The Military's Attention

"Sure enough, Gene Evolution wasn't that simple!"

Qin Mu shook his head and shifted his consciousness from the Mother Nest back into his body.

After seeing the Tiger Hound evolve successfully, he had suddenly wanted to try modifying Zerg genes himself. He did not expect to make them as powerful as the Unicorn Tiger Hound; he would have been satisfied if he could make them just a little stronger.

The facts proved that he had been overthinking it. Upon seeing the Tiger Hound's genes, vast as a sea of stars, he had no idea where to begin.

Although Qin Mu had taught himself some Gene Engineering books over the past few days, no matter how strong his learning ability was, the time had been far too short. At best, he was only at the level of a first- or second-year college student in a related major.

At that level, he had barely grasped the basics, yet he wanted to modify Zerg genes?

He did not even know where to start!

After barely giving it a try and forcibly altering part of the Gene Structure, the entire life-gene structure had predictably collapsed.

"But it's still better than before, right? At least I understood the functions of some gene structures and even tried modifying them."

Qin Mu comforted himself.

Just as Qin Mu was trying to modify the Zerg genes, an alarm sounded from satellite surveillance in a military camp far away in Jiangnan Base City.

A soldier looked at the information on the satellite feed and frowned.

"Monster activity in County Town 0203?"

There were now enormous numbers of monsters across the entire Earth, while satellite resources were extremely scarce. Their primary focus was on the various King level monsters, major cities, and Lord-level Monsters in the wilderness.

A small place like County Town 0203, where the strongest monsters were only High-level Beast Generals, did not rank as a priority.

However, because it was relatively close to the Northern Military Region of Jiangnan Base City, they still checked on it from time to time.

"Is it an internal monster battle, with a relatively powerful High-level Beast General fighting for territory? Or has a Lord-level Monster appeared? Have someone from the Northern Military Region investigate, just in case something happens."

The soldier operated the computer and sent the information to the Northern Military Region of Jiangnan Base City.

The Northern Military Region was the military camp where Qin Mu had taken his practical combat assessment.

When the information reached the Northern Military Region, the relevant personnel immediately took notice and began gathering materials and compiling intelligence.

"Pull up information on military martial artists near County Town 0203. Ask whether anyone has discovered the cause of the disturbance there."

A soldier responsible for intelligence immediately began investigating.

"No military martial artist squads are carrying out missions in County Town 0203. Wait! We found a military martial artist currently inside County Town 0203! It's the Mental Master who caused such a stir some time ago, Qin Mu!"

County Town 0203 was relatively remote. Qin Mu had chosen it in the first place precisely because it was secluded and few martial artists went there.

"Qin Mu?"

Zheng Xing's heart skipped a beat upon receiving the news. Qin Mu was actually in County Town 0203.

According to the satellite data, a fairly large-scale monster disturbance had erupted in County Town 0203, with tens of thousands of monsters dead.

It was highly possible that High Beast General level monsters were fighting over territory. A Lord-level Monster might even have been born. Being in County Town 0203 at a time like this was extremely dangerous.

With that thought, Zheng Xing immediately called Qin Mu's Communication Watch.

"Hm? What does Zheng Xing want with me?"

The Communication Watch on Qin Mu's wrist vibrated faintly.

Because he had been near the Mother Nest, Qin Mu had not answered the call. This Communication Watch was not just for voice calls; it could also make video calls. He did not want to expose the Mother Nest's existence.

He quickly walked out of the underground garage, leaped onto a nearby high-rise, then made several consecutive jumps. Only after reaching the rooftop did he answer the call.

"Sir!"

Since he had already joined the military, Qin Mu no longer addressed Zheng Xing by name as he had before, but called him sir. Zheng Xing was the commanding officer of the Northern Military Region camp and held the rank of major general, so that form of address was perfectly appropriate.

"Qin Mu, are you currently in County Town 0203?"

Seeing the call connect, Zheng Xing breathed a sigh of relief. In the wilderness, calls to martial artists failing to connect was commonplace, because the other party might very well be fighting monsters.

"That's right!"

Qin Mu replied.

"We received reports that a monster riot has broken out in County Town 0203. Large numbers of monsters are fighting, and it's highly possible that High-level Beast Generals or even Lord-level Monsters have appeared. Have you noticed anything unusual on your end?"

Zheng Xing's expression was grave. This was no small matter for him, or for the Northern Military Region.

The Northern Military Region was not far from County Town 0203. If it was merely a High-level Beast General, that would be manageable. But if it was a Lord-level Monster, they would need to request a War God-level expert to eliminate it.

If they allowed it to remain unchecked, the entire county town would fall under the control of the Lord-level Monster. That was not good news for humanity.

If things went badly, it could even trigger a monster tide!

"A monster riot?"

Qin Mu blinked, feeling somewhat awkward.

He had guessed why Zheng Xing was calling. Once the Swarm launched large-scale battles, it was only a matter of time before the military noticed. He just had not expected it to happen so quickly.

"Sir, if you mean the monster riot within County Town 0203, I might know the reason."

"If I'm not mistaken, it may be because I've been training here recently and accidentally killed a few too many monsters while hunting."

Zheng Xing was startled upon hearing Qin Mu's words. What had this guy done? How many monsters had he slaughtered to cause all the monsters in an entire county town to riot?

"How many monsters did you kill?"

Qin Mu smiled slightly and answered.

"I didn't count exactly. There were probably a few thousand Beast Soldier level monsters, and more than thirty Beast General level monsters, I suppose?"

Zheng Xing's expression changed as he said in shock.

"More than thirty Beast General level monsters! My God, no wonder the monsters rioted."

How many Beast General level monsters could an entire county town have? Yet Qin Mu had hunted more than thirty by himself! It would have been strange if the city had not descended into chaos!

"Understood. Take it easy. Don't provoke anything too powerful. If you run into danger, remember to call for help or head toward the military region."

After roughly understanding what had happened, Zheng Xing did not dwell on the details and instead expressed concern for Qin Mu.

As a Mental Master, as long as he did not actively seek death, he would generally be very difficult to kill, because Mental Masters could fly!

Flight alone gave Qin Mu a certain degree of self-preservation against the vast majority of monsters.

After hanging up, Qin Mu frowned. He had not expected the military to notice something amiss so quickly. Although he had temporarily brushed it off, he was worried the military would send people to investigate.

"County Town 0203 is still too close to the military region. Even a battle on this scale caught the military's attention.

"It seems expansion here needs to be slowed for now. The Swarm's development can shift its focus to City No. 0237."

Stopping development was naturally impossible, and even relocating as he had at the beginning was out of the question.

There were already more than thirty thousand Zerg Units in County Town 0203, so moving them would not be easy.

Not to mention that evolving the Mother Nest into a Level 3 Hive Mother required fifty thousand energy points and a Gene Evolution rate of 100%.

That required killing huge numbers of monsters. The Swarm could not stop developing just because the military had taken notice.

Of course, temporary concealment was still necessary. Since this city had drawn the military's attention, he could simply switch to another.

Qin Mu had considered this from the start.

After the Mother Nest evolved into a Level 2 Hive Mother, Qin Mu immediately established three sub-bases. One was in a wilderness forest, while the other two were in cities: City No. 0237 and City 0209.

City 0209 was merely a small city. He had chosen it only because it was remote enough that almost no martial artists went there, making it very safe.

Before the Great Nirvana Period, City No. 0237 had been a major city with a population of several million. It bordered Taihu Lake and was an extremely important point in Qin Mu's plans.

Moreover, City No. 0237 was very close to City 023—Suzhou before the Great Nirvana Period—and had enormous potential for development.

It had a larger battlefield and was far more suitable for the Swarm's development.

He could also begin researching aquatic Zerg Units there and prepare for entering the ocean.

Even if the military had not noticed anything, Qin Mu had been about to head to City No. 0237 anyway. Now, his plan had merely been moved forward a little.