Sweeping Through

Effortlessly killing over a dozen Iron-Haired Wild Boars, Qin Mu ordered some Worker Bugs to haul the corpses back to the Mother Nest while the rest continued advancing under his lead.

"A pity there's only one spearhead. With my Mental Power, I could easily control far more weapons."

Qin Mu shook his head with some regret. In the moment the Worker Bugs clashed with the Iron-Haired Wild Boars, one Worker Bug was rammed head-on and trampled, dying on the spot, while several others were severely injured.

This was an unnecessary loss.

Though Worker Bugs possess great strength, they aren't combat units after all. With such a size disparity between the two sides, it's only natural they'd lose in a direct confrontation.

"My Mental Power is strong, but my control is still lacking. I aimed for the Iron-Haired Wild Boar's eye, but ended up hitting its skull."

With the battle over, Qin Mu looked at the spearhead hovering nearby and summed up the experience from this fight.

This was his first time using Mental Power in combat, and there were indeed plenty of issues. The solution was simple—more training, more actual combat.

"Next, I'll use you all for some practice."

Surrounded by Worker Bugs, Qin Mu pressed on toward the Villa District.

Inside the Villa District.

A Tiger Hound crept cautiously through the rubble, hunting for prey.

Suddenly, it stopped. It sniffed the air, as if sensing danger.

The next moment, before it could react, a gleaming spearhead pierced through its skull.

The Tiger Hound, which would have required Qin Mu to struggle through a tough fight to barely defeat, now seemed utterly helpless.

A massive rat, over half a meter long and covered in gray-black fur, was clamped by a Worker Bug's pincer, its body crushed to pieces.

This rat didn't even qualify as a monster—just a slightly stronger ordinary beast.

A Shadow Cat lurking among the broken walls was spotted by a Worker Bug. Its body sprang up abruptly.

"Whoosh—"

The Shadow Cat shot out from the shadows, darting into a ruined room, trying to escape using the villa's complex terrain.

But the next moment, a spearhead tore through its body, ripping open a large hole.

Its vaunted speed meant nothing against the floating spearhead.

"There are probably over three hundred monsters in this Villa District. I need to slaughter them clean before most of them realize what's happening."

A hint of killing intent and coldness flickered across Qin Mu's face.

Yes, this wasn't a battle at all—it was a massacre!

Under Qin Mu's lead, all the Worker Bugs pushed straight through. Whenever they encountered an opponent they couldn't overcome, a spearhead would whistle past the next moment and kill it.

Before Qin Mu, a Mental Master with Mid Warlord-level strength, these monsters—none stronger than Mid Monster—fell in a single strike, utterly powerless to resist.

Perhaps influenced by his predecessor, he felt no pity for these monsters. Instead, a fierce satisfaction welled up in his heart.

One monster corpse after another was hauled back to the Mother Nest by the Worker Bugs. The Mother Nest's digestive organs churned at full speed, breaking down the various Monster meats inside.

As the cleanup progressed, monsters that sensed something wrong charged roaring at Qin Mu, only to turn into corpses even faster.

With the Worker Bugs intercepting around him, no monster could get within twenty meters of Qin Mu.

From afar, he easily killed them with the spearhead he controlled.

Some smarter monsters, seeing the situation was hopeless, tried to flee.

But even if they ran, where could they go? It only delayed their deaths by a little.

In just one hour, most of the monsters in the Villa District lay dead. Even the dozens of Worker Bugs couldn't haul them all back in time.

After confirming the Villa District was essentially clear of threats, Qin Mu returned to the Mother Nest area, leaving the Worker Bugs to clean up the remaining stragglers.

One monster corpse after another was tossed into the Mother Nest's openings. Its digestive capacity worked at full power, converting the flesh and blood into energy in the shortest time.

Back at the Mother Nest, Qin Mu noticed several accidentally injured Worker Bugs lying on the Fungal Carpet around it.

Thin, thread-like tendrils sprouted from the Fungal Carpet, wrapping around their bodies and channeling energy to them through the strands.

With the energy replenished, the Worker Bugs' wounds healed at a visible rate.

The Zerg race inherently possesses powerful vitality and regenerative ability. As long as they aren't killed outright, returning to the Fungal Carpet lets them recover by consuming some energy.

One Worker Bug had even lost a limb, yet it was visibly regrowing from scratch.

For the Zerg, limb regeneration is a very simple matter.

"Such a powerful recovery ability!"

Surprise and delight showed on Qin Mu's face.

"I wonder—can it heal human injuries? If so, then Uncle Qing's arm might have hope of recovery!"

The moment he saw this, Qin Mu instinctively thought of Uncle Qing.

Not just Uncle Qing—this ability was equally important to Qin Mu himself.

Because if it could work on him, then wouldn't he have no need to fear getting hurt in battle?

He connected his mind to the Mother Nest and transmitted this thought. The feedback from the Mother Nest filled Qin Mu's heart with joy.

The answer is yes!

Ordinary injuries can be healed directly, while injuries like severed limb regeneration require first analyzing the target's genetic information, then carrying out targeted recovery.

"Just analyzing genetic information? That's too easy!

Uncle Qing's arm can also be restored. Analyzing Uncle Qing's genetic information isn't difficult—collecting some hair, nails, or the like will do.

But would I have to bring Uncle Qing into the wilderness and take him to the Mother Nest to recover?

That's not realistic. I need to think this through carefully."

Despite some difficulties, Qin Mu was still very happy.

However, because the Larva Gene Bank and various inherited knowledge were lost, Qin Mu knew very little about Zerg-related knowledge, even common sense, and could only slowly figure things out.

Still, the fact that the Zerg could heal injuries and regenerate severed limbs was an undeniable surprise!

"Time to hatch the Evolutionary Cavity! Having only one type of auxiliary Worker Bug can't support the swarm's expansion. The Zerg need a true combat unit."

His thoughts returned to the swarm's development, and Qin Mu pondered carefully.

"In the Villa District, I hunted over two hundred monsters. After fully digesting them all, I should get at least 3000-4000 energy points.

Different monsters, due to differences in size, body structure, strength, and so on, convert into varying amounts of energy.

Take the Primary Beast Soldier level as an example. Among them, the largest Iron-Haired Wild Boar—even the smallest adult—weighs over 1000 jin, and the converted energy generally exceeds 20 points.

For monsters like the Tiger Hound, the converted energy is usually around 10 points.

Shadow Cats are too lean; converting one Shadow Cat yields about 6 points of energy.

Depending on differences in strength, there will be some fluctuation up or down."

"Currently, the Mother Nest has four types of Beast Soldier-level monster genes available for analysis.

They are: Tiger Hound, Iron-Haired Wild Boar, Shadow Cat, and Black Ring Snake."

Often, people's understanding of the Zerg is that they are all kinds of giant bugs.

In reality, that's not the case. As long as necessary, the Zerg can take any form, but insect-like shapes usually possess stronger combat power.

Qin Mu obviously didn't have the conditions to customize Zerg units; he could only make do with the monster genes he had collected.

Among them, the Tiger Hound was a suitable candidate for the swarm's basic combat unit.

The Tiger Hound has well-rounded abilities—strong in both strength and speed, with no obvious weaknesses. As a canine monster, it has a keen sense of smell and excels at coordinated combat.

Not only that, but the Tiger Hound's potential is also decent. Although most Tiger Hounds in the Villa District are at the Primary Beast Soldier level, with a few reaching Intermediate Beast Soldier strength.

In reality, this widely distributed monster can reach the Warlord level. Qin Mu had even seen rumors of a Lord-level Tiger Hound on the HR Alliance platform.

As for the Iron-Haired Wild Boar, while it's strong in power and defense, it lacks agility, is too large, and is rather stupid and clumsy.

Compared to the Tiger Hound, it falls short in many aspects.

Of course, as a tank unit, it's still decent. Hatching a small number could be useful when encountering some massive monsters.

As for the Black Ring Snake, it specializes in poison and isn't suited for large-scale combat.

And the Shadow Cat—small in build, quick in reflexes, and extremely fast—is clearly good material for a reconnaissance unit.

After a thorough analysis, Qin Mu decisively gave the order.

"Hatch the Evolutionary Cavity, prioritize researching the Tiger Mastiff."