After losing nearly half their companions, the Gray Cloud Finches circling overhead finally lost their nerve.
After letting out mournful cries, they flew into the distance without looking back.
Qin Mu did not pursue the fleeing Gray Cloud Finches.
What a joke. Although Qin Mu, as a Mental Master, could also fly by controlling objects,
fighting flying monsters in the sky without a suitable Psionic Weapon would be asking for trouble.
Ignoring the fleeing Gray Cloud Finches, Qin Mu stared curiously at one nearby whose wing had been pierced through and was streaming blood.
A faint soul link connected Qin Mu to it, and the link was steadily solidifying, transforming into something like the Zerg Units hatched by the Mother Nest.
"What is this? Soul Slavery?"
Qin Mu thought instinctively.
In the world of Swallowed Star, there existed an extremely terrifying ability—Soul Slavery.
Once someone was subjected to Soul Slavery, they would be completely controlled, devote themselves wholeheartedly to their master, and not even death could free them.
"But I don't know any Soul Slavery techniques. Is this some innate talent of a Zerg Overlord?"
In fact, Qin Mu had yet to discover any innate talents he possessed as a Zerg Overlord. Most of what he had were the Mother Nest's abilities.
For example, Luo Feng's Golden Horn Beast Clone possessed three great innate secret techniques: enhancement, cloning, and devouring.
Every one of those innate secret techniques was immensely powerful and possessed all kinds of unbelievable abilities.
"I attacked several Gray Cloud Finches with Mental Power, but only this one ended up like this."
After studying it for a while without finding anything, Qin Mu simply ordered the Worker Bugs to carry the injured Gray Cloud Finch into the underground garage and place it on the Fungal Carpet around the Mother Nest to heal.
He also had the Swarm capture several monsters alive for his research.
Not long after the order was given, a group of battered monsters was carried over by the Worker Bugs.
Qin Mu walked up to a Lion Mastiff. Its body was covered in wounds and blood flowed freely, yet it continued to roar furiously.
Ignoring the Lion Mastiff's resistance, Qin Mu condensed his Mental Power into a mass and stabbed it into the Lion Mastiff's sea of consciousness.
"Oh? You still dare resist?"
Qin Mu's Mental Power suddenly thrust forward.
"Crack—"
Qin Mu seemed to hear something shatter.
The Lion Mastiff's eyes rolled back, foam poured from its mouth, and it collapsed to the ground.
"Dead?"
Qin Mu was speechless. It seemed he had used too much force.
He had the Worker Bugs carry away the Lion Mastiff's corpse, then walked over to the next Lion Mastiff.
This time, Qin Mu carefully controlled his Mental Power as he probed into its sea of consciousness.
The Lion Mastiff instantly went limp before Qin Mu and began whimpering in agony, as though it were enduring immense pain.
Qin Mu's Mental Power easily suppressed the Lion Mastiff, which possessed only the strength of a mid-level Beast Soldier.
After completely controlling the Lion Mastiff, Qin Mu's Mental Power gradually invaded its soul consciousness, like an infection.
After a while, a faint soul link appeared between Qin Mu and the Lion Mastiff.
"It worked!"
Joy appeared on Qin Mu's face. He could sense the Lion Mastiff. Though the soul link was still faint, it was continuously strengthening.
"Let's do it a few more times!"
He brought over several more monsters and began testing continuously.
"I think I understand now. To establish a soul link with a monster, I first need to subdue it and leave it unable to resist. Then my soul power will automatically invade and infect it."
"Once the infection reaches a certain degree, a link can be established and it can be completely controlled, just like the other Zerg Units."
Qin Mu transferred his consciousness into the Lion Mastiff before him and controlled its limbs for a moment, arriving at his conclusion.
To a certain extent, the Lion Mastiff before him could already be considered a member of the Swarm.
"Controlling mid-level Beast Soldier and high-level Beast Soldier monsters is still easy, but controlling Beast General-level monsters probably won't be so simple."
After his repeated experiments, Qin Mu had figured out a few basics.
"This doesn't seem quite like Soul Slavery. I remember that after Luo Feng received the Meteorite Star master's inheritance, he became proficient in Soul Slavery. The Meteorite Star master even had nine Immortal Experts as servants!
But Soul Slavery is only control. It isn't the same as my situation."
"This isn't Soul Slavery! It should be called Zergification!"
Qin Mu decided. But what was this ability actually useful for?
Controlling Beast General-level monsters? Or enslaving other powerful beings?
Every Zerg Mother Queen was a Soul Master and proficient in Soul Slavery.
As the Overlord of the Zerg, it was normal for him to be proficient in Soul Slavery as well. If used properly, this ability would also be extremely powerful.
"Still, doesn't this mean I can disguise myself as a Beast Tamer?"
Qin Mu muttered to himself. Beast Tamers were an extremely rare branch among Mental Masters. There were fewer Beast Tamers on the entire Earth than one could count on both hands.
Moreover, those Beast Tamers differed from him, who directly controlled and Zergified monsters. They communicated with monsters spiritually and befriended them, making the process extremely inefficient.
Of course, perhaps Earth simply lacked the corresponding secret techniques.
But that was unimportant. The idea had suddenly occurred to him. Pretending to be a Beast Tamer would merely be a cover for concealing the Swarm's existence.
As the Swarm continued to develop, after all, it would inevitably draw the attention of interested parties.
Having the identity of a Beast Tamer as cover could delay the Swarm's exposure.
After all, it was perfectly normal for a Beast Tamer to control a few monsters, right?
Even if he controlled a few hundred million more monsters, that would not be strange either. There were so many geniuses in this world!
As for the day he could no longer keep up the act, the Swarm would have already grown strong enough. Exposure would no longer matter.
"Heh! Plan successful!"
"This ability can be explored slowly. For now, developing the Swarm is more important."
Qin Mu had not forgotten why he had attacked the Gray Cloud Finches.
In fact, while Qin Mu was researching how to Zergify monsters, large numbers of Gray Cloud Finch corpses had already been dragged into the underground garage for the Mother Nest to digest and analyze.
Under Qin Mu's arrangements, analyzing the Gray Cloud Finches had been placed in the first priority sequence.
The analysis of one high-level Beast Soldier Gray Cloud Finch had already begun. Sharing first priority were not the Two-tailed Tiger Cat, but a high-level Beast Soldier Tiger Mastiff, Iron-Haired Wild Boar, and Shadow Cat.
The second priority sequence was the Two-tailed Tiger Cat, along with Qin Mu's own genes.
Why was the Two-tailed Tiger Cat in the second priority sequence?
Because even if the First-level Hive analyzed it, it could not hatch Beast General-level Two-tailed Tiger Cats. It held little meaning in the short term and was not even as worthwhile as the Shadow Cat.
As for Qin Mu's own genes, also in the second priority sequence, one purpose was to better understand his body and facilitate targeted training.
The other was that if he were accidentally injured or killed, he could use the Mother Nest to heal himself or revive.
The third priority sequence consisted of other monsters, such as Unicorn Wild Boars, armored cattle, Lion Mastiffs, and the like.
The reason he had placed the analysis of the first batch of Zerg combat units, including high-level Beast Soldier Tiger Mastiffs, in the first priority sequence was simple.
Since the mid-level Beast Soldier Tiger Mastiff had already been analyzed, analyzing high-level Tiger Mastiffs would progress much faster than analyzing other high-level Beast Soldier monsters.
As the Zerg's current primary combat units, analyzing those three types of monsters, including Tiger Mastiffs, could more quickly raise the Swarm's overall strength.
The Swarm was Qin Mu's foundation!
In fact, the analysis of the high-level Beast Soldier Tiger Mastiff was nearly complete. Before long, the Swarm would be able to hatch high-level Beast Soldier Tiger Mastiffs.
"I hope the Gray Cloud Finch can be unlocked before I return. Air units have far too great an advantage. Just their large-scale scouting ability alone is incredibly important."
The reason he sighed like that was because the Gray Cloud Finch in the underground garage, whose injuries had already healed, was now serving its purpose under the Mother Nest's control.
As the Swarm's only aerial unit at present, the Gray Cloud Finch soared into the sky and looked down upon the land from hundreds of meters above.
From the sky, almost half of County Town 0203 lay clearly within view, and countless monsters were visible at a glance.
This scene was also transmitted into the Mother Nest through the soul link and shared with the entire Swarm.
Before you continue