Chapter 319: Cleanup
The massive chunks of metal debris from Planet Raze’s orbit were swiftly gathered into centralized locations. Smaller fragments were cleared by swarms of larval bodies, which had just been released from their metallic fiber nets. These larval bodies had been idle during the battle and expended almost no energy, making them ideal for performing such menial tasks.
The wreckage of the orbital cannons—colossal structures tens or even hundreds of meters in size—was piled into towering metal mountains.
In addition to the orbital cannon debris, the remnants of countless warships floated in space. The Rikens had suffered catastrophic losses in this war. Setting aside the staggering personnel casualties, nearly 300 warships were outright destroyed in the final waves of attacks. An additional 500 ships, their main engines damaged beyond repair, had to be scuttled to prevent capture.
This further reduced the Riken fleet’s primary warships to below 2,000.
If not for the early withdrawal of damaged ships, coupled with the retreat of support ships unable to withstand the Radiance of the Riken’s electromagnetic pulses, their losses would have been even more devastating.
Even with these mitigating factors, the collected warship debris formed metal mountains rivaling those of the orbital cannons.
It’s worth noting that even the smallest Riken warships were over a kilometer long—truly enormous constructions.
As the bulk of the wreckage was consolidated, swarms of larval bodies descended upon it, transforming into fungal carpet seeds. Soon, purple-gray tissue began to spread from the crevices, proliferating rapidly.
The metal debris mountains were slowly enveloped in the fungal carpet, which corroded and absorbed the wreckage, breaking it down into elemental metals. Subsequently, the Primordial bodies moved forward, extending their appendages to link with the fungal carpet and replenish their war losses.