The battle continued into the second day.
【Cumulative kills have reached 300,000. Energy distribution complete. The Queen's rank has risen to Tier 8.】
Following this notification, Xia Jin clearly felt a terrifying surge of power erupt within her body.
“Tier 8 already.”
She had jumped two tiers at once.
Ever since reaching Tier 6, she had felt her internal power steadily increasing, even to the point where she suspected she could already fight Tier 7 opponents.
She hadn't expected the Hive to inform her that she was already Tier 8 in the blink of an eye.
Evidently, the energy required to rank up increased significantly as she progressed.
However, that wasn't the main point.
The most critical factor was the improvement of her own strength.
Furthermore, at this moment, she noticed a distinct change: her control over the entire Swarm had become much stronger.
Brain Bug No. 1, which had previously felt somewhat elusive in her mental perception, could now be sensed directly. She could perceive its exact status and issue any form of command with ease.
If in the past she needed to communicate through a form of dialogue, now she could mobilize the entire race simply by thinking about it.
It was as if the Zerg had transformed from being her tools into becoming a part of her own body.
The Queen had become the brain.
“This state truly feels more like being a Queen.”
With a mere thought, one of the zerglings immediately began to hop around playfully on the spot.
She could precisely manipulate almost every single movement.
The creature's brain was like an extension of her own.
However, if she didn't choose to control it intentionally, the bug would act freely while maintaining absolute obedience to the Queen's commands.
“Not bad.”
...
At this same moment, only a day had passed since the army of sixty thousand locusts had been wiped out.
The internal cohesion of the gnolls was beginning to crack.
The number of enemies had not decreased. Instead, waves of locusts continued to launch one assault after another in a neverending stream.
There were thousands upon thousands of them.
And every single one was a standard Tier 1 creature.
While Tier 1 might not seem particularly strong, among the gnolls, only about half the total population actually reached Tier 1 and qualified for the battlefield.
It was much like the human world; in a great nation of ten million people, most would never be able to master martial arts.
Although Tier 1 was considered bottom tier in a professional army, reaching this level meant your strength and stamina were already in the top fifty percent of the total human population.
Though he felt the sting of the losses, the Great Patriarch, determined that they could not afford to fail, gathered his forces once more to engage the locust legion of over forty thousand.
After the battle, tens of thousands of human troops and the zergling army launched a brief surprise attack before retreating to their original positions.
What followed was a slow grind, a death by a thousand cuts.
While accumulating more locusts, the Swarm sent out groups of several hundred to a thousand to harass the enemy, never giving the gnolls a moment of peace, hour after hour.
After just a few days, the gnolls were shocked to find that their army had been whittled down by twenty five thousand soldiers just from fighting the locusts.
Combined with the battles against the lord's army and the other Zerg units, their total losses had reached over thirty thousand.
If such terrifying losses continued, they wouldn't be able to sustain themselves no matter what.
“I don't understand.”
The Great Patriarch stood watching the gnolls process the rotting corpses. After a long silence, he could only whisper those few words.
The enemy wasn't just fighting; they were also snatching the corpses of the fallen gnolls during the process.
At first, everyone had been infuriated by this.
But now, the patriarchs judged that the enemy was using the gnolls' hatred to provoke them into making irrational moves.
Consequently, under heavy pressure, the entire gnoll legion chose to endure.
“Their losses have always been greater than ours. I refuse to believe they can keep sending so many monsters to their deaths.”
Over the next two days, dozens of skirmishes involving hundreds of units continued to break out.
Every time the Zerg sent units, they fought until not a single one remained.
Just as the gnoll legion was becoming paralyzed by fear, a new locust legion with a total size of over eighty thousand began to press heavily toward them once again.
At this point, these creatures finally realized the true meaning of terror.
This massive offensive forced the entire gnoll coalition to retreat, leaving behind more than twenty thousand troops to cover the rear.
After struggling to hold out for a full day, the rearguard was eventually completely devoured by the Swarm.
The tide of locusts began to disperse, launching a pursuit in the direction of the retreating enemy.
Along the way, there were many ordinary civilians in the gnoll settlements who didn't have time to flee. Most of these gnolls were below Tier 1, yet they harbored deep hatred for both humans and the Zerg.
To Xia Jin, these individuals were nothing more than a potential threat with no practical utility.
Thus, the tide of locusts swallowed them up without hesitation.
An unprecedented, massive rout began on the western shore of Clearwillow Lake.
Although the gnoll legion still had significant numbers, their basic will to fight had long since vanished along with their shattered morale.
Several cities that originally belonged to the kingdom's lords were also completely reclaimed.
...
At this moment, near the main hive.
The first primal brain bug was finally born.
However, as Xia Jin looked at this large, white bug, her expression became somewhat peculiar.
Its appearance was somewhat similar to a coconut worm, but it was fatter, whiter, and about one meter long. It was round and plump, looking unexpectedly cute.
Unlike the maggots she imagined, this brain bug didn't have many wrinkles. Its skin was smooth and translucent, giving off a vibe that it would be delicious and packed with protein.
Swallowing her saliva, the loli girl who was the Queen jumped onto a rock and looked down at the creature for a long time. Finally, she asked, “Why don't you go and command the battle against the gnolls? I'll leave everything over there to you, how does that sound?”
The primal brain bug wiggled a few times and gave a slight nod of its head.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Good. You shall be called Brain Bug No 2.”
The creature was taken to the front lines.
A primal brain bug was truly very primitive; it could only command Zerg within a three hundred kilometer radius, and its unit limit was one hundred thousand.
However, this was more than enough for Xia Jin's current needs.
Rate on N.U.
