Chapter 373: Operation Bugs
The inside of the insect nest was dark, the air was turbid, the stench was overwhelming, and there were terrifying and creepy insects everywhere.
Some insects are sleeping, some are fighting, and some are competing for food. There is a bit of chaos in the order.
In addition, there are a large number of unhatched insect eggs.
The surface of the eggs was very sticky and full of mucus, as if covered with a layer of flesh and blood. Many eggs could be heard beating with intermittent sounds.
“Bang…Bang…”
By simply shining a beam of light, one can see through the thin, translucent skin the curled-up insect larvae that are developing inside.
Su Xia flapped her wings and flew to a high place, taking in the entire nest.
During this period, the hive developed steadily.
After becoming the leader of two insect nests, Su Xia was not in a hurry to expand.
He collected the corpses produced by the previous battle between the two sides and let the insect queen devour these corpses and transform them into nutrients needed by the insect nest.
At the same time, he also absorbed a part of it, and his strength steadily improved.
"The strength of this clone is close to level five, and has reached a critical point." Su Xia slowly raised his hand, or claw, feeling the power in his body.
His body was covered with gem-like dark red scales, hard and cold, and looked strangely beautiful.
The tail behind it is very long, its wings are strong and powerful, its limbs are extremely muscular, two small horns appear on its forehead, its facial features are cold, and its pupils are red, like a humanoid demon in mythology.
"brush--"
Su Xia waved his claws lightly, and the power in his body seemed to explode, so strong that it was frightening.
This body possesses almost all the advantages of the Zerg, with terrifying explosive power, amazing defense, incredibly fast speed and reaction ability, bones like steel, and vitality stronger than a cockroach. In terms of physical strength alone, it is much stronger than the main body.
"If it were on Earth, a slap could kill an elephant."
The number of skills on his personal panel is amazing. Almost every time he levels up, he can awaken an active or passive skill, and he doesn't need to learn anywhere else.
From a purely combat perspective, this body is simply perfect.
In his personal opinion, this is almost the top species in the entire universe.
Of course, Su Xia’s knowledge of the vast universe is limited. Perhaps there are stronger species in the starry sky above his head.
At this moment, a hoarse voice came from afar: "Els, why do we have to hide deep underground?"
The lord of this insect nest, the black sky overlord, questioned Su Xia.
During this period, this lord was also growing by devouring corpses.
Su Xia always pays attention to its growth rate, hoping that this lord can break through and become a level five creature as soon as possible, so that he can provide sufficient help for his future actions.
However, even as a lord creature, this insect's daily devouring capacity is limited, and it will not be able to digest if it eats too much.
Su Xia is different. His body can devour almost infinitely, and several of his passive and active skills are related to devouring.
Now, this leading creature has just broken through to level 4.8 in psychic power, and is still far from level five.
"Els, the corpses have almost been devoured." The lord continued, "We should take the initiative to attack and plunder more resources to allow the hive to continue to grow and hatch more warriors, instead of hiding deep underground."
The "Els" he mentioned was the name that the queen had given to Susha's body before.
Els, in the mythology of this world, is the god of cunning and cruelty.
The current appearance of Su Xia's body is similar to the illustrations of the cruel gods in mythological fables.
He said to the lord creature, "No, Big Bear, our current capabilities are not enough."
Xiong Da was the name he gave to this lord.
The lord of another insect nest not far away was a mutated shadow hunter, named Xiong Er by Su Xia.
"Els, I think we are strong enough." The lord refuted Su Xia's words with a hoarse voice and bloodshot eyes staring at him.
"Big Xiong, the overall strength of the Hive has only recovered to 70% of what it was before the last war."
Su Xia looked calmly at the lord and continued, "Do you think this kind of strength is powerful? It seems that your definition of powerful is different from mine."
The lord did not back down and retorted again: "Els, you are not courageous enough."
"Your so-called 'courage' will lead to the destruction of the entire hive."
Su Xia answered him expressionlessly.
He had expected such a conversation.
He had always known that this lord and the lord of another insect nest were not very convinced of him.
After all, his current position was not achieved through fighting, but was directly appointed by the Queen.
To the two insect nests, he was a person with connections who got in through the back door.
When he was first appointed, he had just broken through to level four, and his spiritual energy was unstable, which was sensed by the two lords.
Until now, both lords thought they were stronger than him.
Many times, the two of them were resting or devouring and growing in another insect nest, and never came to this insect nest to see Su Xia.
In a society like the Zerg where the strong prey on the weak, the strong will not listen to the weak.
The order of this race is stricter and more cruel than that of the mechanical race.
"Els, I am the original leader of this nest. I have watched it grow with my own eyes. I should have more say than you." The lord was quite polite and did not directly disobey the order. He was still arguing with Su Xia, but his voice became increasingly cold.
"Big Bear, what do you want to do?"
Su Xia looked at him quietly, waiting for his reply.
The lord said: "Els, the scouts we sent to various areas have returned and found traces of more than ten new insect nests. Now is the best time for us to devour them!"
"Xiong Da, you are too anxious." Su Xia shook her head.
"Els, the Queen appointed you in the hope that you can lead the two insect nests to a stronger path!"
The lord raised his voice a little and questioned Su Xia: "You are so cowardly, always saying that the time is not right, making us hide deep underground all day long, then when will the time be right?"
"Xiong Da, what do you want to say ?" Su Xia said in a steady voice.
"Els, if you don't have the courage, then return the power to me and Xiong Er!" The lord did not beat around the bush and put forward conditions to Su Xia in a hoarse voice.
The two did not try to suppress their conversation, and many insects in the hive below could hear it.
Most of the low-level bugs didn't show any reaction and continued to do their own thing, as if they hadn't heard anything at all.
However, a few intermediate and advanced insects raised their heads and looked at the two creatures in the sky.
Some of them have intelligence no less than that of adult humans, so they naturally know what is happening - a power seizure!
Among them, the smartest are naturally the advanced races such as the Fear Parasites and Shadow Hunters. They had noticed the problems inside the hive a long time ago, but they had remained silent.
Until now, they still choose to remain silent.
Smart creatures will not take sides when something just happens, otherwise they will easily fall into the abyss.
However, some races have already made their choice.
“Squeak… squeak…”
On the ground, some of the insects raised their heads, looked ferocious, and bared their teeth at Su Xia. Rancid mucus dripped from the tips of their teeth, looking extremely creepy.
Among them, many belong to the same race, the "Raiders", the evolved form of the Swiftworms, a mid-level soldier.
Some insects in the sky also opened their eyes.
They hung upside down above their cold nests, densely packed like bats in some caves, black or gray in color, belonging to two different flying races—Black Wings and Gray Shadows.
As Zerg flying soldiers, it is normal for them to choose to follow the Overlord. After all, this Overlord is a mutated Black Overlord.
He is almost the ultimate evolutionary goal of the entire hive's flying troops.
"Els, the queen hasn't come back yet. I think your weakness has disappointed her." The lord said to Su Xia bluntly.
"The Queen is just collecting information in the human city." Su Xia replied.
"That's just your one-sided statement!" the lord retorted, his voice cold, "Give the power back to me, I will lead the hive to the peak and let the queen know what is the right choice!"
"You want to prove yourself to her?"
Su Xia smiled faintly, knowing what this bug was thinking.
The lord asked back: "Els, don't you want to? Or is it cowardice that keeps you from doing it?"
"I want to know what Xiong Er thinks." Su Xia said lightly.
"He thinks the same as I do!"
The lord suddenly opened his bloody mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and emitted a strange sound wave towards the front.
This is one of the ways for the bugs to communicate with each other. He is notifying the lord of another bug nest, Xiong Er.
Su Xia also has similar contact methods.
In the skill column of this body of his, there is an active skill called [Contact].
Not long after, Xiong Er, who received the news, came.
"Els..."
He was a mutated shadow hunter, with a tall body, a hard shell, a pair of sickle-like arms that glowed with dim light, and an extremely oppressive feeling.
With a light leap, he jumped to a place not far from the two of them, stood on a huge stone platform, and said to Su Xia: "Els, my idea is the same as Xiong Da's. The Zerg does not belong to the shadows. We need to fight for the land under the sun!"
It can be seen that he and Xiong Da had discussed it long ago and were just waiting for an opportunity to confront Su Xia.
And today, Su Xia's sudden announcement of a hidden action gave them an opportunity.
Su Xia stared at the two of them calmly and said to them, "Have you read the books I gave you?"
"Els, the books are all about human philosophy, which is not applicable to our race!" Big Bear said coldly.
"Els, I don't think you have fully integrated into our race. Do you still consider yourself a primitive creature? Or do you want to learn from humans? Have you forgotten how humans were destroyed by the mechanical race?" Xiong Er also raised a rebuttal. Obviously, they had read those books, but now they just wanted to stand against Su Xia.
Those books were carefully selected by Su Xia.
It contains knowledge in many aspects such as philosophical debate, military strategy, and development theory.
He knew that most advanced insects were smart, with IQs not inferior to those of adults. As long as he studied hard, he would definitely be able to understand it.
In particular, the idea of sustainable development is very important to the Zerg at this stage.
Therefore, he not only distributed the books to the two lords, but also to some high-level insects so that they could study together.
Now, those bugs who had read the book maintained the deepest silence, without even raising their heads, silently waiting for the end of this power grab.
As cultural geeks, they have seen many similar historical stories in books.
"Els, everything is over. Give the power back to us." Big Bear waved his hard wings, staring at Su Xia with cold eyes.
His sharp claws flashed with a faint light, and I wonder if he was planning to attack directly.
"Els, did you hear that?" Xiong Er also stared at Su Xia, "Give the power back to us. We should be the Queen's messengers. We will bring supreme glory to the Zerg!"
"If the Queen were here, she would probably slap you both."
Su Xia looked calm, thinking of the tall woman with wheat-colored skin.
She should still be looking through information in the basement of the Coral City Tavern.
Big Bear retorted: "No, Els, the Queen will appreciate our actions!"
Su Xia asked him: "Do you know what is happening outside now?"
"No, we don't!"
“…”
Su Xia shrugged and said to them, "I don't know how you can come to question me so confidently. Who gave you the courage?"
"Els, I just know that your decision-making is wrong!" Xiong Er said coldly.
"This is not a matter of decision-making, this is a matter of life and death."
Su Xia looked into the distance, his eyes passing over the two hive lords.
He raised his voice and asked a educated bug in the distance: "Have the scouts sent to the south returned?"
The bug's level is very high, already level 3.9, and it's on the verge of a breakthrough.
He was very smart, a parasite, and one of the more loyal insects to Su Xia in this insect nest. He immediately reported to Su Xia: "Lord Els, they have not returned yet."
"Okay, wait for them to come back and tell me immediately." Su Xia ordered.
"yes!"
The insect bent its body and imitated humans in a very realistic way.
He is not the original body, but a primitive insect with strong limbs that has been parasitized. He stands on two feet and his learning ability is among the best among all insects.
Su Xia consciously trained him and put him in charge of summarizing the investigation information.
At this time, Xiong Da stared at Su Xia and asked, "Els, what are you waiting for?"
Su Xia replied: "Didn't you hear me? I'm waiting for news."
"You're stalling for time!" Xiong Da concluded in an unfriendly tone.
"That's right, Els, you are delaying, you don't want to hand over the power in your hands!" Xiong Er spoke up, and even growled after he finished speaking, showing his dissatisfaction with Su Xia.
It can be seen that they prefer to have a real fight to decide power rather than resort to various tricks.
This made Su Xia feel more comfortable - at least there was no need to engage in intrigue like among the human race.
With the emotional intelligence of these two guys, if they went to a human company or municipal unit, they probably wouldn't last even half a month and would be eaten up by a group of old foxes until not even a bone was left.
Su Xia smiled calmly and said to the two guys, "Don't worry, the news should arrive soon."
"Els, your method of stalling for time is despicable!"
"Huh? He even used the word 'disdain'. This shows that the reading during this period was effective."
“…”
The two lord creatures looked at each other with murderous gleams in their eyes, and they seemed to be planning to take action.
However, Su Xia was chosen by the queen after all, and the queen has the supreme position in their hearts, which makes them rather conflicted.
If Su Xia was an ordinary bug, they would have found an opportunity to beat him to death long ago.
After a while, Xiong Da looked at Su Xia again and said coldly: "Okay, Els, we will wait for your news here!"
