Chapter 12: The First Batch of Combat Zergs
Around seven in the evening, the roars of various beasts rose and fell within the forest. Compared to the birdsong of daytime, the symphony of the night jungle had changed, replaced by the croaking of frogs.
The insect nest emitted a faint green glow. The light wasn't strong, but it was enough to illuminate the surrounding area.
Two Mantis Blades ran out from between the trees. The hooked blades on their tails were embedded in the flesh of their prey as they dragged the kills swiftly through the forest.
Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu were responsible for finding beasts and beating them half to death. The subsequent transport work was left to the Mantis Blades. Although this risked losing some Mantis Blades, the efficiency was higher, making the gamble worthwhile.
The two Mantis Blades dragged over two beasts weighing at least four tons each. This was already the tenth batch.
Using the claw-blades on their forelimbs, the Mantis Blades dismembered the beast carcasses, extracting chunks of fresh meat. They then carried the meat to the vicinity of the insect nest. A massive fissure split open on the five-meter-tall nest, and the Mantis Blades tossed the fresh meat inside. The fissure then closed.
After the insect nest devoured the flesh and blood, it could convert them into bio-energy. However, the current problem was that the nest's conversion speed wasn't fast. After all, the nest was only five meters tall at the moment.
The larger the volume of the insect nest, the faster it devoured flesh and blood. However, increasing the nest's volume required consuming bio-energy.
Su Xiao glanced at the dozens of beast carcasses piled up nearby. This was the result of three hours of effort by Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. Yet, the insect nest's devouring speed was too slow.
Su Xiao checked the insect nest's information.
[Insect Nest (Belongs to Jila).]
[Rank: First Rank (Total of Five Ranks. This rank is determined based on the power system of this world).]
[Bio-Energy Reserve: 215/2000 Points.]
After continuously devouring for three hours, they had only obtained 215 points of bio-energy. This efficiency made Su Xiao frown.
"Jila."
"Mm."
Jila's voice came from inside the insect nest. She was currently lying lazily on the biological tissue, feeling full and somewhat drowsy.
Su Xiao issued an order for Jila to expand the insect nest's volume. Influenced by the demonic power, Jila's loyalty had already broken through the 50-point mark, so she immediately began expanding the nest's volume.
An emerald green light surged inside the insect nest. The veins on its surface bulged, and the entire nest pulsed like a heart, expanding.
In just about half an hour, the nest grew from five meters to eight meters tall. The stored bio-energy was completely consumed, but now the veins on the nest were much denser, and the overall structure was much sturdier.
The four Mantis Blades near the nest immediately used their tail hooks to grab fresh meat and approach, tossing the meat into the fissures that opened on the nest.
After the nest's height increased from five to eight meters, the efficiency of converting bio-energy increased at least threefold. Upon noticing this, Su Xiao gave Jila another order: from now on, all obtained bio-energy would be used to increase the nest's volume.
The four Mantis Blades got busy. The beast carcasses on the nearby clearing quickly decreased. As for the discarded bones and hides, the Mantis Blades buried them far away. Although zergs looked terrifying, they were actually very clean creatures. This wasn't due to cleanliness obsession but to avoid bacterial growth and infection, reducing the risk of evolution.
When only two beast carcasses remained on the clearing, the insect nest stopped absorbing bio-energy and instead began storing the obtained bio-energy.
By now, the insect nest was a full ten meters tall. Its surface was a deep green, and some parts had developed shiny, hard carapaces. Perhaps after advancing to a higher rank, the nest could evolve biological armor to protect itself.
Ten meters tall was the limit for a first-stage insect nest. Its flesh-and-blood devouring speed had increased at least tenfold. The beasts hunted by Bubu Wang and Baha's squad could no longer keep up with the nest's consumption. This thing's appetite was growing larger and larger. Due to the volume increase, the amount of flesh and blood it could consume in a single go had also greatly increased, and the conversion speed had increased tenfold.
After some observation, Su Xiao figured out the pattern. If the nest devoured ordinary beasts, it gained 10 points of bio-energy per ton of flesh and blood. If not for the large size of the beasts in this world, Su Xiao wouldn't have been able to find so much flesh and blood for the nest to devour. However, the stronger the devoured beast, the more bio-energy was obtained; it wasn't all calculated by tonnage.
It wasn't until the late hours of the night that Bubu Wang and Baha returned. The beasts in the nearby area had been cleared out by them. To hunt more beasts, they would have to go to more distant areas.
Su Xiao checked the insect nest's information. The stored bio-energy had reached: 670/2000 Points.
Having successfully passed the initial stage, it was time to consider the issue of mass-producing troops. The Mantis Blades were laborers, needed for transporting prey, processing prey, and maintaining the nest.
As for the combat zerg, Stinger, Su Xiao didn't yet know its capabilities. But one thing was certain: Stinger definitely had hunting abilities. It was likely the nest's initial hunter.
Su Xiao ordered Jila to cultivate 4 Mantis Blades (consuming 48 points of bio-energy) and 15 Stingers (consuming 600 points of bio-energy).
As soon as Su Xiao gave the order, the 'Oviposition Tissue' inside the nest began working. In just a few minutes, the Oviposition Tissue successfully cultivated 19 eggs, 4 of which were translucent and 15 of which were light green.
The Mantis Blades inside the nest placed the 19 eggs into the 'Cultivation Pouches'. Incubation and accelerated growth began.
The zergs' ability to mass-produce troops was very strong, but they had a fatal weakness: lower-ranked zergs had short lifespans. Mantis Blades only lived for 1 month, while Stingers fared slightly better with 3 months.
In Su Xiao's view, this was completely sufficient. The war mission only lasted one month. No matter what, a victor could be decided within a month.
Time was precious, so Su Xiao had to make the insect nest develop as quickly as possible. For rapid development, blindly stockpiling bio-energy was unwise. More lower-ranked zergs would allow them to hunt more wild animals, and the rate of bio-energy acquisition would increase exponentially.
The first-rank insect nest did not disappoint Su Xiao. In just five minutes, 19 zergs crawled out of the 'Cultivation Pouches'. The 4 Mantis Blades shook off the transparent bodily fluids on their bodies and immediately ran outside the nest to get busy. They began fulfilling their mission from the moment of birth. This was another chilling aspect of the zergs.
The remaining 15 Stingers stood by in place. Stingers were slightly larger than Mantis Blades. They had four armored legs and a massive abdomen, resembling fully armored spiders. They lacked sharp claws and teeth. Their mouths were cylindrical, and their backs were covered in sharp spines like a porcupine.
Name: Stinger
Health: 100%
Bio-Energy: 5/5
Strength: 47
Agility: 56
Stamina: 41
Intelligence: 10
Charm: Lower-ranked zergs have no Charm attribute.
Skill 1: Biological Toxin (Passive, LV.15): Attacks deal 30 points of poison damage. 15% chance to cause biological paralysis. This toxin effect can stack up to 5 layers. After 5 layers, the paralysis effect is guaranteed to trigger (unless the target is immune to this effect).
Skill 2: Spine Projection (Active, LV.18): Stinger can transfer the bone spines from its back into a cylindrical cavity and accumulate high pressure within its abdominal sac, thereby projecting the spines from its mouth. Can attack enemies 0.5 to 150 meters away. Possesses a penetration effect.
As Su Xiao had guessed, Stingers were indeed hunters. Their melee combat ability was average, but they excelled at concealment and searching.
Su Xiao divided the 15 Stingers into five teams of three. He assigned one Mantis Blade to each team for transporting prey.
Neither the Stingers nor the Mantis Blades were perpetual motion machines. They also needed to eat. However, because they were cultivated without developing strong digestive organs, their energy conversion rate was very low if they directly consumed flesh and blood.
But when near the insect nest, Jila could use the nest to inject them with bio-energy. 1 point of bio-energy was enough to keep them active for a long time. Su Xiao felt this method of replenishment was similar to charging a battery.
The zerg squads set off. Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu rested for a while before also going out to find prey.
The initial scale of the zerg mini-army was established. The next step was to accumulate bio-energy and allow Jila to advance in rank.