73: Play a big game

"Rat Swarm, move out!"

At Qiao Yu's command, tens of thousands of Rat Monsters surged out of the community's sewers.

As each Rat Monster emerged, the fungal swarm within its body burst forth, creating a scene like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.

The fungal dust in the air almost completely obscured Qiao Yu's vision.

In just a few seconds, the entire building was parasitized by the fungus.

[Ding! Level 1 fungal nest rebuilt.]

The system's notification sound rang out.

"This is only a Level 1 fungal nest? What do higher-level fungal nests look like?"

Qiao Yu wondered, but the system's voice did not sound again.

"Forget it. Since the main base has been established, it's time to expand."

The fungal nest's self-propagation speed was a bit too slow. For future expansion, Qiao Yu and his Fungal Squad would have to rely on themselves.

Qiao Yu forcibly summoned the Dai Mao Rat King and the Shadow Cat.

Two pools of blood appeared on the previously bare floor.

Bright red liquid continuously erupted from the blood pools, and two members of the Fungal Squad broke through the liquid, revealing their true forms.

"You two, come with me. Today's goal is to first fill up the number of members in the first Fungal Squad!"

Qiao Yu checked the time on his communication watch; it was almost ten o'clock.

The first Fungal Squad still had 8 slots. Qiao Yu's idea was to make the system's gene pool as complete as possible, so it was best to find different types of monsters.

With that thought, the Fungal Squad set out!

---

In another community in the suburbs of County 0203.

Qiao Yu was controlling the Dai Mao Rat King, making it summon all the Rat Monsters it could, again tens of thousands of them.

They were facing a herd of Iron-Haired Wild Boars that originally inhabited this community. Qiao Yu controlled his flying knives, constantly harvesting this small beast herd that had no Beast General Level monsters.

Ten flying knives flew amidst dozens of Iron-Haired Wild Boars, and wherever they passed, blood splattered.

The Shadow Cat and the Dai Mao Rat King also split into other small teams, outflanking them from different positions.

Even though Iron-Haired Wild Boars were known for their defense, against the Beast General Level Shadow Cat, their iron-like fur seemed like wooden planks.

One claw left a mark, two claws slit the throat, three claws disemboweled.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of Iron-Haired Wild Boars falling to the ground was incessant.

And the Dai Mao Rat King did not hold Qiao Yu back in the slightest.

Although its individual combat ability was far inferior to that of the Shadow Cat, as a rat species, it was destined to win by sheer numbers.

Tens of thousands of Rat Monsters completely blocked the escape routes of the Iron-Haired Wild Boars. Even when the Iron-Haired Wild Boars realized the situation was bad and wanted to escape, they couldn't find a breakthrough.

Four or five Iron-Haired Wild Boars teamed up, trying to carve a bloody path through the Rat Swarm, but dozens of Rat Monsters, twenty to thirty centimeters long, jumped onto these wild boars, biting frantically.

The reputation of rodents was not unfounded; their teeth, after genetic evolution, were extremely sharp. Once they bit, their teeth were like barbs, clinging tightly to the Iron-Haired Wild Boars' skin.

Even with the Iron-Haired Wild Boars' death throes, they couldn't shake them all off. The needle-like pain made these four or five wild boars, who wanted to break through, unbearable.

But when they tried to use their size advantage to roll over and crush the Rat Monsters into meat paste, they were gnawed at by even more Rat Monsters.

In just a few blinks of an eye, the several Iron-Haired Wild Boars that had been poised to escape were already covered in Rat Monsters.

As squeaking sounds continuously rang out, their originally massive bodies were already riddled with holes.

In just a few seconds, dozens of Iron-Haired Wild Boars were completely gone, all transformed into Qiao Yu's fungal swarm nutrients.

"Just a few dozen Beast Soldier-level Monster, not enough to even look at."

"I haven't even exerted myself, and you've already fallen. Truly pathetic, pathetic (weak)."

Qiao Yu had originally planned to train his skills and also see how well the Fungal Squad could handle monsters.

But he didn't expect it to not even be enough to fill a tooth gap. The flesh and blood, converted into fungal swarm quantity, was less than 10 cubic meters.

"Should I go for something big?"

Qiao Yu's heart now harbored a crazy idea.

Before, his level was low, and he was operating with the Fire Hammer Squad. He had no advantage against beast swarms, and a slight oversight could easily lead to death.

But now it was different. The entire Fungal Squad was under his control, and he didn't need to consider their lives at all.

What if they died? They could be resurrected anyway. So what? What could happen?

Thinking of this, Qiao Yu decided to let loose and get to work.

He would first go harass a few Beast General Rank Monsters, then attract their Beast Soldier Rank beast swarms and kill them all.

As soon as he thought of it, he acted. Qiao Yu remembered seeing traces of a few Beast General Rank Monsters when he first came to the suburbs.

So Qiao Yu, the Shadow Cat, and the Dai Mao Rat King split into three groups. Each of them would attract a Beast General Rank Monster, then gather them at the location of the fungal nest.

Fortunately, the suburban buildings were not dense, so it was relatively easy to find the locations of these Beast General Rank Monsters.

Qiao Yu quickly discovered a nest in the underground garage of a certain suburban community. The underground garage was a terrain that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.

And inhabiting it were strong bovine monsters, nearly 3 meters tall.

"It's the Rampant Bull!"

Qiao Yu saw four or five Rampant Bulls at the exit of the underground garage.

Long fur, a pair of curved and sharp horns, and reddish bull eyes fully displayed the characteristics of the Rampant Bull.

As the name suggests, the Rampant Bull's main characteristic was being strong in limbs and simple in mind.

Beast Soldier Level Rampant Bulls were bad-tempered and would actively attack any creature that approached.

Even after being promoted to Beast General Level, their intelligence improved significantly, but they could still easily be overcome by anger.

Those few Rampant Bulls looked towards Qiao Yu, their large nostrils began to spew two white streams of air, and their front hooves constantly scraped the ground.

It was clear that the Rampant Bulls at the exit of the underground garage had discovered Qiao Yu and were now preparing to attack him.

And Qiao Yu didn't tolerate them at all, controlling his flying knives, which immediately flew towards those four or five Beast Soldier Level Rampant Bulls.

"Swish! Swish!"

In an instant, 10 flying knives were inserted into the heads of these four or five Rampant Bulls.

"I have to say, psychic power is really easy to use."

Qiao Yu praised repeatedly. Relying on the power of the fungal swarm still required some time.

But using psychic power could kill targets quickly and accurately.

"Moo—!"

With several loud thuds, a few Rampant Bulls fell to the ground. Before they died, they let out tragic screams, attempting to alert the other Rampant Bulls in the underground garage.

Evidently, their goal was achieved, as Qiao Yu clearly felt the ground shaking.

And he finally saw the Beast General Level Rampant Bull lurking in the underground garage.

The moment Qiao Yu saw its size, he was quite shocked.

"Is this still a bull? Isn't it a semi-trailer loaded with goods and fully insured? The transmigrator's favorite fully insured semi-trailer has arrived!"