【Total kills reached 500. Energy allocation complete. Queen rank promoted to Tier 1.】
That evening, Xia Jin, who was hunting in the nearby area with two bugs, suddenly received this notification.
She looked at her hand in surprise.
A strange surge of energy pulsed through her.
“Have I promoted?”
The Zerg Queen could indeed absorb a portion of the energy from her subordinates' kills, so becoming stronger was expected.
However, as the commander of the swarm, her power was primarily meant to ensure her own safety rather than for going into battle.
Engaging the enemy was always the swarm's responsibility.
“Your Highness, it is getting late. Won't you go and rest?”
Ellie, who was following beside her, could not help but remind her.
If not for the relatively bright moonlight, she would not have been able to see the path at this time.
“If you are tired, go rest. I can share the bugs' consciousness, so even if I do not sleep, I will be fine,” Xia Jin said.
“Eh, really?”
“Yes.” Just as Xia Jin nodded, a sudden, indescribable thought appeared in her mind.
Ahead, a zergling had discovered a city.
There were individuals suspected to be human adventurers around the city, forcing the bugs to retreat.
She frowned slightly and turned to ask, “Is there a city in the Border Forest?”
Ellie thought for a moment before nodding. “There is indeed a city here called the City of Darkness. It is a famous lawless zone. Because of its remote location near the forest, it has maintained its autonomy. Originally, they were severely troubled by goblins, but later, the City Lord reached some kind of contract with them. In short, a certain amount of food is supplied to the city every year, which in turn keeps it safe from attacks. In recent years, many fugitives have chosen to enter the City of Chaos, and the kingdom mostly gives up on chasing them once they enter to avoid conflict with the city.”
“Avoid conflict? Is the city's defense that strong?” Xia Jin was somewhat surprised.
“Not exactly. It is more that it is not worth it. A city located inside the forest that cannot serve as a fortress has very little value if conquered,” Ellie explained.
“I see. You know quite a lot.”
Being praised by the Princess, the female knight could not help but scratch her head, her face flushing. “I always viewed that city as a legend; after all, it only appeared in stories.”
“Now it has appeared. The bugs detected a large city about 10 kilometers to the north. Considering there are people patrolling the perimeter, they retreated.”
“Eh, they have already explored that far?”
Hearing Xia Jin's words, Ellie was very surprised.
The running speed of the zerglings was truly too fast. Even if they encountered creatures stronger than themselves, they could quickly escape, making them the perfect scouts.
“For now, we will avoid heading south, as that is the kingdom's land. We will also avoid going directly north, as we do not have the strength to venture deep into the forest yet. East and west are the best directions for development, and to the east... we have already found a power: the City of Chaos. Perhaps it can be our first target for conquest.”
Ellie's eyes flickered. “Your Highness, were you not joking during the day? I thought...”
“What did you think? That I was playing house?”
Xia Jin reached out and patted the other's shoulder, only then realizing that the female knight was much taller than her.
She must be about 175 centimeters.
As for herself, the Princess, she was only in the 160s.
Well, it is better for a girl not to be too tall.
She could only comfort herself this way.
After all, she had been quite tall before she transmigrated.
“During this time, I will focus on mass producing units. Once the swarm reaches a scale of over a thousand, we can consider sending scouts to the City of Chaos.”
“Are we really going there?” Ellie was originally a bit worried, but when she thought of the young Princess's current strength, she abandoned that thought.
Commanding so many bugs—reaching hundreds in just a few days—such power was truly unheard of.
A stunning girl commanding an evil swarm—even Ellie was a bit captivated by this contrasting beauty.
Seemingly influenced by the Queen's aura, she found herself becoming even more loyal to Xia Jin.
...
That night, over a hundred bugs were deployed for a new round of slaughter in the northern area, killing nearly 50 goblins in succession.
The next morning, the zerglings retreated under the cover of darkness.
Thus, during the day, when more goblins arrived, all they could see was a scene where even the corpses had been cleared away.
With the increase in the number of drones, Xia Jin began to consider establishing her first branch base.
That meant a second Zerg Hive.
The first Zerg Hive would certainly be the primary one. Subsequent upgrades would inevitably require a large amount of resources, while the branch would only retain basic reproductive functions.
Xia Jin considered placing the second branch hive 5 kilometers to the west for now.
No dangerous enemies had been discovered there yet, so it would be relatively safe once it took root.
Soon, a drone, accompanied by 20 zerglings, arrived at the destination. It then transformed into a cocoon and began its evolution.
Before long, a Level 1 branch hive with halved costs was born.
After it took shape, Xia Jin immediately had it upgraded to Level 2.
【Zerg Branch Hive LV2】
The units it could recruit were the same, and the costs were identical.
In this way, with the two hives combined, the number of bugs that could be hatched in one hour reached 16.
That was 384 a day.
Of course, this number could not be fully met within a single day. The main reason was that the current swarm was not large enough to convert resources that quickly, so more drones needed to be produced.
With the appearance of more bugs, Xia Jin found that the energy she gained was also increasing.
She believed she would soon reach Tier 2 herself.
Rate on N.U.
