Chapter 24: The War of the Swarm
"Roar—"
"Howl—"
Over a thousand monsters were fiercely battling in the city, with flesh covering the ground and countless mutilated monster corpses everywhere. The two sides of the battle were, on one hand, more than five hundred Tiger Mastiffs, led by a nearly three-meter-tall, particularly robust primary Commander Tiger Mastiff. On the other hand, the composition was much more complex, consisting of Tiger Mastiffs, Iron-Furred Wild Boars, Shadow Cats, and Gray Cloud Sparrows in the sky.
Among them, the number of Tiger Mastiffs was the highest, exceeding a thousand, while the number of Iron-Furred Wild Boars and Shadow Cats also exceeded two hundred. As for the Gray Cloud Sparrows in the sky, although their number was the least, there were still a hundred. Although there was no Commander rank monster leading them, this mixed monster team had many high-level Soldier rank monsters. With their seamless cooperation and absolute numerical advantage, they actually suppressed the Commander rank Tiger Mastiff.
On the battlefield, more than two hundred Iron-Furred Wild Boars gathered together and charged. When their sturdy limbs ran on the ground, the earth trembled.
"Howl—" The Tiger Mastiff Commander roared in anger, wanting to lead its clan to retreat.
The Tiger Mastiff, which already possessed a certain level of intelligence, never expected that it would encounter such a situation while leading its clan on a hunt as usual. The monsters in this residential area were too bizarre. Just mere soldiers, facing its Commander strength, not only showed no fear, but even dared to hunt it.
Moreover, they cooperated seamlessly, like a precise instrument. As soon as the battle started, its side suffered heavy losses. Especially those Tiger Mastiffs. Normally, as long as there was no Commander rank leading the opposing side, it only needed to howl once to make them submit.
But now, not a single Tiger Mastiff paid attention to it, and instead, they acted like mortal enemies, crazily attacking. After it consecutively killed several enemies, the opponents became even crazier. The earth trembled more violently, and looking at the Iron-Furred Wild Boars charging like heavy tanks, it felt fear. But its anger also erupted. How dare they? It was a Commander that had risen through countless battles.
With a roar, the Tiger Mastiffs, which were about to retreat, turned around and counterattacked crazily under the leadership of the primary Commander Tiger Mastiff.
"Boom—"
The two massive teams collided violently. The Tiger Mastiff Commander opened its bloody mouth and bit the leading high-level Soldier rank Iron-Furred Wild Boar, then shook its head fiercely, actually throwing it away. With a swing of its claws and fangs, it killed one Iron-Furred Wild Boar after another, fully displaying its Commander strength. Even high-level Soldier rank Iron-Furred Wild Boars found it hard to withstand its attacks.
However, apart from it, the other Tiger Mastiffs were helpless against the Iron-Furred Wild Boars' charging. They were knocked flying the moment they collided, tossed into the air, and then heavily trampled, crushed into meat paste. In just one charge, the dead Tiger Mastiffs exceeded a hundred, while the Iron-Furred Wild Boars only lost about fifty or sixty. More importantly, their formation was completely scattered, and their morale was almost broken.
The Tiger Mastiffs did not let go of this opportunity and closely followed the Iron-Furred Wild Boars, completing the battlefield segmentation. The entire battlefield was divided into smaller battlefields, with fighting everywhere. The Shadow Cats, under the cover of the Tiger Mastiffs and Iron-Furred Wild Boars, emerged from the shadows, and the Gray Cloud Sparrows occasionally swooped down from the sky, grabbing large chunks of flesh.
The Tiger Mastiff Commander watched as its clansmen continued to die tragically, becoming increasingly furious. It charged left and right on the battlefield but was tightly entangled. There were at least a hundred high-level Soldier rank monsters around it, crazily launching death charges at it. Even a Commander rank monster would have to avoid such an attack. If it weren't for its guards desperately rescuing it, it would have been severely injured long ago.
However, as time passed, the guards around it became fewer and fewer, and injuries began to appear on its body. After barely repelling an Iron-Furred Wild Boar, a Shadow Cat hidden on the side of an Iron-Furred Wild Boar silently leaped up and dug out one of its eyes with a claw. The severely injured Tiger Mastiff Commander howled in pain and wanted to counterattack, but the continuous fighting had greatly consumed its strength, and its reaction speed had noticeably decreased.
After being severely injured and blinded, it wasn't long before the Tiger Mastiff leader was submerged by the swarm, emitting a powerless wail.
"We won." This was the first Commander rank monster killed by the swarm without relying on Qin Mu.
The swarm had truly established a foothold in City 0203.
"I should return to the base city."
After more than a day of development, the number of swarm units had grown explosively. Excluding the casualties, the remaining Zerg units were close to two thousand. Among them, there were more than 1,200 Tiger Mastiffs, with 400 at the high-level soldier rank. Both the Iron-Furred Wild Boars and Shadow Cats exceeded 300, with more than 100 at the high-level soldier rank respectively. The least numerous Gray Cloud Sparrows also numbered over a hundred, and they were all at the high-level soldier rank.
Moreover, their numbers were still increasing at a rate of over a thousand per day, so even without a Commander leading them, they were still a very powerful force. The swarm's ability to produce troops had begun to show, and although the current swarm could not yet be called a Zerg sea, it was starting to resemble one.
"It's a pity that the Commander rank Tiger Mastiff died too quickly. Otherwise, I would have liked to try and subdue it, transforming it into a Zerg unit to serve the swarm."
Qin Mu shook his head regretfully. However, this battle also gave Qin Mu a clear understanding of the swarm's strength. Although Commander rank monsters were powerful, facing the siege of over a hundred high-level Soldier rank Zerg units, they would also have to kneel.
Of course, Qin Mu would not underestimate Commander rank monsters because of this. The swarm could achieve such results because they were fearless, cooperated seamlessly, and were unafraid of the Commander's pressure. If it were ordinary Soldier rank monsters in the wilderness, they would only scatter and flee at the first sight of a Commander rank monster, not daring to resist.
Qin Mu ordered the swarm to clean up the battlefield and returned to the underground garage to pack up his belongings. He also had the worker bugs bring over the Commander Tiger Mastiff, which had been dissected and dismantled into materials.
Qin Mu now had materials from two Commander rank monsters: the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat and the Tiger Mastiff. Bringing them back to the base, he could easily sell them for over 20 million, which was not a small sum for Qin Mu at the moment.
When Qin Mu walked out of the underground garage, a team of 100 Tiger Mastiffs, 50 Iron-Furred Wild Boars, and 50 Shadow Cats was already waiting to greet him. These Zerg units were all at the high-level soldier rank, and there were Gray Cloud Sparrows circling in the sky. They would escort Qin Mu back to Nest No. 1, ensuring his safety along the way.
Qin Mu leaped onto a Tiger Mastiff and threw a package filled with monster materials onto a following Tiger Mastiff. He shouted energetically.
"Let's go Home."