Gripping the silver sphere, a line of information flashed before her eyes.
【Hatch larva】
To evolve a larva into the first drone required 10 units of energy.
This was equivalent to killing one low level magic beast or the total amount consumed from several plants.
The swarm’s most terrifying aspect was its extreme troop production capability.
Of course, their quality was also exceptionally high. Even the weakest bug in the initial stage possessed Tier 1 strength... unlike these soldiers, most of whom had trained for years without becoming a transcendent.
“Ellie, help me move the beasts we hunted earlier over here,” Xia Jin commanded the only female knight.
“Do you need to start a fire?”
Ellie thought Xia Jin wanted to cook the meat. After all, everyone present had traveled a long distance, and their food supplies had been exhausted along the way.
But the princess shook her head and suddenly extended her palm, letting a small silver sphere float up from it.
Beep!
The sphere suddenly expanded, and a sticky, roughly 30 centimeter long wriggling larva dropped out.
“Ah!”
The female knight subconsciously took a step back.
Everyone else stood there dumbfounded, watching with their own eyes as the bug released by the princess began devouring the gray wolf’s corpse at an exaggerated speed.
Its massive mouthparts opened, revealing rows of densely packed insect teeth inside.
“Your Highness, this is...” Ellie looked at Xia Jin with a sense of dread, her tone filled with disbelief.
After all, the usually adorable princess had just released such a... disgusting and evil creature. It was truly bizarre.
Xia Jin said nothing.
A line of text flashed before her eyes.
【12 units of energy detected, absorbing.】
Once the food consumed by the bugs was converted into energy, it would be stored in the central core within the Queen’s body.
This was a highly efficient form of energy conversion with a utilization rate of nearly 99 percent. It could be said to be the foundation that allowed the Zerg to become an advanced cosmic civilization.
As the larva devoured the wolf meat bite by bite, an option appeared before her.
【Spend 10 units of energy to evolve the larva into a drone?】
“Yes!”
A drone was somewhat similar to the Zerg worker units in a certain interstellar game; in fact, its appearance was quite similar as well. It could help Xia Jin gather and convert resources, chop down plants, and convert energy at the fastest possible speed.
Similarly, only a drone possessed the ability to evolve into a Zerg Hive.
At that moment, with the infusion of energy, the larva began to roll on the spot. It expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, shedding layers of skin.
Before long, a creature over one meter long was born. It looked like a mutated scorpion with six eyes and an extremely hideous appearance.
“Everything went very smoothly. As expected of the Queen.”
The Brain Bug No. 1 hidden inside the sphere sent another conscious message.
Because its body was too fragile and its primary role was command, Xia Jin did not release it.
The knight commander walked up at this time, looking at the drone with a hint of wariness.
“Your Highness, what on earth is this monster?”
He held his longsword, standing guard beside Xia Jin, worried she might be attacked by the creature.
“Don’t be afraid. This is a pet I’ve kept for many years. From now on... our survival will mainly depend on it.”
Xia Jin blinked her eyes cutely and sent a command to the drone through the swarm network. The creature turned, crawled toward a nearby tree, and swung its massive pincers, snapping the entire tree in half.
Bang!
With a crashing sound, the tree fell.
The drone then began gnawing on the tree with high efficiency, converting it into energy.
Of course, the energy provided by trees was very low—only about 1 to 2 units per tree. It was only useful in the early stages.
Xia Jin looked back at the bewildered and frightened soldiers and said, “Help me hunt some more wild beasts. Um... if it’s too dangerous, let the knights do it.”
“Y-Yes!”
The warriors’ voices trembled.
In their eyes, the princess’s image had changed. She seemed to be harboring unimaginable secrets, appearing almost like a terrifying witch.
However, their loyalty would not waver. If anything... things couldn’t get any worse than they were now, and this version of the princess clearly possessed a strange charm.
Indeed, in everyone’s eyes, this seemingly pure young girl appeared to radiate an invisible majesty. Though she was still beautiful and adorable, she now possessed a high and mighty aura.
Several knights immediately left the area, searching for beasts in the surroundings.
Before long, through everyone’s joint efforts and at the cost of two injuries, several new creatures were brought back.
Among them were a gray wolf, two giant rabbits, and a strange bird whose name no one knew.
Rate on N.U.
