Ch 12

Zerg Mana – 1,009,650/1,000,000,000

Zerg Supply – 18/8220

Mana required for evolution: 500,000,000

My eyes popped open wildly. A Half BILLION just to get to level 3!? If this sets any precedent, it's going to be half a Trillion to get to level four, then 500 Trillions just to get to level 5! Worse though, if I need half a trillion to get space born… I'm going to be here a looooong time…

Well… I'm finally at level 2 at least. Looking down at myself, I note with dismay that my clothing got shredded by my armor. The most I have left is just a glorified loin cloth, but I rip that off since the armor forms a cod piece over my cock that can slide open so I can still pee and all that, so it's not like a loincloth would help with modesty anyway. No, I can't get much more modest than I am now considering the only part of my uncovered is my head and hands. Since I'm stuck with this armor until level five, unless I can do something fancy regarding the Evolution Chamber. At least it's not uncomfortable to lay on, being pretty form fitting. It's not spandex certainly. More like a black body suit than anything. The cool thing about it though is that I can feel things touching it as if it were my skin. That's really cool.

Looking around myself, I noted that the lair's inner chamber is twice the size of the Hatchery. Probably make it way easier for Overlords to float down in from the ceiling. Not that they needed to though. Overlords are pretty much better used as gatherers than drones ever were. Still, drones are the building blocks for my Hive, literally, so it's not like I'll ever stop using them.

It's at this point when all thinking on my part stopped. In walked my Queens, one after the other. In the distant part of my mind, I would have been highly amused that they seem to be acting like they're on a catwalk, but I'm too awestruck to notice that.

What I do notice is the sheer beauty of my Queens. All of them have similar figures that would've given Aphrodite a run for her money. They have their hair down, which looks better than other hair styles in my opinion. I can hardly believe the way they've done their armor though! For all intents and purposes, it looks more like it's been painted on to their bodies, accenting every curve without blatently showing everything off. I may have made mine form fitting, but their armor takes the cake! And the attention to detail they went to is insane! They've taken beauty of the female form to a whole other level.

Of course, they could only do this for the waist up really. The ability to lay creep tumors requires those spider bodies of theirs, and their bladed bone wings give them an almost demonic presence to them, especially with the new color scheme. They're still beautiful, but more along the lines of succubi rather than angels. If this is the way they're going with their appearance, I can hardly wait to see what they'll do at level five when we have a cerebrate genetecist available.

All of them seem to have tried to become personifications of their names. Joy's hair is wild and playful, reaching to her shoulderblades, and almost the literal color of sunshine. I believe the actual color name is dirty blonde though. Her skin color indicates she's spent a long time tanning on the Beach, and her eye colors are a bright, almost glowing, green. Overall, she looks like the personification of a california babe.

Rose and Snow seem to have gone for the Sephiroth look with their hair and skin color. Rose's hair is a long sleek and shiny rose red, and she has the same color for her eyes. Snow's hair is almost pure white and her eyes are an ice blue. Like Joy their eye colors seem to glow, until I realize with a start they really are glowing! The both of them really do look like Twins though, even if Rose is actually the younger of the two. They look like a cross between Japanese and European nobility.

Faye though, could pass off as a nearly identical twin sister for her name sake. It's rather startling, but there are just enough differences that I won't be mistaking the two for each other anytime soon. Her hair is sleek black and silky looking and reaches down to her midback. Unlike Rose and Snow, her hair is more like a cape that spreads all along her back, rather than the sleek straight curtains of her two younger sisters. Her eye color is what really sets her apart from her name sake though. She's chosen a honey gold color that glows, just like the rest of her sisters. Her skin color matches her name sake perfectly though, a nice latin brown color which I like very much.

Cuddles looks like the poster child of European nobility. Her skin is very fair, with high cheek bones and a somewhat pointed chin. Her blonde hair has a silky wave like look and her eyes are literally the color of glowing saphires. Unlike the nobility who seem to never smile, Cuddles has a permanent playful smile adorned on her face. All of my girls are smiling really, but hers seems to be a permanent feature on her. Even Joy doesn't have a smile on ALL the time like Cuddles does.

Finally Asura comes through the entrance to the Lair, behind the rest of them. I'd say saving the best for last, but all of them are too beautiful both inside and out to say any of them are better than the others. Almost the counterpart to Cuddles, Asura is the picture of Japanese nobility. She could define the height of a true Geisha's beauty. Unlike most Geisha, her hair is a deep ocean blue that frames her face and pools about her shoulders and back, and skin so white it almost rivals Snow's hair. If I had to say she looks like anyone, I'd have to say she looks like an adult Hyuuga Hinata with bluer hair and darker lavender eyes that glow.

The true beauty, in my opinion though, is their smiles. Each light up their faces in different ways and nearly surpasses their own beauty outright. It's a sight I could get very used to, seeing them smiling like that.

All six came up to me and twirled their hair around them much like a model would and Asura asked, "Do you like?" I nodded dumbly, gulping, which caused them in turn to giggle, which did VERY interesting things to their anatomy. I can only thank God for the foresight to give myself room for growth down there, or my armor might have popped open on it's own from the pressure, and that would have been extremely embarassing. Not that it isn't already embarassing though. I can tell through our connection that they already know just what affect they're having on me down there.

Cuddles then lifted me up and hugged me tightly, bringing all the others into a large group hug with me squished in the middle. "Do you like?" Asura whispered in my ear. I nearly shook my head off nodding in response. My throat felt very dry, and I laid my head on the nearest shoulder available, which happened to be Cuddles of course, and basked in the warmth both inside and out that my Queens are giving me.

How did I get so lucky to have such amazing women in my life? I can't help but be in awe of the entire situation. Here I am, hugged on all sides and literally drowning in feelings of love and affection. Just how did I get this lucky? I never get this lucky! I gave these beautiful women free will, and still they've chosen to give everything they are to me. Nope, there's no denying it. I am one lucky son of a gun, and I will cherish these ladies with all of my being.

After a time the group hug ended, much to my disappointment. Cuddles made up for it though as she has yet to set me down, and we went outside to see the rest of the Swarm. Everything looks bigger, and to be frank, much more bad ass. I always thought Brown with a secondary color of purple looked kind of dumb on the Zerg. Now my Lairs stand out from the sky like nightmare fortresses on the Horizon. The four corner tusks surrounding them sway to and fro, looking for enemies to pepper with the hale of spikes built into them.

The creep itself is now more a shade of black with dark red veins interwoven in. The Overlords themselves look like great floating Cthulu monsters. To think, just a change in color is all it took to make the entire Swarm look that much more badass. The fleet of Overlords overhead is so thick you can hardly see the sky, and I can't help but grin as they play with their brand new talons, glistening and ready to pierce foes. While not the most dangerous creatures in my Swarm, they're certainly not helpless bags of flesh in the sky anymore.

Thanks to making the Lair's effectively Overlords in their own right means I can already see the entirety of my land, so my fleet of Overlords can be better put to use as scouts, gatherers, and shuttles, rather than stationary eyes. I send one back to the village with two speedlings to resume defense of the village. I hope nothing happened to them yesterday. Most of the rest, I send out with orders to flatten mountains and get the lay of the land. The last few I order them to follow us about as our personal shuttles/guardians. Looking around, surrounded by buildings and creatures literally armed to the teeth, I almost want to dare something to attack me now. There's no way we'll have any worries about being out at night under cover of the Hive cluster ever again, and that's not even considering what I can do with my new abilities. I can hardly wait to test them out.

First things first though, I order four drones and have them start building an Evolution Chamber, Hydralisk Den, Roach Warren, and Baneling nest respectively. The evolution chamber should be done in half an hour, but the rest'll take an hour. As for the cost, the evolution chamber is 75 mana and the other 3 are 300 mana each. That's 1275 mana dropping me down to 1,008,375 mana. And to think it wasn't even that long ago that 1275 mana was a lot… now it's barely a drop in my mana pool. Insane… and to think, what would a PSI storm be like if I put a million mana behind it? It'd probably be enough to destroy a planet, and by level five I'm supposed to be capable of amassing, not a trillion, but multiple trillions of mana? Such an open ended attack is surely ripe for abuse! There's got to be some catch!

That's about the time I tried to imagine what would happen to me if I tried to channel that much energy through me at once. Shuddering, I realized I'd probably be vaporized… well, if push comes to shove, I can at least be assured that if I'm ever about to die and there's no hope left, I can always take all my enemies with me, provided no innocents are nearby.

Now, as to expansion… well, it seems I'm going to have to start doing this on a far grander scale that's for certain. Just for kicks, I pump out a thousand drones. That's 25,000 mana sunk, dropping me to 983,375 mana, which is still a rather ridiculous amount. Even so, a thousand lairs is going to cost me 500,000 mana. It'll definitely be worth it though. And with that thought, I order the massive horde out on a great expansion, with the Overlords as vanguards. It's probably going to take all day for the drones to get to new spots on their own, so changing plans on the fly, I order the Overlords to pick up the drones and drop them off at the new sites for the Lairs. That should drop the time by a couple hours hopefully. Still, that leaves me with 483,375 mana to play with. Well, the main thing I need in order to expand into the Nether is Hydralisks, but before I go there, let's wait for the Evolution chamber and see what it takes to get some Adamantium mixed into the Zerg armor.

Half an hour later, I'm directing the Queens to my new Evolution chamber, bringing the Adamantium we have with us. I'm not sure what to make of the building to be honest. It looks like a cross between a slug, a sausage, and a boil, with a large protrusion jutting up like a tower on the side. All in all, it looks like a cross between the appearance the Evolution Chamber had in both Starcraft games. It's gross looking, but I can easily see it'd be much worse if I hadn't changed the color of it.

Entering inside, we found ourselves in the first of three large chambers. This first one is filled with some kind of green mist, with a pool of green slime sitting in the middle, looking very much like a toxic waste spill. It's even pulsing with light too. The second chamber is filled with eggs and large tubes of liquid. The last looks like it's full of towers of brain matter all in neat rows. I'm a little revolted by the place to be honest. I can't wait to get a Cerebrate Geneticist. Then I'd only have to deal with him/her/it, whatever, instead of having to actually come in here.

Cuddles set me down and I walked up to the pool, then looked back at them and asked, "Well, what now?" The girls shrugged helplessly and Asura responded, "We're still practically broodmothers, and brand new ones at that. We know how to take care of the Swarm in general, but anything specific like this is beyond us."

Palming my face, I look around deadpan, "So we're playing in a mad scientists laboratory with absolutely no idea what we're doing. This cannot end well." Sending prayers to the heavens that I would be proven wrong, I took one of the chunks of adamantium that we have and dropped it into the pool, hoping it would work something similar to the Zerg Mana Pool. The Adamantium hissed and bobbed up and down in the pool with no real visible effects. I scratched my head, then bent down and poked my finger in the stuff. Like the Spawning pool, it didn't affect me at all, though it does feel a little tingly.

Frustrated, I mentally access the evolution chamber itself, hoping it's command list will give me some idea of what to do. Unfortunately, the command list sat empty. Absolutely no commands could be given to the chamber itself. I pushed deeper, hoping to find something I could access through the Evolution Chamber with no success, though something from the chamber full of brain tissue did ping on my mental radar so to speak. Making my way over to there, I walked among the brain stuff till I found the central one that had pinged at me. I keep getting the feeling that I just walked into the Zerg equivalent of a server room. Usually one of the central servers would have some kind of access terminal or something. I can only hope I might find the same thing here.

Reaching the central bit of brain mass, I try to connect to it like I did earlier with the Evolution Chamber itself.

Accessing the Zerg Genetic Archive

Input Command

"YES!" I shouted. Rose and Snow both jumped, having been following closely behind me, feeling very protective. I think they may have assigned themselves the position as my bodyguards, or head bodyguards anyways. Asura has been filling in the position as my second and the lead diplomat along with Cuddles if that visit to the village was anything to go by. I don't know what Joy or Faye have assigned themselves as, but I suppose I'll find out at some point.

"What is it?" Asked Asura. I answered, "I've accessed the Zerg Genetic Library through this brain thing, just like I did when we leveled up. I should be able to make changes directly to the Zerg through this now, rather than waiting to level up like I was worried we would have to do. I don't want to have to wait till level three just to change anything."

:Incorporate Adamantium into Zerg caraspace armor.

Unable to comply. Adamantium not part of Zerg strains.

:How do I add Adamantium to the Zerg strains?

Place subject Adamantium into the Evolution Chamber Analysis Pool then activate command to absorb subject Adamantium.

:Absorb Subject Adamantium

Command Accepted.

Processing. Time to complete: 6 Hours

Smiling, I stepped away from the brain console and said, "I was able to start the Evolution Chamber in absorbing the Adamantium. It'll take 6 hours before we can do anything else with it. What to do until then?..."

The other Queens looked at each other. Asura suggested, "You could test out your new abilities?"

Nodding, "Excellent idea!"

Rushing outside in my excitement, with my Queen's following, I wonder what to try first? It'd be nice if I had some targets. Casting around on my mental map, I figure you can't get a much better place to shoot than the pit we'd made a few days ago. Mentally conveying to my Queens what I plan to do, we all board an Overlord and a few minutes later, we're at the edge of the pit. Standing here looking in, it's kind of foreboding, especially considering how deep it is. I wonder if I should direct some of the Overlords flattening the land down for the creep to fill it back up? After pondering the idea for a moment, I decide to do just that, after I've tested out my new abilities.

First things first, I'll start with the easiest. Activating burrow, my body sinks below the ground feet first. I don't understand how I'm still breathing though. I can't move an inch and there's dirt up my nose, yet I can still breath. This doesn't seem physically possible. Maybe, since the Zerg can survive out in space, I only think I've been breathing? Or maybe I just don't need to anymore and only do so because I haven't taken away the ability to yet.

Unburrowing, I ask the Queens in general, "Do you guys have the ability to breath? It looks like you do, but you can survive in space to right?"

"We can breathe, we just don't need to." Answered Asura, confirming my theory. Nodding, I turned back to the pit, and aiming at the far side, I cast PSI Assault. A burst of white light materialized in front of me, then just as quickly winked out. It extended out from me by about roughly 30 yards. Not exactly long range, but fairly decent. Now for the big one.

Directing my aim to the far side of the pit, I cast PSI Storm. A large web of rippling white light, almost like lightning. The sound it makes is exactly what I expected yet at the same time not, since I can hear it twice with both my ears and my mind, giving it a weird echo effect. It lasts for about ten seconds, then abruptly disapates. I can only imagine something walking into that would be shredded, and the sheer space it covered! I cast the smallest amount I could, namely 50 mana to cast that, and it covered about the same space as an entire football field! Aiming at the same spot, I increased the amount of mana I put into it by 25 and cast it again. Surprisingly, the size didn't increase at all, though the white light is brighter than before. I guess I won't be busting planets after all in that case, at least not at this level. Who knows what abilities I'll get in the next levels?

Overmind mana – 374/500

Well, there's only one power left that I want to test. I'd test my PSI Armor, but I don't really like the idea of hurting myself on purpose. So, turning to the nearest Queen, Joy, I tested out my PSI guantlets by picking her up. Joy squealed and her legs scrambled for purchase till I set her down. Needless to say I was rather amazed. Joy felt as if she had weighed practically nothing! Thinking about it, I realized that while normally I could lift roughly 100 lbs, maybe more since I never actually tested just how much I could lift, with my PSI Guantlets on, I could bench press 1000 lbs! I can actually lift half a freaking ton! That's insane! And the best part is, that's what I could lift before I became Zerg! Since my PSI guantlets multiply my physical strength rather than add on to it, if I increase my base strength with Zerg evolutions, I could easily double, if not triple my strength! Maybe more! The average Hydralisk can probably lift 400 lbs or so, maybe more, with it's Zerg enhanced strength. If I could lift 400 pounds on my own, then add PSI Guantlets on top of that, I'd be able to lift 2 tons! That's like, picking up cars and throwing them strength! Suddenly wearing armor originally based off of Prototype seems extremely appropriate. Better yet, if I can somehow recreate the abilities of the Black Light virus within the Zerg… the idea of the Swarm wielding that much power is almost obscene! Not to mention the ability to make ourselves look however we want is almost the jackpot in espionage, stealth, and surprise.

Wait a minute… don't the Zerg have the Changeling? Those things are already capable of taking the form of anything they want, and without the messy business of physically absorbing their disguise to boot! Quickly turning to Asura, I ask, "How do we build Changelings?" Asura blinked, surprised by my urgency, and answered, "They're produced by the Overseers. Why do you ask?"

Beginning to grin maniacally, I respond, "Because, if we can spread the ability to morph over the entirety of the Swarm, no one would literally see us coming. Ever. Say we're targeting an enemy hiding in the mountains. If we can morph ourselves to look like rocks, and were sneaky about it, we could have him surrounded and he wouldn't even know it! Worried our looks might scare away the locals, or we want to go incognito among the population? Then we morph ourselves to look like them! If we're worried a tougher enemy is about to blast us off the planet, morph the creep to look like regular ground, and our buildings to look like rocks, trees, and hills!"

As I continued in this vein, the eyes of my Queens grew wider and wider still. And I hadn't even finished.

"Imagine this, say you're facing an enemy who can't stand to be in light? Have a nearby Zergling morph into a lightsource such as glowstone! Of course, since Morph only changes our physical appearance, not our physical properties, it'd probably be a good idea to absorb a bunch of these things first. It'd be one thing to morph our hive to look like an enemy base so they won't attack us. But as soon as the enemy touches one of our buildings, the jig is up. Our buildings may look like theirs, but it won't feel like them. However, if we absorb the metal those buildings are made of, then include the physical properties of that metal on the surface of our morphed buildings nothing, probably not even sensors, will ever be able to tell the difference!"

I would have continued, but I couldn't seeing as I'm currently smothered by my Queens practically dog piling me in a rather tight group hug. They're practically singing my praises much to my embarassment, but it's not exactly unexpected. In one fell swoop, I'd practically guaranteed the safety and dominion of the entire Zerg Swarm from practically anything! I doubt even HE would be able to find us now. And, with my PSI Guantlets, I'm at least stronger than him now. I can't exactly turn invisible, but we've got the perfect camoflauge. Hard to find something if it looks like a hill, feels like a hill, smells like a hill, and tastes like a hill. Now I just need to become invulnerable, fly, and teleport, and I won't have to worry about HIM at all! Come to think of it, I can summon lightning better than he can! He can cast a single bolt. I can cast an entire football field's worth of bolts! I never thought it was possible, but I can actually see a point now where I could freely say his name and not have to worry anymore! Heck, if I infuse my skin with adamantium, then make it the same color as my regular skin, I wouldn't have to even bother with armor, and then I really would be invulnerable! Or, as close to it as you can get physically anyways. I pointed this out to my Queens and they inevitably hugged me harder. Good thing I don't have to breathe anymore or I would have suffocated a while ago!

After a while, I wondered if I shouldn't try and escape the hug. My Queens don't seem to be willing to let go of me anytime soon. I don't really have much else to do either. I had considered visiting the village, but this is honestly far more pleasant. I still don't feel very comfortable sitting so close to the pit though, so I direct an Overlord to reel us in and take us back to our Lair. It really is so very convenient having what amounts to extra bodies as extension to my own. I can just stay in this pile of snuggles and still be free to do whatever as an Overlord.

Actually, I haven't tried out what it's like to just run flat out as a Zergling. Taking over one of them, I split it from it's roaming patrol and after flexing a bit to get used to the body, I had it take off, zipping among and around the Lairs and the few sparse trees still standing that hadn't been knocked over. The speed is exhilarating, much better than trundling along as an Overlord, even if they are faster now. And the best part is, the Zergling seems practically inexhaustable! If only I had that as part of my body too. I should take that ability as well. Then again, maybe I already do have it from the level up. It's hard to exhaust yourself when your strength is so great that anything you do might as well be like moving feathers. I wonder how high I could jump? But then again, what about the landing? Eh, that could be a good test for the PSI armor. I'll wait till the Adamantium upgrade first though.

I spent a long time running around as that Zergling. So long in fact that before I knew it:

Subject Adamantium processing complete.

Has it really been six hours already? Looking up towards the sun, it seems to be midafternoon. It really has been that long. Relinquishing control of the Zergling with orders to rejoin the patrol, I come back to my Queens and say, "The Adamantium is finished processing. Time to go to the Evolution Chamber." A chorus of groans met this statement and one of my Queens grumbled, "Can't you access the Brain console from here?"

I blinked at that. Can I? Using my mind's eye to follow the path back to that central brain console, I tried to access it that way.

Accessing the Zerg Genetic Archive

Input Command

Huh. It seems I can. "Nevermind. I can access it from here. Thanks for the suggestion." The Queens settled back in and relaxing, and I could feel their relief to not have to get up. I chuckled. My Queens are starting to get lazy.

:Incorporate Adamantium into the caraspace armor of the Swarm, particularly the skin.

Swarm evolution selected. Cost is 500,000 mana. Evolution time is 24 hours. Proceed?

I blinked. Doing this would cost the exact same as the level two evolution of the swarm, and last as long as well? Why in the world?

:Don't proceed.

Command accepted.

:Why would it cost 500,000 mana and last 24 hours to apply one evolution to the swarm?

500,000 is the minimum mana required to evolve the entirety of the swarm with a single type evolution. 24 hours is the minimum time required to ensure the evolution has no detrimental effects to the Swarm.

Well… that makes sense actually. One thing mentioned caught my attention though.

:Single type evolution?

Evolving the swarm with one type of evolution costs 500,000 mana. Each additional type of evolution applied costs an additional 500,000 mana.

:What are the different types of evolution?

The current evolutions available to the Zerg Swarm are: Physical and Psionic.

:What is required to apply a psionic evolution to the Swarm?

Type 1 Psionic evolutions require: Evolution Chamber.

Type 2 Psionic evolutions require: Evolution Chamber and Cerebrate.

Type 3 Psionic evolutions require: Evolution Chamber and Cerebrate Genetecist.

:What is the difference between Type 1, 2, and 3 Psionic Evolutions?

Type 1 Psionic evolutions are unaltered Psionic abilities assimilated into the Zerg Swarm.

Type 2 Psionic evolutions are Psionic abilities altered to be more powerful after being assimilated into the Zerg Swarm.

Type 3 Psionic evolutions are Psionic abilities developed and assimilated into the Zerg Swarm without any base evolution to be patterned after.

My eyes widened as far as they would go at that. With a Cerebrate Geneticist, I could create my own Psionic abilities from scratch!? That's… that's beyond insane! I have to wonder though…

:What is the difference between a Cerebrate and a Cerebrate Geneticist?

A Cerebrate is servant to the Overmind and capable of commanding an entire brood of the Swarm no matter its size. Each Cerebrate houses a copy of the entire Zerg Genetic Archive and can manipulate it on the genetic level. Cerebrates are capable of being specialized according to their duties.

A Cerebrate Geneticist is a Cerebrate that has specialized in manipulating the Zerg Genetic archive, capable of altering it on an atomic level, and possessing the ability to create different types of evolution from scratch based solely from theory.

:What are the different types of specializations for Cerebrates?

The specializations for Cerebrates available to the Swarm are: Geneticist. More Specializations require development by a Cerebrate Geneticist.

Well that's good to know. I need to know more about evolving the Swarm though.

:What type of evolution is the ability, Morph?

The ability Morph is a physical ability. It allows for a Zerg to evolve into a different strain if the new strain evolved from that Zerg.

O….k…. not what I wanted to know.

:What are the abilities of the Changeling?

Changeling Abilities: Shapeshift.

:What type of evolution is the ability, Shapeshift?

The Ability Shapeshift is a physical ability. It allows the Changeling to take the appearance of a target of similar size.

Well, I guess that means I won't be shapeshifting into a mountain any time soon. Note the sarcasm. After all, it'd be kind of obvious that the thing you'd shapeshift into would have to be similar in size, though I suppose it'd be nice to be able to shapeshift into a speck and not be noticed. If I can get a cerebrate to change Shapeshift to allow that would be kinda cool. Still though, I feel rather annoyed that I have to wait a day before I can do any evolutions. I don't have to sleep anymore either, so I can't use that to pass the time. Now I feel a bit foolish. I should've kept the ability to sleep instead of removing it entirely, like breathing. I'll have to fix that too.

For now though, I'm stuck. Without the mana, I can't evolve anything. I suppose I could hunt down a few raw materials and have the evolution chamber process it, but I can do that easily enough with an Overlord. With nothing better to do, I passed the time doing just that. After collecting samples of just about everything I could think of, I had the Overlord go to deposit it in the Evolution Chamber, but then I realized an Overlord wouldn't be able to get into the thing. Not even stretching it's limbs into the entrance helped.

With a sigh, I commanded a larvae to become a drone and had it take everything from the Overlord and drop it in the Evolution Chamber's Analysis Pool, then with nothing else left to do, I just left it there, then sent the Overlord back to its fellows floating up above our Lair. That done, I ordered the Zerg Genetic Archive, or ZGA for short, to process it all. Unlike the Adamantium which took six hours, most of the stuff was finished processing in just a few minutes. I guess it takes longer if the object being processed takes a long time to dissolve.

That done, I laid back with nothing else to do. Not long after, I make another mental note on my things to change checklist, to remove my ability to be bored. If there's one thing I can't stand while being awake, it's being bored. Casting about for something to do, I spent a good chunk of time flying about as an Overlord and running around as a Zergling. The latter of which I had a lot of fun with once I got the Zergling out of the Hive Cluster and out of the range of the Lairs. Then I got to run around baiting Creepers and practicing stalking up on different mobs.

After a while even that grew boring, and the area I'd been running around in had grown increasingly pockmarked. I'd definitely have to get the Overlords to fill that up before I could get the Creep to fill in the area. Heading back as the Zergling, it's almost night time now, and a good chunk of the 1000 lairs had finally finished, leaving 400 or so left to finish up.

Come night fall, the monsters started to appear and I watched in amazement as the Lairs mowed everything down. I'm really glad I'd put the needle spine launchers near the tops of the tusks, otherwise the Lairs might have accidently shot each other. Creepers were exploding, Skeletons and Zombies were dropping like flies. The few Endermen were literally warping everywhere to avoid the hail of spines, so I ordered the Lairs to ignore them, setting the Zerglings after them instead. As each one fell, I ordered the drone to drag the carcass into the Evolution Chamber to be processed. Unfortunately each Enderman only gave me about 15 to 20 percent of the genome, and after the first one, the second one offered a chunk of the genome already known. That became more and more common the more Endermen I'd caught. By the middle of the night I only had about 50 percent of the Enderman Genome unlocked.

The nice thing about the middle of the night though is that's when I got the days collected mana deposited, and by then all of the Lairs had finished.

-END CHAPTER-

Overmind mana – 374/500

Zerg Mana – 483,325/1,000,000,000

Zerg Supply –19/13220

Units:

1 Overmind

1079 Overlords

1 Drone

11 Speedlings

6 Queens

Structures:

1551 Lairs

1 Spawning Pool

1 Evolution Chamber

1 Baneling Nest

1 Roach Warren

1 Hydralisk Den