56: Chapter 56 A Bumper Harvest of Mithril and an Unexpected Joy in the Gene Bank

Andra's forehead, covered in a silver-white carapace, struck the hard rock ground.

The clang of metal on stone echoed through the silent mine, particularly piercing.

"Thanks to the Overlord's grace!"

His voice was loud and strong, each syllable carrying the cold resonance of the entire Zerg Swarm's will.

"We are willing to become the sharp sword in your hand, to clear all obstacles for you!"

Fanatical worship surged from the depths of his soul.

With the complete surrender of the strongest warrior of the Centaur tribe, the remaining resistance crumbled. All Centaur captives looked up at the indifferent purple giant eye in the sky with a mixture of fear and longing.

Evolution, this is life's most primal instinct.

In the face of absolute power and the temptation of a life-level leap, so-called freedom and dignity seemed so pale and powerless.

The surrender of the Centaur race brought the first truly intelligent laborers to the Iron Hive.

The mining of the Mithril Vein began with unprecedented efficiency.

Deep within the mine, countless dark figures scurried in the gloom.

They were Ratman laborers.

They were tireless and fearless of death. Their sharp claws and teeth, along with their secreted corrosive saliva, were the most efficient rock-breaking tools. They swarmed into every corner of the mine like an ant colony, gnawing at the hard rock layers until they were riddled with holes.

The Gray Dwarves provided more sophisticated technical support.

They were no longer enslaved artisans, but engineers who, under the will of the Nid Hive Network, pushed their lifelong skills to the extreme. They forged tougher alloy drill bits and inscribed shimmering support runes on critical load-bearing structures to ensure the mine would not collapse under the frantic excavation.

Technology and brute force combined perfectly under the will of the Zerg Swarm.

The originally indestructible Mithril ore was cut and separated into large chunks under this combined assault, then dragged out by the immensely strong Drones.

Time flew by in the efficient operation.

In just three months.

The scene in the deepest resource warehouse of the Iron Hive was already magnificent.

A small mountain was piled up out of thin air.

It shimmered with a soft and pure silver light, as if moonlight had solidified into a physical form. The air was filled with a faint, cool scent that soothed the spirit.

A full 1,200 kilograms of high-purity Mithril!

This fortune was enough for any kingdom on the continent to launch a war of annihilation, and enough to move even reclusive demigods.

However, for Su Chen, this was only part of the plan.

His true gains were far more than that.

Within the cold, magnificent Zerg Swarm Temple.

Queen of Blades Sarah knelt on one knee, her hands, covered in purple carapace, respectfully holding an ancient artifact.

"Overlord, this is what we found deep within the Centaur tribe's sacred land."

It was a bronze altar.

It looked extremely ancient, its surface covered in mottled bronze rust, carved with countless rustic patterns of Centaurs drawing bows and hunting giant beasts. A wild and ancient aura assailed them, telling of a race's former glory.

Su Chen's will descended here, his gaze falling upon the altar.

The next second, the system's prompt message accurately popped up in his mind.

[Discovered ownerless building: Fourth-Tier Bronze Archer Class Change Altar]

[Description: Can change agile humanoids into 'Bronze Archers,' enabling them to master basic archery and battle qi. No upper limit on class change numbers.]

Class Change Altar?

A ripple appeared in Su Chen's will, then quickly subsided.

"Heh, too primitive."

His thoughts carried a hint of the creator's indifference and pickiness.

This step-by-step profession system was a product of this world's indigenous civilizations. It was rigid, inflexible, and full of limitations.

An ordinary Bronze Archer was, at best, a Fourth-Tier troop.

A ground unit.

Poor mobility.

Low defense.

How could such a thing be worthy of his great Zerg Swarm?

His Zerg Swarm did not need to follow any established rules.

The Zerg Swarm only needed to mutate!

It only needed to evolve!

A crazy and domineering ambition ignited in Su Chen's will.

"My Zerg Swarm will crush all rules!"

"System, Nid Hive!"

A shout from the spiritual level resounded throughout the entire Iron Hive's will network.

"Activate the 'Infinite Gene Evolution' talent!"

"Analyze this altar for me!"

Su Chen's will, like a scorching steel brand, seared command after command into the core of the Nid Hive.

"Invest all 1200 kilograms of this Mithril as a catalyst for this evolution!"

"Extract the 'Magic-Breaking Arrow Qi' rule!"

"Fuse the 'Centaur Gene'!"

"Fuse the 'Zergling's High Metabolism Gene'!"

"And add the 'Mantid's Bone Hyperplasia Gene'!"

What he wanted was not simple enhancement, but a thorough, subversive creation!

"Deduce a brand new evolutionary path that can dominate the skies for me!"

"Buzz—!!!"

As the final command was issued, the entire Iron Hive, this massive underground biological fortress, trembled violently.

The power of the core biochemical reactor was instantly pushed to its limit, emitting a deafening, low roar.

Deep within the temple, the massive fleshy wall connected to the reactor began to writhe frantically, countless thick biological blood vessels coiling and distending on its surface, pumping out a tsunami of purple energy.

In the void, it was as if countless invisible genetic chains were being forcibly torn out, shattered, and then reorganized into a new, more violent sequence.

The ancient bronze altar was dropped by mechanical arms into a boiling pool of bio-acid below.

"Sizzle—"

Amidst the piercing sound, the altar, which carried the heritage of a race, couldn't even last a moment before rapidly melting in the high temperature and strong acid, turning into wisps of green smoke containing the power of rules, completely absorbed by the bio-pool.

Immediately after, the gates of the resource warehouse opened wide.

Tons of shimmering silver Mithril poured directly into the boiling biomass.

A miraculous chemical reaction occurred.

The originally turbid bio-pool, at the moment the Mithril merged, suddenly burst forth with an extremely dazzling silver light, as if a liquid sun had been born within it.

Time lost its meaning at this moment.

One minute.

One hour.

Su Chen's will was firmly locked onto the light cocoon in the center of the incubation pool, which constantly changed shape and exhaled massive amounts of energy.

He could "see" that inside the light cocoon, the Centaur's talent for archery, the Zergling's terrifying metabolism and self-healing ability, the Mantid's gene for freely growing bone blades and carapaces... everything was undergoing the most fundamental fusion, using the 'Magic-Breaking Arrow Qi' rule as a framework and catalyzed by the immense energy provided by Mithril.

Finally.

After an unknown amount of time.

The pulsation of that light cocoon reached a critical point!

Hours of silence transformed into the most extreme burst at this moment!

A dazzling silver light pillar suddenly shot up from the incubation pool, piercing through the temple's thick biological dome with an unstoppable force, penetrating the rock layers above, and directly stabbing into the sky!

The entire mining area could see this silver spear of light, seemingly connecting heaven and earth!

Almost at the same moment, the system's cold prompt, with a hint of unprecedented excitement, exploded in Su Chen's mind!

[Ding! Gene deduction successful!]

[Congratulations, Overlord, you have obtained a brand new Sixth-Tier Aerial Troop Gene Map: Silverwing Zerg Cavalry!]

[Characteristics: High Aerial Mobility, Bio-Bone Cannon, Magic-Breaking Silver Arrow, Metal Carapace!]

"Hahahaha! This is it!"

Su Chen's will transformed into wild laughter, echoing throughout the entire Nid Hive Network.

Before his eyes, an incredibly clear holographic projection appeared out of thin air.

It was a terrifying creature beyond imagination.

It retained part of the Centaur's upper body silhouette, but its entire body was covered in a streamlined, metallic-silver carapace.

Behind it, instead of fleshy wings, were a pair of huge metal wings made of hyperplastic bone and Mithril alloy, their edges gleaming with razor-sharp cold light.

One of its arms had completely mutated and fused with its body, forming a heavy cannon with an astonishing caliber and bio-patterns covering its barrel—a Bio-Bone Cannon!

"Hahahaha!"

Su Chen looked at this perfect creation, his voice filled with the pride and exhilaration of conquering everything.

"Transforming fragile archers who could only crawl on the ground into aerial heavy cannon units with high mobility!"

"This is my Su Chen's Zerg Swarm!"

"This will completely make up for the Zerg Swarm's shortcomings in insufficient long-range firepower, especially weak air-to-air and ground support firepower!"

"From today onwards, the sky will also become the territory of my Zerg Swarm!"