Adjustments

“In the Abyss, we just need to maintain a low-frequency, stable deployment of troops. The next step is definitely to prepare for upgrades and, while we're at it, set our sights on outer space.”

Xia Jin took a deep breath.

The Abyss was incredibly helpful to the Zerg.

Of course, one only had the right to occupy such a place if they possessed the strength.

It seemed like a good idea to establish a hive nearby.

The Abyss was another world, disconnected from the main universe, so it could be considered a secure rear area for the Zerg.

Of course, this rear area was currently unstable.

Because the power of the demons was still very strong.

After the offensive and defensive battles at the Abyss Canyon, the Zerg's main force had been almost entirely depleted.

Now that the tier of the bugs had generally increased, their production volume had dropped, and the subsequent replenishment speed would actually slow down.

But...

Their strength was indeed greater.

Xia Jin's current body sat in the rear, continuously receiving the corpses of Demon Tyrants plundered from the front lines.

Devouring, absorbing.

Additionally, this place had become a stable creation ground for Abyss Zerg.

A preliminary estimate suggested that even a Tier 10 zergling devouring ordinary Tier 6 or 7 creatures could significantly boost its combat power.

And those ordinary Tier 6 or 7 creatures could generate themselves simply by relying on the Abyss energy drifting in the air.

One could say there was a continuous stream of them every day.

“Out of every ten ordinary bugs, upgrade one with an Abyss aura to serve as a squad leader. Then, out of every hundred, create a stronger one as a company commander. One battalion commander for every thousand, with the battalion commander's tier increased by one.”

All bugs could be organized this way.

Of course, for a Tier 13 ultralisk, hatching a full thousand did not seem easy at the moment.

But if one Tier 14 emerged from every thousand, it didn't seem impossible.

...

Having made this decision, Xia Jin temporarily shifted her attention from the Abyss to the main world.

First, on Insect Guard 1, as a large number of queens were sent into space, more creep had been laid on the side facing the sun.

Currently, it could produce two million units of high-energy crystals per day.

There was undoubtedly more creep on the ground, covering nearly seven million square kilometers, with a daily output of seven million units.

In the final tally, the daily production of high-energy crystals reached nine million.

This quantity was achieved without any slaughter.

Although the energy in sunlight was limited, given a large enough area, the energy generated was still staggering.

All these resources were used to evolve the current Swarm.

More importantly, Xia Jin needed to produce the first Zerg starship—a Small Leviathan.

With a construction cost of one hundred million units of high-energy crystals, even if she did nothing but wait, it would take twelve days.

And considering that the production of low-tier bugs could not be drastically reduced, she might have to wait even longer.

“It seems the development of the interstellar era has indeed slowed down.”

Everything is hard at the beginning.

After all, every civilization in the universe had developed over countless years; the Zerg's speed was already exceptionally fast.

In fact, there was also income from the wars with the Sea Race and the demons, but Xia Jin believed these could not be maintained forever. Therefore, they could only be considered temporary production, just enough to upgrade a portion of the bugs.

It would take the Zerg about ten days to upgrade all the remaining three million bugs to the new stage.

The subsequent daily production would be as follows:

200,000 zerglings.

2,000 banelings.

10,000,000 hydralisks.

1,000 elf bugs.

1,000 roaches.

300 overlords.

1,000 ravagers.

500 infested lurkers.

500 mutalisks.

20 nydus worms.

40 defilers.

100 corruptors.

100 ultralisks.

20 brood lords.

...

These cost less than nine million. After ten days, the Zerg's daily production of high-energy crystals would surely be enough to produce more than just these bugs, but the surplus could clearly be stockpiled to build the first Small Leviathan.

If necessary, resources would also need to be diverted from the queens, brood lords, and brain bugs.

Drones, at a price of one unit per bug, were obviously frighteningly cheap; for now, Xia Jin would maintain a daily production of 100,000.

“However, the production speed of the main combat bugs has indeed decreased.”

Xia Jin didn't mind.

This was an inevitable result of the increase in quality.

Even zerglings were at Tier 10.

Although the bugs' range of destruction wasn't as vast as that of cultivators, their individual combat power was the real deal.

With a single swing of their sharp blades, they could easily slice through reinforced high-grade alloys.

This was also preparation for future interstellar wars.

The combat robots on the surfaces of those advanced civilizations' planets were no pushovers; if the bugs wanted to gain the upper hand, they had to keep getting stronger.