Chapter 71: Oceanic Zerg
In the virtual space of the Palace of Wargods, a massive hall filled with thousands of sofa chairs hosted nearly a thousand people, who gathered in small groups, enjoying drinks and chatting. Their conversations overwhelmingly revolved around a single topic.
On the walls of the hall, a giant display screen showcased a video. The footage showed Qin Mu, single-handedly battling through a horde of ocean monsters, emerging from the sea while holding two King-level monsters.
"Too strong! Absolutely too strong!" A bald warrior gazed at the video with shining eyes.
"Those are two King-level monsters! In just a few breaths, he killed them all!" Another spirit master exclaimed in admiration.
"With this level of strength, he must have surpassed the Third Councilor, right?" Suddenly, a white warrior spoke up.
"Definitely surpassed! I've seen the Third Councilor in action, and even at full strength, it would be difficult for him to kill such a powerful King-level monster." Another white warrior stared intently at the video of the massive octopus King-level monster.
"The title of Earth's strongest spirit master is likely to change hands!"
"We can't say that yet; the Fourth Councilor, Lord East, is also very strong," another chimed in.
"But Qin Mu is not just any ordinary spirit master. He's an exceptionally rare beast tamer among spirit masters; all those high Horde Leader monsters flying in the sky are his tamed beasts!" One person countered, though with admiration.
"Did you see those fifty high Horde Leader flying monsters in the sky? My God! Each one is much stronger than I am!"
"How did he do it? Other beast tamers can tame at most one or two; it's simply ridiculous!"
The warriors in the Palace of Wargods buzzed with discussion, filled with awe for someone who could easily slay King-level monsters. Even the more powerful members, those at the planetary level, were equally shocked.
How many members were there on Earth? Without counting Qin Mu, there were only 52!
"China is about to rise. Aside from the First Councilor Hong and the Second Councilor Lei Shen, I doubt anyone can match Qin Mu," a black member expressed.
"I heard that the Fourth Councilor East plans to visit China alongside HR Alliance Chairman Isadora; I wonder if they'll still go?" Suddenly, someone scoffed.
A member from the Limit Dojo of China smiled and said, "Who knows?"
As members, they certainly understood what it meant for these two to team up for a visit to China.
Not just them; even Hong and Lei Shen were keeping an eye on Qin Mu. Given Qin Mu's demonstrated combat capabilities, even they would not dare to underestimate him.
Unfortunately, Qin Mu rarely visited the Palace of Wargods. It was a very loose organization, and although it had features like a 'Mall,' 'Auction House,' 'Arena,' and 'Trial Tower,' Qin Mu found them of little use after trying them out and rarely returned. Instead, he logged into the virtual space established by the military every day.
In the military's virtual space, there was access to the genetic knowledge Qin Mu needed. Studying in the virtual environment, as long as his consciousness was strong, he could learn much faster than in reality. With his current strength and permissions, all of the military's confidential research had been opened up to him.
After studying for several days and obtaining a high-spec laboratory for himself from the military, he had already managed to independently extract the self-healing factors required to produce the regeneration potion.
In essence, the regeneration potion was also an application of genetic technology. Professor Zhou had edited the self-healing factors extracted from the blood of the swamp salamander and combined them with certain human genes through a series of complex operations, which led to the creation of the regeneration potion.
The potion enabled users to achieve self-healing and regenerate severed limbs while also granting a slight self-healing ability. This slight self-healing ability was essentially an optimization of the human body through a portion of genes extracted from the Newt.
A similar transformation had occurred when Qin Mu used the Spirit of Nature; during that time, his body's genes underwent some kind of metamorphosis. The useless or defective genes within him were discarded, and his genes were reorganized, absorbing certain genes from the Thousands Year Willow Heart to form new structures. Taking the regeneration potion produced a similar effect, though it was not as potent as the Spirit of Nature.
The difference lay in the fact that taking the Spirit of Nature was a passive change, while the potion was a manifestation of technology—editable and controllable.
This technology was precisely what Qin Mu had been striving for.
During this time, Qin Mu had also tried several times to adjust the Zerg units, but the results had not been very promising. For instance, he had attempted genetic modifications on the Blade Mantis and the Giant Tiger Beetle, which he had recently chosen as his main combat units.
In the Zerg gene pool, there was a monster called the Steel Rock Giant Rhino, which liked to consume metal. After devouring metal, the metal would undergo certain transformations and merge into its fur and bones.
Qin Mu thought about whether he could implant this ability to consume metal and incorporate it into the fur and bones of the Blade Mantis or the Giant Tiger Beetle. If a portion of metal could be integrated into the Blade Mantis's pair of scythe-like forelimbs, its attack power would be significantly enhanced. Similarly, if this ability could be integrated into the Tiger Beetle, its mandibles and already thick exoskeleton could become even tougher.
Unfortunately, he had yet to achieve any breakthrough progress in this regard.
As for the reactions of those in the Palace of Wargods, even Hong and Lei Shen's interest in Qin Mu was something he was unaware of or perhaps didn't care about. Currently, most of his energy was focused on the oceanic Zerg.
With the full support of the Zerg, the development of the oceanic Zerg was progressing rapidly. All the nests were working hard to analyze, and hundreds of powerful ocean monster genes had been established. After a simple screening, several main combat units had been decided upon.
Among them, the soldier-level unit was a species of shrimp monster known as the Ironclaw Mantis Shrimp, which was quite common yet exceptionally fierce. This shrimp monster typically measured three meters in length, had a thick shell, and possessed a pair of large claws, making it well-rounded in both attack and defense.
For the Commander-level unit, there was also a common yet powerful monster known as the Spiral Tooth Shark. Before the emergence of the RR virus, sharks had long been regarded as the most ferocious creatures of the ocean. Even after their evolution and mutation, their brutality and strength remained unchanged. The Spiral Tooth Shark can grow up to 18 meters long, and its most distinctive feature is its teeth, which curl into a spiral shape like a milling cutter, making its lethality astonishing and leaving it few rivals among high Commanders.
The Horde Leader monster was a formidable ocean beast among the high Horde Leader creatures—the Hydra Dragon! measuring over seventy meters in length and boasting nine heads.
With the expansion of these three powerful units, the Zerg in the ocean was becoming increasingly formidable.
Three days after the Tier One Monster Tide passed, the oceanic Zerg finally delivered some good news.
They had discovered a solitary King-level monster. It was a Azure-scaled dragon with eerie red eyes, the Azure Dragon, which was quite renowned among King-level monsters.
"A planetary stage four monster, the Azure Dragon!" When Qin Mu discovered this King-level monster, his face lit up. He stepped onto his Crescent Moon Disk and soared into the sky, flying toward the sea. A powerful opponent, and all alone! It was the perfect target!
"Accelerate!"
Qin Mu felt a surge of urgency; the Azure Dragon was incredibly fast. Only a high-level Spiral Tooth Shark had spotted it, and if he didn't hurry, he might easily lose track of it. He ramped up his speed, already at fifteen times the speed of sound, to sixteen times. At this incredible velocity, Qin Mu quickly reached the designated area.
"I caught up!"
Enveloped in his black armor, Qin Mu plunged into the ocean, deploying 266 crescent blades to encircle him.
The Azure Dragon, however, was not a true dragon but a mutated sea serpent—an enormous serpent-like monster over four hundred meters long, covered in blue scales.
"First, injure it, just enough to leave it with a breath!"
Qin Mu's eyes turned cold as he charged toward the Azure Dragon. However, the ocean's water significantly slowed him down. Even with the protective shield activated by the secret patterns of the Crescent Moon Disk, his speed dropped from sixteen times the speed of sound to fourteen.
The Azure Dragon seemed to possess extremely sensitive perception and noticed Qin Mu charging toward it from a distance.
"Roar—" Its eerie red eyes radiated with terrifying killing intent.
A strange force emanated from the Azure Dragon, manipulating the surrounding water, which surged toward Qin Mu like a torrent.
"A water attribute King-level monster?"
Qin Mu snorted coldly. Just like human warriors, King-level monsters awaken certain unique talents after breaking through to the planetary level. As a marine beast, the Azure Dragon had the advantage of controlling water deep within the ocean, greatly enhancing its power.
Meanwhile, Qin Mu's strength was somewhat diminished; the difference in their power became apparent. This was precisely why it was challenging for humans to kill King-level monsters in the ocean.
Streams of water were shattered by the crescent blades, turning back into ordinary seawater.
"Clang—" The crescent blades struck the body of the Azure Dragon, producing the sound of metal clashing. The crescent blades surprisingly couldn't cut through the thick scales of the Azure Dragon!
"Roar—" The Eastern Sea Azure Dragon roared in anger, sweeping its massive tail and creating surging waves.
Qin Mu stood on the Crescent Moon Disk, dodging at high speed, narrowly avoiding the enormous tail swipe.
"What powerful defenses! Ordinary attacks are hardly effective against it!"
The 256 crescent blades converged in front of Qin Mu, forming a circular blade formation. The strange secret patterns on the crescent blades lit up, spinning rapidly to cut through.
"Let's try double the attack first, but don't kill it in one blow!" Qin Mu thought to himself, not intending to truly unleash his full power.
Gathering his own 56 times amplification with the Crescent Moon Disk's double attack, this strike became over a hundred times more powerful than a regular attack. The Azure Dragon, while a planetary stage four monster, might not be able to withstand it.
"Silver Moon Slash, go!" A silver crescent blade over ten meters long shot toward the Azure Dragon's abdomen at incredible speed.
"Riiip—"
The silver crescent blade was momentarily hindered by the flowing water and scales surrounding the Azure Dragon but quickly sliced through. A massive gash opened up on the Azure Dragon, spilling blood and entrails.
"Damn it, did I use too much power?" Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. If he had severed its spine, he would have wasted all his efforts.
Fortunately, this strike did not sever the dragon's spine; it only dealt a heavy blow. If he had truly split it in half, the Azure Dragon would be doomed.
"Roar—"
The Azure Dragon let out a pained scream, unable to comprehend how the crescent blades that had previously failed to harm it had suddenly become so devastating!
"Less power next time!"
Even in the water, Qin Mu's speed exceeded that of the Azure Dragon. Maintaining a distance advantage, he inflicted over a dozen massive wounds on the dragon in just about ten minutes, leaving it drenched in blood.
"Submit to me!"
His violent spirit energy radiated outward, invading the Azure Dragon's mind.
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Guys, starting from Monday (when rankings reset), I am gonna implement a reward system. The more you help me, the more chapters I will release.
For every 150 Power Stones, you'll get 1 Bonus Chapter.
That's it. As simple as that.
PS: I know that I should've done this sooner ( cause let's face it, you don't give power stones if you don't get something out of it), but unfortunately I forgot about it.
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