Zerg

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zerg (虫族)
Species/Race	Biological race that assimilates superior genes to improve itself 1.
Affiliation	Ye Luo’s Holy Zerg Empire; the four-Cerebrate Zerg Alliance in the Koprulu Sector 479 695.
Occupation/Role	Originally created as weapons of war; subsequently became an independent race and civilization 1.
Leadership	Ye Luo, the new Overmind; four Cerebrates lead the established Koprulu factions 1 708.
Status	Expanding under Ye Luo, though Hive-driven advancement eventually encounters a Level 35 limit 793 805.
First Appearance	1

Power Progression

Hive levels, civilization levels, individual combat levels, and evolutionary stages are separate measures. A higher evolutionary stage can give a unit combat strength well above that of its ordinary form 548.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Rebuilding under a new Overmind	1	After the original civilization’s destruction, Ye Luo must rebuild through territorial expansion, mineral absorption, and technological unlocks.
Hive evolution; level unspecified	126	Thirteen million Crystal Cores are converted into Tier 2 energy. The upgrade unlocks Swarm Hosts, Vipers, and Nydus Worms.
Second-stage Zergling	196	Research hero Ye Lan unlocks Adrenal Glands and Metabolic Acceleration. The evolved Zergling has Level 7 attack power, Level 8 speed, and Devouring Power.
Level 9 Hive	202	Unlocks Three-Eyed Millipedes and Blue-Light Particle Bugs, expanding space-combat firepower and warship propulsion coordination.
Level 2 Heart of the Swarm; Level 10 Hive upgrade initiated	285	Five million energy blocks are allocated to each upgrade. The Heart upgrades immediately; the Hive requires several hours. Subsequent Hive upgrades comprehensively strengthen heroes and ordinary units.
Corpse-fed Zergling evolution	294	More than a thousand Zerglings evolve after consuming zombie corpses. The leading evolved Zergling gains two combat levels.
Three-rune Zergling, Level 14	299	Consuming a Great Protector completes a third rune. The Zergling reaches Level 14, with speed comparable to a Level 15 Zerg hero.
Third-stage Zergling	315	A Zergling advances after consuming an elder whose life-bound Demon Dragon Shears provide an exceptional resource for the breakthrough.
Second-tier Hydralisks	328	Their stronger bodies nearly double their range. The corresponding hero gains greater range and studies Overlord-assisted targeting.
Level 11 Hive	345	Unlocks Devourers and Ironclad Octopuses. The Ye brothers advance from Level 15 to Level 16, and their existing injuries heal immediately.
Level 5 civilization	479	Other major civilizations recognize the Zerg’s replacement of Alvin. The Holy Zerg Empire is formally established.
Third-tier Desperate Phantom → fourth-tier Berserk Commander	547	A second-tier Zergling undergoes both evolutions in a blood river resembling the Zerg Blood Pool. Its commander form can increase other Zerglings’ speed.
Level 13 Hive, documented	548	Ordinary Zerglings are at the twelfth tier. Second-tier forms possess thirteenth-tier combat power; third-tier forms reach tiers 15–17, and fourth-tier forms reach tiers 18–21.
Collective second-stage hero awakening	579	The Zerg brothers awaken while fighting Gibraltar’s Three Saints, increasing their strength and the number of combat bodies they can deploy.
Level 6 civilization, documented	581	Ye Luo’s forces have developed to a level comparable to a Level 6 civilization; he later explicitly confirms this classification.
Level 15 Hive	604	Ye Luo and the heroes reach Level 22. Ordinary units gain one level; second-stage Ultralisks and Brood Lords become available. Undying Ice Silkworms, Frenzied Blood Leeches, and Two-Winged Bat Demons are unlocked.
Level 17 Hive, documented	689	Blade-Arm Mutalisks and Vipers possess attack power in the rank 18–20 range, but cannot readily penetrate the Allied Army’s defenses.
Level 18 Hive; Heart of the Swarm raised twice	702	During Ye Luo’s seclusion, these upgrades give Ye Chao’s army enough strength to overwhelm Buenos Aires’s defenses.
Exclusive Hero Armaments	714	The recovered divine Overmind Armament supplies a gene-bank template for personalized equipment. All Zerg heroes receive growth-type armaments; Ye Meng is documented at Level 27.
Level 24 Hive	787	Following consecutive upgrades, every Zerg hero reaches Level 33.

Background and History

Origins and Collapse

The Zerg’s ancestral memories describe them as tools of war created by an unidentified powerful civilization. After being accidentally lost, they developed into an independent race. Their defining evolutionary method is to consume superior genes, analyze them, and incorporate optimized traits into their own bodies 1.

The original Zerg civilization collapsed after simultaneous Protoss and Terran attacks. When its homeworld was destroyed, a black light escaped across space and reached Ye Luo on a blue planet. Summoned by the Heart of the Zerg, he became the new Overmind and inherited responsibility for rebuilding the race 1.

Kerrigan’s Legacy

According to Cerebrate Inte, the Zerg, humans, and Protoss are legendarily creations of the Xel’Naga; he distinguishes that claim from their verifiable history of Xel’Naga supervision. He recounts that corrupted overseers manipulated the three races into destructive wars until they united against them 697.

Inte states that the Queen of Blades became a High God after the Dark Xel’Naga’s defeat and assumed oversight of the three races. Her armor crystallized into five divine artifacts. She later departed with investigating Xel’Naga, leaving the artifacts behind and interrupting the Overmind inheritance. Ye Luo subsequently identifies this former supreme ruler as Kerrigan 697 714.

Biology and Organization

Ordinary Units and Heroes

• Ordinary Zerg — Described as soulless extensions of the Overmind, possessing combat-oriented thought, absolute obedience, and intense loyalty rather than ordinary personal ambitions 1.
• Intelligent heroes — Each unit type can grant intelligence to nine entities: three combat heroes, three research heroes, and three command heroes 1.
• Individual preferences — Intelligent heroes retain distinctive personalities. Ye Meng and Ye Lei favor battle, Ye Ci is gluttonous, and Ye Wang is lustful 396.
• Humanoid forms — High-ranking Zerg can appear human; Ye You introduces himself in human form despite being a larva combat hero 1.
• Independent life — Zerg control is not necessarily permanent. Erasing Zerg information from Su Meier’s genes is proposed as a way to free the Overseer and make her an independent life-form 479.

Overmind and Cerebrates

The Overmind possesses supreme bloodline authority. Activating that bloodline weakens hostile Cerebrates and suppresses emotions such as greed and fear while restoring loyalty. At Level 35, Ye Luo would be able to destroy the four Cerebrates with a thought 711.

This obedience is not unconditional in every surviving faction. During the Overmind’s prolonged absence, inherited reverence faded enough for Cerebrates to plot against a weaker successor 694 711.

Cerebrate	Faction specialization
Inte	Ground units 708.
Rote	Warships 708.
Nate	Ranged units 708.
Kuwait	Control-type units 708.

The four hold equal status within the Zerg Alliance and discuss collective decisions together. Their factions have reached Level 7 civilization, with heroes ranging from Level 30 to Level 34. Unlike Ye Luo’s forces, they have not unlocked deeper evolution and therefore rely on collecting additional genes 696 713.

Zerg Network

• Connects high-level Zerg heroes and Hives, allowing distant communication and coordination 260 396.
• Overlords record and relay battlefield scenes for commanders and the Overmind 242 293.
• Three-Eyed Millipedes can receive Hive commands through their antennae even at great distances or under enemy radio-silence technology 202.
• Unlike the Protoss Khala, the network does not directly strengthen every connected basic warrior; its principal beneficiaries are heroes and Hives 260.

Abilities and Skills

Genetic Assimilation and Evolution

Consuming useful biological material allows the Zerg to acquire genes and pursue multiple evolutionary paths 1 196.

• Evolution can alter body size, combat strength, and racial abilities 196.
• Second-stage Zerglings use Devouring Power to consume battlefield flesh, heal, and evolve without drawing energy from the Hive 196.
• Only Zergling Devourers can unlock the third-stage paths Desperate Phantom and Reaper’s Claw 196.
• A third-stage breakthrough requires sufficient base support, or extensive feeding supplemented by high-grade energy. Exceptional artifacts can sometimes supply the latter 315.
• Unit evolution can unlock genes and corresponding skills within its hero. Heroes must then learn those skills through battle, sparring, or studying advanced units 328 469.

Hatching and Rapid Mobilization

Hives convert accumulated resources into troops, allowing the Zerg to hatch forces wherever suitable bases and energy supplies exist 559 699.

• Newly hatched units contain enough energy to survive for decades without food or drink 661.
• Resource planets can serve as troop reservoirs: Ye Luo can summon forces already produced there instead of conducting a conventional recruitment campaign 661.
• Energy can be transmitted as waves for widespread use, giving deployed forces advantages over enemies restricted to carried supplies 559.
• For the Gret Planet campaign, Ye Chao assembles 200 million Zerglings, 20 million Blade-Arm Mutalisks, 20 million Vipers, and 3,000 destroyers within a month, alongside several specialist contingents 699.

Mental Control and Infiltration

Infestors and other covert units attack enemy command structures as well as their bodies.

• High-level Infestors can control numerous powerful targets simultaneously. One historical Infestor controlled 765 experts and forced them to destroy their own world 147.
• Void Infestors can compel weak-willed enemies to attack allies or inflict severe mental shocks 689.
• Tiny Flying Ants can evade biological radar specifically designed to detect larger Zerg concealment units 463.
• Humanoid Destroyers specialize in infiltration, intelligence gathering, covert plundering, and assassination, answering directly to the Emperor and Queen 566.
• Cerebrates can possess Overlords; Inte demonstrates this ability and later teaches possession techniques to Ye Luo 708 713.

Regeneration and Revival

• Zerg warships can repair themselves during combat, forcing opponents to concentrate fire to destroy them outright 560.
• Hive upgrades can restore heroes’ injuries while raising their strength 345.
• Undying Ice Silkworms introduce revival capabilities, but resurrection requires substantial energy expenditure 604.

Limits

• Resource dependence: High-grade energy shortages can halt Hive advancement or prevent specialized warships from being hatched 116 589.
• Energy overload: A Berserk Commander infused with excessive energy approaches bodily collapse without combat to stabilize its gains. Further evolution also requires cooperation with a War Overseer 548.
• Defensive formations: At Solier, the Allied Army’s spherical formation holds against the swarm, inflicting roughly twenty times the casualties it suffers 689.
• Orbital vulnerability: Ground numbers cannot replace sufficient space forces; unopposed orbital weapons can annihilate massed Zerg 621.
• Level 35 ceiling: Beyond Level 35, individual swarm units can no longer advance through Hive upgrades and must cultivate independently 805.

Military Units and Warships

Selected Unit Roles

Unit	Documented role or capability
Zergling	Fast assault unit with battlefield feeding and multiple evolutionary branches 196.
Hydralisk	Ranged attacker; evolved forms gain greatly increased range 107 328.
Iron-Armored Cockroach	Armored frontline unit, resistant to Vulcan fire and used to shield aerial formations 240 243.
Blade-Arm Mutalisk	Flying attacker that launches cross-shaped Glaive Wurms capable of cutting steel 108.
Fluorescent Baneling	Used against enemy mages and in destructive close-range attacks 109.
Nydus Worm	Can breach fortified positions, including a base’s steel armor 793.
Three-Eyed Millipede	Space-combat organism that releases powerful biological-energy attacks through its third eye 202.
Devourer	Energy-gathering unit used for mining 345 396.
Ironclad Octopus	Large siege organism; groups can push captured resource planets into protected territory 345 701.
Ghost Hunter	Protects returning cargo ships against pirates 654.
Golden-backed Magneto-Optic Scorpion	Genes enter Hive research because mature specimens have three times an ordinary battleship’s range and main-cannon-equivalent power 637.

Biological Fleet Construction

Zerg warships use living organisms rather than conventional steel hulls, wiring, and jet engines 164 202.

• Mutated void beasts — Enormous creatures are transformed into major ships, including battleships, cruisers, and the Leviathan flagship 164.
• Armored Beetles — Link their bodies and legs together to form layered hulls for destroyers, frigates, and landing ships 164.
• Ion Bugs — Jellyfish-like organisms that provide propulsion 164.
• Aurora Bugs — Assimilated former plant lifeforms that function as ion cannons using Hive-supplied energy 164.
• Blue-Light Particle Bugs — Coordinate Ion Bugs, addressing energy-distribution restrictions that previously limited ship construction 202.
• Hive warships — Stronger than Armored Beetle-built vessels, though weaker than Nidhogg; require psionic energy to hatch 589.

Biological coordination also permits unusual maneuvers: over-500-meter destroyers roll sideways to evade main-cannon shots, responding as enemy weapons fire rather than trying to outrun the beams 240.

External Technology

The Zerg generally prefer evolving their own bodies over attaching artificial armor, but this preference is not an absolute prohibition 164.

• Ye You commissions decorative Zergling armor to distinguish civilized Zerg from wild beasts 25.
• Ye Hua uses a mech because his Extradimensional Corruptor form has limited melee ability and only average defense 502.
• After defeating the Sith, Ye Luo acquires the Mechanical Legion’s production technology, making previously abandoned iron-rich planets useful again 630.

Resources and Armaments

Energy Sources

Energy grade	Documented source
Level 1	Level 3 energy planets 714.
Level 2	Level 2 energy planets 714.
Level 3	Level 1 energy planets 714.
Level 4	Tarobu Resource Planet 714.
Level 5	Baide Resource Planet 714.
Level 6	Gude Resource Planet 714.
Level 7	Gret Resource Planet 714.
Psionic energy	Required for Hive warships; acquired psionic raw crystals also enter the Zerg’s trade economy 589 638.

• Trade exchanges specialties the Zerg cannot absorb for high-quality energy ore 638.
• Frenzied Blood Leeches and Healing Aphids become export goods used to obtain strategic supplies 654 656.
• Warships impose continuing costs: a documented cruiser stores 20 million units of Level 1 energy and one million units of Level 2 energy, potentially consuming half its Level 2 reserve in an evenly matched battle 203.

Divine and Hero Armaments

• Complete Overmind divine set — Crimson Undying Armor, Soul Longsword, Crown of the Sacred Insect, Shattered Greaves, and Golden Scale Bracer 780.
• Undying Armor — Automatically blocks detected hostile attacks and can reflect them at its owner’s will; both functions consume substantial energy 711.
• Hero Armaments — Personalized, growth-type equipment forged from the divine armament’s gene-bank template. Each changes between humanoid and Zerg forms 714.
• Forging cost — Ye Chao’s armament requires 100,000 units of Level 7 energy and five million units of Level 6 energy 714.
• Divine advancement restriction — Newly forged Hero Armaments cannot exceed Level 34, even for a divine-level wearer. Further advancement requires nurturing within the hero’s Domain of God 714.

Major Campaigns

Continental Rise

Ye Luo’s army defeats Keren forces using coordinated Hydralisk fire, subterranean Zergling attacks, mental control, and aerial assaults against steel golems. Its rapid growth alarms Saint Paul, Bruman, Kakaer, and Sunset, whose rulers agree to cooperate against the emerging race 107 108 109 116.

Imperial Establishment

After replacing Alvin and securing recognition as a Level 5 civilization, Ye Luo formally establishes the Holy Zerg Empire on October 1, Year 9564 of the Third Era. Its founding includes congratulations from neighboring spiral arms, homage from subordinate civilizations, and a military parade 479.

Gibraltar and the Neighboring Galaxies

The Zerg counter Gibraltar’s invasion through divided forces, concealed deployments, and ambushes. The subsequent campaign includes mass civilian slaughter on Glasgow and an orbital strike that annihilates Gibraltar’s homeworld population, ending the civilization 551 557 586 587.

The resulting Zerg Galaxy retains non-Zerg civilizations, but its relations with surrounding powers deteriorate over trade obstruction, accusations of piracy, and suspected involvement in starsea-behemoth massacres. Those allegations remain unproven in the Elven council’s discussion 587 638 649 650 656.

The Zerg then conquer Colombia at a pace far faster than their announced three-month timetable. During Ye Luo’s later seclusion, Ye Chao also conquers Buenos Aires and begins converting it into a breeding ground through destructive resource extraction 699 702.

Koprulu and the Three-Race War

Contact with Inte reveals four surviving Level 7 Zerg factions in Koprulu. Ye Luo visits their territory, recovers the Crimson Armor, survives their attempt to turn against him, and learns more about the conflict with humans and Protoss 695 708 710 711 713.

After obtaining the complete divine set and further upgrading the Hive, the Zerg launch offensives framed as a unification of the three races. Ye Luo delivers a surrender demand through a parasite-controlled corpse; humanity responds with the Ninth Combat Plan, mobilizing its population and industry for all-out war. Reconnaissance later reveals a swarm far larger than human and Protoss leaders expected 780 793 797 799.

Relationships

• Ye Luo — New Overmind and Emperor; rebuilds the civilization and directs its expansion 1 479.
• Kerrigan / Queen of Blades — Former supreme ruler whose divine armaments preserve the Overmind’s inheritance 697 714.
• Humans / Terrans — Participants in the original civilization’s destruction and the principal enemy of the Koprulu Zerg. Human technological development and cloned soldiers sustain their resistance 1 696.
• Protoss — Ancient enemies and rivals in Koprulu; their homeworld holds one of the remaining Overmind artifacts 1 713.
• Galactic Republic — Benefits from Zerg assistance against the Sith and later joins a defensive arrangement with Harich. Its leaders disagree over how closely to remain aligned with Ye Luo 630 656 699.
• True Immortal Clan — Participates in the joint defensive preparations protecting the Zerg rear through Harich 699.
• Saint Masente and the Pusilan Federation — Seek to contain Zerg influence through diplomacy, trade pressure, joint garrisons, and military action 649 656 694.
• Subordinate civilizations — Supply trade revenue and resources while retaining a place within Ye Luo’s domain. His policy of granting fiefs is intended partly to counter the Zerg’s reputation for indiscriminate slaughter 638 719.

Notable Quotes

“Numbers and their current strength were merely superficial aspects of what made the Zerg so terrifying. Their endless evolution was the true key that would allow them to reach the pinnacle of the universe.” 196

“This isn't a vengeful attack before our deaths. We're launching... an attack to unify the three races!” — Ye Meng 793