Civilized Zerg Lord

Chapter 80 The birth of the female worm
The female worm undergoes another genetic adjustment and turns into a pupa and begins metamorphosis.

Under Gu Hao's positioning, the mother insect became a machine for giving birth to various worker insects and soldier insects.

It does not need to command the insect swarm, does not need to move, and does not understand various complex physiological activities.

After Gu Hao removed the genes he felt were unnecessary, he adjusted the fertility genes to make the ovarian organs of the female worms grow even larger.

The female worm is now five meters in size. Gu Hao has also modified the female worm's feeding mouthparts, turning the original chewing muscles into three fleshy straws.

These straws are specially used to absorb liquid food, which will be digested in advance by worker insects who specialize in taking care of the female worm.

Once inside the body of the female worm, it can be quickly absorbed.

The waste produced by eating this way is also very small and can basically be ignored.

Therefore, Gu Hao also removed the excretion gene of the female worm.

As for the small amounts of waste produced, they can be excreted from the body through breathing and perspiration.

Gu Hao also spent some time adjusting the appearance of the female worm.

Although he doesn't care too much about appearance, as long as it can be used.

However, out of the principle of doing things with perfection, Gu Hao still spent time adjusting the appearance of the female insect.

The current female worm looks like an enlarged version of the caterpillar, except that it has no hairs, eyes, or mouthparts.

The front end is the feeding straw, and the back end is the egg-laying mouth.

The body of the female worm has a soft and smooth texture and a light pink color.

Despite its simple appearance, this simplicity and functionality make the female more suitable for the job of laying eggs.

The mother insect will focus on reproducing various insect species and has become an indispensable existence in the entire insect civilization.

The basic form of the female insect has been completed, but the real hard work has just begun.

Although the mother worm has been completed, Gu Hao has not yet started processing the genes of various soldier worms and worker worms.

Although the female ants can directly use the genetic types of the ant colony, it may lead to genetic homogenization, and the combat effectiveness of the soldier ants is not as powerful as people think.

Although ants can lift dozens or even hundreds of times their own weight, Gu Hao understands that growth in size and strength are not directly proportional.

Even if the body size is doubled, the muscle cross-sectional area will only expand slightly, not double.

Therefore, it is impossible to give a soldier ant that is one meter in size dozens of times as powerful as a soldier ant that is several millimeters in size.

In addition, it is not suitable to enlarge worker and soldier ants to normal human size.

Whether it is excavation work or fighting, they are far inferior to the bugs cultivated by Gu Hao before.

Therefore, Gu Hao decided to add the genes of these soldier insects and worker insects to the mother insect reproduction genes.

This was a huge project, and Gu Hao began to incorporate the genes of these insects into the gene regulation network.

He transferred genes from bone-armored centipedes, sharp-bladed mantises, meat worms, stinging worms...

From the perspective of the genetic world, Gu Hao observed the genes of these insects.

Each gene segment is like a line of faint light, intertwined together to form an intricate network.

Gu Hao concentrated on extracting the genetic fragments of each insect.

It was not a simple matter for Gu Hao to add these genes to the mother insect's genes.

After all, these bugs grow in a very different way than ants.

Gu Hao hopes to completely change the way all bugs grow into the same complete metamorphosis development process as ants.

Complete metamorphosis is the Zerg's trump card, and it can even be said to be a black technology.

Just like the Zerg in StarCraft, it contains three stages: egg, larvae and pupa.Numerous eggs are produced in the insect nest, and they quickly turn into larvae after leaving the nest.

These larvae rapidly grow in size through food intake and eventually metamorphose into fully developed adults during the pupal process.

In contrast, mammals need to gestate and incubate a placenta inside their bodies, and then take months to give birth to a baby, which takes several years to grow.

The larvae are like a placenta with a feeding function. They can quickly complete their growth in just a few months, then pupate and become adults in one fell swoop.

This growth method eliminates the need for exoskeleton molting, the trouble of shelling out, and various physical development problems.

Gu Hao decided to directly transform the growth process of insects such as bone centipedes and sharp-bladed mantises into complete metamorphosis.

In this way, the time for larvae to grow to adulthood is greatly shortened, and the growth rate of Gu Hao's insect swarm will be further increased.

In addition, the bugs' carapace can also be designed to be thicker and harder because they are going through the pupation process and no longer need to molt.

Gu Hao can completely design the carapace of some bugs to be thicker and tougher to provide them with stronger defense capabilities.

As time passed, Gu Hao's gene regulation progressed step by step.

He studied every genetic adjustment in detail and worked hard to ensure that each bug could successfully complete complete metamorphosis.

In the spacious insect nest, an insect egg slowly hatches out, starting a new journey into the world.

However, what is worrying is that the body of the larvae is surrounded by numerous corpses of larvae and the remains of failed pupae.

These are the challenges and sacrifices Guhao faces when regulating genes.

Fortunately, the larvae grew very smoothly this time.

It quickly unfolded its food trap and began to eat voraciously.

As the body grows, the larvae's skin gradually expands, as if it has been injected with infinite power.

During the feeding process, the workers tirelessly assist the larvae.

They continuously deliver a rich supply of food to the mouths of the larvae, providing them with necessary nutrients.

As time goes by, the body of the larvae grows larger and larger.

When the larvae reach a size of 1.5 meters, they gradually stop eating and begin the process of pupation.

Gu Hao watched quietly, with a touch of excitement and expectation in his heart.

Although he has experienced countless failures, he still does not give up hope at this moment and is full of confidence in the future of the larvae.

Time flows in the insect nest, like a silent picture.

Quietly, a slight crack appeared on the pupa.

The crack gradually widened, and finally came the moment to break out of the cocoon.

The dense silk threads gradually dispersed, and a sharp-edged mantis vigorously broke free from its restraints.

Its body shone with green light, like an exquisite weapon blade.

The slender and sharp arms were swinging, and the eyes revealed endless ferocity and agility.

Its wings are like transparent gems, exuding a charming luster.

Gu Hao witnessed this scene with excitement. He witnessed the results of his hard work.

The emergence of this sharp-edged mantis from its cocoon means that his insect swarm will become stronger and more adaptable to various environments.

At the end of the long darkness, a bright new world awaits Gu Hao and his Zerg.

(End of this chapter)