Chapter 7: Dog Captain
The insect race with intelligent civilizations could only hide on islands, after all, the war insect race and the totem tribes were simply too powerful.
The current situation was that, after the initial chaotic battle, both sides had begun searching for the World Core. The side that found the World Core would establish a World Coordinate, and then at that location, both sides would continue to fight until one side successfully established a coordinate belonging to their own Paradise, at which point the war would be declared over.
Based on the experiences from the previous two times, Su Xiao judged that during the period of searching for the World Core, most Contractors would choose to join a certain faction. One reason was to take the opportunity to gain benefits, and the other was to climb the ranks, striving to be able to mobilize the military force of the native faction to win the war.
There were two major powers in this world: the Totem Tribes and the Insect Race. Joining either side was actually not a bad choice.
If this were a previous World War, Su Xiao would have preferred to join the Totem Tribes. The reason was simple: the chances of obtaining items like equipment and skill scrolls were higher on the Totem Tribe side.
As for the Insect Race faction, Su Xiao wasn't planning to join them either. What he needed to do now was to understand the general situation of the Insect Race faction. If the situation allowed, Su Xiao planned to get a Mother Bug to develop an insect army to deal with the Three Paradise Alliance.
Whether Su Xiao's plan could succeed depended on Bubu Wang's reconnaissance of the Insect Race's intelligence before a conclusion could be drawn.
Placing the hope of victory on whether Apocalypse Paradise and Holy Light Paradise would chicken out was too reliant on luck. Although their combat power was average, they were still Contractors. Moreover, there was the tough nut of Death Paradise blocking the way. With them in front, the final outcome was really uncertain.
Su Xiao would not stake his life on whether his own side's Contractors could fight. The reason he wanted to develop an insect army was that he had two items very suitable for this purpose, plus the bonus of a title.
[War Lord]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: Special
Category: Title
Title Effect 1: When commanding a war, grant a group buff effect based on the number of friendly units.
Hint: When friendly units exceed 100, gain a group buff of Marching Speed +10%, Morale +5 points. This effect has no time limit and takes effect after war breaks out.
Hint: When friendly units exceed 500, gain a group buff of Strength, Agility, Stamina +1, Morale +10 points.
Hint: When friendly units exceed 1000, gain a group buff of Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence +2, Morale +20 points.
Hint: When friendly units exceed 10000, gain a group buff of all True Attributes +2 (excluding Luck Attribute), Marching Speed +20%, Morale +50 points. If Morale exceeds 70 points, friendly soldiers will be fearless of death and will only start to rout when their numbers drop below 15%.
Rating: Special item, no rating
Description: Soldiers, trample them!
Selling Price: Cannot be sold
...
After experiencing multiple worlds and promoting one rank, the Team Slaughterer title finally unlocked its locked state, so Su Xiao could now equip [War Lord].
The Insect Race was always about winning through numbers. Therefore, triggering the maximum bonus of [War Lord] was not impossible. All attributes except Luck +2 might not seem like much, but if tens of thousands, or even more combat units were affected, it would be terrifying. Moreover, there was the powerful effect of Marching Speed +20%.
As for morale, it should be useless. For an Insect Race centered around a Mother Bug, morale was inherently X; there was no such thing as routing.
However, whether he could create an insect army also depended on whether the Insect Race in this world was as Su Xiao imagined, and development was also a major problem.
Those three large insect nests were not something Su Xiao could provoke. If he wanted to get a Mother Bug, he would have to start with small insect nests. Those small nests couldn't get many resources, so they wouldn't be able to develop.
With a general plan in mind, Su Xiao had Bubu Wang go to the insect nest south of the grassland to observe and see the structure of the Insect Race.
[Tip: Search Team has been formed.]
[Reincarnation Paradise Announcement: The captain of this Search Team is, Space-Rending Evil Dog Bubuteni.]
[Space-Rending Evil Dog Bubuteni has participated in two World Wars and was the first to find the World Core both times.]
...
As soon as Reincarnation Paradise's announcement came out, the war channel on their side exploded.
Light Puppeteer (Rogue): "Captain... why is it a husky? We all have to listen to it?"
Mosha (Rogue): "Probably, yeah."
Selulu (Rogue): "Truly a dog captain. But finding the World Core in both World Wars is impressive. I kneel."
...
Both Baha and Beini received the task of finding the World Core. One was good at treasure hunting, and the other could fly and was good at stealth, so of course Reincarnation Paradise would choose them.
Bubu Wang, the dog captain, didn't have time to look for the World Core for now. He first needed to scout the situation on the Insect Race's side.
An hour later, Bubu Wang returned with information on the Insect Race. He ultimately chose not to serve as the Search Team captain. The reason was simple: even if they found the World Core, if they couldn't win the frontal battle, it was meaningless. Therefore, the Search Team captain position was transferred to Beini, who was in the same adventure group.
"Beini, go rendezvous with the Search Team."
"Meow."
Beini nodded and quickly disappeared into the forest. Su Xiao needed to know the situation on the Search Team's side. Sending one representative was enough. As for Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu, if Su Xiao's plan was feasible, they would need to participate in establishing the insect nest.
Su Xiao flipped through the photos Bubu Wang had taken. It was a medium-sized insect nest. Inside the nest was a light green biological structure, and vaguely, humanoid creatures covered in carapace could be seen.
In this world's Insect Race, the higher the rank, the more similar their appearance was to humans. As for the Insect Race's Mother Queens, their body shapes were very close to humans.
As for the lowest-ranked Worker Bugs, they looked like a combination of mantises and scorpions, their size similar to large dogs. Their combat power was average, but they had strong carrying capacity, survivability, and adaptability to the environment.
Su Xiao picked up a photo of an Insect Race Mother Queen. He was surprised to find that this insect actually looked somewhat... pleasing to the eye. If not for the carapace on her body and the antennae on her head, Su Xiao would have suspected she was a human woman in strange attire.
"Is this the Insect Race's Mother Queen? How does she lay eggs?"
Su Xiao looked up and down at the photo in his hand. This thing didn't look like it could lay a bunch of eggs every day.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang's dog paw pointed at another photo, which showed a huge biological sac.
"Egg-laying connective tissue. So what's the Mother Queen's role?"
"Woof (Probably evolving the insect nest)."
"Is that so? More sophisticated than I imagined. This Insect Race... looks a bit familiar."
"Woof."
"Indeed, it's very similar to the Void's 'Leya Swamp Insect Race,' just with a big difference in combat power."
After reviewing the photos in his hand, Su Xiao's eyes seemed to gleam. He planned to capture an Insect Race Mother Queen, then modify her, making that Mother Bug reproduce wildly. It didn't need to reproduce to the point of contending with other large insect nests; just enough to deal with the Three Paradise Alliance was sufficient.
Su Xiao had always been one to act decisively on his plans. After finalizing the plan, he led Bubu Wang and the others out of the forest. As for where to find a relatively weak Insect Race Mother Queen, that was a problem.