Entering the County Town

The Two-tailed Tiger Cat lay dead, its body tattered and torn from bites. Qin Mu remained silent.

Qin Mu could have killed it directly with the Unicorn Dagger, but he chose not to. He had only injured it, letting the Swarm finish it off!

He wanted it to feel the pain of being slaughtered.

As for the Two-tailed Tiger Cat's corpse, Qin Mu didn't let the Swarm devour it entirely.

Instead, he ordered Worker Bugs to dismantle it. The materials from a Beast General level monster were very valuable, unlike those from a Beast Soldier level.

For example, its fangs and the sinew in its tail could fetch tens of millions if brought back. In contrast, the horn of a Beast Soldier level Unicorn Wild Boar only sold for a few thousand.

And Qin Mu still had three million in loans to repay; he couldn't afford to be without money!

The remaining parts of the corpse were also taken by a Worker Bug, intended for the newly hatched Hive Mother to analyze once they entered County Town 0203.

When a Hive Mother analyzes a monster's genes, having a complete corpse, including vital parts like the brain, allowed for faster and better analysis. Otherwise, the results would be less effective.

For instance, if the brain was missing, it would be impossible to read its memories.

Conversely, fangs and sinew weren't as critical, but they were the most valuable parts for selling.

Overall, this approach allowed them to both sell valuable materials and analyze monster genes.

"Rest here!"

The battle was over, and Qin Mu no longer rushed on their journey.

The Swarm had suffered significant losses in this battle, with fifteen Tiger Mastiffs killed and an entire scout team wiped out.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey was uneventful. Although they encountered some monsters while traveling, none posed a threat to the Swarm.

On July 26th, as dusk approached.

Qin Mu and the Swarm finally arrived at the outskirts of County Town 0203.

Unlike the wilderness, County Town 0203 had an extremely high monster density, with tens to hundreds of monsters on any given street.

Before Qin Mu's main force arrived, three Tiger Mastiff squads had already entered County Town 0203 to scout.

The information sent back by the scout teams made Qin Mu's heart pound.

In just half an hour, the scout teams had discovered no fewer than five Beast General level monsters, including a Raging Bull of the higher Beast General level!

Furthermore, each Beast General was surrounded by a large number of Beast Soldier level monsters. With the Swarm's current strength, they stood no chance against any of them.

Fortunately, the scouting Tiger Mastiffs were themselves monsters, so they didn't cause any alarm.

Sensing the path of the scouting teams, Qin Mu led the Swarm into County Town 0203 discreetly, avoiding some Beast General level monsters and advancing along a small path.

After consecutively killing over a dozen Beast Soldier level monsters, the Swarm, with some close calls, finally arrived at a dilapidated residential complex.

"Enter the underground garage!"

The underground garage of this complex was large and well-hidden, making it ideal for the Hive Mother's hatching.

Tiger Mastiffs entered one by one, spreading out inside the garage to clear any potential threats.

A Worker Bug accompanying Qin Mu had a backpack on its back opened by an unseen force. A tactical flashlight flew out, turned on automatically, and then floated to hover over Qin Mu's right shoulder.

The darkness of the underground garage was illuminated by the tactical flashlight.

"Screech—"

The darkness was disturbed by monsters. A group of rat-like monsters, over a meter long, shrieked, their eyes glowing red as they charged out of the darkness.

"Black Fur Rats?"

Qin Mu glanced at them but paid them no mind. These Black Fur Rats were only at the early Beast Soldier level and posed no match for the Tiger Mastiffs.

As expected, despite their fierce charge, these Black Fur Rats were killed even faster. Without Qin Mu needing to intervene, the Tiger Mastiffs and Worker Bugs easily dispatched them.

Only when a few high-level Beast Soldier Black Fur Rats appeared did Qin Mu intervene, using the Unicorn Dagger to instantly kill them.

"Is this underground garage a rat's nest? There are hundreds of Black Fur Rats here!"

After spending over twenty minutes clearing the underground garage, Qin Mu grumbled.

There were no other monsters in the underground garage, only Black Fur Rats.

After killing hundreds of Black Fur Rats consecutively, the stagnant air in the underground garage became extremely foul, filled with a nauseating stench.

Confirming the area was safe, Qin Mu endured the stench and walked to the center of the underground garage.

In the center of the underground garage, dozens of Worker Bugs gathered, wielding their large claws to break through the concrete floor, digging a deep pit.

The underground garage was only a little over three meters high, not enough to house a Hive Mother, but digging down a bit would suffice.

The Black Fur Rats that had congregated here originally liked to burrow, and the concrete floor had many rat holes, making the excavation relatively easy for the Worker Bugs.

"Begin hatching the Hive Mother!"

Upon receiving the order, the Worker Bugs crawled into the newly dug pit, their bodies quickly transforming into a giant pulsating mass of flesh, beating like a heart.

Purple Creep spread out like water, engulfing and consuming the foul-smelling Black Fur Rat corpses on the ground.

The surrounding Worker Bugs also began clearing the soil excavated from the underground garage and the piles of Black Fur Rat carcasses.

While Worker Bugs might not be exceptional in combat, they were first-rate at labor.

The Tiger Mastiffs were also busy. Some firmly guarded the two exits of the underground garage, preventing any monsters from breaking in.

Another portion of the Tiger Mastiffs patrolled the area around the residential complex, scouting for monster distribution and gathering intelligence for the Swarm's future development.

Qin Mu didn't go out. He found a relatively clean spot and sat down.

Several days of travel and combat had left Qin Mu utterly exhausted.

However, Qin Mu didn't just collapse and sleep. Instead, under the guard of several Tiger Mastiffs, he began practicing the "Five Hearts Towards Heaven" cultivation method.

Qin Mu had discovered that the more exhausted he was, the more efficient his Gene Energy cultivation method became.

Although as the Sovereign of the Swarm, Qin Mu's strength would improve steadily even if he didn't cultivate, he did not slack off because of this.

Qin Mu knew very well that in this world, relying solely on the Swarm was not enough; personal strength was equally important.

While Qin Mu was cultivating, the Hive Mother was also continuously hatching.

This time, the Hive Mother's hatching proceeded without any issues, successfully hatching normally.

When the new Hive Mother appeared, a warm current flowed through Qin Mu's body once more. Although the appearance of this Hive Mother had slightly improved Qin Mu's strength, it wasn't as dramatic as the first time. His strength remained at the advanced warrior level, simply more stable.

"Display Hive Mother information."

Qin Mu's consciousness connected to this newly hatched Hive Mother, which he would tentatively call Hive Mother 2.

The data provided by Hive Mother 2 showed that there were now three types of Zerg combat units it could hatch: Tiger Mastiff, Iron-Haired Wild Boar, and Shadow Cat!

That's right, during the journey these past few days, Hive Mother 1 in the Villa District had successfully analyzed the Iron-Haired Wild Boar and the Shadow Cat.

Gene information was mutually shared among Hive Mothers. As long as one Hive Mother successfully analyzed a monster's genes, all Hive Mothers could hatch it.

"Iron-Haired Wild Boar—consumes 50 energy. After 30 minutes, it can hatch an Iron-Haired Wild Boar with the combat power of an intermediate Beast Soldier level."

"Shadow Cat—consumes 10 energy. After 20 minutes, it can hatch a Shadow Cat with the combat power of an intermediate Beast Soldier level."

Looking at the newly appeared Zerg units, Qin Mu nodded with satisfaction.

The Iron-Haired Wild Boar consumed twice the energy of the Tiger Mastiff, but this didn't mean the Iron-Haired Wild Boar was stronger. If they fought one-on-one, it was hard to say who would win.

However, the Iron-Haired Wild Boar was much larger, far exceeding the Tiger Mastiff. In terms of frontal charge and confrontation, the Tiger Mastiff couldn't compare. It was akin to the distinction between a warrior and a tank.

Similarly, the Shadow Cat followed the path of an assassin.

Therefore, the hatching of Swarm units also required consideration for a rational and balanced composition.

"Alright, Hive Mother, begin hatching!"