Rotting Corpse Monster

Without having to consider balance, tuning the Mutated Combat Forms became much simpler. He just had to put more thought into modifying their adrenal glands.

But before the Overmind had finished dealing with a few, Agatha woke him from his deep-link state. "Overmind, you need to see this."

"What is it?" The Overmind linked to Agatha's vision and looked into the distance.

At the outermost edge of the expanding Creep lay animal corpses scattered across the ground.

Most of them were the baboons Agatha had shot dead. The Creep had already spread to where they had fallen.

But the corpses here were not limited to those baboons.

When the acid in Agatha's Spines reacted with organic matter, it produced a neurotoxin that seeped into the mangled corpses. Every animal that came to feed on them had collapsed dead on the ground.

This was not part of a Queen's standard configuration, but rather a kind of "research technology." The genes controlling the synthesis of this acid were folded deep within the Zerg DNA chain. Activating them required a series of precursor proteins, and they could only be unlocked with the aid of a highly developed Evolution Chamber.

In truth, although their appearance and abilities were broadly similar, Agatha, the former Overmind's deputy, and an ordinary blank-slate Queen were practically two different species—an ordinary Queen could not fire a single Spine into outer space.

Agatha, whose various "technologies" had been researched to their limit, even possessed proteins responsible for basic life functions that differed from those of an ordinary Queen.

"Right, how did I forget about that pile of corpses?" If they had not been dead for too long, the Hyper-Evolutionary Virus could bring corpses "back to life." At worst, if the host's nervous system had been dead too long, its movements would simply be a little stiffer.

Suppressing that petty thought, the Overmind asked, "What happened?"

"There is a faint trace of Psionic Energy."

The Overmind's heart jolted.

Even dead trees could stand back up at night. What would dead animals become?

The Overmind rose to take a look, but after pondering for a moment, he sat back down on the sofa and returned his attention to the Infected Boar currently being tuned.

More than ten minutes later, an Infected Boar with eyes so enormous they bulged out of its sockets and a throbbing lump atop its head trotted lightly toward the edge of the Creep.

The Overmind's consciousness attached itself to the boar and traveled with it to where the many corpses lay.

Controlling the boar to rummage through the heap of bodies, he found something with decent luck.

This was not an undead apocalypse scenario.

The Psionic Energy fluctuations did not come from the corpses themselves, but from the various molds, bacteria, and several species of maggots rapidly multiplying over them.

No wonder nothing unexpected had happened last night. One night was not enough for the corpses to decay to the point where so many saprophagous insects could be born—though, should I be disgusted by this scene?

"Clean this place up." The incomplete corpses were broken down, while the intact ones were infected. Unfortunately, although the rainforest was rich in species, it did not have as many large animals as the grasslands. The only one here worth turning into a Mutated Combat Form was a Giant Python.

After hesitating for a moment, the Overmind finally gave the order. "Leave behind the most decayed corpse."

That night.

Amid the dim yellow light streaked with crimson, a small monster roughly resembling a corpse crawled out from a body's abdominal cavity. It was made of maggots, rotting organs, and pus.

It looked disgusting and horrifying, but it was rather pathetic in terms of strength.

It had neither sharp fangs nor claws, moved sluggishly, and lacked the Root Vine Monster's rapid regenerative abilities. There was no need to send out a Mutated Combat Form—it could not even defeat the Creep.

Yet from Agatha's perspective, the biological activity of the various microorganisms around the Rotting Corpse Monster was far greater than that of ordinary bacteria and fungi. It presumably survived by spreading disease.

Unfortunately, the Zerg immune system was utterly overwhelming against ordinary pathogens. Even an early-stage host infected with the Zerg Virus was nearly immune to other viruses, pathogenic bacteria, parasites...

Several Root Vine Monsters the Overmind had deliberately left behind to test the lunar phases also caused no disturbance. They were knocked down by two Infected Boars and bound by the Creep.

When dawn arrived and the first ray of sunlight fell.

Just like the Monster Tree, all the yellow energy on the Root Vine Monsters transformed into green energy, turning them into saplings that rooted themselves and grew. Unfortunately, the trees formed by ordinary Root Vine Monsters had no Psionic Energy fluctuations and were merely normal trees.

As for the Rotting Corpse Monster, the moment sunlight appeared, it turned back into a lump of rotten meat crawling with maggots. Yet the Psionic Energy reaction on it did not completely disappear. If it could be preserved until the following night, the little monster should emerge again.

Having confirmed how these monsters came into being, the Overmind could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. For now, he no longer needed to worry about safety.

The Overmind sat on the Creep sofa, resting his full weight against the backrest.

"Should I make a Creep bed?" He had crossed over two nights ago and had not slept once. Though his modified body did not need sleep anyway...

Chirp—

A clear sound suddenly rang out from above.

The Overmind looked up.

Three Little Birds had landed on the branches of the Monster Tree. As waves of green light washed over them, they ruffled their feathers and chirped uncontrollably.

The Monster Tree could do that too?

Because the Hyper-Evolutionary Virus was bound to the Creep, the Swarm still had no usable flying units. He had planned to modify the Creep's genes today so that it could release pheromones that attracted animals to eat it.

Since there were ready-made ones, he could not just let them get away.

Have the Monster Tree act... Although the Monster Tree had already been infected, its genes had not been heavily modified in order to avoid making it lose its special ability to connect with all living things. It had not even been given the Creep's full-spectrum photosynthetic enzymes; its leaves were still green.

Have the Creep spread up there? Or find a way to make the Little Birds fly down on their own—

Chirp—chirp—chirp—

The birdsong drew closer and closer.

The Overmind looked up.

The Little Birds actually flew down by themselves.

Looking at the three Little Birds circling his head, the Overmind froze for a moment. He was certain that none of them had been infected.

He pointed into empty space, and the three Little Birds immediately flew in the direction he indicated.

When he moved his finger, the Little Birds swooped and rose along the path he drew.

With a turn of his finger, the three Little Birds began circling his head again.

The Overmind pondered for a moment, then looked at Agatha. "What level is my Psionic Energy now?"

"Level five," Agatha replied.

Although he could sense it and measure it in Psionic Energy levels, the power wielded by the Monster Tree was not Psionic Energy. Otherwise, the Overmind's Psionic Energy level would have been even higher.

He extended his right hand, and the three Little Birds perched at different heights on his fingers. Their tiny heads tilted toward the Overmind at the same time, and even their blinks were perfectly synchronized.

The Overmind could not help but laugh. I never expected I'd one day possess such a fairy-tale ability.

Thinking this, the Overmind gently placed the three Little Birds on the armrest of the chair. With a thought, the Creep swallowed them whole in an instant...