Defensive Deployment

The battle lasted for sixty minutes. The remaining Dulu retreated to the last area in the center.

Since the engines were already under the control of the Swarm, they had no chance to resist even if they wanted to through self-destruction.

After the final skirmish, over three hundred broodlings remained.

“The battle is over.”

This was the true power of the brood lords.

Five brood lords had spawned three thousand bugs in just one hour, and their combat coordination was flawless.

Once it ended, Xia Jin sent a group of drones to bring back all the corpses from both sides to be recycled into resources.

Several hours later...

“The genetic analysis of the Dulu has gone smoothly. Based on their weaknesses, we have developed a supervirus with a high fatality rate and high transmissibility.”

Brain Bug No. 1 delivered the good news.

“Can we use this to deal with them when the time comes?”

“Yes, but a single virus is meaningless. Based on the experience of the former Overlord, to achieve the desired effect, we must research at least ten thousand variants. Even then, for the Zerg, the efficiency remains very low.”

“True.”

Infection and transmission required time; it could be described as a final and somewhat desperate measure.

For the Zerg, large-scale offensive and rapid occupation were always the most efficient methods.

“The general region of the Dulu Civilization's home planet has been determined. Currently, it is confirmed that this civilization controls at least thirty planetary systems, including one habitable planet and three modified semi-habitable planets, along with multiple space bases. We haven't obtained their specific population data, but compared to the Zerg, this biological civilization has high environmental requirements. Even with atmospheric modification technology, once they discover a planet in a relatively suitable habitable zone, it often takes hundreds of years of modification before it can barely provide a survivable environment.”

A star map was transmitted into Xia Jin's mind.

One system was highlighted, representing the home system of the Dulu Civilization.

There were many planetary systems within a thirty light-year radius, but only four were controlled by the Dulu Civilization.

The reason was simple: only those four contained planets that were relatively suitable for life.

“This civilization has been in space for a long time, hasn't it? And the data says they once wiped out a nascent civilization. It seems they have a certain level of expansionist strength and ambition.”

For the Zerg, such a civilization was the best kind to encounter.

Because they were relatively isolated, they hadn't come into contact with many other powers.

According to the data from the Dulu starship, the captain and the others who were killed were actually a survey team sent by this civilization specifically to study the tidal fluctuations in this area.

The other side suspected that the formation of these tidal fluctuations was a non-natural phenomenon.

However, in reality... it was a natural phenomenon.

But if the other side believed there was a civilization here, they certainly wouldn't give up on exploring this area in the future.

The Zerg truly needed to prepare for conflict.

“The Dulu Civilization can serve as an appetizer for our push into the universe.”

In a complex interstellar environment with countless civilizations, being able to encounter a weak civilization right after leaving the home system was definitely good luck for the Zerg.

Following this, the Zerg starships began dropping a large number of drop pods onto the planet containing the Stellar Azure Crystals, all of which were filled with drones for mineral collection.

Large amounts of ore were gathered and stockpiled together.

Meanwhile, from the rear of the Swarm, one small leviathan was dispatched to each of the several star systems closest to the home system.

Their purpose, besides finding planets where creep could be laid, was to construct a defensive line to protect the home system.

Because after encountering the Dulu Civilization, Xia Jin judged that the probability of meeting space-faring civilizations in this sector was not low.

Establishing a defense line naturally thinned the number of small leviathans, but even with only one ship per system, they could still serve as reconnaissance and obstacles.

Once these small leviathans reached their destinations and established the first temporary bases, at least ten Floating Escorts and a similar number of transport ships would be sent to the different sectors.

This process would take at least two years.

During these two years, the Zerg would send a fleet to the star system containing the Stellar Azure Crystals.

Xia Jin named this system Crystal 1, a name that was simple and direct.

Along with the mining of the crystals, some bugs also discovered the area where tidal energy was most concentrated and began investing large amounts of high-energy crystals to trigger the Zero Point Nucleus.

Currently, the daily investment of high-energy crystals exceeded 100 million units.

...

After this continued for six months, a Hive Carrier arrived from the rear. It landed on the planet and began converting the massive amount of minerals mined over the past half-year.

A large quantity of Stellar Azure Crystals was purified.

Xia Jin's resource panel, which had been stuck at zero, finally began to tick upward.

“Now, we just have to wait,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief.