157: Chapter 157 Medusa's Genes and Source Pool Mutation
A cold, pure torrent of energy washed over Su Chen's consciousness, completely stripping him away from the impetuous and conspiracy-filled atmosphere of the City of Deities.
The sensation of returning to the Hive Core was like a red-hot blade being dipped into absolute-zero coolant; all stray thoughts and emotions were instantly annihilated, leaving only absolute logic and control.
Mela, the man calling himself the "True God Hunter," and the ridiculous conspiracy behind him occupied only a negligible node in Su Chen's neural network before being archived and sealed away.
In the face of absolute evolutionary potential and the infinite Zerg Swarm, the schemes of any individual or small organization were nothing more than a speck of dust in a planetary orbit, not even worth a ten-thousandth of his computing power to monitor continuously.
True threats always came from higher dimensions and more fundamental powers.
Right then.
Ding!
A crisp chime rang out, not through his hearing, but exploding directly within the depths of his Soul Origin.
It wasn't a System notification from the Hive, nor was it the echo of the Laws of the Divine Realm.
It came from a grander, more ancient, and more supreme existence.
A golden light screen, so brilliant it was impossible to look at directly, seemed like the first ray of light at the dawn of creation. It tore through his conscious dimension and presented itself before him with an irresistible force.
[Congratulations! The God Ascension Tower season settlement is complete!]
[You have taken the top spot with an indisputable absolute advantage. You have received a Legendary Grade reward: Gene Directional Induction x1!]
Su Chen's mind, as vast as a sea of stars, experienced a stagnation of a thousandth of a second.
Immediately following that, a desire far more surging and primitive than devouring eight hundred drops of Divine Power erupted from his non-material Soul core.
Divine Power was merely fuel, the energy blocks driving the war machine that was the Zerg Swarm.
But this reward...
It was a blueprint! A key! A ladder to a higher form of life!
This was the only pass to the path of "Genetic Ascension"!
The specific information of the reward turned into a golden stream of data, pouring into his consciousness.
[Gene Directional Induction: You may specify any Mid-Rank mythical creature from the myriad worlds to obtain its core gene fragments.]
A golden sphere of light the size of a fist appeared out of thin air before Su Chen's will.
It wasn't a physical object, but a condensate composed purely of Laws and information. Billions of complex genetic spiral patterns flowed on its surface, and with every flicker, it seemed to enact the birth and destruction of a race.
Su Chen's conscious entity, the invisible existence representing the supreme will of the Zerg Swarm, floated quietly before this sphere of light.
His cognitive core, a biological computer that surpassed all supercomputers in the Universe, began to operate at a terrifying speed.
Illusions of countless powerful creatures flashed through his mind.
—Behemoth!
In the image, a colossal beast that reached the heavens roared as it tore apart a planet's moon, its pure physical strength shattering space.
[Analysis: Genetic advantage lies in "Absolute Strength" and "Ultra-high Physical Resistance." Overlaps with the function of the Thunder Beast King; low optimization value. Rejected.]
—Phoenix!
In the image, a divine bird bathed in stellar flames let out a long cry. After being torn apart by divine spells, it was reborn from the ashes, flames sweeping across the starry sky.
[Analysis: Genetic advantage lies in "Elemental Control (Fire)" and "Nirvana Rebirth." The Zerg Swarm is centered on numbers; the resurrection of individual units holds no strategic value. Rejected.]
—Hydra!
In the image, a giant serpent with nine heads was perched in a poisonous swamp, spitting out toxic breath that corroded all things. Severed heads regenerated in an instant.
[Analysis: Genetic advantage lies in "Ultra-fast Regeneration" and "Multiple Attacks." Can serve as an optimization direction for existing units, but is not a qualitative change. Rejected.]
His Zerg Swarm already possessed ultimate destructive power.
The Thunder Beast King's massive bone blades were enough to slice open the bodies of gods, and the endless sea of Zerglings could completely submerge any battle line.
However, in Su Chen's mental deductions, a potential weakness was repeatedly flagged in red.
When facing enemies with "Physical Immunity," "Absolute Defense," or rule-level barriers, the Swarm's attacks would fall into inefficient consumption.
He lacked a decisive means to ignore defenses and forcibly change the course of battle.
A kind of... control.
A rule-level control that could turn indestructible enemies into fragile stone statues!
After billions of calculations and deductions, all possibilities eventually pointed to one name.
A name that, in countless myths and legends, represented curses and despair.
Su Chen's will turned into a precise and unerring command, locking onto that golden sphere of Law.
“I choose—Medusa (Gorgon)!”
[Selection confirmed! Extracting "Medusa" gene sequence...]
The moment the command was given, that golden sphere of light suddenly contracted, then erupted with a blinding radiance!
Boom!
A pale, deathly divine light, seemingly from some forgotten world of death, forcibly tore through the sky of Su Chen's Divine Realm.
It descended straight down, carrying a bone-chilling aura that froze the Soul, landing precisely in the center of the Divine Realm within a vast spawning area.
The light slowly dissipated.
A statue was revealed.
It was an eerie statue that sent a chill down one's spine at a single glance.
Its upper body was that of an exquisitely seductive woman, her features so perfect they seemed inhuman, yet they carried an otherworldly evil. Her hair was composed of hundreds of hideous, twisting venomous snakes, each one lifelike with flickering tongues, as if they could come to life at any moment.
Just by staring at this statue, Su Chen could feel a shudder born from genetic instinct.
“So this is the Genetic Source Substance.”
Su Chen's will did not fluctuate in the slightest.
Beauty or ugliness held no meaning for the Zerg Swarm; there was only the distinction between "useful" and "useless."
He directly controlled the Hive, extending dozens of thick flesh tentacles from deep within the earth.
These tentacles were covered in heavy carapaces with tips as sharp as knives. They ruthlessly coiled around the statue emitting an ominous aura and, in the crudest manner, dragged it toward the highest-Rank "Biochemical Reactor" in the Divine Realm.
“Not only that.”
Su Chen's will shifted.
From his vast resource reserves, a fragment emitting a thick, greyish aura of decay was brought forth.
This was a trophy he had stripped from the corpse of an unlucky Rock Demigod he had crushed in passing during a previous divine war.
“Petrification divine portfolio fragment.”
It contained that demigod's core understanding of the Law of "Petrification."
“Add this.”
Su Chen's will commanded again.
“And these one million Earth-element Magic Cores.”
The million magic cores stored in the resource vault turned into an earthy-yellow torrent, injected directly into the reactor through another pipe.
Everything was ready.
Su Chen's will turned into a mental storm, sweeping through the entire Hive.
“Evolve for me!”
A silent roar exploded within the Soul links of all Zerg units!
In an instant, the entire Hive—this massive biological structure comparable to a continental plate—shook violently.
“Gurgle... gurgle... gurgle...”
In that chosen top-tier Biochemical Reactor, the high-concentration nutrient solution that was originally emerald green instantly boiled.
Under the infusion of the Petrification divine portfolio fragment and the energy of a million magic cores, the liquid turned into a murky grey-white at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a pool of setting cement.
Countless gene chains were forcibly broken and torn at the microscopic level, then savagely spliced, recombined, broken again, and fused with Medusa's Genetic Source Substance...
The sound coming from deep within the reactor was no longer a simple boiling sound.
It was more like billions of invisible venomous snakes simultaneously letting out sharp hisses at the bottom of the pool, turning into mental pollution that made the scalp of anyone who heard it tingle and their blood freeze.
[Warning! Intense genetic mutation detected!]
[Attempting to integrate the Law of Petrification...]
[...Fusion success rate: 100%!]
[Generating a brand new Queen unit based on the host's will...]
Under Su Chen's cold and expectant gaze, the specialized Spawning Pool that originally belonged to the "Hydralisks" in the Divine Realm began to undergo a startling transformation.
The originally soft, slimy flesh walls were rapidly losing moisture, their color turning from blood-red to grey-white.
Its texture changed from flesh to hard rock.
Countless twisted snake-like patterns, as if alive, crawled and spread across the petrified flesh walls, eventually forming eerie and evil bas-reliefs.
A heart-palpitating aura of decay began to spread silently outward, with this Spawning Pool as the center.
The air became heavy and viscous.
A few Drones responsible for transporting biomass merely approached the edge of the Spawning Pool, and their movements became visibly sluggish and stiff.
Grey stone spots actually appeared on the surface of their carapaces!
The stone spots continued to spread at a slow but steady pace, like an incurable Plague.
“What a strong radiation effect.”
In Su Chen's will, there was no panic, but rather a sense of extreme satisfaction.
“Even before being born, the dissipated aura can cause substantial petrification effects on the environment and other units.”
“It seems this time, I've really created something big.”