Chapter 89-1: Battle The Swarm (1) |
Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range.
North of the Geomarrow Cliff where the Evil Eye Tower stood.
A massive army made up of countless insects, densely packed like a swarm of locusts, spread across the land, advancing at great speed toward the Evil Eye Tower.
Sensing the anomaly, Dinian decisively withdrew the Black Tide forces that were still rampaging in the Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range. Centered around the Evil Eye Tower, it constructed a towering wall of black mist, readying itself for the sudden war that was about to break out.
Atop the high tower, the expression on Dinian’s face was extremely grave.
Through his perception mode, the bodies of the Swarm warriors appeared to be composed of semi-transparent crystals, shimmering in multicolored hues under the light of the Evil Moon. Three pairs of wings as thin as cicada wings extended from either side of their backs, covered in energy runes. Their eyes resembled rubies, capable of changing color according to the environment. Through their translucent bodies, one could see a heart-like organ pulsating at the center of their torso. With every contraction, the runes on their bodies would light up accordingly.
Their lower bodies had four slender jointed limbs, and beside their mouths lined with sharp teeth were a pair of scythe-like mandibles raised high.
The Swarm moved at incredible speed and in overwhelming numbers, with each Swarm warrior radiating an aura of cold and slaughter.
Upon coming into contact with the terrifying Black Tide controlled by Dinian, the runes on the insects lit up, spewing elongated threads of energy from their mouths. Any Black Tide Evil Entities they touched were instantly severed, and then reintegrated into the Black Tide.
It was like two waves of different colors crashing into each other at their center, engaging in a bloody battle.
This scene was also unfolding under Qi Sheng’s conscious surveillance.
Guide, which had been constantly monitoring the movements of the Evil Eye Tower, reported the situation to him at the first moment.
Through Guide’s analysis, Qi Sheng obtained detailed information about the Swarm warriors.
[Crystal Wing Strain (Battle Swarm)]
Hunt Level: 15
Analysis Information: The Battle Swarm’s basic combat unit, possessing the racial talent of rapidly evolving through devouring matter, controlled by a ‘Low-Level Hive Mind’ unit. Each battle allows them to acquire pheromones by devouring targets (the Hive Mind gathers pheromones through the combat Swarm to adjust the growth direction of new Swarm units and evolve combat organs specialized in countering enemy forces).
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“A new force has entered the scene. Interesting. They actually dare to launch an offensive against the terrifying Black Tide.”
On the Primordial Altar, the image of the battle between the insect swarm and the Black Tide surfaced in Qi Sheng’s mind, and he clicked his tongue in amazement.
Upon hearing his words, the surface of Guide’s water sphere displayed a thoughtful expression.
[Indeed very strong. I suspect this force known as the ‘Swarm’ likely came to Monster World in pursuit of the Black Tide, rather than being one of the many races forced here after the world collapsed or arriving for revenge afterward.]
“You’ve discovered something new?” Qi Sheng looked at Guide and asked curiously.
In response, Guide immediately shifted Qi Sheng’s conscious vision, zooming in on the battle between the Swarm and the Black Tide Evil Entities. Then, Guide materialized an arm and pointed at a Crystal Wing Strain that had been torn to pieces by an Evil Entity.
[Boss, have you noticed something unusual about the state of the insect corpses?]
Upon hearing this, Qi Sheng swept his gaze over the shattered remains of the Crystal Wing Strain and quickly noticed the issue.
“The Black Tide seems unable to fully devour the flesh fragments of the Crystal Wing Strain. It can only consume part of the body.”
This discovery struck Qi Sheng as truly incredible.
The most terrifying characteristic of the Black Tide was its ability to devour and grow. Though this trait wasn’t obvious in battles with players, it was virtually unstoppable when fighting other lifeforms.
Yet this most powerful feature of the Black Tide was failing to fully manifest against the Swarm.
Based on Qi Sheng’s understanding, the Black Tide should be able to recycle its own Evil Entities seamlessly after death, with minimal energy loss, generating new Evil Entities to rejoin the battle. Meanwhile, the dead Swarm warriors’ flesh would be absorbed and digested by the black mist.
Ultimately, the Black Tide would snowball into rapid expansion with minimal loss.
However, in this battle, when Black Tide Evil Entities killed Swarm warriors, they could only absorb part of the flesh and failed to completely devour them.
“These insects have evolved bodily structures resistant to Black Tide consumption.”
[Exactly. These Swarm warriors, or rather the Hive Mind behind them, have clearly fought the Black Tide before. They likely gathered enough pheromone data through repeated battles and evolved resistant tissues specifically to counter the Black Tide, forming crystal-like body structures in the Crystal Wing Strain. This substance is at least difficult for a low-level Black Tide to digest, so it can only absorb part of their energy.]
[And there’s something else, Boss. Have you noticed that the Swarm warriors emit mist-like energy particles during combat? These particles prevent the black mist from absorbing the dispersed energy of dead Evil Entities, slowing the Black Tide’s regeneration of new Evil Entities. So these Swarm warriors have evolved two counter organs specifically against the Black Tide.]
“Very interesting. Pull back the perspective to the rear.”
As Qi Sheng finished speaking, Guide led his consciousness through the endless sea of insects, heading north into a newly discovered area of the Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range.
This region was identified in the analysis information as: Phantom Swamp.
The viewing speed accelerated continuously until it came to a stop before a massive creature the size of a small mountain.
The analysis information appeared accordingly.
[Swarm Hive Mind (Low-Level Hive Mind):]
Hunt Level: 103
Target Description: A command unit in the Swarm’s social ecosystem, possessing four major racial talents: devouring matter, rapid reproduction, pheromone analysis, and life tissue reconstruction.