There were almost no ships navigating Clearwillow Lake. This was primarily because the gnolls had always occupied the shorelines, and those creatures had no concept of shipbuilding or developing a deep-water navy; only a few derelict boats could be seen near the banks.
Therefore, during the offensive, the Swarm only needed to worry about what lay beneath the surface.
Although the Zerg had begun deploying units at a rate of tens of thousands per day, Clearwillow Lake was simply too vast. As the expansion line stretched thin, the Swarm's numbers began to feel insufficient. They encountered ambushes from all directions, to the point where the territory they had fought so hard to claim was nearly lost to the surrounding aquatic life.
Xia Jin frowned slightly.
Seeing that five hundred queens had hatched, she dispatched three hundred of them specifically to produce larvae in this area.
With a total of 36,000 produced per day, combined with the 10,000 originally deployed here, it meant that over 40,000 Swimmers could enter the water every single day.
This required an investment of 1.38 million energy daily.
This surge was intended to bring the underwater front to a swift conclusion.
The primary reason was that the land-based Swarm had already pushed to the western coast of the Kingdom of Clear. Even vaster waters awaited future expansion there.
In comparison, Clearwillow Lake was small, but its location was vital.
She wanted to bring it under control quickly.
Once that was achieved, she could direct the land-based Swarm to bypass defenses through the water, launching landing operations along the kingdom's southern coastal regions to complete a total encirclement.
This was a strategy Xia Jin had suddenly devised.
Of course, there was another option: to bypass defenses on land and strike directly at the capital.
However, considering the absurd fortifications and military presence at the capital, she decided it was better to proceed steadily with the current situation.
Another day passed.
The land-based Swarm annihilated another enemy legion on the front lines.
Underwater, the force of over 40,000 Swimmers completely cleared a path to the city states region.
Slaughter reigned beneath the entirety of Clearwillow Lake as various aquatic tribes faced the invasion of these terrifying monsters.
Some hostile aquatic species even formed alliances to fight against the demons together.
But...
In the face of absolute strength, any struggle was futile.
The Swarm was simply too powerful.
Tens of thousands of Swimmers firing exploding needles simultaneously was essentially an underwater modernized force, delivering a strike that transcended the era.
Relying on simple information communication, one could sense that the attitude of many aquatic creatures toward them had shifted from "eliminate them" to "help, run away."
“How realistic,” Xia Jin remarked.
She calculated the number of land-based Zerg. Even with such massive underwater production, the hatching speed on the surface had not slowed down.
Over the past two days, the creep had expanded by at least another 8,000 square kilometers.
The energy from the new creep was mostly consumed by the underwater efforts.
However, the larger quantities produced later would still support the land-based Swarm.
In the direction of the city states, production also began to accelerate, engaging the enemy in more direct, decisive battles rather than being cautious.
The humans there likely had no idea that the monsters they were facing had never truly focused their full attention on them.
...
In the north-central part of the kingdom, in a rural church.
Xia Jin's black-haired projection sat there, looking up at the statue before her.
“The Goddess of Dawn?”
This was a faith that had spread from the empire.
That country, because of its belief in the so-called Goddess of Dawn, called itself the Dawn Empire.
It was a standard union of church and state.
However, despite its nature, the country was actually quite secularized.
It would be more accurate to say that the teachings of the Goddess of Dawn were very open. Aside from the traditional creation myths of the church, the rest involved maintaining rule according to law and promoting equality among people.
But it was not without its extremes.
In fact, a close look at the scriptures revealed a significant amount of xenophobic content.
Because the Goddess of Dawn was promoted as the representative of light and goodness, it naturally followed that people would wonder: are those who do not believe neither enlightened nor good?
It was through this subtle indoctrination that the people of the entire empire developed a strong sense of rejection toward heretics or non-believers.
“It spread so quickly. If the Swarm hadn't been about to strike and caused people to flee, this place would probably have been put into use as well.”
For some reason, when her eyes met those of the statue, she could faintly sense a power within it similar to psionic power.
Or rather... mental power.
The psionic power spoken of by Xia Jin's Zerg, or any race in this universe, was a power of the mind.
Cultivate the mind, transform the spirit.
A powerful psionic civilization could achieve ascension through individuals, reaching a certain degree of transcendence.
Such civilizations were known as psionic civilizations.
This psionic power actually differed somewhat from a game called Stellaris she had played in her previous life. It did not come from a higher dimension but was born from the human heart and thought. Its upper limit was high, but it was exceptionally metaphysical—a purely idealist power.
From this perspective, magic could actually be considered a lower form of psionic power.
But judging by the wartime contact with the kingdom, while magic might be low-end, its metaphysical nature in many areas was quite eerie.
Thinking of this, Xia Jin let out a breath and prepared to stand up.
Just then, a man dressed in ordinary clothing walked in.
Suddenly seeing a girl with long, straight black hair, his eyes visibly faltered for a moment.
The girl happened to stand up at that moment, and as she turned her head, he was momentarily stunned.
Beautiful.
That was his instantaneous impression.
Her skin was very fair, with a sort of pure, girl-next-door quality.
However, upon seeing her, his brow furrowed slightly as he sensed something strange.
Suppressing that hint of suspicion, he slowly walked forward and offered a smile. “Beautiful lady, are you here to pray?”
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