Around the Mother Nest, three biological structures covered in chitinous shells and bristling with spikes rose and fell continuously, like a human breathing.
These were the newly hatched Evolutionary Cavities.
If one got closer, one could hear a buzzing hum from within, as though something were spinning at high speed.
This was the Evolutionary Cavities operating at full capacity, analyzing monster genes.
Through feedback from the Mother Nest's consciousness, Qin Mu learned that although the Mother Nest possessed immense computational power, it was not limitless. At most, it could sustain three Evolutionary Cavities operating at full capacity to analyze monster genes.
Building more would instead reduce efficiency.
Therefore, Qin Mu had only hatched three Evolutionary Cavities. Depending on his needs, the three could either analyze a single type of monster gene together or analyze multiple types of monster genes separately.
In order to give the Swarm its first combat unit as quickly as possible, Qin Mu had all three Evolutionary Cavities analyze Tiger Mastiff genes together.
Transferring his consciousness into the Mother Nest, Qin Mu carefully sensed the various streams of information within it.
Massive amounts of information circulated frantically, and something that left Qin Mu stunned appeared.
The moment analysis began, all of the monster's memories and information were displayed as an incredibly intuitive stream of data. Every secret it possessed was laid bare.
From its birth and first howl, through its growth and battles, all the way to its eventual death, everything was displayed clearly like a long film.
"Every memory from its birth to its death has been read!"
Qin Mu was shocked.
Some useless memories were discarded, while memories related to combat were retained. After their essence was extracted, those memories would be loaded into newly hatched Zerg Units, allowing them to possess formidable Combat Power from the moment they were born.
However, this was only the beginning. A deeper level of analysis began.
Countless spiral structures resembling genes appeared directly and vividly in Qin Mu's mind.
Inside the Evolutionary Cavity, strands of genetic information were read one after another, like unraveling a cocoon.
"This is too beautiful—too incredible!"
Qin Mu was stunned. Countless gene chains were combined and constructed in a form he could not understand at all, yet it was extraordinarily exquisite and perfect, leaving one in awe.
This structure was incomparably vast, as boundless as a river of stars. It continuously combined, eventually converging into a complete Life Structure Diagram.
This was the life blueprint of a Tiger Hound!
"Once the analysis is complete, will the Swarm be able to fully master the Tiger Hound's genes?"
The moment this thought appeared, corresponding information surfaced within the Mother Nest.
The answer was no.
After the analysis was complete, it would only grasp the dominant genes within this Tiger Hound's genetic information.
With this level of genetic control, the Tiger Hounds hatched by the Mother Nest would only be as strong as this Tiger Hound—at the Intermediate Beast Soldier Level.
If all of its hidden genes were truly and completely analyzed, it could even hatch Tiger Hounds at the Warlord or even Lord-level, mastering everything about the Tiger Hound race as though it were their creator.
That was not something a First-level Hive could accomplish.
"This Life Structure Diagram is too astounding. Every time I master one, the Swarm gains another type of unit it can hatch."
"I can sense that inside the Evolutionary Cavity, I can easily and freely modify this Life Structure Diagram.
But I don't understand Gene Structure at all. If I modify it recklessly, I'll only make the Life Structure Diagram collapse completely, making it impossible to create new Zerg Units."
Qin Mu frowned. With the Zerg Clone, all Zerg Units were extensions of his will.
Yet even so, due to the loss of inheritance, he could not understand this genetic information at all.
If he could not even understand the most basic genetic information, then creating new Zerg Units was out of the question.
He could only rely on the Evolutionary Cavity's own modulation ability, consuming enormous amounts of energy to evolve randomly and hope for the best.
That was clearly not what Qin Mu wanted to see.
"No. Even if I don't understand this genetic information, I can learn!"
Qin Mu suddenly thought of the countless books filling an entire room in his parents' bedroom at home, including research on the genes of various monsters.
"That's right. Although the Swarm's inheritance is gone, I can still use genetic information researched through human technology to learn the basics of genetic modulation. Then, with the Mother Nest's powerful computational ability and the Evolutionary Cavity's genetic modulation ability, I can quickly master genetic knowledge."
At that thought, Qin Mu's eyes lit up.
In the world of Swallowed Star, one of Luo Feng's later clones, the Youhai Clone, actually possessed a similar ability.
Luo Feng's Youhai Clone possessed an innate secret technique called Creation. With this Creation talent, it could refine energy, combine life genes, and ultimately condense life itself.
Later, Luo Feng even used this ability to create an entirely new race!
Of course, Luo Feng had also spent countless years accomplishing that.
"Once I return to the base, I'll begin studying knowledge related to genes. With my current comprehension and learning ability, plus the Mother Nest's assistance, my progress will be fast."
A trace of longing filled Qin Mu's eyes. That was creating life!
No longer paying attention to the genetic information still being analyzed within the Evolutionary Cavities, Qin Mu returned his consciousness to the Mother Nest to learn and familiarize himself with more information about the Swarm.
One point in particular caught Qin Mu's attention: the soul of the Zerg Clone.
Unlike the human soul, which was a single whole, Zerg souls were dispersed.
Within Qin Mu's Conscious Mind, the entire Swarm's soul consisted of an exceptionally bright Light Orb and several dozen faint points.
These corresponded respectively to the Mother Nest and the Worker Bugs.
Qin Mu could easily transfer his consciousness into the Mother Nest or any Worker Bug.
This was somewhat similar to the soul of the Zerg Mother Queen from the world of Swallowed Star in Qin Mu's memories.
Strictly speaking, among the Zergs of that world, the only true lifeform was the Mother Queen.
Luo Feng had later enslaved a World Lord level Mother Queen. That Mother Queen's soul consisted of 10,000 Light Orbs—10,000 Soul Sources.
But Qin Mu's situation was different. His Zerg Clone was not a single Zerg, but the entire Swarm.
Therefore, the soul of his Zerg Clone was made up of all the Zerg Units. His position within the Swarm was more like the Collective Consciousness of the entire Swarm—the absolute Overlord of this Swarm.
Although this Swarm was still very weak, its potential was far beyond anything a Mother Queen could compare to.
"Zerg Overlord?"
Light gleamed in Qin Mu's eyes. This was far too interesting.
Having a Zerg Clone brought another advantage: he would not die easily.
In this universe, most powerful beings who possessed clones were unafraid of death, because even if a clone died, it could be nurtured again.
Take Luo Feng, for example. No one knew how many times his Mo Sha Clan Clone had died, yet every time it died, it could easily be nurtured anew.
Qin Mu discovered that he seemed capable of doing the same.
For the Zerg Clone, as long as it analyzed the genes of his Human Main Body, the Mother Nest could easily nurture a human body.
It could accomplish the same thing Luo Feng did.
And to kill Qin Mu's Zerg Clone, every single Zerg Unit had to be killed before the Zerg Clone could be considered truly dead.
Qin Mu was excited.
If this guess was correct, then once the Swarm developed, it would be difficult to kill him.
"Let's see what other surprises there are."
Qin Mu happily looked through the information within the Mother Nest, and sure enough, there were more surprises.
"Fungal Carpet—this seemingly inconspicuous thing is quite powerful as well!
Fungal Carpet can grow in most environments. Its tendrils can burrow deep underground to extract nutrients from beneath the earth, and it can also digest the corpses of other organisms. After processing them, it uses them to sustain itself and other Zerg Units.
That was also why the Evolutionary Cavities had to be hatched on Fungal Carpet.
Moreover, Fungal Carpet formed a Neural Connection Network that would alert the Swarm to any information appearing upon it, including intruders.
As long as Zerg Units stood on Fungal Carpet, they could receive an endless supply of energy, accelerating their recovery from injuries. Their movement speed would also receive a certain boost.
Therefore, when a battle took place on Fungal Carpet, the Swarm would hold an absolute advantage!"
The more Qin Mu learned, the more he sensed the power of the Zergs. At the same time, he increasingly felt that these Zergs were somewhat different from those in the Swallowed Star of his memories!
However, Qin Mu did not dwell on it too much. The world of Swallowed Star was simply too vast; nothing that happened there would be strange.
"Very soon, new Zerg Units will appear. It's time for my Swarm to expand!"
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