The next day, on the northwestern shore of Clearwillow Lake, at a location less than thirty kilometers from the water's edge.
One by one, Swimmers burst forth from massive cocoons, splashing nutrient solution into the surroundings like waves.
To avoid being drenched, Xia Jin was forced to step back, silently observing the situation.
These newborn Swimmers rolled continuously upon the creep. Before long, drones and zerglings arrived to lift these aquatic Zerg and carry them toward the lake.
Of course, there were some that could not be transported in time; they could only do their best to crawl toward the water on their own.
In just one short hour, one thousand Swimmers had already entered the water.
About ten massive Floating Hive Bugs also hatched soon after. Under the collective effort of the Zerg, they were dragged to the water's edge.
Splash!
With a spray of water, the Floating Hive Bugs entered the lake.
Nearby Swimmers immediately approached, crawling into the openings on their sides before the hatches were sealed shut.
Then, these Tier 5 underwater carriers began to move slowly.
Roughly five hundred Swimmers patrolled the surrounding area, staying alert for any predators that might appear in the water.
Of course, such actions were somewhat redundant at this point, as the area within a hundred kilometers of the shore had already been largely brought under the control of the Swimmers.
Large numbers of aquatic creatures had been forced to migrate further away.
Currently, there were approximately four thousand Swimmers beneath these waters. While they still couldn't compare to some of the larger tribes in the lake, the true expansion had begun with the continuous stream of production.
The Zerg began their operations in various directions, with the Floating Hive Bug carriers serving as their core.
Once an enemy was encountered, a startling number of Swimmers would emerge to launch an offensive.
The Swarm didn't even need to consider losses; this battle was fundamentally a war of attrition.
Unlike on land, most creatures beneath the surface of Clearwillow Lake possessed low intelligence. Although they could offer organized resistance, communication with them was difficult.
Thus, when the first batch of Swimmers launched an attack on a school of fierce fish, a brutal battle broke out between the two sides.
Although the five hundred Swimmers performed strongly in combat, the enemies were simply too numerous.
Those massive fish opened their mouths to reveal rows of densely packed teeth.
The counterattacks from the exploding needles dealt significant damage, but the enemies seemed to have no fear of death.
After a miserable battle, the five hundred Swimmers annihilated over one thousand two hundred enemies before being completely wiped out themselves.
Subsequently, that large school of fish actually charged aggressively toward the Swarm's territory.
They were then met by five hundred new Swimmers, plus five Floating Hive Bugs.
This battle still did not cause the enemy to break.
After more than two hours of fierce fighting, the Swarm's forces were once again exhausted.
However, by this time, the primal brain bug had taken notice of this location.
It had been sent to command the underwater battles.
The chubby bug floated on the water's surface, its body twisting slightly. Immediately, one thousand newly deployed Swimmers rushed toward that direction in swarms.
At this moment, perhaps because it had analyzed the genes of those fish, the Swarm slightly modified some of the Swimmers, actually managing to decipher a communication signal from the water.
“Detestable, defeat them!”
“Die! Die!”
“Eliminate, eliminate!”
Although the information was somewhat fragmented, the attitude was undoubtedly very fierce.
“Eliminate? Hmph, are you looking down on my Zerg?”
Xia Jin commented from her side.
While the Zerg were indeed invaders, the fish in the water were truly ferocious. Especially this species, which looked somewhat like sharks; they would actively attack any approaching foreign creature, to the point where no other fish lived in their territory.
Furthermore, after killing the Swimmers, these creatures would not use them as food, but rather lived by eating water grass.
They were the most ferocious herbivorous fish she had ever seen.
After the arrival of a thousand new Swimmers, the two sides fought as they had before.
The Swimmers were powerful after all. Whether it was the sharp blades on their sides or the poisonous exploding needles they fired, they possessed strong offensive capabilities, and their swimming speed exceeded that of these creatures.
This wave of combat caused the enemy to suffer heavy casualties in this stretch of water.
Of course, in the end, all of these Swimmers also died in battle.
But the enemy seemed to finally be feeling some fear.
“Scary, scary!”
“Dangerous, die!”
“Eliminate!”
...
Amidst such messages, even more schools of fish headed toward the brain bug's position.
This forced the Hive above to accelerate production, with more drones running over to transport the Swarm units.
In a short time, more than two thousand additional Swimmers entered the water.
As long-range fire support, ten more Floating Hive Bugs were also deployed.
This time, the sheer numbers completely terrified the enemy.
After a period of frantic bombardment, these fierce fish turned and fled.
“Scary, scary!”
“Disaster, demon, run!”
“Dangerous, monster, can't win, run.”
Suddenly, over a thousand Swimmers began a slaughter, chasing after thousands of fish.
In the hours that followed, aquatic units were deployed in a continuous stream. In directions where numbers were low, more were added.
This offensive moved very quickly. Aside from the fierce fish and a few exceptionally powerful high-tier aquatic creatures, they encountered almost no significant obstacles.
By that evening, the Swarm's front line had already pushed five hundred kilometers from the shore. With another six or seven hundred kilometers, they would open a path to the coastal regions of the multiple city states to the northeast.
Rate on N.U.
