Parasite Spores were one of Ye Luo's three initial skills as the Zerg Emperor, alongside Armament and Larva Transformation. Although they weren't practical combat skills like Roman's Spiral Slash, they were incredibly useful to Ye Luo, who had just arrived in an unfamiliar environment.
In this battle, the Zerglings' burrowing ability, combined with the shock the warriors felt at seeing the Zerg Hive for the first time, had made for an effective surprise attack. Even so, Ye Luo had lost a full forty-two Zerglings!
The loss pained him. One battle had wiped out an entire day's hard work...
Roman and Morgan's eyes were bloodshot. They were both fourth-level fighters and mages, and Parasite Spores couldn't control them forever. In fact, to keep them under control, the spores had to continually destroy their nerves! So even though Ye Luo wanted to keep them alive, they wouldn't last more than an hour.
Of course, this flaw in Parasite Spores would gradually diminish as Ye Luo grew stronger, until the parasitism became perfect...
Besides, an hour was more than enough time for Ye Luo to learn a few things...
First of all, just as Ye Luo had expected, this continent's power system was based primarily on battle aura and magic. The continent was divided into four great empires and countless small kingdoms. Of course, legend had it that the Elf Race lived in Dream Marsh Forest, the Orc Race inhabited the Red Earth Continent to the east, and the Dragon Race dwelled on Dragon Island off the southeastern coast!
Although no one on this continent had yet managed to break free of its gravity and enter space, the strongest warriors were only one step away from doing so!
The pinnacle fighters on this continent were ninth-level warriors. Their level was basically equivalent to a level nine in the Zerg civilization's standards for individual combat power, so Ye Luo was still nowhere near powerful enough to do as he pleased.
The good news, however, was that ninth-level powerhouses were exceedingly rare, few enough to count on one hand. They all stayed within the four great empires, while the strongest warrior in the kingdom where Ye Luo and the others were now was merely a level-four, first-rank Silver Fighter—and he was in the kingdom's capital.
"Could the three of us defeat a fourth-rank Silver Fighter in a fair fight?"
Roman answered mechanically, "If Ye Yi launches a surprise attack and the fourth-rank Silver Fighter doesn't notice him, we have a fifty-something percent chance of winning. Otherwise, our odds are only ten percent!"
Ten percent. Ye Luo could only smile bitterly at that miserable chance...
At that moment, large lumps began to rise across Roman's head, as if a dozen giant insects were scurrying beneath his scalp!
Ye Luo knew Roman's body couldn't take any more and was about to burst. He hurriedly asked, "Besides the two of you, does anyone else know about the Zerg Hive?"
"Yes. Rumors about Monster Cave have spread throughout the entire border region. We were the first mercenary group to begin exploring it. Over the next few days, other mercenary groups from Morton Province will surely come, too. And the more mercenaries die here, the more valuable they'll think Monster Cave is, attracting even more high-level warriors!"
"Damn it!" Ye Luo cursed. His gaze shifted, and he asked again, "Do you know of any large mineral deposits nearby?"
"Yes. The nearest deposit is fifteen kilometers from here, southwest of Cabo Town. It's a small deposit controlled by Cabo Town, whose strongest fighter is also a level-four, first-rank Silver Fighter. A little farther away is the main city of Morton..."
"Bang!" Before Roman could finish, his entire head burst open like a watermelon.
As for Morgan, the old man's body was even frailer than Roman's. He had burst while describing the continent...
"The base has been exposed. A large number of powerful enemies will arrive soon. We can't just sit here and wait!" Ye Luo pulled the crystal from Morgan's staff and held it in his hand, converting it into streams of energy.
On the Creep, the more than thirty Larvae that had received the energy immediately transformed into pulsing lumps of flesh...
The crystal was the last surprise Ye Luo had gotten. It contained enough energy to mutate two hundred Zerglings. But with so few Larvae right now, he couldn't use it all. Otherwise, this battle would have been pure profit...
"My Emperor, what should we do?" The four Ye brothers gathered again.
Ye Luo was in low spirits. Humans were his original species, the ones he had longed to feel close to. Yet, for the sake of their interests, they were bound to part ways—and even turn their weapons on one another. It weighed heavily on him. He wanted to coexist peacefully with humanity and develop together. He didn't want to devour humanity's living space, nor did he want to abandon the Zerg legacy he had inherited...
Watching Ye Luo sit in silence, Ye Feng said gently, "My Emperor, you don't have to be sad. There are countless species in the universe. The humans on the planet where you came from may not even be the same species as the humans on this planet. If you want to remain friendly toward humanity, it's simple: lead our civilization beyond this planet and back to the pinnacle of the universe. Then you can protect the planet you came from, keeping it safe from the turmoil of interstellar war so its people can grow and thrive... I think what you care about most isn't humanity, but your homeland..."
Ye Feng's words instantly lifted the clouds from Ye Luo's heart. That was right. Why did he feel close to humanity? Wasn't it because he was from Earth? The lives he cared about were all on Earth. Why waste time lamenting here? The people on this planet had blond hair and blue eyes. At most, they were Westerners—and if Westerners dared to threaten the interests of his fellow Chinese, wiping them out was only right!
If he truly cared about Earth, then he had to grow stronger, because only then could he truly protect Earth and his compatriots... As for the other humans... to hell with them!
Ye Luo lifted his head with a grateful smile and looked at Ye Feng. "You're right, Ye Feng. Thank you!"
"It's my honor to ease my Emperor's worries!" Ye Feng said happily.
Ye You scratched his head with a serious expression. "Actually, I knew that, too..."
Ye Luo shook his head with an amused smile. "You're always wise after the fact. All right, enough joking around. Listen up: this base has been exposed. To throw them off, we have to blow it up and make all the mercenaries who come to investigate think someone else got here first. But before that, we'll take the mine in Kabu Town. And to avoid repeating this mistake, we'll attack in human form!"
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