The Battle of the Swarm

"Incubating an Evolutionary Cavity requires consuming one Worker Bug and 100 energy points. Once a monster is successfully analyzed, its Gene Map can be used to create an identical monster, or even, after research, extract the essence and discard the dross to create a stronger Zerg Unit!"

Qin Mu's face flushed with excitement—this was the core ability of the Swarm.

"The Swarm has discovered 872 unknown biological genes. Analyze?"

With a thought, the Mother Nest sent back a response.

Qin Mu was surprised. Where had so many biological genes come from?

After a careful investigation, he realized that the vast majority were genes from small insects, plants, flowers, and the like—genes absorbed by the Fungal Carpet as it spread during the Mother Nest's incubation.

"Filter out all genes below the Beast Soldier level!"

Instantly, the information in his mind became much clearer, leaving only two types.

One was the Tiger Mastiff, and the other was called the Black Ring Snake!

Qin Mu wasn't surprised by the Tiger Mastiff—he had killed it himself. But what was the deal with the Black Ring Snake?

Connecting his consciousness to the Mother Nest, Qin Mu checked its memory.

What he saw sent chills down his spine. It turned out that after he had passed out, night fell, and many nocturnal monsters began hunting.

A Black Ring Snake, over five meters long with black patterns on its body and at the Primary Beast Soldier level, had intruded into the Swarm's territory. It was discovered by patrolling Worker Bugs, which swarmed and attacked, tearing its corpse apart.

"Good thing I ordered the Mother Nest to focus on incubating Worker Bugs to protect myself and the nest. Otherwise, dying like that would have been too unjust."

Qin Mu's expression carried a mix of relief and lingering fear.

"Next, I need to incubate the Evolutionary Cavity and analyze the monster genes."

"Currently, I have 54 Worker Bugs and 3 energy points."

Qin Mu took stock of his current forces.

"54 Worker Bugs at the Primary Beast Soldier level, plus my own strength at the Advanced Warrior level and my Mental Master ability at the Intermediate Warlord level—that's enough to sweep through the monsters in the Villa District."

A smile spread across Qin Mu's face. The monsters in the Villa District were almost all at the Primary Beast Soldier level, with few at the Intermediate Beast Soldier level.

Though there were hundreds of them, monsters at this level facing an Intermediate Warlord-level Mental Master were like grass being mowed!

"It's dawn! I slept through an entire night."

To the east, a sun rose, and a golden ray pierced the darkness, brightening the sky.

"Swarm! Leave ten Worker Bugs to protect the Mother Nest. The rest, assemble! Target: the Villa District—attack!"

Qin Mu waved his hand with soaring ambition. Under his command, the Swarm quickly gathered, forming a massive formation centered around him, and marched toward the Villa District in a grand procession.

"The a2-level Po Jun Spear is too light—it can't keep up with my strength anymore."

Qin Mu swung it a few times casually, then shook his head.

But he had no other weapon for now, so he'd make do.

"Too bad I didn't consider this when preparing weapons. If I'd known, I would have bought a few Flying Daggers, short spears, or other throwing weapons."

The mainstream attack methods for Mental Masters generally fell into two types: one was adept at controlling objects to attack, known as Controllers.

The other directly attacked the soul, specializing in mental and illusion-based attacks, known as Illusionists.

Of course, there were other, less common paths, like beast taming or alchemy!

After Luo Feng awakened as a Mental Master, he followed the path of a Controller.

Qin Mu knew nothing about illusion attacks, but simple, brute-force object control was no problem.

"It's not impossible!"

With a thought, Qin Mu's mental energy coiled around the spearhead of the Po Jun Spear. He twisted hard, and with a "crack," the spearhead came off.

The spearhead spun in a circle around Qin Mu before hovering by his right shoulder.

Swishing the now-headless spear shaft, Qin Mu grinned.

"The spearhead can be used for object control attacks, and the shaft works as a long staff for defense!"

Surrounded by the Swarm, Qin Mu was in high spirits.

In the Villa District, after a night of hunting, many nocturnal monsters, like Shadow Cats, had returned to their lairs, while another group of diurnal monsters became active.

As Qin Mu and the Swarm approached the Villa District, he spotted a group of 13 Iron-Haired Wild Boars foraging at the edge of the area.

These Iron-Haired Wild Boars had stout bodies, shoulders over 1.5 meters high, fur like sharp spikes, and two massive tusks in their mouths, making them look like small elephants.

If it had been yesterday, Qin Mu would have turned and fled at the sight of an Iron-Haired Wild Boar pack. But now, things were different.

"Swarm! Eliminate them!"

Qin Mu waved his hand. Apart from the ten Worker Bugs protecting him, the remaining 34 Worker Bugs spontaneously formed a hunting formation and charged at the Iron-Haired Wild Boars.

One boar, lowering its head to forage, twitched its nose. Despite its clumsy appearance, its sense of smell was extremely sharp.

Suddenly, it let out a loud howl.

It had detected a group of creatures nearby, openly hostile, shaped like giant ants, charging toward them at full speed.

The alerted Iron-Haired Wild Boars reacted swiftly. Several strong males rushed to the front, shielding the younger boars.

Under the lead of the strongest Iron-Haired Wild Boar, which had reached the Intermediate Beast Soldier level, the enraged herd of Iron-Haired Wild Boars let out thick breaths from their snouts and charged furiously at the Worker Bugs.

The Iron-Haired Wild Boars crashed forward like speeding heavy-duty Humvees, unleashing a momentum that was in no way inferior to the Worker Bugs, who outnumbered them two to one.

Just as the two torrents were about to collide, a streak of light flew out from behind the Worker Bugs, piercing through the skull of the strongest Iron-Haired Wild Boar charging at the front.

That streak of light was unmistakably a spearhead!

After killing the mightiest Iron-Haired Wild Boar, the spearhead arced through the void, plunged down from midair, and pierced through the skulls of two more Iron-Haired Wild Boars in succession.

The remaining Iron-Haired Wild Boars in the charge, discovering their leader had died inexplicably, fell into panic, and their once orderly formation scattered.

The next moment, the two torrents crashed together with a thunderous impact.

"Boom—"

An Iron-Haired Wild Boar lowered its head, its four hooves pounding the ground, and its pair of tusks slammed violently into a Worker Bug.

The Worker Bug, also in mid-charge, froze in place, then was sent flying backward by the boar's violent charge, its carapace shattering.

"Crack—"

The Iron-Haired Wild Boar fared no better; the Worker Bug was equally powerful. Though it was sent flying due to its smaller size, the boar's speed was also reduced.

With its speed lost, the Iron-Haired Wild Boar, already at a numerical disadvantage, was immediately plunged into crisis.

A Worker Bug opened its massive pincer and bit fiercely into the Iron-Haired Wild Boar's neck. The boar's tough hide was torn apart by the pincer, and large chunks of flesh were ripped away.

Driven mad by blood and pain, the Iron-Haired Wild Boar thrashed wildly, trying to break free. But another Worker Bug seized the opportunity, climbed onto its body, and began tearing at it savagely. In an instant, the Iron-Haired Wild Boar could only let out mournful cries of agony.

Some Iron-Haired Wild Boars went berserk, driving their dagger-like tusks into a Worker Bug's body, tossing it into the air, and trampling it viciously.

The two sides clashed in a bloody, frenzied slaughter. In the blink of an eye, the ground was littered with severed limbs and gushing blood.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

The sound of the spearhead cutting through the air rang out. One by one, the Iron-Haired Wild Boars that had been locked in combat had their brains pierced and died on the spot.

In just a few breaths, over a dozen Iron-Haired Wild Boars were effortlessly killed.

Before an Intermediate Warlord-level Mental Master, they had no chance to fight back and were easily slaughtered.

"Carry their bodies back, break them down into energy. The swarm needs to expand!"