Devouring Stars: Master of Evolution

Chapter 66 Zerg Unit Selection

Why are the Zerg called the Zerg?

The insectoid race that appears in space often has huge mouthparts, a hard exoskeleton, and a ferocious appearance that resembles an insect.

Their biological morphology and characteristics are also highly similar to those of insects, which is one of the important reasons why they are called insects.

If all animals were made the same size, then insects among arthropods would certainly be the most powerful.

Under normal circumstances, the body structure of insects makes it difficult for them to grow too large, because their exoskeleton and muscles cannot support a very large body size.

However, the emergence of the rr virus made this impossible thing a reality.

While other organisms on Earth underwent evolutionary mutations, these insects also evolved and mutated, becoming one of the most terrifying monster groups.

However, they tend to live in vast wilderness areas and jungles, and are not often seen in cities.

Initially, Qin Mu chose the Tiger Mastiff in order to give the Zerg their first combat unit.

Later, in order to expand the size and combat power of the swarm, it continued to absorb new monster genes.

The monsters that appear in the city are often mutated from common creatures in the human world during the Great Nirvana period, such as dogs, pigs, cows, sheep, and snakes. In order to better integrate into the city, Qin Mu chose these most common monsters and then hatched them on a large scale.

This choice allowed the swarm to blend well into the city and remain completely hidden to this day.

However, this also greatly limits the development of the swarm.

As the insect swarm's tentacles extended into the wilderness, hunting extensively, they discovered even more kinds of monsters, a significant portion of which were insects themselves.

These insectoid monsters are often stronger than monsters of the same level, but for the sake of covert development, the swarms have not hatched on a large scale in the city.

"Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of monster genes at the Zerg gene pool, which are at the level of beast soldiers or above."

The Zerg swarm is about to wage all-out war against the monsters, so there's no need to consider other factors; just focus on spawning the strongest and most suitable Zerg race under the same energy level.

Sitting on the rooftop of a building in the city ruins, Qin Mu pondered the structural problems of the insect swarm.

When their strength is insufficient, the most important thing for the swarm is to remain hidden and develop stealthily.

Now that we've developed our capabilities, concealment is no longer the primary factor; combat effectiveness is.

"The Mother Nest has begun selecting the strongest Zerg units with equal energy, primarily focusing on Beast Soldier and Beast General levels."

The primary consideration is the optimal and most rational deployment in large-scale, group-based operations.

By transmitting their will to the swarm, all the mother hives immediately began adjusting the types of Zerg they hatched.

In city 023, larvae around a mother nest begin to mutate.

Fifteen minutes later, one after another, enormous mantis-like monsters hatched from the insect eggs, each as tall as a person.

This is a monster called the Blade Mantis, with strength at the advanced beast soldier level.

The blade mantis typically lives in jungles. It is grayish-green all over, slender, and nearly three meters long. Its head is triangular in shape, with short hind legs and long front legs, which are shaped like sickles.

Simply put, they have scythes growing from their arms, their weapons integrated with their bodies, making them naturally armed and incredibly fierce.

After emerging from the eggs, the bladed mantis shook its body, spread its two pairs of wings, and hopped along the nest tunnel, flying low into the air.

At a subway entrance, nearly a hundred mantises crawled out one after another.

"thump--"

"thump--"

These bladed mantises leaped into the air with a powerful push from their six legs, flapping their wings as they flew and landed on a building, then pounced on the monster in the distance.

These blade mantises are not strong fliers and can only fly at low altitudes.

But this is enough for them to roam freely in the city.

After leaving the insect swarm's territory, they soon found a pack of hundreds of wild tiger mastiffs, guided by the mother nest.

These tiger mastiffs were completely unaware that they were being targeted, and, led by a low-level beast general-level tiger mastiff, they roamed the city as usual.

"Puff puff—"

One after another, mantises swooped down from the surrounding buildings, their forelegs wielding sickle-like weapons, easily slicing through the fur of the tiger mastiffs, tearing their flesh and taking their lives.

Most of the Tiger Mastiffs had their throats slit before they could even react, and only a few experienced Tiger Mastiffs escaped the attack.

Some tiger mastiffs immediately retaliated, but when their claws bit into the bladed mantis, they were often blocked by its hard bones.

In just one swift pounce, nearly half of the tiger mastiffs were killed or wounded, while only the three-headed mantis was injured in the counterattack.

The novice beast roared furiously at the other tigers and mastiffs, then lunged at a razor mantis.

Undeterred by the sight of the tiger mastiff, a beast-general level dog, the Blade Mantis raised its serrated forelimbs and, as the tiger mastiff pounced, slashed at it like two large knives.

The tough fur of the low-level Beast General-level monster couldn't withstand the serrated scythe.

Just as the tiger mastiff's claws struck the bladed mantis, the mantis nimbly dodged to the side, only its hind leg being injured and broken by the tiger mastiff's attack.

But the next moment, the mantis that had just passed the tiger mastiff spread its wings and flew into the air.

In a single clash, both the high-level beast soldier-class Blade Mantis and the low-level beast general-class Tiger Mastiff were injured.

Other tiger mastiffs weren't so lucky. When facing the blade mantis, they were slower and less responsive, and their attacks were far inferior to the blade mantis's serrated scythes.

Even its defense is inferior to the Scizor's body covered by an exoskeleton.

These blade mantises can fly!

If injured, it will immediately fly away to avoid danger.

This is an asymmetrical battle.

After the other Tiger Mastiffs were killed by the Blade Mantis, the Tiger Mastiff at the novice Beast General level was also cut into pieces by the overwhelming attack of the Blade Mantis.

Without a Beastmaster-level Zerg leader, and with a number almost equal to that of the Tiger Hounds, and with the Tiger Hounds being led by a Beastmaster, the Blade Mantises would be the clear winner!

On another battlefield, a group of giant beetles, completely black with sickle-shaped upper jaws containing large teeth and thick, wide bodies covered with a shiny black shell, crawled out of the subway.

These beetles can reach five meters in length, and their pair of asymmetrical, extremely large mandibles alone account for one-fifth of their body length.

This giant beetle is also recorded in the military's database, and it is suspected to be a mutation of the giant tiger beetle from before the Great Nirvana period.

Guided by their mother nest, these giant tiger beetles soon encountered a herd of strong, robust bulls.

When the two sides began to clash, the giant tiger beetle with its thick shell easily withstood the impact of the charging bull.

The wild bull was completely powerless against the terrifying jaws of the giant tiger beetle, which were nearly a meter long. Even its thick leg bones were easily severed when attacked by the jaws!

Not only the Blade Mantis and the Giant Tiger Beetle, but many more insect-like monsters have appeared in major cities.

Some mother nests hatch large numbers of scorpions, these scorpion-like monsters are heavily armored and have venomous attacks.

When fighting monsters, they often have an absolute advantage with their three weapons: two pincers and a tail spike.

Some mother nests also hatch insect monsters with ranged attack capabilities.

It was also a giant beetle that could spray a highly toxic liquid from its tail, with a range of hundreds of meters.

This liquid is incredibly lethal; once it hits, it can easily kill a high-level beast soldier-level monster.

There are hordes of armored ant-like monsters that wreak havoc among the monster hordes thanks to their superior group combat abilities.

In addition to the ground-based ones, some flying insectoid monsters were also hatched and joined the selection process that would determine the Zerg's main units for the foreseeable future.

What attracted Qin Mu the most was a beast-general-level monster with a wingspan of over ten meters, the Thunder Dragonfly.

Dragonflies are among the earliest flying animals on Earth and are also the most adept at flying among insect monsters.

Through the evolution of the rr virus, they have become an exceptionally terrifying monster.

The Thunder Dragonfly has two pairs of wings, each of which can work independently and change angles at will.

Their unique mechanism allows them to fly forward and backward at will.

In fact, they can fly in any direction, even backwards, and can stop at high speed and rotate 180 degrees.

There are almost no actions they cannot perform.

When they exceed ten meters in size and exceed the speed of sound, they become the most terrifying aerial killers.

A thunder dragonfly hovered above the city ruins, then suddenly its body plummeted down, skimming across a street.

The chosen beast general-level unicorn boar didn't even have time to react before a bloody wound appeared on its head, and it was instantly killed.

There are giant poisonous bees with wingspans of nearly two meters, which fly in swarms through the air, making a buzzing sound.

The venomous stingers at their tails can easily kill monsters, and they can even spray venom like snakes, which is highly corrosive.

Too many insect monsters appeared in cities and in places where they were not originally meant to live.

Sensing the increasing number of Zerg units hunting in a competitive manner, Qin Mu felt somewhat emotional.

"No wonder this race is called the Insect Race; the insect-like monsters hatched from the same amount of energy are far more powerful than monsters of the same level."

In actual combat, the combat power of a high-level beast soldier-grade Blade Mantis is simply not on the same level as that of a high-level beast soldier-grade Tiger Mastiff.

If you are inferior to your opponent in speed, attack, defense, and even reflexes, how can you fight?

What's most disheartening is that the Scyther can fly!

This gives the Mantis a significant advantage in the battle.

It's not just the Razor Mantis that's modeled after the Tiger Mastiff.

There's also the King Tiger Beetle, which rivals heavy units like the Unicorn Boar, Bloodthirsty Tank, and Wild Bull.

The strength of the King Tiger Beetle also caught Qin Mu's eye. This insect monster, whose weakest strength was at the level of a low-level beast general, displayed extraordinary combat power.

Those massive upper jaws were incredibly powerful, even against monsters known for their defense, like the Bloodthirsty Tank.

Even some higher-level monsters are the same!

Compared to their destructive power, their defense is equally astonishing.

The black carapace was extremely hard, like metal. Qin Mu witnessed a charging bull ramming its horns head-on into the carapace of the King Tiger Beetle.

As a result, although the giant tiger beetle was knocked more than ten meters away, it simply rolled over on the ground, got up again, and continued fighting.

Moreover, although the King Tiger Beetle cannot fly, it has a common ability that many insect monsters possess: burrowing underground!

Even in urban ruins covered in concrete, they can easily break through the ground.

"That's outrageous!"

"The energy required to hatch a Tiger Beetle of the Beast General level is equivalent to that of a One-Horned Boar of the Beast General level, but their combat power differs by several times!"

Besides these two, after witnessing the beetle with ranged attack capabilities, Qin Mu did not hesitate to list it as a key unit to focus on.

Although the method of attack is somewhat unseemly, its practicality is extremely powerful.

After reviewing the military's database, Qin Mu learned that this was a mutation of an insect called the Cannon Beetle, which occurred before a great rebirth.

Actually, the cannon beetle is a common stinging beetle.

The mutation simply enhanced this ability to launch long-range attacks.

After this test, almost all of the Zerg units that had been hatched faced elimination.

This applies not only to the main combat units on land, but also to those in the air.

The most numerous flying monster in the swarm today is the Grey Lark, but the gap between them and other flying insect monsters of the same kind is still huge!

Of the dozens of flying insect monsters that rival the Grey Lark, almost every one of them surpasses it.

In terms of combat power, sparrow-like monsters are indeed not among the top contenders.

Of these flying monsters, the one that caught Qin Mu's attention the most was the Thunder Dragonfly.

This Beast General-level monster is one of the insectoid monsters used by the Mother Nest to compare with medium-sized flying units like the Golden Vulture.

It's so smooth!

The flight was so smooth!

In Qin Mu's eyes, the Thunder Dragonfly's flight ability was nothing short of an art!

Not only is it faster than the Golden Vulture, but its agility also far surpasses that of any Zerg unit.

For flying monsters, this applies when the opponent is faster, more agile, and of similar size.

It means the other party can manipulate you at will!

The outcome of the battle will only lead to despair.

"The testing continues. We'll pull out all the stronger combat abilities from the gene pool and compare them! We'll conduct a real-world test!"

I need to select a group of the most powerful units!

Qin Mu transmitted his will to the entire insect swarm.

Previously, many powerful units were hidden in the city.

On the very first day, so many Zerg units appeared, much to Qin Mu's surprise.

"These tests should be kept and repeated periodically."

Qin Mu pondered.

This selection is limited to the Beast Soldier and Beast General levels, and only includes land and flying units.

The reason there are no Lord-level monsters is that the Zerg Swarm currently has too few types of Lord-level monsters, only a few dozen. It's easy to tell which one is powerful at a glance, so there's no need for testing.

The same applies to aquatic monsters; not many of them are truly combat-capable. However, once the swarm enters the ocean, a similar selection process will certainly take place.

Compared to the ocean, there are far fewer types of monsters in land lakes.

"Once the Zerg units are screened, they can be hatched on a large scale."

But before that, I need to contact Representative Jia first.

Sensing a military squad that seemed to have decided to risk their lives to explore the subway, they were being monitored by the swarm of insects.

Qin Mu muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)