Upgrade Status

This upgrade didn't introduce any new species, but most of the existing units were strengthened to varying degrees.

First, the drones and scourges were both elevated to Tier 5.

The former was manageable; although higher tiers meant higher costs, Xia Jin wasn't planning to upgrade the strength of new drones for the time being. She continued to produce Tier 1 units for simple hauling tasks, reserving high-tier drones only for particularly dangerous areas.

This was a consideration for the next stage, which required 50 billion tons of minerals—a staggering amount.

“I wonder what all those minerals are even used for,” Xia Jin mused, somewhat puzzled.

The scourges reaching Tier 5 was an epoch-making advancement, equivalent to a massive boost in the overall strength of the air force. In future confrontations with the main forces of the Dawn Empire, their consumption rate would surely decrease significantly.

At the very least, they wouldn't have to sacrifice tens of thousands of scourges just to deal with a backward fleet like the one from the Mis Kingdom.

Zerglings reached Tier 7—a grand victory for the cannon fodder legions. In the old Clear region, a single zergling would have been powerful enough to serve as a vice-general. This showed just how much the Zerg had grown.

Then there were the elf bugs. These were the only insects in Xia Jin's possession, aside from the brain bugs, capable of verbal communication. However, while brain bugs communicated through the Swarm network, elf bugs spoke with their mouths.

As the number of elf bugs grew and their average strength increased, the Elven Queen had likely become thoroughly convinced of the benefits of merging with the Zerg.

Recently, many elves had connected to the network, becoming a part of the Swarm.

Research on the World Tree leaves continued; perhaps there would be a major breakthrough before long.

As for other units, the ravagers gained a tier, solidifying their role as top-tier long-range mortars. The roaches, now at Tier 8, were undisputed mid-to-heavy assault forces; while not yet as strong as the pre-upgrade ultralisks, the gap was no longer that wide.

The swarm hosts saw significant changes; their own tier increased by one, and they could now produce Tier 3 locusts.

Even the cannon fodder was gradually becoming less like cannon fodder, which was great news for Xia Jin.

The lurkers gained a tier, and their range reached 3 kilometers.

Mutalisks jumped straight to Tier 9.

Without a doubt, Tier 9 was a cost watershed; everything at this tier was expensive. But you got what you paid for—just look at how strong a Tier 9 warrior was.

In the future, if the Empire wanted to kill a Tier 9 creature, they would likely need massive firepower supported by heavy magic... well, with the exception of mutalisks, as their survivability remained low.

The upgraded nydus worms possessed higher resistance and were much sturdier, making them less likely to be destroyed by concentrated fire on the battlefield.

The queen's healing abilities increased substantially. Deploying a few to the battlefield now yielded significant results, unlike before, when they felt somewhat redundant. Furthermore, the queens gained a degree of combat capability, allowing them to duel certain enemies one-on-one.

Then there was the ultralisk, the god of ground warfare for the Swarm.

Xia Jin prioritized their production immediately, and it took a long time for the first one to emerge.

Its height was 15 meters, and its weight had increased significantly. When it ran, the earth shook, and every step left a massive crater in the soil.

“Impressive.”

In a one-on-one ground encounter against a Tier 9 powerhouse, an ultralisk would likely hold the advantage.

There was no helping it; the thing was thick-skinned, durable, and surprisingly agile. An ordinary person simply couldn't defeat it.

The cost of 60,000 units per unit meant that ultralisks could not be mass-produced yet, unless Xia Jin sacrificed all other units to focus solely on them, but that would be far from cost-effective.

“Let's start upgrading the existing units in batches.”

Resources were depleted, so new production had to slow down while she brought the average tier of the existing insects up.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Orc Empire, the orcs suddenly noticed that the Zerg offensive had slowed down, nearly coming to a halt.

The insects began to retreat in sequence, leaving only a portion of their forces to maintain the line.

The Orc Empire felt their chance had come and organized a massive counter-attack.

To be fair, this counter-attack was truly impressive, mobilizing a million-strong army that forced the undermanned Zerg to retreat step by step.

However, after several consecutive battles, the situation revealed that the front line had only been pushed back by about a hundred kilometers.

Among the tens of thousands of Zerg forces on the front lines, their final losses did not even exceed 5,000 units.

The sheer disparity between the two sides left the Emperor of the Orc Empire in shock.

Most terrifyingly, a day later, the prioritized zerglings finished their transformation, and nearly 60,000 of them immediately rushed to the front.

“I didn't expect that by focusing so much on quality, the quantity would take so long to rise.”

The projection sat atop a gargantuan wall, nodding silently as she looked at the strategic map showing that nearly a third of the Orc Empire had been consumed.

Under the dusk sky, the girl sat alone on the epic structure, overlooking the boundless land while softly humming a song.

In truth, she had originally planned to build wonders near the main hive.

However, she ultimately had to stop due to concerns about attracting the attention of mythic magic beasts.

The sky grew dark. Beneath the stars, the entire land was bathed in a layer of silver light by the moon.

No one could have imagined that a young girl was currently looking up at the starry sky, casting her gaze toward the boundless universe.

Perhaps in the near future, conquest would arrive.