Xia Jin had the queen spawn a creep tumor.
In less than five minutes, a vast expanse of soft creep spread across a one kilometer radius.
Stepping on it felt like standing on a soft membrane of flesh.
"It really is unsightly. It would be nice if I could modify the appearance of the creep to look like a lawn."
She searched her memory for information and found that such a minor adjustment was actually possible.
"Mhm, I'll just change it around the hive."
Aesthetics were still important. Past Zerg leaders were obsessed only with becoming stronger and didn't care about appearances.
But Xia Jin's mindset was... I want both.
Let the combat units be as hideous as possible.
But her own living space had to be comfortable.
Imagine being the Zerg leader and living inside an environment made of damp, fleshy walls. Surrounded by countless wriggling giant insects and piles of bizarre creatures—would anyone really want to stay in such a place for long?
After having a drone extract samples from some plants, the hive immediately analyzed the genes. Consuming a tiny amount of energy, it covered the creep with a layer of lush green grass.
Half a minute later...
Ellie, returning from a supply run, saw the massive queen standing before Xia Jin. Her expression shifted slightly.
"What... is this?"
Instinctively taking a half step back, Ellie realized the queen had turned its head to stare at her with an eerie gaze, sending a shiver down her spine.
"This is a queen, a support unit."
"I-I see. Is it also a creature from another world?"
Ellie keenly noticed that the hive had grown even larger, reaching a staggering height of over ten meters. It looked like a colossal house made of flesh and bone.
Combined with the vast swarm of insects crawling around, the entire scene was filled with an eerie, Lovecraftian vibe.
Yet Xia Jin, standing in the middle of this chaotic landscape, remained the picture of a princess—pure, elegant, and eye catchingly radiant.
"I don't even know how to describe Her Highness anymore," Ellie couldn't help but mutter.
However, she knew she had to thank these insects for her survival since being exiled.
They might seem evil to enemies, but from Ellie's perspective, they were almost friendly. At least, after Xia Jin gave her command over a few of them, the creatures obeyed her perfectly.
By now, these twenty humans were completely tied to Xia Jin's faction.
Anyone who learned of their current activities would surely brand them as enemies.
They had no choice but loyalty.
Another half hour passed. The sky grew dark, and a full moon hung in the heavens.
The hydralisks from the front lines returned one after another, beginning their tier advancement.
The Tier 4 hydralisks were slightly larger, and faint red patterns appeared on parts of their skin, but otherwise, they looked much the same.
At a command, they spat venom from their mouths, striking a rock eight hundred meters away.
In an instant, the rock dissolved into liquid.
"The power has more than doubled."
And the range completely eclipsed their previous capabilities.
This upgrade finally allowed the hydralisks to take on anti air duties.
She tested the limits of their attacks.
Against ground units, they could hit targets up to 1,500 meters away.
For aerial targets, anything within 800 meters was fair game.
"It's good, but it'll still be tough against something like a griffin that flies thousands of meters high... That will have to wait for later."
Humanity's strength largely stemmed from their domestication of powerful magic beasts.
Super tier flying units like griffins had directly ushered humanity into the era of three dimensional warfare.
To face such enemies, the Zerg would likely need to grow even stronger.
"I'll take a break tonight... Sigh, life without a computer is truly painful."
Xia Jin stretched and decided to sleep through the boring night.
But just as she closed her eyes, the brain bug transmitted an image to her.
"Empress, the exploration team to the west has discovered a glowing forest."
Before her eyes appeared a jungle filled with countless firefly like creatures drifting through the air. Towering trees dozens of meters high stood thick, making it look like a fantastical fairy forest.
Influenced by a cautious strategy, the brain bug had halted the advance of the main swarm, sending only a single zergling squad to approach the destination.
These insects crawled cautiously through the thick undergrowth.
Suddenly, a green venomous snake lunged from a nearby branch, sinking its fangs into one of the zerglings.
The zergling counterattacked instantly.
【Killed Tier 3 venomous greenleaf snake. Gained 45 units of ordinary energy and 3 units of high energy crystals.】
A notification flashed by.
She could see the zergling's body swaying slightly, clearly affected by the venom.
Xia Jin was quite surprised. The Zerg's resistance to toxins was formidable; even at the level of a primary hive, they shouldn't be affected by a simple venom.
Fortunately, after a few minutes, the insect adapted to the toxin and underwent a targeted evolution.
This information was quickly applied to the entire swarm.
The swarm squad continued forward.
Suddenly...
A sharp arrow glinting with a cold light flew from the distance, piercing through a zergling's eye with a wet thud.
As the arrow struck, an explosion erupted, blowing apart nearly half of the insect's head.
Looking toward the source, she saw two agile figures leap from the tree where the arrow had been fired, landing on another tree.
After a few leaps, they vanished from sight.
Rate on N.U.
