Looking at the three Magic Wolf corpses, the Larva hero Ye You, who had been hiding behind Ye Luo with a perfectly serious expression, suddenly seemed to remember something. In two quick strides, he reached the bodies. He was so fast that Ye Luo stared in astonishment. "Well, would you look at that—you're almost as fast as I am..." Still marveling, Ye Luo noticed Ye You suddenly dig three Crystal Cores out of the Magic Wolves' heads.
"Ding. Level-one energy material detected. Available for absorption."
From his inheritance memories, Ye Luo knew that the Zerg could absorb energy-bearing minerals from the universe to expand, and that energy was divided into seven levels, from low to high. Level one was the lowest, and level seven the highest. He hadn't expected the Demon Cores in these Demon Beasts' brains to count as energy materials, too. They were only level one and of low quality, but something was better than nothing!
"Great Master, might I have one of the energy crystals? With it, I can grow to the level of these Magic Wolves!" Ye You's words made Ye Luo's eyes light up.
Larvae were the most basic unit of the Zerg. Many of their combat units and structures hatched from Larvae, so although Larvae weren't especially important, they were indispensable. Ye Luo had thought that, as a Larva hero, he wouldn't be much use. But he could actually devour Demon Cores and transform into the corresponding species of unit. That was better than he could have hoped for...
With Ye Luo's permission, Ye You swallowed a Demon Core. Three seconds later, the muscles in his body began to twitch. He dropped to all fours, and after another two seconds, he had become a Magic Wolf identical to the ones they had seen!
The Magic Wolf looked at Ye Luo's astonished face and proudly shook its head. Then it opened its mouth toward a small tree in the distance and shot out a Wind Blade!
"Bang!" The tree trunk snapped cleanly in half.
"Level-one combat strength. The Magic Wolf Ye You transformed into should be at level one!" An idea flashed through Ye Luo's mind.
Combat strength was the Zerg's standard for measuring individual powerhouses in the universe. The lowest level was 1, and the highest was 45! The Zerg Overmind, Queen, and heroes all had limitless potential and could evolve to level 45!
Ye You changed back from a Magic Wolf into a human and respectfully handed the Demon Core in his hand to Ye Luo.
Ye Luo picked up the Demon Core, then suddenly froze. "We have energy now, but how do we build the most basic Hatchery?" A Hatchery was where Larvae were produced, the starting point for Zerg structures. However, a Hatchery also had to be mutated from a Larva...
Ye You looked at Ye Luo as though the answer were obvious. "You're the emperor of the Zerg. Of course you produce the Larvae..."
Pro...duce... Ye Luo's mind instantly conjured up a scene of Larvae spurting out of his ass... At the thought, his sphincter clenched.
"Ding. Overmind absorbed 20 energy."
"Ding. Overmind can use energy to strengthen Emperor Armor, produce Parasitic Spores, or produce Larvae..."
The prompt sounded again in his mind, and Ye Luo breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness they didn't have to come out of his ass.
Then he opened his right hand and silently thought, "Produce Larva!"
"Ding. Larva production by Overmind costs 10 energy per Larva. Produce one?"
Ye Luo grimaced. Once he had a Hatchery, he could get Larvae for free every day, but producing them himself cost energy.
"Produce one!"
As soon as Ye Luo spoke, a Larva appeared in his right hand. It was about the length of his palm and three centimeters wide. The moment it appeared, it affectionately began licking his hand...
The sight of a long, slimy worm crawling over his hand would normally have made his skin crawl, but now Ye Luo found it incredibly cute. Becoming the emperor of the Zerg had filled him with affection for these strange creatures...
"Ding. Since this is the Overmind's first time mutating a structure, this construction is free. Summon it now?"
"Yes!" A glint flashed in Ye Luo's eyes.
The Larva obediently crawled off his palm and onto the open ground. It pressed itself against the earth, then suddenly swelled as masses of fleshy tissue began to form.
"Ding. Hatchery under construction. Time remaining: ten minutes."
Ye Luo patted Ye You on the shoulder. "The Hatchery will take ten minutes. Let's each guard one side..." As he spoke, he casually wiped the slime from his right hand onto Ye You's shoulder.
Ye You had clearly noticed Ye Luo's little trick. After wiping his hand clean, Ye Luo ignored Ye You's deeply aggrieved look, as if he were a woman who'd been wronged, and began climbing the tallest tree... The higher you stood, the farther you could see...
Ten minutes later.
With a loud "Bang!", the massive mass of flesh, now ten meters across, burst open, revealing a gigantic Hatchery!
"Ding. Level-one Hatchery. Can produce 50 Larvae per day."
"Fifty?" A glint flashed in Ye Luo's eyes. That was more than he'd expected. "What a pleasant surprise..."
And that wasn't the only surprise. The first Hatchery also came with five free Drones!
Drones were the Zerg's resource-gathering units. Each one was only about the size of a dinner plate, but they were not to be underestimated. Their claws could easily cut through incredibly hard ore, and each Drone could carry minerals a hundred times its own size, like an ant!
"Ding. Drone unit detected. Mutate a Drone combat hero now?"
"Yes!"
"Bang!" Another burst of flesh and blood. A Drone was enveloped in a mass of fleshy tissue! "Ding. Combat hero hatching. Time remaining: one minute!"
Now that the Drones had appeared, Ye Luo didn't waste any more time. With a wave of his hand, he sent them off to gather energy.
They burrowed into the ground. A moment later, they emerged carrying enormous chunks of ore, then delivered the minerals to the Hatchery...
However, since the ground beneath them wasn't a mining area, progress was very slow. According to the Drones' work protocols, when there were no minerals within a one-li radius, they would begin searching underground. Once those underground deposits had been mined out, they would turn to less desirable sources. But by then, the Drones would be terrifying. They would sweep away every living thing, uprooting trees and grass alike... After all, everything in the universe was simply energy in a different form; the only question was how much it contained...
Thus, on a planet without mineral resources, the Zerg would often destroy the entire ecosystem without restraint. This was why they became enemies to so many life-forms...
One minute later...
With a bang, the fleshy mass burst apart, revealing a man even more robust than Ye You. "Drone hero, reporting to My Emperor!"
Ye Luo looked at him expectantly. "From today on, your name is Ye Feng. Ye Feng, Ye You's specialty is devouring Demon Cores and transforming into the corresponding Demon Beasts. What's yours?"
Ye Feng stood respectfully and closed his eyes. Then his eyes snapped open, and a beam of green light shot from them, forming a huge, detailed map in front of Ye Luo. Most importantly, the map, made up of countless dotted lines, clearly marked the locations of various minerals!
"A treasure-hunting mouse?" Ye Luo's eyes immediately lit up.
Three dark lines appeared on Ye Feng's face, while Ye You covered his mouth and laughed nearby... "Heh heh, Ye Feng, how'd you become a mouse?"
Ye Feng explained helplessly, "My Emperor, my ability is to detect nearby energy sources. The range will increase exponentially as my level rises. Once I've grown strong enough, I'll be able to stand on this planet and tell whether there are mineral-rich planets in the surrounding star systems, and easily determine the levels of their minerals!"
"Excellent! What a great ability!" Ye Luo exclaimed.
On Earth, there was an activity called stone gambling. If he took Ye Feng back with him, he'd win every bet! Of course, stone gambling was just one example. Being able to detect energy sources meant Ye Feng could determine the age and value of many things. That way, when the Zerg army swept through everything in its path, they wouldn't have to worry about overlooking precious natural treasures or relics left behind by advanced civilizations...
Before you continue