Heart of the Swarm
"Instance of Firmament?"
Heart of the Swarm?
Lin Ye had never expected that Firmament would ask him to preview its Instance before the official challenge.
He had assumed that Firmament wouldn't give such a rehearsal opportunity and would choose World War I, which would obviously be more advantageous for Firmament.
However, Lin Ye could understand why Firmament had gone to such lengths.
Rather than a humane rule, it's more like a deterrent, a pre-battle demonstration.
Ultimately, Firmament still didn't want Lin Ye to actually start challenging the program.
It's easy to understand that Firmament hopes to instill fear in Lin Ye and everyone on Azure Star through his own Instance!
Then, realizing the difficulty, they gave up.
However, for Lin Ye, this is actually a good thing.
He was really curious to see just how good the Firmament Level!
Furthermore, based on the characteristics of the Firmament Instance, we can even make targeted improvements to our own Earth Online!
There's another thing Lin Ye guessed correctly earlier: there really is a civilization outside of Azure Star in this world! And just like Azure Star, it uses Instance to store its technology.
Countdown is over!
Lin Ye and all the Azure Star people arrived at the Livestream Room for the Instance Heart of the Swarm, and the world before their eyes began to change rapidly.
[Firmament Notification: Welcome to Heart of the Swarm Endless-level Instance designed by Tazgrei, the Dungeon Designer of the Planet Zerus dungeon.]
[No actual Challengers have been detected for this Instance, but since it's a showcase of the Azure Star's Firmament Challenge, the Firmament will introduce this Instance according to the normal Instance procedure!]
The first thing that catches everyone's eye is a red planet.
As the camera zooms in, the bizarre sights of this planet are truly astonishing!
Apart from the exposed foundation, most of the planet is covered by a thick layer of disgusting green slime and strange black algae, which intertwine to form vast "swamps," a stark contrast to the shimmering oceans on the Azure Star.
These slimes and algae wriggled like living things, seemingly emitting a nauseating odor at all times, making one wonder if life truly existed here.
From above, these swamps resemble giant green abscesses, bubbling and emitting a foul stench that sends chills down your spine. These bubbles seem to be the planet's breath, each burst accompanied by a pungent burst of toxins.
What's even more shocking is that this planet seems to have no atmosphere at all; all that's permeating the planet is green, toxic gas.
[This is the core map of this Instance: Insect Star! To challenge this Instance, you will be continuously fighting on Insect Star.]
The map introduction before the game even started, without even clearly explaining the Spawn Point or mission objectives, was enough to scare many Azure Star people, and some even vomited because they couldn't stand the overly stimulating visuals.
[What... what the hell is this?!]
[What kind of planet is this? Compared to this, Lin Ye's Earth Online is practically heaven!]
[This is disgusting. Such a harsh environment; if we were to take on this challenge, we'd probably be poisoned to death the moment we hit the Spawn Point.]
Could life truly exist on such a planet? If we were Challengers, what would we be challenging ourselves to achieve?
[If you didn't tell me, I would have thought this kind of weird thing was designed by those Shorties in the Dahe Settlement!]
[I suddenly have a bad feeling. When I saw Lin Ye's Instance before, I thought it was amazing that a map was as big as a planet. Now it seems that Firmament's Instance can do the same.]
The Livestream Room erupted into a frenzy of discussion, while Firmament's presentation continued.
The camera rotates dreamlike, instantly shifting the viewer's perspective from this unpredictable Insect Star to a corner of the world.
In the video, a massive white building reappears in everyone's view. The building is so enormous that, to put it in perspective, it occupies a full third of the vast space of a city.
The building was all white and round, looking rather comical.
But as the camera zoomed in further, all the spectators gaped in shock.
That wasn't a building at all; it was a giant, wriggling worm.
What's most disgusting is that the worm's belly has countless holes, from which a constant stream of small worms crawl out.
Once these tiny insects landed, they instantly began their short but busy life journey. Some immediately threw themselves into exploring the mysteries of the underground world, as if buried treasures were waiting for them to discover.
Some hurriedly went to the outer perimeter, carrying resources and nutrients to provide the massive swarm with an inexhaustible source of energy;
Others are even more intelligent; they choose to weave a protective cocoon for themselves, as if aware of the fragility of life, and begin to hatch on the spot, looking forward to future transformation and rebirth.
[This white worm is the Broodmother of the entire planet! Also called the Queen, she is the source of life for the entire planet. In essence, all life on the planet is nurtured from the Queen's belly! All worms consider protecting the Broodmother their highest duty!]
[The hatchlings are called Drone, also known as Larva. They are responsible for supplying nutrients to the Queen and can hatch various types of units as needed! They are the most basic unit on the entire Insect Star.]
[...]
The camera slowly pans outwards from the Queen's position, revealing a dense swarm of insects resembling an ocean.
People then realized that the black shadows they had seen from an overhead view were not algae at all, but countless insects slowly wriggling around the Broodmother.
The camera slowly zooms in, meticulously dissecting every inch of space until every Life-form in that microscopic world becomes the focus of attention. In this magnified spectacle, each insect displays a unique form.
Some were clad in iron armor, crawling slowly, like heavily armored infantry on an ancient battlefield, heavy and majestic;
Some flapped their transparent wings lightly, flying freely around the Broodmother, forming a winged legion;
Even more extreme are those covered in sharp spikes, like ancient warriors clad in armor and armed with weapons, ready to pierce through any obstacle at any moment;
Those insects with scythe-like claws are more like death messengers, ready to deliver a fatal blow to any intruder.
Regardless of their form, these insects were all much larger than the Azure Star, and even larger than humans in some respects.
These insects, like human armies, are neatly arrayed, clearly exhibiting an inherent organizational pattern.
The Firmament began to patiently explain the characteristics of these different insects to all the spectators.
These small worms, called Host Bug, can parasitize any living organism and thus control its movements.
[This insect covered in a hard shell is called Mammoth Bug. It's a heavy ground unit, and its fangs on its lower jaw can deal area-of-effect damage to enemies!]
[These cobra-like insects are called Snake Bug, and they can launch venomous attacks against ground and air units!]
[This insect with a huge eye on its thorax is called Eye Bug. It can see any detail within a ten-kilometer radius and belongs to aerial reconnaissance units!]
[These bat-like flying insects are called Mutalisk. They possess immense attack power and serve as aerial combat units! They are the aerial overlords of the Insect Star!]
These small, white reptiles are called Lesser Broodmother. They can hatch into small Broodmother for small-scale colony cultivation. Injured worms can also enter the breeding worms to recover lost functions!
[...]
Firmament patiently gave a general introduction to each type of soldier to the spectators.
Hearing about it was alright, but when they saw the details of these insects' bodies, even more Azure Star people vomited.
Disgusting, absolutely disgusting!
The insect details are magnified infinitely; each one is enough to trigger trypophobia!
[After introducing the unit types, Firmament will now provide a detailed overview of the Zerg population on the Insect Star.]
The Zerg possess extremely high reproductive and communication capabilities! Each Zergling, upon death, becomes nourishment for other Zerglings, and they can communicate telepathically through scent. In essence, the entire Zerg swarm is a unified whole, with the protection of the Broodmother as its paramount principle!
Due to the characteristics of the Zerg, attacking the Instance of the Heart of the Swarm will inevitably trigger some special buffs!
[1. Overproduction: The Broodmother is the source of life that nurtures the future of the Zerg. Its reproductive capacity is astonishing, producing an astonishing 1 billion male bees every day! After evolving into Lesser Broodmother, the Drone also show amazing reproductive potential, producing 10,000 Drone every day, like an endless tide, propelling the expansion of the Zerg.]
If the Broodmother is threatened, it will immediately enter a state of combat readiness, and its reproduction rate will increase by 100%.
[2. Body Consumption: All Zerg possess the Devouring trait, allowing them to consume any living entity to restore their energy and heal their wounds!]
[3. Creep: The movement of the Zerg automatically creates Creep, spreading spores and bacterial plagues. Any living thing in the Zerg's location is threatened with infection! Bacteria and toxins are a major weapon of the Zerg!]
[4. Underground Lair: Most Zerg have the trait of digging underground burrows. When the Broodmother is threatened, the Zerg's digging speed will increase by 100%! If the Zerg travels to a planet outside their own Insect Star homeworld to fight, they will automatically dig burrows!]
[5. Wormhole Network: Zerg technological marvel, allowing the Zerg to instantly teleport to any location with a Wormhole using Underground Lairs!]
[6. Radiation Resistance: The Zerg possess a tough biological exoskeleton, giving them a natural resistance to radiation! Any form of radiation has minimal effect on the Zerg.]
[7. Low-Temperature Resistance: Zerg will directly enter hibernation in low temperature environments! Hibernating Zerg will have all their defense stats increased by 200%!]
[8. Living Carapace: Some Zerg possess powerful hard shell defenses. These Zerg shells have evolved over many years and are now capable of defending against thermal weapons! Once the Broodmother is threatened, the effect of the Living Carapace for all Zerg will be doubled!]
[...]
After introducing the dense array of buff effects, Firmament didn't pause for a moment and began to further explain the mission rules.
If you want to challenge the Instance of the Heart of the Swarm, the Instance mission will be extremely simple; you only need to destroy the Broodmother at the very center of the Insect Star to complete the mission!
The Firmament specifically warns that there are thousands of disguised Broodmother structures on the Insect Star. These disguised Broodmother structures are actually massive sources of plague. Only by eliminating the main Broodmother can the mission be considered a success!
Hearing Firmament's detailed explanation, the spectators from Azure Star were completely thrown into a frenzy.
My brain felt completely numb.
If Lin Ye's previous Instance completely overwhelmed their understanding, then the Heart of the Swarm now utterly ravaged and shattered their entire consciousness.
For the Azure Star people, whose understanding of war was still stuck in the S1 era, showing them this alien civilization was indeed too impactful.
An overpopulated Zerg, cockroaches that are impossible to kill—how could the people of Azure Star, who can't even wipe out Roach, possibly possibly fight against such a powerful Zerg?
Compared to the rampaging Zerg, the Steel Torrents in the Lin Ye Instance are nothing to brag about.
Most importantly, it has an terrifying reproductive capacity, producing 1 billion new insects every day, which is something that human Instance simply cannot match.
Lin Ye's the Great Wall Watch Instance involves massing troops, while this instance involves Baneling.
There's absolutely no comparison.
[This... this... is terrifying!]
I'm going to throw up! What the hell are we dealing with?! Can this even be explained scientifically?!
[Can insects really form an army? I feel like my IQ has been suppressed.]
[Did you all understand? These insects, just like the army Lin Ye designed, have clear divisions of labor and countless unit types. In terms of unit variety, they completely overwhelm the Great Wall Watch!]
[If I were to challenge this Instance, would I be fighting these bugs with guns and cannons? How could I possibly win!]
[I'm not trying to be pessimistic... but I feel that Lin Ye is no match for the Heart of the Swarm. There's always someone better. Lin Ye certainly broadened our horizons a lot, but the Heart of the Swarm has shown us a completely different new world!]
[If we really have to challenge the Firmament, will people randomly selected from Azure Star also enter this Instance?! No! I don't want to die!]
[Lin Ye, wake up! We are no match for Firmament!]
[Everyone, we're begging Lin Ye in blood not to challenge Firmament anymore. We're simply no match for him.]
The Livestream Room was in complete chaos, clearly demonstrating the significant deterrent effect of the Firmament.
These Azure Star people were completely terrified by these bizarre races they had never seen before.
Most people now have only one thought: they hope Lin Ye will end his challenge to the Firmament immediately.