Chapter 19: Swarming
Su Xiao examined the cost of cultivating Demon Beasts. Hatching required 50 Bio Energy, and cultivation to adulthood required 150 Bio Energy, totaling 200 Bio Energy. For a third-stage, medium-sized insectoid, this was already a high price.
A second-stage Spore Tank was a full 15 meters tall and weighed over 40 tons, yet it only required 120 Bio Energy.
Jila poked her head out from the insect nest. The carapace on her face had receded, revealing pale cheeks. On both sides of her cheeks were several upward black stripes. Her current appearance was very much like a fusion of a female demon and an insectoid. As for her height, she hadn't grown much.
"What is this?"
Jila poked her own face with a finger.
"Skin."
"So soft. I've become weaker."
Jila seemed nostalgic for the carapace on her head, clearly showing that insectoid aesthetics differed from humans.
"Cultivate one Demon Beast."
"Mm."
Jila began controlling the nest. The hatching tissue started working, and within about a minute, an egg the size of a basketball was extruded from the hatching tissue, falling into the cultivation sac below.
Su Xiao started timing. After 5 minutes and 23 seconds, the Demon Beast crawled out of the nest.
"ROAR!!"
The Demon Beast threw its head back and roared. This ferocious creature, just born into the world, had an overwhelming desire to destroy. However, when it looked at Su Xiao and Jila, it immediately lowered its head and prostrated itself on the ground.
The Demon Beast was different from most insectoids. It was a near-humanoid creature. Its two powerful hind legs had a large curvature, indicating superior charging ability and jumping power.
The Demon Beast's hind legs were covered in scales, a product of combining scales and carapace. Its two front claws weren't particularly thick, but the four claws on each were at least thirty centimeters long, like four curved blades, gleaming coldly.
As for its head, the Demon Beast had no eyes. Its large mouth, full of sharp teeth, could open up to its neck. One bite from that would be enough to sever an adult human at the waist.
What was most chilling was the Demon Beast's bone tail. This pitch-black tail was composed entirely of bone and carapace, over three meters long, with a sharp tip. Upon closer inspection, several fine gaps could be seen a meter down from the tip, indicating the tail could split open into four spikes.
This thing was built entirely for killing other creatures. More importantly, its entire body was wrapped in either scales or carapace, completely pitch-black, clearly possessing formidable defensive capabilities.
Su Xiao checked the Demon Beast's attributes. According to the evaluation standards of the Witch, the general data for the Demon Beast was:
Demon Beast (Third-Stage Combat Insectoid, Medium Size, Aberrant Breed)
Speed: ★★★
Destructive Power: ★★★★
Defense: ★★★
Name: Demon Beast
Health: 100%
Bio Energy: 15/15
True Strength: 82 points
True Agility: 85 points
Stamina: 70
Intelligence: 5
Charm: Lower insectoids have no Charm attribute.
Skill 1, Demon Power (Passive, Lv.30): Attacks deal 20 additional True Damage.
Skill 2, Super Speed Running (Passive, Lv.24): Running speed increased by 50%.
Skill 3, Aberrant Breed (Passive, Lv.35): Carapace Defense +28, ** Defense +12 points, Health +500 points.
Skill 4, Combat Instinct (Passive, Lv.38): Possesses strong adaptability and learning ability in combat; this learning ability is limited to combat-related knowledge.
After reviewing the Demon Beast's attributes, Su Xiao did two things. First, he had Bubu Wang and Baha return. There was no need for negotiation. Even if they were going to the Phantom Bee's nest, they would fight their way there.
As for the second thing, Su Xiao crushed all the Life Stones and had Jila eat them.
After Jila consumed five Life Stones, the nest's stored energy reached its limit. However, this time it couldn't advance to the fourth stage. Jila was certain that evolving to the fourth stage like this would fail. She needed to obtain a 'Super Bio Core'. As for where to find it, she didn't know. Everything she knew came from genetic memory.
The ideal outcome would be for Jila to advance to the fourth stage. But even if she couldn't, it wouldn't stop her from starting to swarm.
With a powerful species like the Demon Beast, comparable to fourth-stage combat insectoids, Jila now only needed to do one thing: swarm frantically.
The hatching tissue inside the nest worked at full capacity. After one minute, Demon Beast eggs began falling into the cultivation sacs below. The third-stage hatching tissue could produce 300 eggs simultaneously, while the third-stage cultivation sacs could cultivate 150 Demon Beasts at a time.
After about seven minutes, 150 Demon Beasts crawled out of the cultivation sacs. They exited the nest in orderly ranks and formed a protective circle around it.
The Demon Beast's highest attribute was True Agility, at 85 points. This attribute could rival most fourth-stage insectoids.
Su Xiao could take down a Demon Beast with one sword strike. But if a large group swarmed him simultaneously, it would be a different story. These weren't soldiers; they were fearless, and their attack formations were completely controllable.
Moreover, these things had True Damage bonuses. 20 points seemed small, but with so many Demon Beasts, being surrounded would be very troublesome.
Seven minutes per batch, 150 per batch. In less than half an hour, the nest had cultivated 524 Demon Beasts.
A dark, oppressive mass of Demon Beasts patrolled near the nest. Compared to them, the ugly Mantis Armors looked almost cute. As for the Stingers, they weren't even worth mentioning.
Because the nest had advanced to the third stage, it gained an organ called the Evolution Chamber. Among the 524 Demon Beasts, 6 elite individuals emerged.
Name: Demon Beast · Elite
True Strength: 89 points (7 points higher than normal individuals)
True Agility: 93 points (8 points higher than normal individuals)
Stamina: 85 (15 points higher than normal individuals)
Intelligence: 5
Charm: Lower insectoids have no Charm attribute.
Skill 1, Demon Power (Passive, Lv.39): Attacks deal 31 additional True Damage.
Skill 2, Super Speed Running (Passive, Lv.50): Running speed increased by 120%.
Skill 3, Aberrant Breed (Passive, Lv.40): Carapace Defense +40, ** Defense + points, Health +900 points.
Skill 4, Combat Instinct (Passive, Lv.40): Possesses strong adaptability and learning ability in combat; this learning ability is limited to combat-related knowledge.
The elite Demon Beasts were exceptionally fierce. If one fought Bubu Wang one-on-one and Bubu Wang didn't run, he would definitely be beaten to tears. Even against Amu, an elite Demon Beast could hold its own for a while.
Elite Demon Beasts were equivalent to bosses in fourth-stage derivative worlds. With them leading the charge, the overall combat effectiveness of the Demon Beast swarm would increase significantly.
With 524 Demon Beasts, the effect of the War Lord title was triggered.
'When the number of allies exceeds 500, gain a group buff of Strength, Agility, Stamina +1, and Morale +10 points.'
The normal attribute bonuses to Strength and Agility were meaningless for the Demon Beasts, but the 1-point Stamina bonus was good. Alone, one Demon Beast wouldn't matter much, but with 524 receiving the buff simultaneously, quantity led to a qualitative change.
Su Xiao walked into the nest. As soon as he entered, he saw Jila lying on the biological tissue, her two calves crossed, playing a puzzle game on a tablet. Bubu Wang had given it to her. The result was that Jila's homebody personality was becoming deeply ingrained.
"Get up."
Hearing Su Xiao's voice, Jila was startled and turned her gaze to him.
Su Xiao took a large machine out of his storage space. Rough welding marks could be seen on it, various alchemical array diagrams were etched onto it, and thick wires were exposed.
"Lie down inside."
Su Xiao pressed a button on the machine, and a burst of steam shot out. Although Jila was confused, she didn't refuse.
When Jila was lying inside the massive machine, Su Xiao attached several electrode pads to her body. After working for nearly an hour and hastily drawing a few more array diagrams, Su Xiao flipped the switch.
Hum~
All the array diagrams on the machine lit up. Jila inside the machine curled up, and the light in her eyes gradually faded.
Su Xiao took out a dozen rings from his storage space, locked them onto his arms and torso one by one, and closed his eyes to sense. Through the external device, he could already perceive Jila's existence and the flame of her consciousness.
What Su Xiao was doing now was completely controlling Jila, using her as a medium to command the 524 Demon Beasts.
Walking out of the nest, Su Xiao leaped onto the back of an elite Demon Beast. This creature was over two meters tall.
Amu stayed behind to defend the nest. Su Xiao, through Jila, commanded all the Demon Beasts and charged straight out of the forest. His target this time was a second-stage nest.
Over five hundred Demon Beasts sprinted through the jungle on all fours, which was faster and more stable.
Wherever the insectoid legion passed, it wasn't that nothing grew, but the surroundings became eerily silent. Tree frogs dared not croak, and hunting beasts fled into the distance.
After traveling for 1 hour and 36 minutes, the insectoid legion burst out of the forest. Not long after, they arrived near a second-stage nest.
This nest was thirty meters tall. Judging by the nearly three hundred insectoids around it, this was a strong second-stage nest.
Standing on the back of an elite Demon Beast, Su Xiao issued commands to all the Demon Beasts.
523 Demon Beasts charged out silently. Their sprinting speed was extremely fast. Within a few seconds, they were already a dozen meters from the enemy nest.
"Sss~"
A combat insectoid resembling a spider, with three pairs of blade-like legs, rushed forward. It brandished its limbs, completely unfazed by the enemy's ferocity.
Pfft...
Sharp barbed tails tore through carapace. In just the initial clash, a large number of those second-stage combat insectoids fell.
The 524 Demon Beasts were like a sharp sword, with the 5 elite Demon Beasts as the vanguard, directly breaking through the enemy's defenses.
A Demon Beast pounced on an enemy insectoid. Its eight curved-blade-like claws tore rapidly, splattering green blood and sending carapace fragments flying.
This second-stage insectoid only lasted a few seconds before the Demon Beast pierced its head with its three-meter-long barbed tail, killing it instantly.
Tearing, trampling. The 523 Demon Beasts were practically slaughtering this second-stage nest. The battle lasted a total of three minutes before the enemy nest was torn into six pieces. A curled-up insectoid mother was dragged out and thrown in front of Su Xiao.
The battlefield was littered with the remains of enemy insectoids. The shattered nest was piled up. Of the 523 Demon Beasts, only 4 were killed by the enemy's suicide bomber units. The rest suffered at most minor injuries.