Toxic! Corruption Lake!

The Unity Hero is a hero unit with special talents and a special attack against monsters.

This character's role was supposed to be crucial in turning the tide of battle, but instead, he's being summoned to feed the Chimera Bug, which is a terrible waste.

A single Companion can cause up to five Chimera Bug to evolve. The total number of Companions summoned to the field is unknown, but there are already more than one hundred Chimeras evolving rapidly.

Each evolved Chimera Bug is completely unrecognizable from its original form; they mostly resemble the creatures they consume, combined with insect-like characteristics.

In a short period of time, a remarkable aura rose from the swarm. With elite leadership, they were no longer just a horde of cannon fodder.

Creating ordinary Chimera Bug with minimal Spirit Power, and then letting them devour those who can be summoned without Spirit Power to complete their evolution, is a cost-effective and unexpected approach.

Behind the Fungal Carpet, a huge, biological-like structure was writhing, resembling a beating heart.

The Fungal Carpet grows from beneath it, and with each throbbing of its body, it produces a varying number of Chimera Bug. This is the heart of the base, a Mother Nest.

The Chimera Bug tear off pieces from each of their kindred spirits and feed these pieces of flesh and blood into the Mother Nest. In this way, with sufficient resources, the Mother Nest can continuously produce Chimera Bug that incorporate the physical characteristics of these kindred spirits.

While Chimera Bug born in this way possess the characteristics of the organisms they devour and are more numerous, their strength and mutation direction are less stable compared to Chimera Bug that mutate by directly devouring organisms.

The advantage is that it saves money; for every Chimera Bug produced by the Mother Nest, Jia Nage can save a certain amount of Spirit Power.

This kind of Mother Nest can also be considered a monster. Summoning one requires a considerable amount of Spirit Power, so he cherishes this Mother Nest very much, just like Ghrū cherishes the Magic Ring.

Jia Nage, who was sitting in the rear, kept laughing. At this moment, he really wanted to see the expression on the face of the city lord.

"My tactics are invincible!"

Since the opposing Godwyn (Gong Qiying) has adopted a scorched-earth policy, leaving him no resources to develop, then he will build them himself.

In each battle between underground cities, there is a limit to the number of allies that can be summoned by both sides.

This cap doesn't limit the quantity, but rather the bond value. You're given a certain bond limit; the higher the bond value of the allies you summon, the fewer you can summon.

Conversely, if you summon cannon fodder characters with only one or two points of synergy, you can summon a great many of them.

But why would a typical city lord summon cannon fodder?

If used well, those who share the same goals can be the decisive factor.

Only Jia Nage carefully selected those with low affinity values but good physical characteristics, allowing them to be devoured by the Chimera Bug, thus creating elites with even greater strength.

These elites can then lead ordinary Chimera Bug to harvest enemy monsters and continue evolving.

He, Jia Nage, could use his Spirit Power to create even stronger Chimera Bug at any time, but firstly, his Spirit Power reserves weren't that great.

Secondly, he also underestimated the Zane Dungeon, which was just a newbie who had just been promoted to level three.

How could a newcomer possibly compare to someone who has been immersed in Level 3 privileges for decades!

He only spent eighteen years upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 authority, and even among the eccentric Dungeon Lord, he could boast of being a genius.

Now, this genius is about to embark on his expedition!

The instant the invisible wall disappeared, Farron Keep and the Calamity Nest Dungeon collided, the Foul Swamp and slippery slime mixing together to form a nauseating mixture.

The swarm launched a full-scale attack, rushing into the Swamp and advancing towards the distant Fortress, stirring up chaotic splashes of water wherever they went, and even causing the ground to tremble.

"Oh, it's poisonous."

As soon as they made contact with the Swamp of Farron Keep, the swarm sent a message to Jia Nage.

The water here is not only highly toxic, but it also affects operations and slows down the march.

"Boring, Chimera Bug, not afraid of poison."

At his command, wings sprouted from the backs of ordinary Chimera Bug, and a buzzing sound echoed throughout the entire dungeon.

They can fly, but only close to the ground. Although flying reduces the slowing effect of the Swamp, about a third of their bodies are still submerged in the Swamp.

No problem, the Chimera Bug's resistance to poison is among the best in the world anyway, so it's not afraid even if it lives in Farron Keep, and it might even undergo adaptive mutation.

"You little tricks, I saw right through them all, hehe."

A radiance called "confidence" has already appeared in Jia Nage's eyes.

He suddenly had a great idea, so he waved his hand, and several insects that looked like large megaphones immediately spawned in the Mother Nest. These things immediately emitted Jia Nage's voice. Several insects spoke at the same time, and the sound was so loud that it could be heard clearly in every corner of the underground city.

"You must be very unwilling, it was a carefully prepared trap, but it turned out to be useless."

"How about we surrender? Forget it, haha."

His voice was extremely arrogant, and just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, instantly turning several insects into charred remains.

"Um?"

Jia Nage looked over nervously and saw several allies casting spells on a distant hill. Lightning and fire rained down on the swarm of insects, reaping their lives.

Surrounding the Allies were a large number of Goblin knights, Minotaur, and Troll, making them a formidable force that would require at least two teams of Silver Rank adventurers to defeat.

Wait, Goblin, Minotaur, Troll?

Why are the monsters used in the Zane Dungeon so normal in art style this time?

And those few allies, although their strength seems decent, their faces are too unfamiliar, the kind that no one would notice if they were put on the street, their fame is not even as good as the "Hammer" team of fisherman Qi Laje.

Such people have a fixed title—extras.

But they are not ordinary extras; they are extras who have been carefully selected, and their bond value is higher than that of real cannon fodder.

These people have some things in common:

Their eyes blazed with yellow flames, their bodies were covered in scarlet ulcers, their arms were entangled in black, thorny objects, and thick, black mud flowed beneath their feet.

However, these features are well concealed by the clothing, so they don't look unusual.

"Hehehe, so this is the strongest combat power?"

Jia Nage initially looked nervous, but then his expression relaxed.

He sized up the group of monsters and quickly calculated their value.

Goblin knights and Minotaur each require double-digit amounts of Spirit Power, while Troll are slightly more expensive, barely reaching triple digits. Mixed among these monsters are varying numbers of Shaman Orcs, Living Dead, and so on.

In total, the Spirit Power required should be around two to three thousand.

Two or three thousand? For the Zane Dungeon, that's probably more than enough to earn in a day, no, even a morning.

But

"A huge investment." Jia Nage looked pained.

More than two thousand Spirit Power! Even in the past when things were better, it would have taken him quite a while to earn that!

In his subconscious, he had already regarded the Zane Dungeon and its Spirit Power as his own possession, which is why he felt heartbroken at this moment, because Gong Qiying was spending "his money"!

He originally guessed that the Spirit Power reserves in the Zane Dungeon would not exceed 10,000, since everyone would upgrade their permissions once they had enough Spirit Power, so there would be no surplus.

The fact that he spent a fifth or even more of his money to summon these monsters made Jia Nage call him a spendthrift.

"Kill and eat!"

At his command, the swarm of insects clashed with the "strongest army" of the Zane Dungeon. The scene was truly deafening, filled with the hissing of insects and the roars of monsters.

The Sion's allies displayed exceptional skill, all being adept at using lightning and fire, and for a time, they were able to dominate the Zerg swarm.

Finally, the elite of the swarm swarmed in and managed to take it down after suffering considerable losses!

Not only were the allies defeated, but the monster army was also in retreat. The Chimera Bug devoured the corpses of the dead monsters, becoming even stronger.

Despite losing nearly a third of their insects, the insect swarm's morale soared, and the entire army pursued the monster army deep into the Farron Keep.

"Hahahaha!" came Jia Nage's maniacal laughter from the trumpet worm. "How do you feel, Godwyn? How are you feeling now!"

He believed that Gong Qiying must be heartbroken right now. He had spent a "huge sum" to build an army but failed to kill the enemy. What could be more humiliating than this?

To further humiliate the enemy, Jia Nage ordered the evolved, highly flying insects to bring all the Sien's allies back to the base and throw them all into the Mother Nest in the most conspicuous location!

Look, Godwyn, all your proud followers have become my nourishment!

The beating Mother Nest suddenly stopped, as if it had eaten something strange, but before Jia Nage could notice anything amiss, it started beating again, and even more enthusiastically.

In Jia Nage's eyes, this is proof of the Mother Nest's joy.

These allies can use Thunderfire, so the bugs produced after the Mother Nest consumes them may have increased resistance to both of these attributes.

Heh heh, his swarm was only afraid of lightning anyway, but now, Gong Qiying has actually made up for his weakness. He's so stupid.

The swarm of insects is about to reach the Fortress gate. Along the way, it is attacked sporadically by monsters, but it is able to eliminate them after suffering some casualties.

Seeing this, Jia Nage suddenly felt a pang of emotion.

"What you've done is already quite good."

Back when he had just been upgraded to level three, he couldn't have done what Gong Qiying was showing now; he even began to admire Gong Qiying's talent.

Unfortunately, in order to avenge himself against the demon priest, he had to nip this genius in the bud.

"All troops, charge!"

Jia Nage's blood boiled, and he shouted loudly.

It was at this moment that the Swamp in the Farron Keep suddenly began to bubble.

As the bubbles rose, the dark green Swamp gradually turned a striking scarlet.

By the time the swarm realized something was wrong, the entire Farron Keep had already changed color.

Everything in sight was scarlet, even the sky had turned blood red, and an indescribable stench was spreading, making one think of the word "corruption".

The base of the Calamity Nest Dungeon was expanding its Fungal Carpet outwards, and it had already expanded the purple Fungal Carpet to most of its original size. However, after Farron Keep turned red, the Fungal Carpet instantly dissolved into the liquid.

The swarm of insects was running towards the Fortress with great joy, but gradually, a crimson color crept onto their bodies.

In an instant, the insect running at the front fell down.

Like dominoes, the first insect fell, triggering a chain reaction. A large swarm of insects collapsed, and the fallen insects were immediately swallowed by the red liquid, as if they had never been in this world.

The situation took an astonishing turn.

"What, what is this!?"

Jia Nage was horrified. His swarm, his invincible swarm, was dying at this very moment!

They are disappearing at an extremely rapid pace!

What's going on? What's happening? Is this red liquid highly poisonous? But why would a highly poisonous substance have an effect on Chimera Bug?!

My Chimera Bug are clearly not afraid of any toxins!

Even with toxins never seen before, Chimera Bug can slowly develop adaptability!

Jia Nage's mind was filled with doubts, but these doubts were quickly replaced by an emotion called "panic".

Perhaps no one understands Chimera Bug better than him, but no one understands what "Scarlet Corruption" means better than Gong Qiying.

At this moment, Farron Keep could be renamed "Corruption Lake"!

Gong Qiying was right; he did not drastically alter the terrain of the Zane Dungeon, but merely made a small "improvement" to the water quality of the Farron Keep.

No matter how fast the Chimera Bug adapt, can they outpace the speed of Scarlet Corruption?

No!

Jia Nage desperate scream came from the trumpet worm.

His swarm of insects was dead; every insect that came into contact with the Scarlet Corruption was doomed. There was no way to avoid it, because there was no land nearby.

It was only then that he realized that Gong Qiying was luring the enemy deep into his territory and then using corruption to wipe out the entire swarm of insects.

Jia Nage's heart bled as he watched the Chimera Bug being wiped out. He had intended to recycle these Chimera Bug into Spirit Power after he finished using them, but they had been wasted here!

"Fine, fine, fine," he said through gritted teeth, "Spending thousands of Spirit Power as bait just to trick me, Godwyn, you have quite the guts!"

Jia Nage was so angry that he stopped stuttering. In his opinion, Gong Qiying's act of using a "huge sum" of thousands of Spirit Power to lure him into the Corruption Lake was both bold and wasteful.

When the last insect died, he calmed down.

"I underestimated you, Godwyn, but do you think a trap that has already been exposed will still work on me?"

Jia Nage's temper flared. He looked at the Mother Nest. Since being tainted by the Scarlet Corruption would lead to death, he might as well expend his Spirit Power to produce flying Chimera Bug.

In this way, the "last trump card" of the Zane Dungeon will not have any effect, and he will still be the victor!

The Mother Nest can produce an endless stream of insects; my swarm is inexhaustible, while your Spirit Power is constantly fading away.

"The Mother Nest, give it to me right now—"

Jia Nage's voice abruptly stopped because something seemed off about the Mother Nest.

The Mother Nest, which resembled a giant heart, swelled up, becoming even larger and more deformed.

It jumped faster and faster, as if it had hit a deadly rhythm, and Jia Nage's heart was also beating faster and faster, until finally!

"Bang!"

Under the blank stares of Jia Nage.

The Mother Nest was destroyed.

Yellow Frenzied Flame, red decay, black Curse of Death, and a dark abyss.

Four colors sang a hymn to life, blooming with their own unique hues on this land.

Full of vitality, all things flourish.