Swallowed Star: The Zerg Overlord

Chapter 59: Adjusting the Zerg Race

"Haha, my previous decision was indeed correct." In the first Zerg hive in the wilderness, Qin Mu's consciousness laughed heartily.

Within a radius of several dozen miles around this hive, a purple Fungus Carpet spread, with all kinds of plants growing densely on it, covering the Fungus Carpet on the ground. When the Fungus Carpet spread, any plant would be devoured by it, even some insects and small animals.

Therefore, the plants growing on the Fungus Carpet were not ordinary plants but were cultivated by the hive. These plants belonging to the Zerg had no significant difference from ordinary plants, except that their underground roots were connected to the Fungus Carpet, transferring the energy produced by photosynthesis to the hive.

Although the energy collected by a single tree was small, the energy collected by all the trees within a radius of several dozen miles was not a small amount. This energy was enough to provide for the daily energy consumption of the Zerg controlled by this hive.

But this was not the reason for Qin Mu's joy. 

In the Fungus Carpet around the hive, a portion of the Fungus Carpet was a different color from the other eerie purple—it was a moss-like green, a color full of vitality. This patch of green Fungus Carpet was the reason for Qin Mu's joy.

Over the past half month, Qin Mu spent most of his time immersed in the laboratory of Jiangnan First Military Academy. After fully committing himself to the study of biology, Qin Mu's progress in biological knowledge accelerated rapidly. He finally systematically learned the knowledge of bioengineering and even, due to his special status in the laboratory, attempted some simple experiments. After accumulating these days of experiments, Qin Mu continuously tried in the hive, attempting to edit the gene fragment representing the moss color and integrate it into the Fungus Carpet.

He succeeded.

Although he only modified a bit of the Fungus Carpet's color and did not change any other functions, Qin Mu was indeed successful.

"The purple Fungus Carpet is too eye-catching and gives off a strange feeling, making it look like something bad."

Qin Mu was in a good mood. Do not underestimate this slight color modification; it represented that Qin Mu had already stepped into the threshold of biological adjustment.

The Fungus Carpet could now be released a bit and no longer had to be hidden as before.

The purple Fungus Carpet, once spread widely on Earth, was completely out of place with the local environment. Not only would humans come to investigate, but even monsters would feel disgusted. However, changing it to the ordinary green of plants was different. Almost no one or monster would pay attention to a patch of green plants, especially when it was covered with other plants and showed no aggression.

Even if anomalies were discovered, it would mostly be assumed to be just a variant of ordinary plants. In the wilderness filled with monsters, this was too normal.

The widely spread Fungus Carpet would bring a massive amount of energy to the Zerg, greatly alleviating the logistical pressure caused by the increasing scale of the Zerg.

The current Zerg had reached thirty hives, and under full reproduction, it could produce more than 200,000 Zerg units per day. After half a month, the scale of the Zerg had reached more than three million.

Three million Zerg units, just the energy consumed by their daily activities was an astonishing figure.

Among the thirty Zerg hives, except for a few hives that were relatively concentrated in City 023, the others were scattered, so the logistical pressure was not yet apparent. They could hunt on their own to obtain energy. But if this number increased further or when they gathered together, the pressure would become apparent.

At that time, Qin Mu would have to launch large-scale wars to obtain energy for the hungry Zerg. The Zerg would become the image of a terrifying disaster that devoured everything.

The widespread expansion of the Fungus Carpet, which could draw energy from the ground and absorb energy through the photosynthesis of trees, could greatly delay the occurrence of such a situation.

"Convert all the Fungus Carpet and start expanding."

Not just this hive, but the color of the Fungus Carpet around the thirty hives began to change, from the eerie purple to a vibrant green. The Fungus Carpet began to spread, devouring all the plants along the way. After these plants were devoured, new plants grew on the Fungus Carpet, indistinguishable from the original ordinary plants, except that their roots were tightly connected to the Fungus Carpet, beginning to provide energy for the Zerg.

"Maybe I can start trying to adjust the real Zerg units?"

"Not just the Zerg units, when the level of biological adjustment reaches a certain level, I can consider strengthening my own body. Absorb excellent gene structures, modify my own genes, and enhance the gene multiplier of my body."

"Compared to the humans in the universe, the physical fitness and potential of Earth humans are far behind."

Ambition flickered in Qin Mu's eyes. As the ruler of the Zerg, how could he not want to enhance his own gene multiple?

"Start with the most familiar Tiger Mastiff. This Tiger Mastiff has evolved on its own to become the first new unit of the Zerg, the Single-Horned Tiger Mastiff. It should be a good start."

Qin Mu, full of enthusiasm, began a new attempt.

In the hive's evolution chamber, the gene structure of the Tiger Mastiff was called up, along with the gene structure of a wolf-type monster.

"Hmm, this wolf-type monster's bite force and endurance are stronger than the Tiger Mastiff's. Let's start from this aspect."

Under Qin Mu's nearly instinctive talent, complex gene information was cut and copied, then integrated into the Tiger Mastiff's genes. However, Qin Mu's operation was too rough, almost forcibly splicing them together. As expected, the originally perfect life gene structure of the Tiger Mastiff directly collapsed.

Although he failed, Qin Mu was not discouraged. Experiments, after all, were not so easily successful. He called up the information recorded by the hive and began a new round of gene editing and restructuring. After numerous trials and failures, Qin Mu was getting tired.

"Hmm? This time it didn't collapse immediately?" Looking at a somewhat chaotic gene structure diagram in the evolution chamber, Qin Mu's spirit was lifted.

"Is this a success? Let's hatch it with this template and see." Qin Mu, now full of energy, was no longer tired. He immediately controlled a larva to hatch an unknown Zerg unit with this gene structure.

Twenty minutes later, consuming more than a hundred energy points, a two-meter-high egg appeared near the hive.

"Haha, I knew I was a genius..."

As Qin Mu watched the egg burst open, revealing a strange creature with eight legs, two heads, three eyes, lying on the ground like a pile of mud, unable to move, he fell silent. In his imagination, he had only integrated the muscle cell genes of the wolf-type monster into the Tiger Mastiff's genes, and what should have appeared was a stronger Tiger Mastiff.

But what was this thing in front of him?

"It's not a complete failure. At least this thing survived, and it can be considered a new form of life, right?" Qin Mu comforted himself.

However, the next moment, the skin of the strange creature split, the bones dissolved, and the entire life structure self-collapsed.

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple." Qin Mu's consciousness returned to his human body, and he no longer forcibly adjusted new Zerg units. His current biological knowledge was obviously not enough for such high-end operations. Being able to change the color of the Fungus Carpet was already quite good.

Standing up from the sofa he was lying on and stretching, Qin Mu was now in a graduate student apartment within Jiangnan First Military Academy, with a single room and a good environment. Ordinary students certainly did not have such treatment, but with Professor Zhou's connections and his own strength and status, it was naturally available.

Walking over to the computer desk, he noticed an unread email and opened his inbox. An unread email titled "Notice of Departure for Ancient Civilization Ruins" popped up, and seeing this title instantly piqued Qin Mu's interest.

"Wargod Qin Mu,

Please arrive at the Southeast Military Region Headquarters by noon on September 29th to gather with the others and proceed to the '9th Ancient Civilization Ruins' together.

I would like to remind you of the following points:

1. The 9th Ancient Civilization Ruins you have applied to enter is the only place where you can obtain the 'Black God Suit'. The death and disability rate for Wargods entering is approximately 72%. The success rate is 28%.

2. The opportunity to enter the '9th Ancient Civilization Ruins' is only available once to anyone.

3. Wargods entering the '9th Ancient Civilization Ruins' are prohibited from using the Black God Suit, and the challenges and dangers faced by Wargods of different strengths vary in difficulty. However, there have been no cases of advanced Wargods or spirit masters dying so far.

4. The warrior assessment in the 9th Ancient Civilization Ruins and the spirit master assessment are different...

5...

6...

Southeast Military Region, Li Dawei.

September 23 2056."

It was sent by Li Dawei from the Southeast Military Region, with nearly ten reminders densely packed, all about precautions in the ruins. From these words, Qin Mu could feel the concern. Qin Mu had only met this Li Dawei from the Southeast Military Region once, at the welcome banquet after passing the Palace of Wargods assessment.

Half a month ago, Qin Mu joined the Palace of Wargods, with the serial number 3512 and his strength certified as an Invincible Wargod. At the welcome banquet for joining the Palace of Wargods, Qin Mu got to know most of the military's wargods, among whom Li Dawei from the Southeast Military Region left a deep impression on Qin Mu.

After joining the Palace of Wargods, Qin Mu actively applied to enter the ninth ruins, and today, he finally passed the review.

"I 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 this application more than ten days ago, and there had been no reply before, making him a bit worried.

*****

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