Mutation

The swarm's flesh and blood alone could hardly clash head-on with steel. A momentary burst of courage could only achieve so much. Zhang Han needed some powerful support units.

Vipers, Defilers, Infestors, Queens-several spellcasting units unique to the Zerg surfaced in Zhang Han's mind.

Vipers had four abilities: Blinding Cloud, Consume, Abduct, and Parasitic Bomb.

Consume allowed Vipers to eat allied units to restore energy, while Abduct could pull enemies into the swarm to be destroyed.

Parasitic Bomb could be used on airborne enemies, causing continuous damage to both the target and nearby allies.

Blinding Cloud restricted all units within an area to melee attacks.

Defilers were units from StarCraft 1, with abilities similar to those of Vipers, but they had one additional, even more absurdly powerful ability: releasing a Plague that reduced every unit's health until only one point remained. Even machines could not escape it.

Infestors had four abilities: Burrow, Neural Parasite, Fungal Growth, and releasing infected enemies.

The two more useful ones were Neural Parasite and Fungal Growth. Neural Parasite could control an enemy unit, though only one at a time, while Fungal Growth launched an infectious ball that reduced the target's movement speed and dealt continuous damage.

Queens were also units from StarCraft 1 and were similar to Infestors, with an additional support ability, Parasite, which granted vision through the parasitized unit. The second was the powerful Corruption Bomb, which could instantly destroy any powerful ground unit.

With help from these Zerg spellcasters, the enemies he faced now would be nothing to fear!

"Overmind, do you need me?" As though sensing Zhang Han's thoughts, that familiar female voice spoke again, only this time it sounded crisper and clearer.

"Overmind? Who's the Overmind? And who are you?" Zhang Han asked.

"Who I am is unimportant. I can be a Cerebrate, or I can be the entire Hive Mind. I am your assistant. I help you manage the Hatchery and carry out your will," the voice replied.

"Whatever you are, can you help me create the units I want?"

"Of course. Serving the Overmind is my mission. But with imagination alone, I cannot fully recreate the units conceived in your consciousness. I need a larger, more diverse gene bank."

The way the voice in his head kept withholding half of what it had to say infuriated Zhang Han. He roared, "Then tell me what you can make!"

"Based on the existing gene bank, I can only recreate two abilities. One is Grey Mist, and the other is blood mist. Grey Mist is based on a special species the swarm discovered on Planet 4 of the 5026 Star System."

"It is also a special kind of insect. They reproduce extremely quickly and die extremely quickly. They are small and densely packed, capable of reflecting lasers and blocking ammunition. I have named them Gray Mist Insects."

"Blood mist originates from Planet 5 of the Dead System in the 7023 Star System. The extremely harsh climate there produced this special, highly corrosive chemical substance."

"I can combine it with Gray Mist Insects to produce an extremely lethal effect. I have named this subspecies Blood Mist Insects."

"Recreating the other abilities requires more time and a broader gene bank. The Hatchery's current gene bank encompasses five major categories, twenty subcategories, and 1,356 branches..." The voice continued its introduction.

With the battle so tense, the voice in Zhang Han's head seemed intent on droning on forever. Was it going to recite all the biotechnology the swarm possessed? What was this, rattling off a menu?

Zhang Han grew even angrier!

"Stop wasting words! If you've recreated them, hurry up and use them. My swarm is taking casualties every second!"

"Mutation requires a great deal of energy, and the hatching speed of combat units will slow considerably as a result. Overmind, are you certain you wish to proceed?"

Now Zhang Han understood. This assistant that called itself the Hatchery's will was incredibly rigid! It was like a lousy program that constantly made you click confirm! No wonder the battlefield situation had deteriorated this badly.

"Confirm!" Zhang Han said viciously.

"Please confirm the mutation hosts and the deployment locations for the Gray Mist Insects and Blood Mist Insects."

A green grid filled Zhang Han's vision, clearly marking the swarm's size and numbers, along with the enemy's size and positions. Allied forces appeared green, enemy forces red, and areas without intelligence were black.

If you had a minimap, you should have brought it up sooner! Zhang Han barely had the energy to complain anymore.

Without needing his fingers, Zhang Han used his mind to select the mutation hosts and deployment locations on the map.

One advantage of the Zerg was that every insect could continue evolving even after reaching maturity. Given enough biological energy, an insect could form a cocoon and undergo complete metamorphosis.

The new insect that emerged would differ enormously from the original in both function and size.

On the ground battlefield, the mutation hosts were several Ultralisks. Positioned behind the battle line, they stopped moving and began digging holes to bury themselves deep underground.

Then they began spitting mucus to seal the openings. Green and purple light pulsed beneath their cocoon shells as more and more biological energy gathered within. In just a few more minutes, a new kind of Zerg unit would be born.

"Hive Mind, put in more biological energy and accelerate the mutation," Zhang Han ordered.

"But that will cause the hatched insects' bodies to develop incompletely. They will have a lifespan of only a few hours," the Hive Mind replied.

"Will it affect their functionality?"

"Not significantly. Functional completeness can still reach 97.2%."

"Then speed it up. They won't survive for a few hours on the battlefield anyway."

"As you command, great Overmind."

Soon, the Ultralisks' several-minute mutation process was compressed into a single minute, and several strange Ultralisks covered in pustules and dripping disgusting pus crawled out.

Their heavy carapaces and sharp, curved blades had degenerated away. In their place were disgusting venom sacs and enormous spraying mouthparts.

The moment they crawled out of their mucus-covered biological cocoons, Zhang Han ordered them to spray at the designated locations.

The mutated Ultralisks raised their enormous mouthparts high, aiming them like cannon barrels at the Little Blue Men's steel fortifications.

One's venom sacs turned gray and gave off a dim glow. With a series of bangs, several gray, ball-like masses were fired out. Upon landing, the gray balls exploded into huge clouds of gray mist.

This gray mist severely hampered the Little Blue Men's ranged weapons. The Gray Mist Insects within it reproduced and died extremely quickly, blocking large amounts of cannon fire and bullets, while the power of laser weapons was also greatly diminished.

Under the cover of the gray mist, the swarm's losses were no longer so horrific.

The extremely fast swarm plunged into the steel defensive line in an instant, constantly tearing huge metal components off it with sharp fangs and teeth. Though their efficiency was relatively low, breaking through the defenses was only a matter of time.

Suddenly, blue light swept from far to near through the entire steel defensive line, and vast numbers of Zerglings, Ultralisks, and Roaches were burned to charcoal by the powerful electric current.