Devouring Stars: Master of Evolution

Chapter 59 Debugging the Zerg

"Haha, my previous decision was definitely right!"

Inside the first mother nest of the insect swarm in the wilderness, Qin Mu's consciousness was laughing loudly.

A purple fungal carpet spreads across a radius of several miles around this mother nest, covered with a variety of plants.

When the fungal carpet spreads, it will devour any plant, and even some insects and small animals.

Therefore, these plants growing on the fungal carpet are not ordinary plants, but are cultivated by the mother nest.

These plants, belonging to the insect colony, are not much different from ordinary plants, except that their underground root systems are connected to the fungal carpet, through which they transport the energy produced by photosynthesis to the mother nest.

Although the energy collected by a single tree is small, the energy collected by all the trees within a radius of several miles is not a small amount.

This energy is sufficient to supply the daily energy needs of the swarm under the control of the mother hive.

But that's not why Qin Mu was so happy.

Among the fungal carpet surrounding the mother nest, a portion of the carpet was a different color from the other eerie purples; it was a vibrant green, like moss, a color brimming with vitality.

This lush green fungal carpet is what makes Qin Mu so happy.

For the past two weeks, Qin Mu has spent most of his time in the laboratory of the top military academy in Jiangnan.

After immersing himself in the study of biology, Qin Mu's knowledge of biology progressed rapidly.

After finally getting to systematically learn about bioengineering, I even managed to conduct some simple experiments thanks to my special position in the lab.

After days of experimentation, Qin Mu continued to try in the mother nest, attempting to edit the gene fragments representing the color of moss and integrate them into the fungal carpet.

He succeeded!

Although only the color of the fungal carpet was slightly changed, no other functions remained the same.

But Qin Mu did succeed!

"The purple fungal carpet is too eye-catching and gives people a very strange feeling. It doesn't look like a good place."

Qin Mu was in a good mood.

The green fungal carpet surrounding the mother nest continued to spread and radiate outwards.

Don't underestimate this slight color change; it means that Qin Mu has already taken one foot into the threshold of biological preparation.

The swarm's creep can now be less restricted, no longer needing to be hidden away as before, but only around the mother nest.

Once the purple fungal carpet spreads over a large area on Earth, it becomes completely out of place with the local environment. Not only will humans come to investigate, but even monsters will find it repulsive. However, it's a different story when it's replaced by the green of ordinary plants.

Almost no one or monster would pay attention to a clump of green plants, especially if it is covered with other plants and is not aggressive.

Even if something unusual is discovered, most people would assume it's just a common mutated plant.

This is perfectly normal in a wilderness teeming with monsters.

The extensive spread of the fungal carpet will bring a massive amount of energy to the swarm, greatly alleviating the logistical pressure caused by the ever-expanding swarm size.

The swarm now has thirty mother hives alone. With full-scale reproduction, it can produce more than 200,000 Zerg units a day. In half a month, the swarm has grown to more than three million units.

With over three million Zerg, the energy consumed by their daily activities alone is an astonishing figure.

Of the 30 mother hives in the swarm, apart from a few concentrated in city 023, the others are scattered, so the logistical pressure is not yet significant.

They can hunt for energy on their own.

But if this data is expanded further, or if they are all combined, the pressure will become apparent.

At that time, Qin Mu will have no choice but to launch a large-scale war to obtain energy for the starving insect swarm.

The swarm of insects will become the terrifying catastrophe in the image, devouring everything.

The fungal carpet expands over a large area, drawing energy from the ground and also from the photosynthesis of trees, which can greatly delay the occurrence of this situation.

"Convert all the mycelial mats and begin expansion!"

Not only this mother nest, but the color of the creep around all thirty mother nests began to change, from an eerie purple to a vibrant emerald green.

The fungal carpet began to spread, and these emerald green carpets devoured all the plants along the way.

After these plants are consumed, new plants grow on the fungal carpet, just like the original ordinary plants, except that their roots are tightly connected to the fungal carpet and begin to provide energy for the insect swarm.

"Perhaps I can start experimenting with creating real Zerg units?"

"It's not just about Zerg units; once the level of bio-modification reaches a certain point, we can consider enhancing my own body."

"Absorb excellent gene structures, modify your own genes, and increase the gene count of your body."

"The physical fitness and even potential of humans on Earth are far inferior to those of humans in the universe."

There was ambition in Qin Mu's eyes.

As the ruler of the Zerg swarm, how could he not want to increase his genetic potential?

"Starting with the most familiar Tiger-O-Hound, which has evolved on its own into the first new type of unit in the swarm, the Unicorn Tiger-O-Hound, should be a good start."

Qin Mu, full of enthusiasm, began his new endeavor.

Within the evolutionary cavity of the mother nest, the genetic structure of the tiger-dog was extracted, along with the genetic structure of a wolf.

"Hmm, these wolf-like monsters have a stronger bite force and greater stamina than tigers and hounds. Let's start from that point!"

Through Qin Mu's almost instinctive talent, complex genetic information was cut and copied, and then integrated into the genes of the Tiger-Dog.

Qin Mu's actions were too crude; it was as if he had forcibly pieced them together.

As expected, the Tiger-Dog's originally perfect genetic structure collapsed.

Although he failed, Qin Mu was not discouraged.

Experiments are never that easy to succeed at.

The information from the mother's nest records was retrieved, and a new round of gene editing and recombination began.

Tried again and again, failed again and again.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Mu was quite tired.

"Huh? This time it didn't completely collapse?"

Looking at the somewhat chaotic genetic structure map inside the evolution chamber, Qin Mu's spirits lifted.

"Is this a success? Let's use this template to hatch one and see!"

Now refreshed, Qin Mu was no longer tired and immediately controlled a larva to hatch an unknown Zerg unit using this genetic structure.

Twenty minutes later, after consuming more than 100 energy points, a two-meter-tall insect egg appeared near the mother nest.

"Haha, I really am a god..."

As the insect egg burst open with a bang, revealing a strange creature with eight legs, two heads, and three eyes, lying motionless on the ground like a puddle of mud, Qin Mu fell silent.

In his vision, he simply incorporated the genes of some muscle cells from the wolf-like monster into the genes of the Tiger-Ao Dog, resulting in an even stronger Tiger-Ao Dog.

But what is this thing in front of me?

"It's not a complete failure; at least this thing survived, so it can be considered a new kind of life form, right?"

Qin Mu consoled himself.

However, the next moment, the strange creature's skin cracked, its bones dissolved, and its entire life structure collapsed on its own.

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"

Once his consciousness returned to his human body, Qin Mu did not forcibly create any new Zerg units.

His current biological knowledge is clearly insufficient to perform such advanced operations; he'd be lucky to even change the color of the fungal carpet.

He stood up from the sofa and stretched.

Qin Mu is currently in a graduate student apartment within the Jiangnan First Military Academy. It's a single room with a nice environment.

Normal students don't receive this kind of treatment, but with Professor Zhou's connections, plus his own strength and status, he naturally gets it.

I walked to the computer desk next to me, glanced at an unread email, and opened my inbox.

An unread email titled "Notice of Departure for Ancient Civilization Relics" popped up, and Qin Mu perked up the moment he saw the title.

"Qin Mu, the God of War:"

Please arrive at the Southeast Military Region Headquarters at noon on September 29th to assemble with other war gods and head together to the "No. 9 Ancient Civilization Relics".

I want to remind you of the following points:

1. The Ancient Civilization Ruins No. 9, which you applied to enter, is the only place where you can obtain the 'Black God Set'. The mortality or injury rate for the God of War entering is approximately 72%. The success rate is 28%.

2. Each person only has one chance to enter the "No. 9 Ancient Civilization Site"!

3. Warriors entering the "No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins" are prohibited from using the Black God Set. Warriors of different strengths will encounter challenges and dangers of varying difficulty, but so far there have been no cases of high-level War God Spirit Masters dying.

The martial arts assessment and the mental cultivation assessment at the No. 4 and No. 9 ancient civilization ruins are different...

5...

6...

Li Dawei, Southeast Military Region

April 23, 2056

After reading the email, I realized it was from Li Dawei of the Southeast Military Region. It contained nearly ten reminders, all about important points regarding the ruins.

Qin Mu could feel the care in these words.

Qin Mu had only met Li Dawei of the Southeast Military Region once, at the welcome banquet for him after passing the War God Palace's assessment.

Half a month ago, Qin Mu joined the War God Palace, number 3512, and was certified as an invincible War God.

At the welcome banquet for joining the War God Palace, Qin Mu got to know most of the War Gods from the military. Among them, Li Dawei from the Southeast Military Region was a War God who left a deep impression on Qin Mu.

Although he only possessed the strength of a mid-level War God, he showed considerable consideration for me in his words.

After joining the War God Palace, Qin Mu took the initiative to apply to enter the No. 9 Relic, and today, he finally passed the review.

"It finally passed. I was worried they wouldn't let me go."

After carefully reading the email, Qin Mu's face showed a relaxed expression.

He had sent out the application more than ten days ago, but had not received a reply, which made him a little worried.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)