Chapter 134: Chapter 116: The Bizarre Frontline, The Battle of Jia City (2)
Staring out at the vast, desolate badlands, Lin Feng considered another possibility.
With the parasitic host, Cheng Zhan, feeding it information, the Zerg Race Mother Empress couldn’t possibly be unaware of humanity’s secret biological genetic modification program.
If the message the Mother Empress received that day was from the host—stating it was being pursued by human Genetic Warriors—then dispatching three Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs as reinforcements would be perfectly logical.
Sending the three Tiger Spine Zergs directly served a dual purpose: first, to ensure the rescue of the parasitic host, and second, and more importantly, to test the Genetic Warriors in whom humanity had placed such high hopes.
It needed to learn the extent of the Genetic Warriors’ power and whether they could truly help humanity turn the tide of this one-sided war.
To see if they posed a threat to the Mother Empress’s own safety.
But due to a twist of fate—Lin Feng’s unexpected appearance—the three Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs and the parasitic host were all killed in an instant.
The Mother Empress, unaware of the specifics, could only attribute this crushing defeat to the human Genetic Warriors.
’In that case, the Mother Empress would definitely overestimate Qin Hu’s combat strength. She might even believe that humanity can mass-produce powerful Genetic Warriors by capturing members of the Tier One and Tier Two Zerg Race.’
’After all, a modified Genetic Warrior benefits from the amplification of Zerg genes while also being able to activate their own Superpower. Their combat power would far exceed that of others at the same tier...’
’They could take on three or more enemies at once in the wild.’
’And since humans retain their consciousness, their intelligence level is far superior to most of the Tier Two Zerg Race...’
’Allowing its Black Spine Zergs and Tiger Spine Zergs to be captured alive, enabling humanity to mass-produce Genetic Warriors, would be the greatest possible loss for the Zerg Race!’
’So the Mother Empress must have concluded that it’s better for her Swarm to be killed on the spot than to be captured alive by humans.’
’That’s why she must have canceled the scheduled Black Spine Zerg patrols, leaving only the low-level Red-Armored Beetles to continue constructing the Nest and gathering food for the Swarm...’
’Meanwhile, all the Black Spine Zergs have been positioned deep underground, near the Nest.’
’This serves two purposes: it better protects the Mother Empress during her Upgrade hibernation, and it prevents the Zergs from being captured by humans, which would needlessly bolster the enemy’s strength.’
Of course, Lin Feng didn’t know this for certain. Meanwhile, the demoralized Thirteenth Division had already been scared witless in their battles against the Zerg Race, making it impossible for them to take the initiative and engage the Zerg in open-field combat.
It was precisely because of this that the Mother Empress dared to make such a move.
Now, however, this puzzle was laid out before Lin Feng.
He didn’t know that the Mother Empress was currently in a state of Upgrade hibernation, and that right now, this desolate and eerie Zerg heartland was the entire Zerg Race at its most vulnerable.
If he missed this opportunity, the upgraded Lv34 Mother Empress would possess even greater power, heralding the dawn of her reign as a Tier Three Middle Stage being!
At that point, the Tier Three Middle Stage Mother Empress would not only be able to multiply the number of Low-tier Zerg Race she could hatch and control, but even the Tier Two Zerg Race would receive ability Upgrades after harvesting and absorbing human Superpowers.
When these new Tier Two Zerg Race members hit the battlefield, they would undoubtedly catch humanity completely off guard.
Furthermore, as a living bio-factory, the Mother Empress had already undergone targeted evolutions specifically to counter humanity’s strategy of building defensive fortress lines.
Then, even hiding in their sturdy fortress outposts wouldn’t be enough to escape the Zerg Race’s crushing appendages and Giant Mandibles!
And now, Lin Feng—the only one who could threaten the Mother Empress’s Upgrade—found himself in a predicament.
He had worked so hard to boost morale and convince his subordinates to follow him back to the battlefield, only to encounter such a bizarre situation.
To lure out the Black Spine Zergs and attract the Zerg Race’s attention, Lin Feng ordered Shen Jie to take a few team members, drive to the edge of Zerg territory, and use a Heavy Machine Gun to kill the Red-Armored Beetles near the Wormhole entrances.
The tactic was the same as before: use the mass slaughter of the Red-Armored Beetle Swarm to draw out the Black Spine Zergs for a look.
As the RAT-A-TAT-TAT of the Heavy Machine Gun echoed across the wasteland, hundreds of Red-Armored Beetles were killed in an instant. The rest of the swarm scurried back into the holes, not daring to poke their heads out.
As far as the eye could see, across hundreds of acres of the Zerg heartland, there wasn’t a single living zerg in sight, only the complex network of underground Wormholes.
Lin Feng’s brow furrowed even tighter. In front of him, Chen Yanyan, who was piloting the Battleship, turned back to ask:
"Should we just drive right in and search the area?"
"It’s a shame the Life Radar doesn’t have enough Energy. Otherwise, we could scan up to a kilometer underground."
Watching Shen Jie and his team return empty-handed, Lin Feng was lost in thought.
He had originally planned to save the upgraded Lv20 Land Patrol Battleship as a trump card against a potential Tiger Spine Zerg Swarm. The plan was to rely on his company of over a hundred Awakeners, armed with Shotguns, to frantically slaughter the Black Spine Zerg army and force the Tiger Spine Zergs into the fight.
But he hadn’t expected this. Not only was there no sign of the Tiger Spine Zergs, but even the Black Spine Zergs, which usually swarmed all over the place, were undetectable with his Mind Sensing.
He now faced a choice: either turn back or risk leading his team deep into the Wormholes.
The first option would mean all his efforts had been for nothing, squandering the high morale he had painstakingly built. The second meant taking on unforeseeable dangers.
Worse, the missing Black Spine Zergs and Tiger Spine Zergs were likely hiding in some secret underground cavern. Fighting underground with Shotguns or Armor-Piercing Cannons would surely destroy the tunnel structure and trigger a cave-in.
The buried members of the Zerg Race could be dug out by Red-Armored Beetles, but Lin Feng’s side would be doomed.
To fight deep within the Wormholes, he could only send a small number of elite team members, and they would have to rely primarily on Close Combat Weapons to ensure their safe return.
The Genetic Warriors cultivated by the Research Institute would be perfect for this.
As things stood, Lin Feng felt that only he and Shen Jie were up to the task. The rest of his team members didn’t yet possess the courage or the strength to engage Black Spine Zergs in close combat.
