Chapter 1 Clearing the Battlefield: Tunnel Worms and a Trip to the Seabed

"Roar!"

Across the ruins, survivors crawled out like little mice.

The zergling pups had a simple task: find a high spot and wait for the prey to emerge.

The roach pups had an even simpler task: clear the remaining structures so the queen pup could quickly spread the creep.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. Only the survivors suffered.

Of course, this wasn't just happening here. Many inland survivors had never seen so many monsters. At least those by the sea had seen some large marine life, but the inlanders were simply terrified.

Thanks to the residual wings, the speed of the leaping zerglings was unmatched by the survivors. However, some lucky ones weren't killed, though their luck wouldn't last. Without supplies, how far could they run?

Those who hid were in an even worse state. After the swarm passed, only ruins remained, and finding even a scrap of food was a victory for the zerglings.

"I survived! Haha! Heaven never seals off all exits."

Although there was no food, he had some in his ring. Better to live poorly than die well. He looked at the silent public screen and chewed on what tasted like beef jerky.

"Huh? What's this? Slimy and disgusting."

Creep Pup: Haha, it's me!

"What is this thing? It's moving? Can I eat it? Let's try."

"..."

"A bit sticky..."

"..."

"Ugh...blegh..."

The creep pup didn't care. It would eat anything with energy.

In the past few days, the queen pup had been exhausted, never resting.

"Roar." (Aren't you tired?) She gestured to the drone pups still carrying creep tumors.

"..."

"Roar?" (Can't you talk?)

"Don't waste my energy! I need to work!"

"..."

The queen was dumbfounded. What kind of worker was this? Not tired? And just saying a word or two wouldn't take much effort...

The drone ignored her and continued working.

...

Lin Mo was now at the seaside, looking at the large, writhing mass before him. This was the tunnel worm pup in its entirety.

Theoretically, the tunnel worm pup could grow indefinitely. This was just the head; the body could be as long as needed.

Lin Mo's underwater tunnel construction was about to begin, but it still needed the assistance of other pups. Otherwise, the tunnel worm pup wouldn't have enough energy to grow.

This wasn't difficult. He just needed to send the infestor pups into the water and let them cultivate monsters above the tunnel. These larger, less agile creatures would be easier to handle.

Lin Mo had considered directly releasing the Zerg virus into the sea, but the sea was already quite clean. After all, the struggles in the sea were much more intense than on land.

The Zerg virus was too precious to waste. It was better to use it on large clusters.

The main task now was to have the overseer pups fly low, observing any disturbances on the seabed.

Then, he would send the pups to fight underwater. In reality, Lin Mo didn't have many pups particularly suited for underwater combat.

So, Grand Manager Kaka started working again, analyzing resources. There were several large aerial combat pups that hadn't been unlocked yet, and this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

That's right, the Corruptor. Frankly, this pup's design was a bit too unrestrained: a huge head, covered in spiky beaks, and numerous slender tentacles in the back.

Well, the Queen should like this pup.

Soon, the first Corruptor pup was produced under these circumstances.

This pup was more of a support unit, mainly with strong armor-piercing capabilities. It could spread spores in the air, directly damaging heavy armor at the molecular level. This was perfect, as most sea creatures were quite large.

But that wasn't the most outrageous thing about this pup. In just a few seconds, the Corruptor pup could adjust its internal organs and turn itself into a ruthless rainbow... no, an acid-making machine. With enough quantity, the seawater wouldn't have time to dilute it.

It was a flying pup, but Lin Mo had no desire to ride this thing...

"But how does this pup even fly?"

Lin Mo was stunned. At least the Mutalisk pup had two symbolic wings. Did this thing just use anti-gravity to fly?

Looking at the main body, the Hatchery pup wasn't very large, only about four or five meters in diameter. Well, the entire underside of the head was covered in legs, thin, long, and smooth... but these legs were outrageous, at least ten meters long, and constantly wriggling!

How could it fly with that weight?

Kaka pushed up her glasses, though it was unclear which eye she wore them on.

"Queen, electromagnetism! Those tails are all like cancer cells... well... I don't know how to explain it, but that's what the genes say. As long as it can fly, that's all that matters! When in doubt, quantum mechanics!"

"..."

The Corruptor pup ran affectionately to Lin Mo, and after receiving Lin Mo's permission, excitedly circled him a few times.

It had to be said, the pups were still... well... slightly cute, maybe...

But Lin Mo didn't care. As long as they were strong. When he produced new pups in the future, he would definitely make them more aesthetically pleasing.

"The previous Overmind had a more adventurous aesthetic. I can't accept this."

Lin Mo sighed helplessly.

At this time, the tunnel worm pup was also progressing smoothly and had completed its basic evolution.

The tunnel worm pup was a living tunnel, or a conveyor belt, and could also serve as a restaurant. When the pup was fully grown, it could act as a breaching ram.

With a bang, it would break through the ground in the enemy's rear, and then release a flood of fully-charged pups.

Its current energy supply relied entirely on the creep for initial support.

The Corruptor pups were being produced at full speed. All the Hatchery in the corridor had joined the production.

Lin Mo's idea was simple: use the Corruptor pups to clear the way, followed by the tunnel worm pup. The corpses of the Corruptor pup's kills would be piled below to provide energy for the tunnel worm pup.