With the legion commander dead, morale plummeted.
Routed troops began to appear along the long battle line.
However, no one had surrendered yet.
Xia Jin sent out twenty thousand Zerg, split into small squads, to intercept and kill the fleeing soldiers.
After this battle, the majority of the Kingdom's main force on the front lines had been annihilated.
This accounted for more than a quarter of the total main legions of the entire Kingdom.
While the proportion wasn't particularly high, every battle resulted in a massive boost for the Swarm.
As one side waned and the other waxed, Xia Jin's Zerg would only become more formidable.
“It's time for the elf bugs to take the field.”
The original plan was for these creatures to deal with the air force, but they hadn't been deployed yet.
Furthermore, this species hadn't been added to the Hive's official unit roster yet; according to the brain bug, they still needed some optimization.
But they were certainly usable.
At that moment, arrows of light began to appear across the battlefield.
Like falling stars, they were launched from the hands of beautiful girls, flying at least a kilometer to pierce the bodies of soldiers, even causing explosions upon impact.
As Tier 5 elves, although their realm was not particularly high, their attacks possessed incredible piercing power. Even against Tier 6 warriors, their armor penetration was top-tier, capable of dealing significant damage at the very least.
With advantages in long-range, melee, and aerial combat, the losses sustained by the human soldiers had exceeded their breaking point.
Following a volley of Tier 5 banelings, massive toxic explosions erupted across the field once more.
Compared to scourges, these creatures—which primarily moved by crawling and rolling on the ground—excelled in wide-area damage.
Once stained by the venom from their explosions, any target, regardless of their level, would find their combat effectiveness more or less compromised.
Many powerful human soldiers and commanders discovered that even with buffs from the mage units, the net gain was negligible because the enemy was stacking even more negative debuffs.
“It's a total rout.”
Before anyone realized it, a rout of tens of thousands had formed.
Without command and with collapses in every direction, the final result was simply more soldiers turning into nutrients for the insects.
This was the most crushing defeat the Kingdom's army had suffered since the war began.
Xia Jin turned around as several elf bugs approached her.
“Phew, it really does feel better having elf bugs around. The way the hydralisks drool is a bit embarrassing.”
As she thought this, a nearby hydralisk immediately shot her a look of grievance.
“Don't look at me like that. You guys look as terrifying as can be; no matter how you try to act cute, it just doesn't work.”
The Kingdom's defeat in this battle was a foregone conclusion.
They hadn't even managed to stir up a ripple.
According to the statistics, excluding the heavy losses of the first three legions, the subsequent destruction of the six legions only cost about sixty thousand main Zerg units.
The average loss ratio had dropped to 50%.
This included the banelings and scourges, which were intended as suicide units.
“I don't have many Zerg left on hand, but fortunately, my production capacity has increased, and the queens have produced quite a few units.”
She just needed to recycle the energy.
The drones had been staying in the rear, and their production numbers had remained relatively low.
However, they didn't consume resources once built. Even though only one or two thousand were being produced daily now, they had accumulated nearly forty-five thousand.
Xia Jin began ordering some drones to the front lines to transport and digest the corpses.
In particular, the flesh and blood melted by the toxic venom could not be wasted.
“It's about time to bolster the navy a bit.”
Xia Jin began considering total dominance over the bed of Clearwillow Lake.
Once controlled, she could send troops through the lake bed to cross the lake and launch a sneak attack on the city states on the northeastern shore.
Currently, in the direction of the city states, only two thousand insects were being produced daily for a war of attrition. Although the enemy had suffered heavy losses, the Zerg had yet to make that area a priority, so it hadn't developed much.
As of now, the base there had captured nearly ten cities through continuous production.
“I'll dedicate one of the branch hives from the Kingdom's front specifically for naval production.”
The only Hive on the western side of Clearwillow Lake would become a dedicated naval facility.
With Tier 3 Swimmers and Tier 5 Floating Hive Bugs, they could gain an absolute advantage over underwater creatures through sheer numbers.
That giant squid had wanted to return more than once, but the Zerg's power in the lake had unknowingly become a force to be reckoned with. In the end, for its own safety, the creature chose to migrate.
However...
Even if it fled, how far could it go?
Xia Jin had long since set her sights on its genes.
After all, that thing had once captured the lovely Queen's projection and nearly eaten it. That was a humiliation that could not be forgotten.
“At a price of thirty units per Swimmer, even if I produce ten thousand, it's only three hundred thousand units.”
What Xia Jin lacked now were queens. She had already ordered five hundred more to be produced, and they were currently being created.
In the first two days of a production surge, preparations were heavy and the speed was bound to be slow. But once the number of queens increased and the creep area expanded, the output would surely make the entire Kingdom tremble.
Rate on N.U.
