A Million Tree Spirits

Evening.

The Overmind sat upon his throne. The Dragon Lion lay beside it, guarding the throne.

Its enormous lion head was held high, allowing Agatha, perched behind its head, to face the Overmind directly.

"Psionic Energy fluctuations detected." Agatha's voice came from above the Overmind.

The Overmind's heart tightened, and he silently resolved that he would have to raise the Creep sofa in the future. The Dragon Lion was already lying on the ground, yet he still had to crane his neck just to exchange a few words with Agatha.

As such irrelevant thoughts crossed his mind, a dim red glow seeped from the Overmind's eyes.

As the Hive Mind integrated and streamlined sensory input from every direction, the entire newly covered area of Creep turned into a monochrome backdrop.

As the moon gradually rose, numerous Psionic Energy signatures appeared throughout the Creep, each marked in green.

Only older trees could spawn Root Vine Monsters after dying. Coupled with the fact that some trees were completely consumed by the Creep, the ratio of trees producing Root Vine Monsters was roughly one in three hundred.

With a quick calculation, there were currently over a million—though fewer than two million—Root Vine Monsters wandering through the jungle...

If they were made to count themselves one by one, they could keep at it for three days and three nights.

However, the Overmind was not overly concerned. Having dealt with Root Vine Monsters for so long, he was already quite familiar with them.

Compared to their terrifying regenerative abilities, their weaknesses were even more obvious.

First, most Root Vine Monsters were weaker and less agile than beasts of the same size. Their vines were also full of gaps, meaning they could not even defeat the Creep.

Second, their lifespans were extremely short. The moment the first ray of morning sunlight shone upon them, Root Vine Monsters would turn back into ordinary trees.

Finally, and most importantly, they were simply too stupid. They possessed only a few rigid attack patterns, could only use extraordinary powers in rudimentary ways, had no unified command structure, no sense of cooperation, and not even the most basic mutual aid...

At that moment, a bird's-eye view would reveal monsters wreathed in yellow-green fluorescence crawling from beneath the uneven Creep, one after another. If a million Root Vine Monsters gathered together, even the Overmind would have no choice but to flee on the Dragon Lion.

Unfortunately, Root Vine Monsters had no minimap in their heads, nor did they know that this vast Creep had a core. Like autistic patients immersed in their own worlds, they would crouch down after being born and use claws made of root vines to scratch and tear at the Creep beneath them, until they were covered all over in Creep tissue...

Only a small number of high-level Root Vine Monsters, formed from the tangled roots of multiple ancient trees, could float in the air and avoid being completely broken down by the Creep. At such times, the long-waiting Bait Birds would take the initiative, using their own flesh and blood to draw the high-level Root Vine Monsters' attention and lead them wandering away from the Creep's core region.

Even if an extremely small number of high-level Root Vine Monsters slipped free of the Bait Birds' surveillance for various reasons and entered the core region, it would not matter.

The Overmind had gathered most of the Infected around himself, forming layer upon layer of defenses. Without tens of thousands of freely moving Root Vine Monsters, there was no hope of breaking through the encirclement—not to mention the protection of the Mutated Combat Forms and the Dragon Lion.

At that moment, the Overmind focused on the center of the map—the pond within Dragon Lion Territory.

Within a radius of one kilometer around that spot, there was only one Psionic Energy signature: an unimaginably massive one.

The viewpoint shifted to a nearby Arrow Gull.

The Overmind quickly noticed a huge mass of yellow-green fluorescence in the distance, like a full moon rising over the horizon.

Thick root vines burst from the earth.

Yet, contrary to the Overmind's expectations, it did not transform into one of the jungle's common animals like most Root Vine Monsters. Instead, the vines tangled together and became a Stump Monster with the limbs and face of a humanoid creature.

It was enormous, more than ten meters taller than a Venom Devourer. Every step it took sank deep into the soil, and every movement displayed immense destructive power.

Most crucially, there was a tree hollow three to five meters wide in its chest. Within it, a heart woven from tangled root vines beat powerfully.

The Overmind showed an intrigued expression.

High-level Root Vine Monsters could possibly become Monster Trees after death. So far, this was the only way Zerg units could make use of that green extraordinary power.

He simply did not know whether Monster Trees had some sort of restriction. The Overmind had disposed of hundreds, even thousands, of Root Vine Monsters, yet only the one in the core region had formed.

This unprecedentedly massive Root Vine Monster might become the second...

A nearby Arrow Gull that had been specially modified to carry sensory organs swiftly flew over.

The Overmind soon learned its strength level: Level Seven. He could not help turning to look behind him. It was one level weaker than the Dragon Lion, just right to—

There was no "just right"! Unless the Overmind had lost his mind, he would not send the Dragon Lion over there. Guarding him at this moment was far more important than running off to fight a tree destined to vanish.

Just as the Overmind was distracted, the Arrow Gull's vision was suddenly filled by a stone still stained with purple fungal patches.

Splat—

The massive stone smashed the Arrow Gull into pulp.

This thing had ranged attacks too?

The Overmind was not angered. With a slight extension of his finger, nearly two thousand Bait Birds came rushing in from every direction, circling above the tree monster's head.

He also issued an order to the nearby Venom Devourer serving as the hub, instructing it to further expand the Bait Bird Lairs and increase Bait Bird production efficiency.

Although Bait Birds could only produce one batch every three days, after the Venom Devourer took over the Bird Nests, expanding the Bait Bird Lairs no longer required the Overmind to personally modify female Bait Birds into building units. There were now dozens of Bird Nests in the Creep's core region. With their rotation, hundreds of Bait Birds took flight every few hours.

Go ahead and smash them. Let's see whether you can kill more tonight than I can produce in three days.

However, the Overmind soon cast aside his contempt. The stump-like Root Vine Monster stomped the ground like a sumo wrestler, transforming its two short legs back into roots and driving them deep underground. Thick root vines churned the soil, shattered deep layers of rock, and brought up stones of just the right size.

The Stump Monster's disproportionately long, muscular arms picked up the stones in the posture of putting a shot—something only humans could actually do.

The shoulder structures of other primates prevented them from making throwing motions. Simply put, monkeys could toss a discus, but they could not throw a javelin or put a shot.

Its waist and back exerted force. Its root-vine upper arm, like a spring wound full of power, suddenly erupted and hurled the stone away at high speed, successfully killing... another Arrow Gull.

Yes, it attacked an Arrow Gull it had locked onto earlier, rather than the flock of Bait Birds circling above its head, where a single stone could have brought down a whole swath of them.

Its subsequent performance further demonstrated the mechanical nature of its actions.

It could only lock onto one target at a time, even if that target was merely a sparrow-sized bird. Its targeting order depended on the order targets appeared and their distance from it. It would only throw single stones, even though, with its arm strength, scattering a handful of gravel overhead could have taken out dozens or even hundreds of Bait Birds at once...

Yet in turn, it could accurately strike a bird half the size of a fist from four kilometers away with a giant boulder that completely defied aerodynamics. That accuracy was nearly on par with the liquid sprayed by a Venom Devourer.

Its precise yet idiotic behavior made the Overmind think of the robot vacuum he had once bought for 9.9 yuan on Pinduoduo.

Could this mechanism that spawned Root Vine Monsters have been a deliberately designed defensive force?