timeline. We need to find them first.]

"Smart," he said. "I hate that it's smart."

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"What?" Amber asked.

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking out loud while talking to the biological supercomputer."

"Oh, right, shared thoughts, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"What did the system say?" June asked.

June had never heard the system talk normally, but he remembered its behavior from before Erik made him.

"It says the worker eggs were laid right after the battle at the entrance. They'll hatch within days—queen's most likely creating a buffer force to bolster her numbers quickly."

"And the other eggs?"

Erik shook his head. "They're deeper in the nest, as we assumed, outside the system's scanning range, though. They probably need more resources and time to develop, even in the system's opinion."

"So we're on a timer," June said.

"Yeah. We need to move before things take an ugly turn."

"Intelligence is relative with thaids, and she does not lack it," Erik said. "But survival instinct is universal. The queen knows its hive is threatened, and I bet she will join the fray quickly as soon as she spots us." He paused, surveying the buildings ahead.

"We need to kill her. Once these eggs hatch, we'll be dealing with hundreds more bugs in these tunnels."