Level Two Base

It had been exactly ten days since Ye Luo occupied this small mining pit.

Ten days ago, Floy had brought Ye Luo here and dismissed all the miners in the mining area. Ye Luo immediately ordered the Larvae to hatch, and as the new base incubated, the base in the jungle instantly burst apart...

Ten days was neither long nor short, but plenty could happen in that time. First, as mercenary groups continued to arrive, news of the Monster Cave in the jungle had spread far and wide, becoming a topic of conversation after meals. However, the major mercenary groups left soon after arriving...

Withered Creep, exploded Zerg swarms—everywhere bore the signs of a place that had already been plundered...

Of course, quite a few scholars believed that this Monster Cave had actually been a transitional place for the growth of some high-level Demon Beast. Like snakes and insects, which had stages of shedding skin or molting shells as they grew, a high-level Demon Beast had most likely once shed an enormous mass of flesh and blood here...

There were many theories, but the Zerg Hive had already shattered and become worthless. It was still a topic of discussion among the residents of Kabu Town, but before long, they would forget it...

On the other hand, Floy's actions naturally met with unanimous opposition from his family. To them, the income from forging equipment was now gone, immediately cutting the family's earnings by two-thirds. More importantly, Floy had handed the mining pit over to his nephew, leaving his son and wife even more bewildered. Fortunately, Floy's father had died early, leaving no proof behind. Otherwise, this excuse would surely have fallen apart without even being challenged...

As their income declined, the members of the Floy Family placed increasing pressure on Floy. Yet Ye Luo was not panicked in the slightest...

After converting vast quantities of ore resources, the base had now accumulated enough energy to advance to a level-two base!

At the bottom of the funnel-like collapsed mining pit, the enormous Zerg Hive had transformed into a gigantic egg. The egg pulsed continuously like a heart...

Around the mining pit, one hundred Zerglings in human form stood guard. Meanwhile, over a hundred Flying Ants monitored everything within several miles like hundreds of cameras.

Ye Luo glanced at the sun overhead, then looked at the giant egg as its pulsing reached its peak. He murmured, "The time has come!"

The moment his words fell, Bang! The giant egg instantly burst apart, and a brand-new Zerg Hive appeared before Ye Luo. At the same time, the instant the Zerg Hive completed its upgrade, Ye Luo, Ye Yi, Ye Feng, Ye Meng, and Ye You all felt the power within their bodies increase by thirty percent! As the Zerg Emperor and Zerg heroes, every advancement of the Zerg Hive fed a massive amount of energy back to them, allowing them to break through together!

According to the Zerg's classification of combat power, the five of them had now reached level four—equivalent to fourth-rank Silver Warriors on this continent! However, with each of their special abilities supporting them, ordinary fourth-rank Silver Warriors were truly no match for them.

"My Emperor, the Zerg Hive has completed its evolution. Current level: two. It can produce 200 Larvae per day. Unlocked units: Hydralisk, Overlord, Lurker, Healing Aphid."

Hydralisks were the earliest long-range attack unit of the Zerg. A Hydralisk stood as tall as an ordinary person, resembling an upright python. The difference was that its massive head was covered in streamlined carapace, while two slender forelimbs extended from its shoulders, each ending in three sharp claws! Its back was encased in a hard shell, with hundreds or thousands of barbs spreading along the center of that shell... These barbs were like human hair, growing and falling out every day... Hydralisks absorbed these mature spikes into their bodies, then, upon encountering an enemy, used the muscles in their backs and mouths to spray out the sharp spikes! This was how Hydralisks earned their name.

Overlords, meanwhile, were flying insects with enormous abdominal sacs. Their eyes could see extremely far and zoom in and out as though adjusting focus. Three pairs of hind legs and one pair of forelimbs hung limply beneath them. They possessed no offensive power whatsoever, yet they made excellent sentries. As the base evolved again, their huge abdominal sacs would be able to carry Zerg units, turning them into aerial transports.

Even in the era of interstellar warfare, Overlords were indispensable units for the Zerg. Zerg starships were likewise formed from combinations of various insects, and Overlords were the eyes, sights, and radar of those starships...

Lurkers were huge creatures, their bodies resembling Jurassic stegosaurs, their backs likewise covered in barbs. Unlike Hydralisks, though, every barb they possessed was incomparably massive. Lurkers moved very slowly and were unsuitable for offensive combat, but they were exceptionally suited for defense. Their method of attack was terrifying. Once an enemy entered their defensive range, a Lurker would lie flat on the ground, drive its retractable tail into the earth, and then, without any warning, stab directly out from underground and impale the enemy!

Healing Aphids, on the other hand, were adorable little creatures. A single unit of Healing Aphids was the size of a pinky fingernail and emitted a warm white glow. Among Zerg units built for slaughter and destruction, they were exceptionally unique. And a unit of Healing Aphids was not just one aphid, but a thousand! That was right—one thousand gathered together were only the size of a steel ball! Once released, they would actively burrow into wounds, clear away necrotic cells, purify viruses, and heal injuries! The power of Healing Aphids was enough to restore flesh to the dead and bones to the living. So long as someone still had a breath left, they could immediately be brought back from the brink of death! Of course, such tremendous effects also determined their exorbitant cost!

Each Hydralisk cost 30 energy, each Overlord cost 100 energy, each Lurker cost 150 energy, while Healing Aphids reached the terrifying cost of 500 energy per unit. Of course, the so-called energy currently referred to level-one energy. At present, whether Demon Cores or minerals, they could only provide the base with level-one energy. This made Ye Luo wonder whether this planet even possessed energy above level two!

Level-one energy was used for the most basic Zerg mutations, while unit advancements, technological research, and even the future creation of interstellar motherships all required level-two or higher energy sources! If he could not find suitable resources to absorb, Ye Luo could only use a conversion rate of 2,000 to 1 to upgrade level-one energy into level-two energy...

"Zerg Hive, how many resources do we have now?"

"My Emperor, we currently possess 1,000 units of level-one energy, 200 Drones, 1,000 Zerglings, and 150 Flying Ants."

"1,000 units? Hatch one Hydralisk, one Overlord, one Lurker, and one unit of Healing Aphids!"

At Ye Luo's command, four Larvae on the Creep were immediately wrapped in flesh and blood tissue, transforming into four enormous eggs.

"Zerg Hive, how much longer can this mineral vein sustain our mining?"

"My Emperor, twenty-three days. At a rate of 1,500 units of level-one energy per day, it will only sustain mining for twenty-three days. If the number of Drones increases, that time will be further shortened."