Prospects for Potential

Xu Zhi had never expected something like this to happen.

The Zerg Mother Nest transmitted a mechanical voice. "Should they be exterminated?"

He possessed absolute control over the spores he had produced and the countless creatures they had evolved into, much less these tiny Insect Apes before him.

Xu Zhi thought for a moment and murmured, "Gilgamesh merged with a White Ant Gene once. He is now far stronger than his kin, and his lifespan is several times longer than theirs. Has he achieved Transcendence?"

"This is not Transcendence. He has merely taken the first step toward opening the Gene Lock. True Transcendence means escaping completely passive evolution and fully controlling and regulating one's own genetic chain. He cannot adjust his genetic sequence or organize blank gene fragments, so he has no space to merge with a Third Gene."

Xu Zhi sighed. As expected, it was not that easy.

Even when spores were cast across an entire planet, only a handful of Zerg Heroes capable of Transcendence could emerge. How could there be three here?

The reason these three could merge with a Second Gene was not merely because of their powerful willpower and exceptional talent. It was also because their genetic chains still contained large stretches of blank space.

But the Second Gene was already their limit.

Without organizing their own genetic chains and adjusting them to create blank gene fragment spaces, it would be difficult to merge with a Third Gene.

Although he had not achieved it yet, Gilgamesh undoubtedly possessed a certain degree of potential. But having potential did not mean Xu Zhi would allow his arrogance, tyranny, and mad destruction of this Sand Table's ecosystem to bring about a barbaric civilization.

"Auxiliary brain, there is no need for you to exterminate them."

After some thought, Xu Zhi said calmly, "Let me see what gives Gilgamesh the confidence to challenge me."

In truth, after being strengthened by two biological mass extinctions, not only had the side effects of Xu Zhi's chemotherapy been removed, but his physique had grown much stronger. He had even barely reached the level of someone who exercised and worked out regularly.

Gilgamesh's immense strength came only from possessing ant genes. Ants could carry many times their own weight, but could ants actually harm humans? It was difficult.

Gilgamesh, who was now the size of an ant and held a sword, possessed strength like an ant's. Xu Zhi wanted to assess his power.

Boom!! Countless arrows were being fired in volleys across the ground. Sumerian's finest army was still no more than a vast swarm of ants.

Their arrows were sharp, but they were too weak. They had the bodies of ants but not their enormous strength. Swords and spears stabbed at Xu Zhi's trouser legs, striking his thick blue jeans.

It was like going on an outing in the mountains and getting tiny plant burrs stuck all over one's pant legs—utterly insignificant.

"Even the elite army cannot pierce his clothing?"

Gilgamesh's expression shifted slightly in shock, but he quickly calmed down and strode forward. "I guessed as much long ago. When I conquered the forest, the elite armies of countless giant beasts were utterly useless before a Wisdom Giant Beast of this size."

Step! He took a light step forward.

He actually soared seven or eight meters into the air, like a white streak of snow. He landed on Xu Zhi's heel, then held his sword in both hands and continuously leaped upward along Xu Zhi's blue jeans. In the blink of an eye, he had reached Xu Zhi's knee.

"So fast. That speed is almost comparable to the last flea."

Xu Zhi's expression changed slightly.

For an ant to unleash such terrifying jumping power like a flea was indeed no small feat.

Xu Zhi swung his hand down.

Step! "Don't even think about it!" The aged Hero King wielding the sword bent over and assumed a half-crouching stance before making a light leap, like the swiftest cheetah.

Xu Zhi struck again with his hand.

Step! Gilgamesh continued jumping at high speed, nimbly zigzagging in lightning-fast leaps as he climbed along the folds of the jeans. His expression was incomparably grave. "So this is a Wisdom Giant Beast? The gusts caused merely by its movements nearly blew me away."

It was as though he were scaling an ancient totemic pillar that pierced deep into the Cloud Layer.

To humans, jeans were smooth and flat. But to creatures the size of ants, they were a dense blue mesh canvas woven from countless threads, offering exceptionally simple climbing terrain.

"Your Majesty, Ishtar has come to support you!"

At that moment, Ishtar, the Prairie King, arrived as well.

She was a woman with a Western physique and streamlined muscles. Carrying a Beast Bone Great Hammer as tall as herself, she made a light leap and likewise jumped seven or eight meters high, landing on Xu Zhi's trouser leg.

"Another one."

Xu Zhi reached out to grab Ishtar.

Facing a palm as vast as a mountain, she made a light jump and dodged aside, leaping upward along Xu Zhi's enormous body.

She too possessed formidable combat techniques. Having fought giant beasts for countless years, she was battle-hardened, and her strong female body was covered in scars. Yet none of them diminished the greatness of her title as Prairie King.

"Her movements are just as fast, but the testing is about done."

Xu Zhi thought for a moment, then suddenly stretched out his palm and slapped toward Ishtar at greater speed.

"For your size, you are fast. But because of your size, I am faster."

Bang! Her expression changed drastically. She had no time to react at all. Like a black mosquito struck by a palm, she was instantly sent flying, blood gushing from her mouth.

The next second, Xu Zhi struck out again. His palm raised a fierce gust as it smashed toward Gilgamesh with irresistible force.

"Damn it! You—" His expression changed in shock. He could only react for an instant, swinging an incomparably brilliant sword strike in front of himself.

The palm collided with the blade.

Crash!! His entire body was sent flying, rapidly falling from the sky.

The two of them had climbed to Xu Zhi's waist, over a meter above the ground. For beings of their size, it was equivalent to falling from a height of a thousand meters.

Tiny ants could fall from heights of one or two meters without harm because they had no skeletons and because of their body structure. But these miniature Insect Apes with human skeletal frames would essentially die if they fell from a thousand meters.

Yet after falling from such a height, they only vomited blood and had every bone in their bodies shattered. They did not die instantly; their vitality was extraordinarily tenacious.

Xu Zhi looked at his hand in surprise. The wound Gilgamesh had cut there was actually beginning to seep blood. "He actually cut me. What exquisite Sword Skill. Considering their size, they truly possess terrifying strength. If their proportions were scaled up to human size, they would be like Superman, able to leap across rooftops and walls, even dodge bullets. They would possess the terrifying vitality to fall from a helicopter at a thousand meters and still not die, like the terrifying Hulk and Spider-Man!"

They had already begun to possess the powerful abilities of extraordinary species!

Sure enough, Xu Zhi's speculation had been correct. The smaller the body, the more easily energy could accumulate, and the more easily qualitative change could occur.

But a Hulk or Spider-Man the size of an ant was merely a microscopic creature slightly thicker than a strand of hair. At that size, it naturally could not pose a fatal threat to Xu Zhi.

"One move."

"I lost with just one move. I could only cut his skin."

At that moment, Gilgamesh gave a bitter laugh. With every bone in his body shattered, he lay in a pool of blood on the ground and looked up at Xu Zhi, the giant surrounded by clouds and mist, whose entire face gave off a faint, pure white radiance.