The former Overlord only valued interstellar warfare, relying on brute force and simply throwing swarms of bugs at the enemy in ground combat.
He preferred to crush his opponents with sheer numbers. Even when the Swarm's combat power was significantly higher, he often managed to achieve an abysmal exchange ratio.
Over thousands or even tens of thousands of years, the Zerg wasted an unimaginable amount of energy, which undoubtedly weakened the Swarm.
Now, however, the Zerg under Xia Jin's control performed perfectly.
The brain bugs, who possessed a natural talent for command, finally had the opportunity to demonstrate their worth.
About six days later... when Xia Jin checked her resources, the required minerals and energy had been gathered.
As for mithril, it was almost impossible to find on land, but the bugs had discovered some during their underwater expansion.
Mithril seemed to be a mineral that formed alongside magic elements. While the Zerg did not normally need mithril to evolve, after discovering it on this planet, they determined that the mineral's properties were highly beneficial to their development. Thus, it was requested to offset some energy consumption.
So far, the full utility of mithril had not been realized, but it was already subtly improving the Zerg's magic adaptability, making the research into magical units much easier.
With the resources gathered, Xia Jin prepared for the next stage of the hive upgrade.
“That was fast. Not much time has passed at all, has it?”
Now, it was time to ascend from Level 11 to Level 12.
She wondered what the results of this new liberation would be.
“Let's begin!”
Upon her command, the Zerg Hive beneath Clearwillow Lake began to transform slowly.
This time, there was no sign of its physical size increasing.
It remained 300 meters long, 50 meters wide, and 25 meters high.
However, its appearance changed, adopting a form more suited for atmospheric flight. Strange propulsion nozzles appeared at its rear, capable of changing direction as the muscles adjusted.
Xia Jin preliminarily judged that this thing could now maintain a certain speed, much like a normal aircraft.
The upgrade took a day and a half.
The hive upgrade was soon complete.
Detailed information then appeared in Xia Jin's mind.
【Level 12 Zerg Hive】
【Recruitable (Land/Air): Tier 6 drone, Tier 7 scourge, Tier 9 zergling, Tier 9 baneling, Tier 10 hydralisk, Tier 10 elf bug, Tier 10 roach, Tier 11 Overlord, Tier 11 ravager, Tier 11 infested lurker, Tier 11 swarm host, Tier 11 mutalisk, Tier 11 corruptor, Tier 12 brood lord, Tier 12 nydus worm, Tier 12 queen, Tier 12 defiler, Tier 12 ultralisk, Tier 13 primal brain bug.】
【Tier 11 Devourer (mutalisk evolves for 30,000), Tier 11 Impaler (infested lurker evolves for 30,000), Tier 11 overseer (Overlord evolves for 20,000 units).】
【Recruitable (Water): Tier 4 Swimmer (three types), Tier 5 Floating Hive Bug, Carrier Bug, Escort Carrier Bug.】
【High-Energy State: All Swarm units will be produced using high-energy crystals, and their adaptability to harsh environments has slightly increased.】
【Recruitment Cost (high-energy crystals): Swimmer 0.4 units, drone 0.6 units, scourge 2.4 units, zergling 6 units, Floating Hive Bug 8 units, baneling 30 units, hydralisk 120 units, elf bug 180 units, roach 200 units, Overlord 300 units, ravager 450 units, infested lurker 480 units, mutalisk 500 units, swarm host 1,200 units, queen 2,200 units, nydus worm 2,400 units, defiler 2,400 units, corruptor 3,600 units, ultralisk 4,500 units, brood lord 6,000 units, primal brain bug 20,000 units, Escort Carrier Bug 1,500 units, Carrier Bug 20,000 units.】
【New Unit: Small Leviathan. Costs 100 million high-energy crystals.】
【New Unit: Hive Carrier. The hive can evolve into a Hive Carrier for 1 billion units of standard energy.】
【New Unit: Balloon Bug. Costs 5 high-energy crystals.】
【Optional Evolution: Increase the cost of ravagers from 450 to 460 high-energy crystals to add launch tubes on both sides with shells as strong as the ravager's own. These can fire small missile bugs with greater power and magic effects. (Missile bug shells can withstand Tier 10 attacks, possess flexible trajectory adjustment, a range of 30 kilometers, and armor-piercing capabilities. Changing the internal biomass allows them to function as incendiary, grenade, or high-explosive rounds.)】
【Burrowing Enhancement: All land-based bugs gain flexible burrowing abilities.】
【Zergling Evolution: Frenzy state duration extended; can now maintain Frenzy permanently, granting greater strength in battle.】
【Overlord Evolution: Overlords grow larger, reaching a height of 35 meters. Internal psionic hyperspace expanded to accommodate 30 bugs (regardless of size).】
【Ultralisk Evolution: Ultralisks grow larger, reaching a height of 25 meters, with a stronger structure. Gains a short-range charge ability.】
【Swarm Host Evolution: Locusts produced by swarm hosts upgraded from Tier 5 to Tier 6. Cost per batch (20 locusts) increased from 5 standard energy to 6.】
【Elf Bug Enhancement: Masters magic shield.】
【Swarm-wide adaptability evolution: All units can survive in safe space environments. Units Tier 10 and above can withstand certain hazards.】
【Upgrade Cost: 1.5 billion high-energy crystals, 600 billion tons of minerals.】
Rate on N.U.
