Hey everyone, I've got some exciting news to share!
[Valtteri Kankainen], [_Neith_], and [Conner Lewis] have officially joined the cool kids' club on Patreon! They're the first to take the plunge into the world of early chapters. They're the trailblazers, the early birds, the ones who get to read the chapters before anyone else, in one word they are THE GOAT.
A massive thanks to you three for your support. You're fueling the entire story engine. Your enthusiasm is the reason I can keep these tales rolling.
Now, for the rest of you lovely folks out there, if you're feeling just a little bit of FOMO, why not hop on board? Head on over to my Patreon page. You might just find yourself in the next chapter, literally. 😉
Thanks again to my awesome patrons, and to everyone else, let's keep the stones flowing. (Compared to last week you guys are not so enthusiastic. C'mon get rid of those useless power stones. You can dump them all here.)
*****
Chapter 35: Evolution
Under the escort of the Zerg swarm, Qin Mu did not head towards City 0203 but instead went to the villa area where the first mother nest was hatched. This mother nest was too close to the military base. If one day a military squad decided to patrol here on a whim, the mother nest would easily be exposed. Therefore, this time, Qin Mu came to clear away the traces.
All the Zerg race buildings, including the three evolution chambers, automatically collapsed at the genetic level, turning into a pool of black liquid. The Zerg swarm collected some dried-up trees and piled them on top of the black liquid. Qin Mu personally poured a barrel of gasoline on them and ignited the flames.
When the last trace of the mother nest disappeared in the raging fire, Qin Mu sighed softly. This mother nest was originally a stepping stone, and its mission had been accomplished. The Zerg swarm had grown strong, and soon, there would be more mother nests appearing in the wilderness.
"Let's go." All the Zerg units followed Qin Mu, completely abandoning this area.
Two days later, when Qin Mu arrived near the mother nest in City 0203, the Zerg swarm was experiencing a tough battle. A group of about 800 Wild Bulls, led by a high-level Commander Wild Bull, was rampaging and slaughtering within the Zerg swarm.
Although the Zerg swarm had mobilized over a thousand high-level Soldier rank Single-Horned Wild Boars to counterattack, under the leadership of the high-level Commander, the situation for the Zerg swarm was difficult. Although they were not routed, there were extremely severe casualties.
Most of the Zerg swarm's casualties were caused by the high-level Commander Wild Bull. With a difference of three levels in strength, despite the numerical advantage of the Zerg swarm, it was still very difficult to completely surround and kill it.
High-level Commander-level monsters were already very intelligent, not inferior to humans. Every time the Zerg swarm was about to complete the encirclement, it would lead its group to escape. Even so, the Wild Bull gradually felt that something was amiss. Originally, this Wild Bull was the overlord in this area, with a group numbering over 1,200 and two fellow clan members at the primary Commander level under its command.
The problem was that at some point, a group of strange monsters had risen in this area. They had no Commander leading them, and the strongest among them were only high-level soldiers. Yet, these monsters inexplicably united and continuously waged war on their surroundings, fighting in an extremely crazy and fearless manner. Several monster groups were annihilated in succession, and even its own clan members were affected.
In anger, it led its clan members into an extremely bloody war with this group of monsters. It killed one monster after another, but the continuous battles also exhausted it, strong as it was, while enemies continued to pour in from all around. In the end, its clan members suffered heavy casualties, and a primary Commander-level clan member was surrounded and killed. In a crisis, it managed to escape with the remaining clan members.
These days, it had been leading its clan members to roam the outskirts, trying to find an opportunity to kill this group of strange monsters. It had also learned to be smarter, each time not waiting for the Zerg swarm to successfully encircle it, killing a batch of Zergs before immediately escaping.
But what was not good was that the number of these monsters seemed to increase the more they were killed, while its own clan members were decreasing. What made it most uneasy was that it actually discovered the presence of its own clan members among this group of monsters. A group of Wild Bulls had somehow joined this group of monsters.
Although it was extremely angry, it, with its not low intelligence, had already decided to flee. The number of these monsters was increasing, and if this continued, sooner or later, it would also be killed. Kill one more batch, avenge your clan members, and then leave. It thought to itself.
When it thought that this time, it could still escape like before. Several short spears suddenly shot over from a distance without a sound.
"Roar——"
The Wild Bull, whose mind was extremely tense and constantly on guard against the surrounding Zerg swarm's attacks, immediately discovered the flying short spears. It roared fiercely, its speed exploding beyond the speed of sound, creating a huge sonic boom. But no matter how fast it was, how could it be faster than short spears operated by spirit power?
Seeing that it couldn't dodge, the Wild Bull turned its head to avoid its eyes and other vital points, planning to endure this wave of damage. Its defense was among the strongest in high-level Commanders.
"Puchi——" "Puchi——" "Puchi——"
The sound of short spears piercing flesh rang out. Under the momentum of surpassing the speed of sound, the short spears easily pierced its skin, penetrated its tendons and bones, shredded its internal organs, and finally passed through. Seven short spears passed through its body, nailing it to the ground.
This powerful Wild Bull, with strength reaching the high-level Commander and renowned for its defense, was actually killed in one hit. In its gradually dimming eyes, it saw a young man in black combat gear flying over, holding a long spear, with short spears circling around him, like a god of slaughter descending, mercilessly butchering its clan members.
"It's actually a Spirit Master. Why is this human Spirit Master mixed up with that group of monsters?" This was the last thought that flashed through its mind before it fell into darkness.
Although Qin Mu was currently only an intermediate Warlord Spirit Master, he was manipulating one A9 grade and ten A8 grade short spears. Not to mention this mere high-level Commander monster, even a Horde Leader monster wouldn't dare to take it head-on.
Adding to that, Qin Mu's surprise attack directly killed it in one hit. In a frontal battle, the Wild Bull could still exchange a few blows with Qin Mu and wouldn't die so quickly.
The entire Wild Bull group following the high-level Commander Wild Bull, seeing their leader killed by a human in an instant, immediately fell into chaos. Some continued to charge and attack Qin Mu, while others scattered and fled. Taking advantage of their confusion, Qin Mu didn't sit idle. While three short spears circled around him for defense, the rest massacred the Wild Bulls.
The number of the Wild Bull group decreased at an astonishing rate. When the Zerg swarm surrounded them, forming an encirclement, not a single Wild Bull could escape this slaughter, and they were completely annihilated.
Don't think that because Qin Mu killed a high-level Commander-level monster in one move, it was weak. In the original work, Luo Feng once encountered a severely injured Silver Moon Wolf. This Silver Moon Wolf's strength was only at the peak of a high-level Commander. Although he also killed it with the strength of an intermediate warlord Spirit Master, that was by exploiting the wound on the Silver Moon Wolf's abdomen and directly attacking its internal organs. When Luo Feng controlled a flying knife to stab at an intact patch of back fur, there wasn't even a scratch on the Silver Moon Wolf's fur.
This high-level Commander Wild Bull, although its overall strength was not as good as the peak high-level war general Silver Moon Wolf, in terms of defense alone, it was superior. Of course, at that time, the weapon in Luo Feng's hand was not as good as Qin Mu's. It was only a A6 grade flying knife, while Qin Mu used a A9 grade short spear.
After easily slaughtering the entire Wild Bull group, Qin Mu had the Zerg swarm move their corpses back to the mother nest to be digested and absorbed into energy. The digestion of these 800-plus Wild Bulls could at least provide the Zerg swarm with tens of thousands of energy points, which was like a timely rain. Because the mother nest had just completed another gene analysis, the progress had reached 100%. As soon as Qin Mu gave the order, the mother nest could begin to evolve.
Returning to the underground garage where the mother nest was located, Qin Mu's heart was filled with excitement. He ordered the Zerg swarm to temporarily stop expanding and hunting, focusing on defense to ensure the safety during the mother nest's evolution period.
The underground garage had changed significantly since Qin Mu left. Under the excavation of the worker bugs, with the mother nest as the center, the ground was dug out several meters, forming a huge space large enough for the mother nest to evolve to the second level.
Qin Mu's deep voice sounded.
"Mother nest, begin evolution."