Come Chase Me, If You Catch Me I'll Let You...

The Zerg's expansion was faster than Fang Zheng had imagined.

The reason Fang Zheng chose to summon the Zerg in the world of Edge of Tomorrow was twofold: one, he wanted to actually test the usage of this Soul Stone, and two, he wanted to see how the Zerg would proliferate in such a world. In the game, the Zerg required resources like Crystal Minerals and High-Energy Gas to develop. But this world's Earth certainly didn't have those—so could the Zerg still develop?

As it turned out, there was absolutely no problem.

After experimenting, Fang Zheng was surprised to discover that the Zerg didn't need Crystal Minerals or High-Energy Gas at all. Moreover, unlike the game, the Zerg here wouldn't just sit around stupidly doing nothing until Fang Zheng found mineral deposits for them to convert and harvest. Instead, the Zerg Drones would actively search for the resources they needed. Once they found something they deemed useful, they would report it to Fang Zheng through telepathy. After Fang Zheng gave the nod, they would immediately begin harvesting those resources.

Driven by curiosity, Fang Zheng had once watched them harvest minerals. He found that the Zerg were almost completely non-picky—from coal, iron, and copper mines to oil and natural gas, as long as it was usable, they could harvest it all and pack it away. Fang Zheng was quite surprised when he first saw this, but after hearing Milune's explanation, he understood. The Zerg needed energy, but energy itself only differed in quantity, with no particularly distinct qualitative differences. The game's limitation to Crystal Minerals and High-Energy Gas was likely a design requirement, but the real Zerg clearly weren't so finicky. As long as it could generate energy, they didn't care about anything else.

By this point, Fang Zheng finally understood why the Zerg in that world never worried about resource shortages and simply solved everything with an F2A rush. If the Zerg were really this undiscriminating, then their rapid and powerful development made perfect sense.

The Zerg's development was going smoothly. There were several mines in the surrounding forests, but perhaps due to the fighting against the aliens, these mines had mostly been abandoned. Fang Zheng unhesitatingly ordered the Drones to occupy these mines and begin harvesting resources. Soon, Larva after Larva hatched from the Hive, and various Zerg structures began to silently rise within the forest.

However, Fang Zheng wasn't entirely at ease about this. He remembered that the big boss in Edge of Tomorrow could reload saves. If it reset everything, would he have to start all over again?

Fortunately, Milune, this Zerg Queen, gave Fang Zheng a very good suggestion. She suggested that he go kill some Mimic Aliens. That way, as long as the Zerg could obtain the flesh and blood of these Mimic Aliens, they could devour and adjust their genes to gain their unique power. Although these Mimic Aliens were formidable, that ability of theirs probably couldn't affect the Zerg.

Thinking it over carefully, Fang Zheng found Milune's reasoning quite sound. That Alien Boss could manipulate time, that was true, but it seemed its ability couldn't affect his own soldiers. After all, the aliens couldn't just appear out of thin air. If the aliens had to start mass-producing troops from scratch every time they reloaded, their numbers definitely wouldn't be this large. Especially since that Alien Boss had already controlled most of Europe—if it had to reproduce soldiers every time it reset, it would be incredibly troublesome.

Conversely, if the Alien Creatures were unaffected by the reset, then every time time was reset, their numbers would only grow. Considering that this time manipulation was an ability the aliens had already used to death, it wasn't impossible that they would use it as a core strategy to snowball.

Of course, all of this was still just speculation. But that didn't matter. Fang Zheng had already received news that in two days, humanity would land on the French West Coast to launch a full-scale counterattack against the aliens. This marked the beginning of Edge of Tomorrow's plot. If he could obtain alien genes before that, then no matter how many times Tom Cruise reloaded, it wouldn't affect him.

And for now...

"Time to start the hunt."

Looking at the abandoned town before him, Fang Zheng muttered to himself, then strode quickly inside.

The alien offensive was growing fiercer. The place Fang Zheng was in now wasn't the small city he had transmigrated to, but an abandoned town on the front lines. Although those Alien Creatures were cruel and cunning, human greed was no less impressive. In the bar, Fang Zheng had heard more than once about people sneaking into these abandoned places to find expensive items to sell. Of course, the danger was also high, since those aliens usually burrowed underground and rarely showed themselves.

Looks like I'll need to send out a few Overseers for detection when fighting these guys.

With a jumble of random thoughts running through his mind, Fang Zheng strolled into the town. It had been completely destroyed by war, nothing but vast stretches of ruins. But Fang Zheng didn't care. He now possessed the Queen of Blades' psionic abilities, allowing him to easily sense energy fluctuations around him. He quickly detected several life forms lurking in the ruins not far away.

Over there?

Raising his pistol, Fang Zheng cautiously walked toward the ruins ahead. This pistol was one he had taken from those unlucky thugs who had died miserably. Since the dead had no use for it, it was his gain.

Three meters, two meters, one meter.

"BOOM!!"

Just as Fang Zheng passed by the ruins, the collapsed building beside him suddenly exploded, and a monster charged out from inside.

It was a very strange thing. It looked like a mass of cables bundled together, forming a four-legged beast-like monster. Though its body was massive, its speed was as swift as a cheetah's. It lunged at Fang Zheng at its fastest speed, its rear cables coalescing into two tentacles that stabbed toward him.

If Fang Zheng were an ordinary person, this strike would have pierced his body and turned him into a corpse. But Fang Zheng, who had mastered psionic power, wasn't so easily killed. Facing the Alien Creature charging at him, he waved his right hand. A Psionic Shockwave shot out from his palm, striking the alien's massive body and sending it flying. At the same time, Fang Zheng turned and ran without hesitation.

"ROAR---!! ROAR---!!"

Though it had taken a heavy hit, the monster wasn't killed. It flipped over, dragging its mangled body upright, and roared as it chased after Fang Zheng. Following its roar, two more alien monsters leaped out from the sides, trying to block Fang Zheng's path from left and right.

But Fang Zheng's speed exceeded these alien monsters' expectations. A blue light flashed over his body, and the next moment, he vanished from his spot, reappearing behind the two alien monsters. Seeing this, the two monsters were stunned, as if they hadn't expected this human to possess such a bizarre power. However, their reactions were quick. They immediately turned and pursued him. At the same time, the tentacles on their backs rose again, condensing into a blinding light, and then energy bolts shot out from them.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!"

Energy bolts the size of cannon shells exploded around Fang Zheng. Protected by his psionic shield, he wasn't harmed. As he sprinted, he silently calculated the strength of these alien creatures.

They seemed to have only this one form, but in this form, the alien monsters were all-rounders—capable of ranged and melee combat, anti-air and anti-ground. They were a jack-of-all-trades unit. However, their bodies weren't tough. From the movie, human bullets could easily tear through their bodies, showing that these alien monsters were quite fragile.

But the Zerg seemed similar.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng glanced back at the three figures chasing him. A slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth. The next moment, a blue light flashed, and Fang Zheng simply vanished into thin air.

"-----?"

Sensing their prey suddenly disappear, the three alien monsters stopped in confusion. They waved their tentacles, warily scanning their surroundings.

Only now did these alien monsters realize that, at some point, they had chased the human into the forest. They hesitated for a moment, then turned to leave.

But Fang Zheng hadn't brought them here for hide-and-seek.

"CRASH!"

Just as the three alien monsters turned around, the ground around them suddenly erupted. One by one, Hydralisks burst out from below, pouncing on their enemies.

A battle between alien creatures and alien creatures had begun.