“The Goblin Kingdom?”
Xia Jin had not expected these supposedly low-tier, vicious creatures to actually establish a nation.
According to the records of the Kingdom of Clear, goblins were a mindless species without even a language, known only for kidnapping human women and plundering food. Because both sides had always been at each other's throats, human understanding of them was extremely limited.
However, judging from her recent encounters, these goblins had actually developed their own civilization.
The zergling lacked human vocal cords, so it naturally gave no reply. After hearing the message, it immediately returned to its own ranks.
“Once my hive upgrades and I mass-produce units, this so-called Goblin Kingdom can just wait for its death.”
Xia Jin felt that the claim of a hundred-thousand-strong goblin army was likely an exaggeration.
However, based on the current scale she observed, thirty thousand was not an exaggeration at all.
With her current strength, a direct assault would be quite difficult.
She decided to simply stall them with small-scale harassment.
And so, over the next few days, both sides went through a cycle of skirmishing, negotiating, skirmishing, and negotiating.
Of course, every negotiation was a unilateral move by the goblins.
In battle, the Zerg inevitably suffered losses when facing the enemy's various units.
In fact, at least 300 Zerg died every day.
Naturally, the enemy's losses were as high as two to three thousand.
The primary reason they could maintain such a favorable kill ratio was the hydralisks.
For Xia Jin, the biggest headaches were undoubtedly the enemy's ranged mages and the Tier 3 goblins that fought the zerglings in close quarters.
After stalling for four days, a caravan carrying even more resources arrived at Duoye City. As promised, they sold four times the previous amount of herbs and fruits to the Red Rose Chamber of Commerce, earning a total of nearly 20,000 gold coins.
Returning to her territory with the money, Xia Jin finally gathered all the resources needed for this hive upgrade.
【Resources have been collected. Would you like to upgrade the Zerg Hive to LV5?】
“Yes!”
With this upgrade, the volume of the hive underwent a massive change.
Its height reached nearly 12 meters, and its length extended to 40 meters.
Such a massive size made the structure look significantly more terrifying.
The entire upgrade process lasted several hours, and soon, Xia Jin received a notification.
【The Zerg Hive has been upgraded to LV5.】
Xia Jin immediately opened the panel to check the current status.
【Zerg Hive LV5】
【Producible: Tier 3 drones, Tier 4 zerglings, Tier 4 banelings, Tier 5 hydralisks, Tier 5 lurkers, Tier 5 infestors, Tier 6 queens.】
【Production Cost: 20 units per drone, 60 units per zergling, 160 units per baneling, 300 units per hydralisk, 600 units per lurker, 650 units per infestor, 1,000 units per queen.】
【Assimilation Transformation: Transform individuals loyal to the Zerg into part of the swarm. Transformed individuals will have their loyalty significantly increased and will completely turn into Zerg units (absolute loyalty) after a certain period. If there is a possibility of betrayal before the transformation is complete, the subject will die instantly.】
【Upgrade Cost: 3,000,000 units of ordinary energy, 60,000 units of high-energy crystals, 50,000 units of gold, 80 units of mithril.】
【Description: The nascent hive of the Zerg. Although it has undergone evolution, it remains very primitive. it serves as the reproductive center of the swarm, replacing the Queen.】
After the upgrade, the zerglings were promoted to Tier 4, and the hydralisks reached Tier 5.
Furthermore, two new Tier 5 units were added: the lurker and the infestor.
The lurker was a massive, spider like creature. Once burrowed underground, it could create a row of razor sharp spikes within a range of 500 meters in front of it to attack opponents. Its power could be described as terrifying.
In contrast, the infestor was a non-combat Zerg unit.
It was massive, standing three to four meters tall and seven to eight meters long, looking like a hybrid between a pill bug and a scorpion.
They could release a special neural toxin to parasitize and control enemies for a period of time.
They could also permanently infect other creatures, turning them into their puppets.
Additionally, during combat, infestors could release special fungal growth that dealt continuous minor damage to enemies and hindered their strength and combat effectiveness. Within the range of the fungal growth, the position of any invisible enemy would be completely exposed.
“It seems the infestor's control ability is quite powerful.”
The controlled subjects would eventually die, making it clearly a skill intended for use against enemies.
On the other hand, the Hive's new ability—Assimilation Transformation—was relatively mild and could be used to turn Ellie and the others into her own people.
Xia Jin thought about it and decided to test it on the students she had captured earlier.
“Well, I'll use Assimilation Transformation on that pretty mage girl. As for the two men, I'll just use the infestors to infect them.”
It wasn't that she was biased.
It was just that the girl was very pretty, and everyone appreciates beauty, right?
So Xia Jin went to the house where they were being held and brought the three of them out.
“I will allow you to leave, but before that, you must undergo a simple ceremony.”
Xia Jin took out a bowl filled with thick nutrient solution and placed it before them. “Drink it.”
“This...” Looking at the disgusting, bubbling, off white liquid with a faint green tint, the two men looked at each other in dismay.
“Don't worry, it's not poisonous.”
As if to prove it, Xia Jin took another bowl from the side and took a sip in front of them.
“The taste is actually quite good.”
The senior swordsman: “...”
The shield warrior: “...”
The young mage: “...”
Good my foot, is this even meant for humans?
Rate on N.U.
