Chapter 18

Chapter 18: New Zerg unit

After a day, the Evolution Chamber consumed hundreds of energy points, and a complete life structure diagram appeared in the Nest.

"The analysis of the Tiger Mastiff's genes is finally complete. The progress towards evolving into a Level 2 Nest has reached 6%." A smile appeared on Qin Mu's face. He could now hatch Zerg units other than worker bugs.

"Consuming 15 energy points, in twenty minutes, we can hatch a Tiger Mastiff with the combat strength of a mid-level beast soldier."

Indeed, it was mid-level beast soldier rank. There were still 3,124 energy points.

"Leave 1,000 energy points as backup and use the rest to hatch Tiger Mastiffs."

Under Qin Mu's command, five larvae around the Nest immediately began to mutate, turning into cocoons, and their gene information transformed into that of the Tiger Mastiff. Twenty minutes later, five exceptionally strong Tiger Mastiffs broke out of their eggs.

Qin Mu stepped forward, looking at the Tiger Mastiffs with a shoulder height of nearly 1.5 meters, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Go. Fight for the swarm!" The five Tiger Mastiffs immediately ran outward, guided by the Nest, toward a battlefield.

While the Nest was analyzing the Tiger Mastiff's genes, to accommodate the swarm's growing territory, the Nest continued to hatch dozens of worker bugs, so now there were a total of 126 worker bugs. A small number of them guarded the Nest, while the majority, under the Nest's command, hunted down the remaining monsters in the villa area and expanded the swarm's control deeper into the wilderness.

A Shadow Cat nimbly maneuvered through the ruins, toying with several worker bugs that were far less agile than it. Just as it was feeling proud, a strong Tiger Mastiff charged over, leaped onto the wall with a few jumps, and bit into the Shadow Cat's body.

"Indeed, in terms of combat, the worker bugs are still lacking." Although Qin Mu said this, a smile appeared on his lips. The Tiger Mastiff's combat effectiveness did not disappoint him.

"It's time to consider establishing another base for the swarm. This location is too close to the military camp, and there aren't enough monsters."

In Qin Mu's initial plan, hatching the Nest here was just a stepping stone. He didn't expect to awaken, greatly accelerating the swarm's development speed. Taking out a tablet computer, Qin Mu manipulated it, calling up a map and continuously zooming in on the location.

"There are three counties relatively close to me, which are County 0201, County 0202, and County 0203."

Qin Mu's first choice was County 0203 because it was relatively remote, with fewer fighters, and close to City 023, the original Suzhou. With County 0203 as the base, the swarm could expand to City 023 after growing stronger.

There were numerous monsters there, enough for the swarm to hunt and grow. More importantly, there was a huge lake there—Taihu Lake, which was filled with countless aquatic monsters. Taihu Lake was part of the Yangtze River system, with its water flowing into the Yangtze River through more than 70 rivers and streams on the north and east sides, connecting with the Yangtze River.

In Qin Mu's plan, once the swarm developed to City 023, it would start cultivating aquatic Zerg units. Once the aquatic Zerg units reached a certain strength, they could enter the Yangtze River along the river and go downstream into the ocean. The ocean was the true paradise for monsters, with countless sea monsters for the swarm to devour, analyze, and evolve. There, was the swarm's true battlefield on Earth.

The same was true on land. Once established in City 023, the swarm would advance to City 003, the original Shanghai, with the ultimate destination still being the ocean.

Among the three counties, Qin Mu did not consider going to County 0201 for the time being because this city was the first place Luo Feng went after becoming a fighter. Before reaching a certain level of strength, Qin Mu did not plan to contact Luo Feng, because contacting the protagonist often meant trouble. If possible, Qin Mu still wanted to develop peacefully. It would be best if the swarm could directly develop to the point of sweeping through global monsters before going out to roam.

For the swarm to become stronger, the core was to strengthen the Nest. The current Level 1 Nest could hatch the strongest Zerg units at the high-level beast soldier rank. For the Nest to advance to a Level 2 Nest, the most important thing was to reach 100% gene progress for the Level 1 Nest.

After analyzing a mid-level beast soldier-ranked Tiger Mastiff, the progress had already reached 6%. At this rate, it would take about half a month to reach 100%.

"Today is already July 23rd, time is getting a bit tight."

Qin Mu took a deep breath. It would take two to three days to travel from the villa area to County 0203.

Initially, Qin Mu only planned to establish the Nest in the villa area, stabilize the foothold, and then return to the base city to participate in the fighter practical exam, obtaining the official fighter title before considering advancing to the county.

Because after obtaining the fighter title, one could join various forces, acquire guidance techniques and various cultivation secret methods, and equipment. For Qin Mu, who did not have the Zerg race's inheritance, this was very important. But plans couldn't keep up with changes, and staying in the villa area was just a waste of time.

"Today, we will focus on hatching Tiger Mastiffs. After nightfall, we will directly march towards County 0203 to establish the Nest. With my and the swarm's strength, there should be no major dangers along the way."

Qin Mu pondered.

"To be safe, I'll send out several Tiger Mastiff teams to scout ahead. The main force will set out at night! By nightfall, the number of Tiger Mastiffs should exceed 150. 150 Tiger Mastiffs with the strength of mid-level beast soldiers, plus me, a mid-level warlord-ranked spirit master, is enough. Once we reach County 0203, the Iron-Furred Wild Boars and Shadow Cats will also be analyzed. By then, we will have three types of units that can be hatched. With such strength, the new Nest can barely establish a foothold in the county."

Qin Mu carefully calculated the swarm's combat power and time. "There are still eight days until the fighter practical assessment. Subtracting six days for the journey, we can stay in County 0203 for two days, which is enough time."

After setting the development strategy, the swarm immediately began to act. A team of ten Tiger Mastiffs started to explore and advance in the direction of County 0203. The Tiger Mastiffs were fast and didn't take long to leave the villa area and enter the wilderness. Along the way, they encountered monsters from time to time, but they were not threatening.

Until the Tiger Mastiffs traveled dozens of miles, the number of monsters in the wilderness increased, and their strength also became noticeably stronger, occasionally encountering high-level beast soldier-ranked monsters.

Adhering to the principle of not seeking trouble, this team of Tiger Mastiffs did not engage in battles with the monsters along the way but instead avoided them from a distance, recording the information of various monsters they encountered.

Half an hour later, the second Tiger Mastiff team set out. After successively sending out three scout teams, Qin Mu began to accumulate forces, preparing to lead the main force to migrate.

The reason for continuously sending out reconnaissance forces was simple: there were too many uncertainties in the wilderness. If they encountered powerful monsters, they could discover them in advance and avoid being wiped out in one wave.

After arranging the swarm's affairs, Qin Mu did not rest but took the time to train his movement techniques, spear techniques, and his spirit master power. Because Zerg units were constantly being hatched, Qin Mu was growing stronger every moment, and he needed to master his strength as soon as possible.

Before the Nest awakened, Qin Mu had experienced a practical battle, and his spear and movement techniques had greatly improved. But after awakening, his strength surged, making Qin Mu's control over his body regress.

"Whoosh—" Qin Mu picked up his long spear and swung it freely, his moves gradually becoming skilled.

"After awakening, my talent and insight have greatly improved. Many problems that I didn't notice before are now obvious at a glance."

A look of joy appeared on Qin Mu's face. The spear was like a swimming dragon, one move after another, continuous and unending.

"No, this move is wrong! The spear is an inch too high."

"No, this move, I was just relying on brute force before, I should use skill instead."

The more he practiced, the more Qin Mu felt that his spear and movement techniques were far from perfect, with too many flaws. Every practice session revealed new problems. Especially when Qin Mu connected his consciousness to the Nest, using the Nest's powerful computational abilities to practice his spear and movement techniques. 

A new world opened up.