70 *Chapter 70: From Now On, I Will Shout from the Rooftops That This Kid Has Bested the Zerg Queen

"What the heck just happened?!"

Everyone had the same question, except for one general who was closely following the situation on the holographic screen. His water glass clattered to the floor, drawing everyone's attention. He pointed to the screen, dumbfounded.

"Is the hologram malfunctioning?"

Malfunctioning? A hologram? That was a high-tech tool of visualization, reliable and advanced. It couldn't just malfunction. But when everyone looked at the image on the screen, they had the same question.

"This hologram... it's not malfunctioning, is it?"

The swarm of Zerg that had filled the screen was gone. In their place was a massive dust cloud, obliterating the view.

Mr. Li sat steady, but his grip tightened around his cane. He remembered Qin Zhi's plan that had been discussed earlier. Now, it seemed, Zheng Mu had executed it. But even for him, a seasoned veteran, it was hard to believe that this destruction was caused by a newbie who had just awakened his abilities a few months ago.

"You've defeated a Bloodthirsty Mantis (Lv27), gaining 388 experience points, a Lv20 Blood-drinker Blade."

"You've defeated a Blaster (Lv25), gaining 260 experience points."

"You've defeated a Shield Iron Beetle (Lv29), gaining 450 experience points."

"You've defeated a Plague Poison Fly (Lv18), gaining 230 experience points."

"You've leveled up! Current level: Lv21."

"You've leveled up! Current level: Lv22."

"You've leveled up! Current level: Lv23."

"You have new skills to unlock!"

On the base's rooftop, everyone was stunned, staring at the massive dust cloud that rose into the sky for miles.

The Red Queen, despite her slight excitement, continued her duties. "Patrol Eagle recon initiated, reassessing the target area. Remaining targets: 22,187. Elimination rate: 45.46%. Preparing second volley."

The mechanical arm began to reload the ammunition. The people next to Zheng Mu finally snapped out of their shock.

Cai Shengkun gasped for breath, his face flushed. "Zheng...Boss...Dang!"

"Boss, you're a total powerhouse! An absolute powerhouse!!!" Behind them, Sang Luo and Gu Ming looked at Zheng Mu as if he was a god. They had long since abandoned the notion that a Level-A mechanic was useless.

"What the heck is a chicken rib? Does your chicken weigh as much as a T-Rex?!" Sang Luo fell to his knees, clutching Zheng Mu's leg. "Student Zheng Mu, no, Boss Zheng Mu, I'm with you from now on! Forget about Shengqing University! I want to join the Southwest Military Academy!"

The sounds of excitement reached Qin Zhi's ears, causing his hands to tremble with anticipation.

Zheng Mu glanced over at him, a wry smile on his face. "General Qin, what do you think? My firepower's not too shabby, right?"

Qin Zhi's face flushed, but he didn't have time to care about that. He was in awe of Zheng Mu's methods, his eyes locked onto the reloaded ammo in front of him. He swallowed, excitement bubbling in his voice. "How many rounds can this thing fire?"

Zheng Mu's grin grew. "The number of rounds I can fire isn't the point. The real question is how many rounds these bugs can withstand."

Qin Zhi nodded eagerly, just as Zheng Mu was preparing to fire again. Suddenly, a high-pitched hissing sound broke through the smoke. An intense gust of wind swept the area, scattering the dust.

From their distant vantage point, Zheng Mu and the others could see the swollen golden Zerg queen, its body now riddled with colorfully glowing wounds. Even when the Patrol Eagle zoomed in, the deep gashes on the creature's body were clearly visible.

At this moment, the alien queen was roaring in pain and fury towards Zheng Mu and his crew. They'd been spotted from such a distance. Unfortunately for the queen, her move was too late.

"Screech!"

As Zheng Mu met the queen's defiance, she screeched again, and the sand around her began to churn.

A voice from the Red Queen rang out. "New target acquired. Locked targets updated. Current count: 28,700."

As the queen attempted to summon more bugs, Zheng Mu sneered. "She's running out of tricks."

The Red Queen's voice sounded again. "Trajectory calculation complete."

"Fire the second volley!"

Then came another visually stunning display of firepower. Looking at the hundreds of white arcs drawn across the sky, and the golden Zerg queen at the center of the target zone, the creature's many eyes filled with unmistakable anger and fear.

The Zerg around her quickly moved to protect her, forming a shield with their bodies.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

As the bombardment resumed, everyone watched the horrific spectacle of the mechanized assault.

However, Zheng Mu noticed his experience points were quickly reaching their limit. Faced with another surge of experience, he quickly upgraded the necessary skills.

Opportunities like this, to destroy swarms of enemies, might not come again. And his biggest expenditure of experience points was in upgrading skills.

If the experience points reached their limit, the system would automatically level him up.

Zheng Mu quickly used his only mechanic-level skill, [Modular Seal Carving], which consumed the most experience points to upgrade. From Lv1 to Lv2, it required a whopping 100,000 experience points.

With the experience points consumed, Zheng Mu prepared to click again to upgrade from Lv2 to LvB.

He almost fainted at the sight of the new number: 1 million!

Experience points for upgrading skills couldn't be paid in installments, meaning Zheng Mu would have to wait until his maximum experience points reached 1 million or more before he could upgrade this skill again.

Next, Zheng Mu upgraded [Mechanical Cell Transformation Lv1] to Lv2, which cost him 10,000 experience points. Upgrading from Lv2 to Lv3 gobbled up another 100,000 points. The same thing happened with the [Biological Cell Transformation] skill.

"Darn it, at this rate, all my experience points will be drained just upgrading skills," Zheng Mu grumbled, feeling a twinge of regret.

It was a tough pill to swallow. Over 300,000 points, enough to level up, were instead used on skill upgrades.

But he knew upgrading skills was crucial, especially the [Modular Seal Carving] skill.

[Modular Seal Carving Lv3: Exclusive skill for Mechanics. Allows application of owned skill books onto mechanical constructs, granting them the respective skills. Cooldown: 12 hours. Processing power needed: 100 (50% discount on enhancement)]

[Note: This skill has a failure rate. Higher levels of seal carving have higher failure rates.]

The seven-day cooldown had been slashed to just 12 hours—a significant improvement. Additionally, the success rate of seal carving had increased with the skill's upgrade to Lv3.

As for [Biological Cell Transformation] and [Mechanical Cell Transformation], later abilities could only be unlocked after reaching Lv3.

Just as Zheng Mu finished his flurry of upgrades, the second volley ended.

"Screech!"

The golden Zerg queen's hiss echoed out, causing Zheng Mu's brow to furrow. Was she challenging him?

"Activating Patrol Eagle recon. Starting to reconfirm target count," the automated voice reported.

"Strike target count refreshed. Remaining targets: 20,861. Proportion eradicated: 28.32%."

"Preparing third volley..."

As another wave of sand surged up, countless Zerg burst forth from it.

In the spaceship command room high above, General Xiong and the others were elated to see the Zerg queen summoning another swarm.

Their smiles quickly froze.

"This darn beast is clearly trying to provoke us. She must know we can't keep this up forever, darn it!"

"Mr. Li, should we send General Qin Zhi to check how many more rounds of this Zheng Mu can handle?"

Everyone frowned. Reinforcements were en route, but if Zheng Mu couldn't stall the queen, they'd have to risk their lives to hold her off.

Old Li was deep in thought. Given the impressive firepower, his estimation of Zheng Mu had significantly increased.

Zheng Mu was not just worth nurturing but also worth protecting with a strong force. His potential value surpassed even that of a guardian deity.

After all, Zheng Mu's battles were never one-on-one.

His strength indicated that his mechanical constructs were even more powerful.

"Such powerful attacks can't last forever. I estimate one more round, tops," Mr. Li sighed deeply, looking gravely at General Xiong. The general seemed to understand, instantly standing up straighter.

"Please!" General Xiong nodded and saluted.

As he exited the room, his steps were unsteady, but each one was firm.

"Screech!"

When Zheng Mu didn't make a move, the golden Zerg queen mistakenly thought it was over. She let out a mocking screech. But on the zoomed-in screen, Zheng Mu saw the queen staggering, using other Zerg to help her move towards a large hole.

A wicked smile spread across Zheng Mu's face.

"Seems like our guest isn't satisfied with our service! Red Queen, let's give her another taste!"

Next, General Xiong slammed his hammer into the ground, sending out a wave of icy air. A shrill whistle sounded overhead.

"If I live through this, I've got to have a sit-down with that kid," General Xiong muttered. Then an explosion sent a shockwave hurtling towards him. With no other choice, he quickly erected an ice wall for protection.

"Damn! This power is insane! It's over the top!" He shouted as the sand shook and dust filled the air.

The golden Zerg queen's piercing cry echoed again, igniting a fire in General Xiong's heart.

"Alright, that's enough! Time to take care of you personally!" He roared, using his keen senses to locate the queen amidst the smoke and dust, and rushed towards her like a bullet.

As he sprinted forward, Zerg struggling to stand up were frozen into ice statues in his wake. Suddenly, the shrill whistle sounded overhead again.

"General Xiong, retreat! Another attack is coming!" an urgent voice came from his communicator.

"Damn it! By the time you guys warn me, I'll already be blown to smithereens!" General Xiong grumbled. He turned and ran, moving twice as fast as before. He had just made it out of the blast zone when another explosion sent a shockwave ripping through the air.

"Whoa!" he yelped, as he was sent flying and half-buried in the sand.

When he pulled himself out, he was dazed.

"General Xiong, are you okay?" asked the officers, their faces flushing with embarrassment at their superior's state.

Frustrated, General Xiong snapped at them. "Stop gawking! Check if another attack is on its way!"

As his subordinates hurried off to inquire, General Xiong dusted off the sand from his face and muttered, "If he can launch four attacks like this, does the kid have the power to level a city?"

But before he could finish his thought, another shrill whistle sounded. This time, before the golden Zerg queen could let out a cry, the blast arrived.

Taken aback, General Xiong muttered a curse under his breath.

"Damn, five rounds already? Are we going to the moon? You've only been awake for less than three months!" General Xiong couldn't help but complain.

"Initiating Eagle Eye surveillance, reconfirming target count," a voice announced. "Target hit count updated: 2671 remaining, 67.33% eradication rate."

"The Torrent artillery system has run out of ammunition..."

From the base's rooftop, it was clear that after the fifth round, the robotic arm didn't reload ammunition as it had before. Instead, the voice of the Red Queen sounded.

Qin Zhi quickly replied into his communicator.

"The attack has ended, repeat, the attack has ended!"

Zheng Mu looked at Qin Zhi, puzzled. His own control panel hadn't reported the golden Zerg queen's death. This meant she'd survived again.

If the target hadn't been eliminated, why call off the attack?

Without saying a word, Zheng Mu snapped his fingers and said coolly, "Red Queen, keep going."

He activated the [Firepower Reset lv3], and the mechanical arm of the [Firepower System "Torrent"], which had just emptied five rounds of ammunition, started to work again.

Seeing the arm reloading ammunition right after declaring the attack ended, Qin Zhi's expression changed abruptly.

"Zheng Mu, didn't you say we were out of ammo?" he demanded.

Zheng Mu blinked, confused. "We were out of ammo. That's why I'm reloading. Can't I use my skills while you can't?"

Zheng Mu's "what's your problem" expression sent a chill down Qin Zhi's spine. Seeing that Zheng Mu had already given the order to launch, he raised his communicator and screamed into it.

"General Xiong, retreat now! Attack incoming! Get out of there!"

Zheng Mu was stunned, and the others standing beside him, including Cai Shengkun, were too shocked to think.

On the other side, hearing that the attack had ended, General Xiong and his troops breathed a sigh of relief. A dozen units, each at level 60, looked at each other. Then, General Xiong headed towards the cloud of smoke and dust.

"I don't care if that guy tries to kill me later! Take out the target with everything we've got!" He couldn't help but glance in Zheng Mu's direction, admiration in his eyes. "If I make it back, I'll tell everyone I meet how this kid took on the Zerg queen."