Psionic Energy

"Didn't the modifications give me sufficiently powerful Psionic Energy?" the young man asked quietly. He accepted the fact that he had been modified with remarkable speed, as though it was only natural.

"No. As the Overmind, the purer your Psionic Energy, the better. Thus, aside from integrating the Swarm's collective will, you will have no other source of Psionic Energy."

"We usually describe power from such external sources as 'impure.' Forget it. What level does my Psionic Energy need to reach before I can bring out my body's full strength?"

"A relatively powerful level."

"Specifically?"

Agatha pondered for a moment. "By human standards, once your Psionic Energy reaches Psi Level Ten, you should be able to initially awaken your body."

There was no quantifiable ranking system for Psionic Energy within the Swarm. They had always operated under a single will from top to bottom. For the Overmind or the Queen of Blades, there was no need to know how strong another Zerg's Psionic Energy was; in any case, none of them would be stronger. The Swarm also did not emphasize special operations and placed little importance on the combat ability of individual units.

Furthermore, the Swarm had never truly infected any Protoss and incorporated them into its species, so it followed human standards when it came to Psionic Energy.

"If I remember correctly, the human Psionic Energy scale only has ten levels in total, right?"

In humanity's initial understanding within the Koprulu Sector, the highest Psionic Energy level was only Level Ten. Later, when Kerrigan first appeared as the Queen of Blades, the measuring device's needle shot straight past its limit. Since she had obviously exceeded Level Ten by far too much, they skipped Level Eleven and directly designated her as possessing Level Twelve Psionic Energy, a rank exclusive to the Queen of Blades.

"Yes. Some proteins necessary to support the normal functioning of your body can only be synthesized with the aid of Level Ten Psionic Energy."

"What level is my Psionic Energy now?"

"Level Three," Agatha blurted out.

Not bad. At least it exceeded the level of an ordinary person.

By human standards, Levels One and Two were ordinary human levels. Only at Level Three would one develop a certain degree of psychic ability and qualify as a Seeker specializing in locating superpowered individuals.

My ability to connect with Zerg units must be based on that Level Three Psionic Energy.

"How much of the Swarm did the Overmind command before reaching Level Ten Psionic Energy?" the young man asked again.

"I do not know. All Overminds before you were naturally Psionic units."

The young man could not help recalling that red portal. He shook his head helplessly and asked, "What level is your Psionic Energy now?"

"Level Five, but currently only Level Three." A Queen's ability to manipulate Psionic Energy fundamentally came from the developed neural cord at the back of her head. It had now been completely severed, leaving less than one percent of her Psionic Energy. She could only mobilize Psionic Energy at Level Five.

The reason she currently possessed only Level Three was because a Zerg unit's Psionic Energy could not exceed that of the Overmind. Of course, this was not a restriction. Zerg individuals could only use Psionic Energy; they could not refine it. All Psionic Energy originated from the Hive Mind—the Overmind.

In short, the Swarm's thoughts gathered together to form the Hive Mind. The Hive Mind refined Psionic Energy, and Zerg units then received it by connecting to the Hive Mind... In truth, what usually limited an Overmind's Psionic Energy level was never how much Psionic Energy they possessed, but how much Psionic Energy they could control as an individual.

Naturally, the young man did not know any of that yet. Level Five... It seemed fairly decent to him, at least meeting the minimum standard for a Ghost.

Moreover, the scene of Agatha shooting through the giant bear had just shown him that Psionic Energy level was not the entirety of a Zerg's combat strength. Human-made tanks had no Psionic Energy at all, yet they could still blast Psionic units to pieces. Every aspect of a Zerg's body was no worse than those war machines. Besides, Agatha had been a Queen at the previous Overmind's side. No matter what, she was a hero unit.

"Overmind," Agatha said, bringing her two claws together, their tips lightly touching, "the protective force around you is insufficient. Please establish a Hatchery as soon as possible."

"Oh, right." The young man came to his senses. "How do I establish one? Did you bring any Drones?"

"I did not."

Before the young man could even draw a full breath, Agatha continued, "But you are the Overmind. Even without Drones, you can breed the Swarm."

The young man froze and looked down at his abdomen. His expression had not changed even when a Leopard bit into his neck, but now it twisted. "Could it be... you modified me in that respect too?"

The glow atop Agatha's head flickered slightly before she answered, "No. The Swarm's reproductive system is too complex and unsuitable for installation in your body. However, your body is covered in induction glands. Even in a dormant state, they can activate or deactivate any segment of the Swarm's genes."

Control genes? The young man paused. "In other words, I can turn any Zerg into another unit at will?"

"In theory, yes." Agatha nodded.

But that was only in theory.

Even the Zergling, the most structurally streamlined unit in the Swarm, had more than two hundred thousand activated gene fragments. Moreover, even if some genes were activated, special proteins were needed as prerequisites for normal transcription. Producing those prerequisite proteins in turn required activating their corresponding genes...

If the young man truly wanted to casually cut off a piece of flesh and create a Zergling from nothing, he would need to alter nearly a million gene fragments. Without sufficiently powerful Psionic Energy to create Primal Essence and "cheat," it would be fundamentally difficult to achieve.

The Swarm required massive organ-like structures dozens of meters tall and weighing tens of thousands of tons to produce a single unit. It was no joke.

"You only need to activate the Creep." As Agatha spoke, she tore off a translucent piece of skin from the cross-section of her wound. "The structure of a Queen's scar tissue bears some resemblance to Creep. You only need to modify several thousand genetic loci to activate the traits of Creep."

Creep would not recede when Zerg structures disappeared. On the contrary, Zerg structures existed by relying on Creep. Most Zerg required Creep to convert the planet's many inorganic substances into organic matter in order to survive.

"To expand more quickly, the previous Overmind granted Creep greater authority."

During the Swarm's era of great expansion, when facing planets with no resistance whatsoever, the Swarm would simply skip even dropping pods. It would drop a cyst wrapped in Creep matter and fly away directly. Once the Creep covered the entire planet, Hatcheries would naturally develop, breeding vast quantities of Zerg.

Sometimes, there were not even any Creep cysts.

There had also been many cases where humans infected with the Zerg Hyper-Evolution Virus returned to rearward planets and mutated. As the virus spread, some mutants extended Creep, eventually causing the entire planet to fall and become an ocean of the Swarm. However, the potential of Swarms developed in this manner was limited, since the virus did not contain all Zerg DNA.

The young man accepted the piece of skin from Agatha's hand, still smeared with green mucus, and was surprised to find that he felt no disgust at all.

After examining it for a while, the young man raised his head. "What should I do?"

The Swarm in this story is not purely the Zerg. It incorporates settings from other alien insect species, along with modified fan-created elements.

For example, the Hive Mind appearing in this chapter was inspired by the Tyranids' setting.