Crushing the Enemy

After this wave of attacks, the Dulu ships had all sustained varying degrees of damage.

Most of the deployed ejection plates had been melted or destroyed, and the newly extended plates on the hull surfaces were also experiencing various issues.

At this moment, the small combat units of both sides finally closed in.

From a distance of dozens of kilometers, the Devourers began spitting out massive quantities of acidic spores.

Swathes of scourges launched their attacks toward the enemy.

The Dulu space fighters did not retreat either, firing the large volleys of missiles they carried underneath.

In fact, after a psionic scan, Xia Jin realized that a large number of the enemy's fighters were unmanned equipment.

This was normal.

However, in cosmic warfare, fully unmanned ships were not actually that common.

This was because they were prone to issues.

Usually, a combination of automatic and manual control was used.

This way, if they encountered powerful interference or were hacked, they could react in time.

The Dulu civilization, however, clearly still treated unmanned equipment as a vital tool.

The Zerg decided to put them in their place.

Several primal brain bugs simultaneously unleashed their psionic power, a terrifying interference force that swept directly over most of the mechanical equipment.

While using fusion energy to power their systems, the Small Leviathans also generated a wave of magnetic fields that covered the enemy aircraft.

In an instant, all unmanned autopilot fighters fell into a state of chaos or paralysis.

The manned fighters, thanks to the timely actions of their pilots, managed to "persist" through this wave of impact.

But this single blow caused a major problem for the Dulu fighter force.

The acidic spores accurately struck a large number of fighters, and explosions rang out everywhere.

A Devourer rapidly swept over the top of a plane; as they brushed past each other, a mouthful of acidic spores landed precisely on its outer shell.

However, various missiles also hit many Devourers.

For a time, the sky was filled with explosion patterns that looked like fireworks.

In this battle, the Zerg held the advantage in every aspect.

Space planes were, after all, manually controlled, whereas the Zerg Devourers were the creatures' own bodies. Naturally, the performance of the two was fundamentally different.

This battle lasted only a few minutes before the Dulu were shocked to discover that the space fighters they had sent out were completely gone.

The Zerg losses were fewer than 200 Devourers and a few thousand scourges, which was practically negligible.

Having broken through the fighter blockade, a large number of Devourers rushed toward the Dulu warships.

Mouthful after mouthful of acidic spores landed on the outer alloy plates.

These viscous, semi liquid substances adhered directly to the surfaces, continuously corroding them.

Suddenly, over a thousand Devourers crowded around, launching continuous attacks against the hulls.

Meanwhile, the capital ships of both sides continued to trade fire, though most of the missiles from the Dulu ships were intercepted by scourges.

A few projectiles slammed into the outer magical barrier, causing a flash of light blue light.

Explosions erupted instantly.

Although the magical barrier was breached in a moment, it served as a significant buffer against the force of the explosions.

The remaining energy slammed into the force field shield and was immediately guided away by exaggerated repulsive and deflection forces. When the light of the explosions faded, the Small Leviathan's speed had only shifted slightly, and the vessel remained largely undamaged.

“Force field shield activation at sixty percent.”

Xia Jin learned the status from the consciousness of the Small Leviathan.

This meant the enemy's attack power was actually quite high; if it had exceeded one hundred percent, the shield would undoubtedly have been destroyed.

Relying solely on the Small Leviathan's outer shell, the impact it could withstand was certainly limited. She did not want her ships to be as easily destroyed as those of the Dulu.

At that moment, several more plasma balls hit the opposing ships, causing three vessels to be destroyed in the resulting explosions.

The remaining Dulu warships gradually became unable to withstand the continuous bombardment from the Devourers. Eventually, their outer shells were breached, and terrifying energy surged into the interior cabins.

The Dulu exposed to the vacuum and the brutal attacks died in droves.

After twenty minutes of attrition, the enemy was finally annihilated.

As for the Zerg, except for two unlucky small escort ships that were destroyed after being hit by missiles, everything else was fine.

“Well, it seems this civilization is nothing special after all.”

Xia Jin had already made plans to attack their home planet.

However, she was not yet satisfied with the number of ground troops.

In the interstellar era, population density was relatively high, so she estimated the number of ground combat units would be significant.

The Zerg's first landing battle had to be an overwhelming display of power.

She could send out a large number of floating transport ships to drop combat bugs and ordinary bugs.

“It looks like I need to prepare the Drop Pod Bugs.”

Drop pods were currently the lowest cost method for a landing attack during a ground offensive.

They cost 5 units of high-energy crystals each.

The expanded space inside a single drop pod could even carry an Ultralisk or multiple smaller combat bugs.

According to Xia Jin's plan, the first wave needed to drop a large number of bugs like broodlings and locusts to distract and deplete the enemy's firepower for a short time. This would establish a stable landing zone and create conditions for the subsequent landing of the main force.

After all, if she started with only high tier bugs and lost them due to unfavorable conditions, it would be quite a waste.