Successive Deployment

Of course, although the brood lord was indeed powerful, its high price of 300,000 units and its single purpose of releasing broodlings, combined with the fact that Tier 7 broodlings held no advantage against creatures like the main swarm units, meant it was essentially a fodder production unit.

While fodder was cheap and useful, if they faced enemies that were too strong or specifically countered them, relying solely on infinite numbers could result in a higher total energy consumption than using the main force.

Furthermore, against individuals with extremely high defense levels that could not be breached, the broodlings might not have much of an effect.

Therefore, the Zerg's best method of warfare was still the combination of the strong and the weak.

Only through coordinated combat could the best results be achieved. The idea of overwhelming an enemy with a single unit type through sheer numbers was beautiful, but quantity without the support of quality was meaningless.

It was just like how the Zerg could immediately produce hundreds of millions of Tier 1 bugs every day, but doing so would be a death wish.

...

Regardless of the considerations, the effects produced by a super unit of the Swarm like the brood lord were still very impressive.

In this battle against the magic beasts, their birth well-compensated for the Swarm's shortage of troops in the short term.

However, in the air, Xia Jin still preferred to have the locusts help tank the enemy while letting the mutalisks and devourers flying in the rear engage in the decisive frontal battle.

Xia Jin was very gratified to see that the mutalisks remained intact even after taking several hits from the enemy.

“The magic reinforcement and the enhancement effects from the sub-dragon species are working well.”

This planet was truly wonderful; the advantages in both genes and magic would allow the Zerg to benefit forever.

By the next day, the broodlings had begun to be deployed to the front lines one after another.

With the arrival of these creatures, combined with the massive number of locusts and the highly capable main force, the Swarm, which had been retreating step by step under the enemy's assault, finally stabilized its defense line.

The large influx of fresh troops was specifically used to rescue several Zerg groups that had been surrounded.

Since the lifespan of a broodling was pitifully short, these creatures charged the front lines without regard for losses, much like the locusts.

And compared to the locusts, who occasionally needed to play it safe, the broodlings truly did not care about casualties.

Since they were going to die soon anyway, it was better to let their short lives shine brilliantly.

“Phew, this is not bad. Being able to maintain such a low cost makes the price of a short lifespan almost negligible.”

Once broodling production stabilized, the energy they consumed basically did not affect the production of the Zerg main force.

As the battle on the front lines intensified, a new type of bug—a merger of the infestor and the lurker, known as the infested lurker—was deployed to the battlefield for the first time.

Because it was a two-in-one unit, it could launch earth spikes for long-range attacks like a lurker, and at close range, it could parasite and control magic beasts like an infestor.

After these bugs were deployed, their flexibility increased greatly, and their defensive capabilities were indeed stronger than the previous version. During combat, they could even control a few magic beasts to tank damage for them while they hid behind to launch earth spikes, acting very cunningly.

Sometimes, when melee units attempted a sudden raid to kill the infested lurker, they would suddenly display the infestor's melee capabilities as the enemy approached, attempting to parasite the opponent at close range. The casualty rate was at least thirty percent lower than the original state.

In the long run, this saved more energy than the old bugs and yielded better results.

“It is about time for the defilers and ultralisks to join the fray.”

Having determined that the enemy's will to fight was already very low, Xia Jin prepared to deploy her killing machines.

The defiler was the kind of creature that could easily cause collateral damage, so she preferred to deploy them in areas where the defense line was very weak and the enemies were particularly numerous.

After the order was given, a nydus worm that had been lying in ambush suddenly burst out of the ground in the southern sector of the Orc Empire defense line, an area where the magic beast tide was about to break through.

Its giant mouth opened, and two defilers crawled out one after the other.

“Hoo—”

Red mist billowed from their mouths.

These were dense dark swarm bugs, covering a one-kilometer radius in a very short time.

A large number of enemy attacks were blocked by the dark swarm bugs as they passed through the red fog.

Only then did the two defilers quickly rush toward the enemy positions from two different directions.

“Pshhh—”

Acidic spores were launched, instantly covering the enemies within a hundred-meter range ahead.

Because the magic beasts were so densely packed, this wave instantly melted them into bloody slush.

The second scorpion also launched its acidic spores at this time.

Once the attack was completed, the two quickly retreated into the mist.

“Damn it!”

The Tier 11 mythic king commanding from the rear immediately shouted to his subordinates, “Charge in and kill all these wretched creatures!”

A large group of Tier 9 magic beasts launched a charge.

However, when their feet stepped onto the residual acidic spore liquid, the magic beasts let out miserable screams. Their sturdy bodies began to melt from the feet up at a visible rate, turning into pools of liquid in a very short time.

After this, the magic beasts in the rear did not dare to charge anymore.