Construction, Hatchery

Looking at the bodies of the three Magic Wolf, the Larva hero Ye You, who had been hiding behind Ye Luo with a straight face, suddenly seemed to remember something. He covered the distance to the carcasses in two quick strides. The speed left Ye Luo stunned. "Good lad, your speed isn't any slower than mine..." While he was still marveling, he saw Ye You suddenly dig three magic cores out of the Magic Wolf's brains.

"Ding, Level 1 energy substance detected. Available for absorption."

From his inherited memories, he knew that the Zerg could absorb cosmic energy minerals to expand, and energy was divided into seven levels from low to high. Level 1 was the lowest, and Level 7 was the highest. He hadn't expected the magic cores in these magical beasts to count as energy substances. Although they were only Level 1 and of low quality, it was better than nothing!

"Great Master, could you grant me an energy crystal? With it, I can grow to the level of these Magic Wolf!" Ye You's words made Ye Luo's eyes light up.

Larva were the most basic units of the Zerg; many combat units and buildings were hatched from them. Therefore, while a Larva's status wasn't particularly high, they were indispensable. He had thought this Larva hero wouldn't be of much use, but he hadn't expected him to be able to devour magic cores and transform into corresponding unit types. This was simply perfect...

Upon receiving Ye Luo's permission, Ye You swallowed the magic core in one gulp. Three seconds later, his muscles twitched, and he threw his hands onto the ground. After another two seconds, he had transformed into a Magic Wolf identical to the ones from before!

The Magic Wolf looked at Ye Luo's surprised gaze, shook its head triumphantly, opened its mouth toward a small tree in the distance, and fired a Wind Blade!

"Bang!" The trunk of the small tree snapped in response!

Level 1 combat power. The Magic Wolf that Ye You transformed into must be at the Level 1 combat power stage! A thought instantly popped into Ye Luo's mind.

Combat power was the standard the Zerg used to measure individual strength in the universe, ranging from Level 1 to Level 45! The Overmind, Queens, and heroes of the Zerg were all super-beings with infinite potential who could evolve up to Level 45!

Ye You transformed back from his Magic Wolf state into a human and respectfully handed the remaining magic cores to Ye Luo.

Ye Luo picked up a magic core and suddenly froze. "We have energy now, but how do we build the most basic Hatchery?" A Hatchery was the place where Larva were incubated and the starting point for Zerg architecture, yet a Hatchery itself required a Larva to mutate into it...

Ye You looked at Ye Luo as if it were obvious. "You are the Emperor of our Zerg; Larva, of course, are produced by you..."

Pro... duce... A scene of Larva spewing out of his anus instantly flashed through Ye Luo's mind... At the thought, his sphincter immediately tightened...

"Ding, Overmind absorbed 20 energy."

"Ding, Overmind can use energy to strengthen Emperor Armor, produce Parasitic Spore, produce Larva..."

The prompt in his mind came again, and Ye Luo breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, they didn't have to come out of his anus.

Immediately, he opened his right hand and whispered in his heart, "Produce Larva!"

"Ding, Larva, Overmind production, each costs 10 energy points. Do you wish to produce?"

Ye Luo grimaced. As long as he had a Hatchery, he could get free Larva every day, but he hadn't expected that producing them himself would require energy.

"Produce!"

As soon as Ye Luo finished speaking, a Larva the length of a palm and three centimeters wide appeared on his right hand. As soon as it appeared, it affectionately licked Ye Luo's hand...

A long, thin worm covered in slime crawling on his hand—a scene that would normally make one's skin crawl—now looked incredibly cute in Ye Luo's eyes. Becoming the Zerg Emperor had filled him with an innate sense of intimacy toward these exotic beasts...

"Ding, due to the Overmind's first building mutation, this construction is free. Do you wish to summon it immediately?"

"Yes!" A sharp glint flashed in Ye Luo's eyes.

The Larva crawled off his palm and lay down on the open ground, its body suddenly swelling as a massive amount of flesh and blood structures began to collide.

"Ding, Hatchery under construction, remaining time: ten minutes."

Ye Luo patted Ye You on the shoulder. "The Hatchery will take ten minutes. We'll take one side each and keep watch..." As he spoke, he casually wiped the slime from his right hand onto Ye You's shoulder.

Ye Luo's small action clearly didn't escape Ye You's eyes. Once his palm was clean, Ye Luo ignored Ye You's incredibly resentful, bullied-woman-like gaze and climbed up the tallest tree... The higher he stood, the further he could see...

Ten minutes later.

With a "Bang!", the massive mass of flesh and blood, which had grown to ten meters, burst open, revealing a giant Hatchery!

"Ding, Level 1 Hatchery, can produce 50 Larva per day."

"Fifty?" A sharp glint flashed in Ye Luo's eyes. This number exceeded his expectations. "A surprise among surprises..."

Of course, the surprises didn't end there. After the first Hatchery was built, it actually came with five free Drone!

Drone were the Zerg's resource-gathering units. Each Drone was only the size of a dinner plate, but one should never underestimate them. Their sharp claws could easily sever incredibly hard ore, and each Drone could carry minerals a hundred times their own size, just like an ant!

"Ding, unit Drone appeared. Do you wish to immediately mutate a Drone into a combat hero!"

"Yes!"

"Bang!" Another fleshy, muffled explosion occurred, and a Drone was instantly enveloped by a mass of flesh! "Ding, combat hero incubation in progress, remaining time: one minute!"

Since the Drone had appeared, Ye Luo didn't waste any more time. With a wave of his hand, the Drone immediately began gathering energy.

They dove into the ground, and a moment later, they emerged carrying huge chunks of ore, which they delivered into the Hatchery...

However, because the ground beneath their feet wasn't a mining area, the progress was very slow. According to the Drone's work principles, if there were no minerals within a one-mile radius, they would explore underground. Once the underground minerals were exhausted, they would settle for the next best thing! However, the Drone would be terrifying at that point; they would sweep away all life forms. Whether it was trees or flowers, they would be uprooted... because all things in the universe were actually different forms of energy, just with varying amounts contained within...

Therefore, on a non-mineral planet, the Zerg often destroyed the entire ecological environment by any means necessary, which was also the reason why the Zerg became the enemy of many life forms...

One minute later...

Bang! The flesh and blood tissue exploded, and a man even more robust than Ye You revealed himself. "Drone hero, greetings to my Emperor!"

Ye Luo looked at him with great anticipation. "From today on, you shall be called Ye Feng. Ye Feng, Ye You's specialty is devouring magic cores and transforming into the corresponding magical beast. What is your specialty?"

Ye Feng stood up respectfully and closed his eyes. Then, his eyes snapped open, and a green light shot out from them, forming a huge and detailed topographical map in front of Ye Luo. Most importantly, this map, composed of countless dashed lines, clearly marked the presence of various minerals!

"A treasure-hunting mouse?" Ye Luo's eyes immediately lit up.

Three black lines immediately appeared on Ye Feng's face, while Ye You covered his mouth and snickered on the side... "Hehe, Ye Feng, how did you become a mouse?"

Ye Feng explained helplessly, "My Emperor, my ability is to discover surrounding energy sources. The detection range will expand geometrically as my level increases. Once I grow up, standing on this planet, I will be able to know if there are mineral-rich planets in the surrounding star systems and easily determine the grade of the minerals!"

"Good! A great ability!" Ye Luo exclaimed with high praise.

On Earth, there was an activity called stone gambling, and if he brought Ye Feng back, he would win every single bet! Of course, stone gambling was just an example. Being able to discover energy sources meant that Ye Feng could distinguish the age and value of many things. This way, when the Zerg army swept through in the future, he wouldn't have to worry about missing out on precious treasures or products left behind by advanced civilizations...