Chapter 40: Throwing Mud
125 Demon Beasts and 2 Spore Tanks went out to hunt. Su Xiao sat in a wooden shed near the insect nest. This was built by Amu, less than a meter above the ground, with a bed made of spliced logs. It was quite comfortable for a short nap or just sitting in the shade.
The insect nest had stabilized, and the next issue was development. The priority was, of course, to cultivate Demon Beasts. However, Demon Beasts required a lot of Bio Energy. The Bio Energy needed for over ten thousand Demon Beasts was already enough to upgrade the Mother Nest's rank.
Deciding to mass-produce Demon Beasts from the very beginning was a very unwise decision. Counting today, Su Xiao only had three days and four nights. Before that, the insect race had to develop, at least to the point of having a combat power that could contend with the 'Lord of Tiger Wasps' or the 'Dia Tribe'.
Su Xiao decided to first use the Bio Energy hunted by the 125 Demon Beasts to cultivate about 2000 Demon Beasts. Let these Demon Beasts do the hunting. Given the situation in the surrounding area, 2000 Demon Beasts would be enough for hunting.
Once the Demon Beasts reached 2000, he would start accumulating Bio Energy, then choose an insect race with medium combat power and low cultivation cost to mass-produce.
Su Xiao wasn't afraid of this insect race being weak. As long as the numbers were large enough, with the boost from [War Lord], they would at least have the qualifications to start a war with the Tiger Wasp faction.
As soon as the war started, it would be a period of rapid development. The fungal carpet of a fifth-rank Mother Nest was quite formidable. After friendly insect units died, as long as their corpses were brought back, they would be converted into Bio Energy by the fungal carpet. Nothing was wasted.
Friendly casualties also meant the enemy would have casualties. The corpses of the Tiger Wasp faction were a massive source of Bio Energy. Their evolution method was very similar to the insect race, but they weren't specifically born for battle.
Su Xiao checked the currently available insect races for cultivation.
Mantis Armor (First Rank Basic Insect), Cultivation requires 0.8 Bio Energy, Quantity: 1.
Worker Scorpion (Second Rank Basic Insect), Cultivation requires 1 Bio Energy, Quantity: 0.
...
...
Venom Stinger (Third Rank Combat Insect), Cultivation requires 2 Bio Energy, Quantity: 0.
Spore Tank (Third Rank Basic Insect), Cultivation requires 8 Bio Energy, Quantity: 2.
Demon Beast (Fifth Rank Combat Insect), Cultivation requires 50 Bio Energy, Quantity: 125.
Titan (Fifth Rank Combat Insect), Cultivation requires 80 Bio Energy, Quantity: 0.
Leviathan (Fifth Rank Combat Insect), Cultivation requires 10000 Bio Energy, Quantity: 0.
...
There were quite a few insect races that could be cultivated, most of which were obtained by devouring other insect nests. But not all combat insects were worth mass-producing.
Among the many combat insects, Su Xiao felt the Venom Stinger was quite good. This was a type of ranged combat insect. Each Venom Stinger could fire 12 to 15 'Bone Armor Spikes' coated with a potent toxin. More importantly, the cultivation cost for Venom Stingers was low, only 2 Bio Energy each.
To trigger the maximum effect of [War Lord], the number of friendly units needed to reach 100,000. Forcing out 100,000 Demon Beasts would take an eternity. But creating over a hundred thousand Venom Stingers could be done in a relatively short time.
Using [War Lord] to boost the Venom Stingers' combat power, then declaring war on the Lord of Tiger Wasps, was the fastest way to develop.
Only when there was enough Bio Energy to upgrade the insect nest would Su Xiao consider mass-producing Demon Beasts. Only then would the Demon Beasts' strength meet Su Xiao's expectations.
As for the Leviathan, at 10,000 Bio Energy each, although expensive, this turret needed to be cultivated before attacking the Tiger Wasp faction, for siege purposes.
The formation Su Xiao had set up didn't even have a single melee-type combat insect. It was either shoot the enemy to death or get overrun and wiped out. High risk, high reward. Time was too tight; there was no chance for slow development.
When the setting sun cast its glow into the valley, 30 Demon Beasts escorted 1 Spore Tank back. When the Spore Tank passed through the narrow canyon terrain, it was squeezed out of shape. Its body was filled with the flesh and blood of hunted supernatural creatures.
The Spore Tank arrived beside the insect nest. A huge crack opened on the nest, and the Spore Tank crawled inside. After a while, a withered Spore Tank was pushed out of the nest.
After devouring a large amount of supernatural creature flesh and blood, the Bio Energy stored in the insect nest skyrocketed, reaching 21530/570000 points.
One hunt yielded just over 20,000 Bio Energy. At this rate, it seemed the insect nest's rank could be upgraded by tomorrow night. But that wasn't the case. The initial hunts would yield a lot of Bio Energy, but after hunting all the supernatural creatures in the nearby area, the rate of Bio Energy acquisition would slow down. Plus, the supernatural creatures would also flee to the surrounding areas.
He continued cultivating Demon Beasts and Spore Tanks. A few minutes later, he successfully cultivated 430 Demon Beasts and 3 Spore Tanks.
In just a few hours, Su Xiao had a fifth-rank insect nest and 555 Demon Beasts. But this development still wasn't fast enough. When the Demon Beasts reached 2000, it would enter a medium-speed development phase. The high-speed development phase would only begin after the war with the Tiger Wasp faction started.
"Woof~"
Bubu Wang let out a listless bark. He was lying near the wooden shed, a look of utter despair on his doggy face. The reason was that he had eaten the flesh and blood of various supernatural creatures, and a noticeable bulge had formed around his abdomen.
Whenever the Demon Beasts hunted a supernatural creature, they would cut off a small piece of flesh, put it in a cooler carried on the back of one Demon Beast, and bring it back for Bubu Wang to eat.
Even though Bubu Wang only ate a small piece of each supernatural creature's flesh, he was still stuffed to the point of rolling his eyes. Because the 'Higher Lifeform' ability had been activated to its maximum limit, Bubu was a bit dazed. This guy was getting stronger just by lying down.
...
Inside the Tiger Wasp faction's territory, a hive dozens of meters high.
"My Queen, someone ruined my plan. It was my incompetence, but he was already lurking in the swamp, I really..."
Ice knelt on one knee. At this moment, a faint smell of blood could be detected on him. Just a few hours ago, he had narrowly escaped being purged by Naji Jia. But he survived, at the cost of signing a contract that was practically an indenture.
Not only that, but Axiwa, who had been traveling with Ice, was nowhere to be seen. In reality, she was dead. She was ambushed by her most trusted friend, Ice, suppressed by his domain, and ultimately killed by the Plague Insect.
"So, you didn't get the Black Scale?"
A figure sitting in the darkness spoke. She crossed her legs, her feet encased in boot-like gold-black carapace, with spikes on the heels. This was a Bee Queen, one of the two trusted subordinates of the Lord of Tiger Wasps, Tamisha. Her name was Bee Queen Carol.
"Of course not, I... your subordinate fought hard to obtain a single Black Scale, offering it to Lady Carol."
Ice adapted to his identity quickly, using words like 'your subordinate' and 'offering' without hesitation. It was hard to understand how a proud Technique-type powerhouse like Axiwa could be friends with him.
"Well done. This is your reward."
Bee Queen Carol casually tossed a clay pot containing 90 grams of Natural Grace. She clearly knew that the optimal effect for a human was to drink 100 grams of Natural Grace in one go. She planned to have him complete one more task for the remaining 10 grams.
Ice caught the clay pot and bowed his head in thanks. But the flash of anger in his eyes showed that his mood was not good at the moment.
"You just said someone ruined your plan. Who was it?"
Bee Queen Carol asked somewhat nonchalantly. She didn't admire the human kneeling before her, nor did she dislike him. He was just a tool.
"Kukulin Bai Ye. He ruined my plan. I could have gotten five Black Scales, but he took four of them."
"Understood. Take 1000 Tiger Armor Wasps and bring back his corpse."
As soon as Bee Queen Carol finished speaking, monsters began to emerge from the surrounding passages. They had six pairs of armored legs, full body carapace, and their mandibles were covered in barbs. These creatures had almost no characteristics of Tiger Eye Wasps left, except for the venomous stingers on their armored tails.
In a nearby passage, the Plague Insect witnessed all of this. He sneered and muttered under his breath: "Suck-ups die a miserable death."