Juggernaut: Rise of the Zerg

Chapter 126
The sky is clear, the wind is gentle.

Cooper came to the door and put away the fishing nets he was drying.

Today is the day to go to sea, and everyone is rushing to the pier.

For some reason, there seems to be a lot less aquatic products in the sea recently, and the fishing boats that can basically return with a full load in the past are now getting less and less harvest every time they go to sea.

For a small fishing village like them that lives on fishing, this has already affected the survival pillar of the entire village, and it is quite a serious matter.

Once or twice is okay, it has been like this for a month, and the situation is getting worse, until today, they have reached the time when they have to go deeper into the ocean to fish.

As a fisherman, Cooper's craftsmanship is very good. In the past, every time he went to sea, he always brought back a good harvest. Although not the most, he was always the best among the crowd, and he lived a relatively affluent life because of this. Life, even last year, there were girls from the next village who expressed their love to him.

If it weren't for the reduction in fish catch, he should have been able to live a good life, at least it would not be a problem to live his own life behind closed doors after getting married.

But recent bad news can be described as one piece after another.

First, the news that the empire was defeated at the border suddenly spread in the city, and then the whole city became tense.

For ordinary people like Cooper, since their birth, the news they have heard has always been such as where the elite of the empire wiped out thousands of enemies, and where they beheaded tens of thousands. , the empire that is in full swing will never lose the day.

However, the rumors this time have their noses and eyes. Although the government used administrative power to forcibly suppress the news at the first time, judging from the tense reaction of the whole city afterwards, it should be true.

However, this has nothing to do with a small fisherman like Cooper. Compared to this, he pays more attention to the price of seafood in the city, because it directly affects his livelihood.

No matter how powerful the enemy is, if they really defeated the elite guarding the frontiers of the empire, would they still be able to defeat this small seaside town in the southeast?

What he cares most about is his own life, in this case, how he will live.

Recently, the catches of fish every time he went to sea have been decreasing. Although the price of seafood in the city has risen, he can no longer live the life he used to.

Not only Cooper, but all the surrounding fishing villages have recently been on the verge of bankruptcy, and they had to venture to further seas for fishing. Back to the way it was before.

Some people say that something must have happened in the ocean, because recently even the seafood left after the ebb tide has almost disappeared.

This is very abnormal.

Some people also reported to the higher authorities and tried to use official power to investigate, but nothing happened.The situation in the city has been very tense recently, the army and even the militia have been mobilized very frequently, and no one has paid attention to their appeals.

What exactly happened in the ocean, they don't know.But if they want to make a living, they have only one choice, and that is to go further afield.

It is true that this requires taking greater risks, but if they do not take risks, they will not be able to guarantee even the most basic life without any special skills.

Several fishing boats sailed away from the pier of the village, sailed into the vast sea, and gradually disappeared from sight. I don't know what fate they will meet at sea.

But the fate of this fishing village has already been doomed at this moment.

In the distant mountain depression, hundreds of Zerg units have already set their sights on this place.Zero let go of their jurisdiction, and now they only have bloodthirsty instincts and a desire to hatch more companions.

Walking out of the inaccessible mountains and forests, all the snakes, rats and beasts along the way have been turned into their own food by them, and their number has also increased from a dozen to hundreds today.

The first time they discovered this village, they rushed here with all their strength driven by instinct.

…………

A few urchins are playing at the entrance of the village. The children's world is always so innocent and carefree. They don't know what livelihood is, and they don't understand the pain of adults trying to make ends meet.

Even if the quality of life is slightly reduced, I ate a bite of caramel today, and after crying, I will soon forget it.

At this moment, they are enjoying a carefree childhood, however, the shadow of death has enveloped them.

The swarm rushed past, leaving behind only a few childish and terrified screams.

Soon, roars and screams came from the village. Some lizardmen were running for their lives, and some fought back, but it didn't make much sense. Even the elite imperial soldiers couldn't deal with the swarm, let alone them.

In the evening, everything had already calmed down, and several hatcheries appeared in the village at dusk, wriggling disgusting bodies under the golden light, and insect eggs rolled out of them, quickly hatching into adults.

Afterwards, the number of bug swarm doubled again, they abandoned the slow-moving hatchery, took only two larvae with them, and headed towards the next target.

The sky was getting dark, and Cooper and the others didn't land again until dark because they were going far out to sea this time.

From a distance, the whole village was dark without any lights.

This is of course not normal. Usually, when these fishermen return, there will always be some lights on, waiting for them to go home.Even sometimes, relatives will come to the pier to wait.

But today, nothing.

The darkness in the distance reveals a trace of weirdness, and the uneasiness in my heart surges like waves.

Someone couldn't help shouting loudly, but unfortunately there was no response, only the occasional sound of wind blowing past the ear accompanied by the surging tide behind him.

They hastily set up the fishing boat, and ran towards the village without caring about anything else.

After a while, there were mournful cries.

Angry fishermen saw three hatcheries in the middle of the village, and this monster-like thing is still wriggling to this day!

They slashed with knives and burned with fire, and the immobile hatchery was at their mercy. However, what they didn't know was that when they saw the hatchery, they were also being watched by the hatchery.

This is not just a burden left by the swarm, but more like a trap.

…………

Tragedy like a fishing village is not an isolated case. At the same time, entire villages were slaughtered by insect swarms in every corner of the empire's coast.

Fortunately, they found it in time, and a few people escaped. Unfortunately, after the discovery, there were only a few disgusting hatcheries left in the whole village. Just as they vented their anger, the swarm returned again.

Since there is no command, they all act on instinct, and most of the time they can use this to gain another increase in number, but later, the lizardmen also gradually discovered the tricks of the swarm, and they learned to counteract it. The bait left by the swarm becomes its own bait, which in many cases can play an unexpected role, and even wipe out the returning swarm.

But sometimes, this strategy will fail, because the scale of the returned swarm may exceed their imagination.

Zero didn't pay attention to these at all. It didn't matter whether those swarms that went deep behind enemy lines were used as a means to contain the lizardmen. Whether they could develop and grow, even if they were completely annihilated by the lizardmen's concentrated force to search mountains and seas, it would not affect the overall situation.

The Battle of Hurley had an extremely far-reaching impact.Not only the gains and losses of one city and one place, but also the key battle for the real rise of the Zerg on the mainland.If before this, the swarm had only gained a firm foothold on the mainland, then after this battle, it had already sounded the prelude to the lizard people's national extinction.

Today, under the impact of the insect swarm, the entire eastern part of the empire has basically been corrupted. Under the infestation of the insect, there are displaced civilians everywhere. The so-called border nobles' rule has become disorganized under the impact of the insect swarm. , in a mess.

Those troops assembled because of Toril's changes last year did indeed cause some obstacles to the progress of the swarm. From this point of view, Toril is worthy of a famous general of the empire. The empire left a lot of blessings.

But that's it.

In the following three field battles, the Zerg swarm crushed the opponent's barely organized defenses one by one, and the countless Lizardmen became the food for the Zerg to breed.

The resistance of these armies more or less bought some time for the empire to concentrate its forces, allowing the resistance forces in the rear to complete the assembly, and when the swarms swept across the east, it was difficult to use the acropolis around the imperial capital as the base, and once again Build a line of defense.

One month after breaking through Heli, the swarm rushed into the hinterland of the empire with an unstoppable force. Those lizardmen with hoes and sickles basically did not cause much trouble to the swarm.

I don't know how many civilians died under the ravages of the swarm, and countless lizardmen were displaced.Whether they are nobles or civilians, officials or beggars, at this time, all identities lose their meaning, they only have one identity, and that is the refugee.

Wherever the swarm passed by, there was hardly a single blade of grass growing, but few large creatures could survive, no matter whether it was lizard people or snakes, insects and ferocious beasts, it was difficult for them to survive.

In this process, even if Zero did not intentionally expand the size of the swarm, under the constant predation, the number of swarms has reached an astonishing 60!
At the same time, the amount of accumulated food is also increasing rapidly, and Zero is too lazy to count. With the current number of insect swarms, I am afraid that there will be no food in ten years. Of course, the premise is that the food can be preserved for such a long time.

A man is not rich without windfall, and a horse is not fat without night grass.Although this is a one-shot deal, the quantity is indeed not cheap.

Before the war started, Zero was still preparing to organize engineers to continue planting sweet potatoes. Now, it seems that it is more convenient to plunder from the opponent?
This is of course not feasible. No matter how much food the Lizardmen store, they will no longer be able to contribute food to the Zerg after they are captured by the Zerg. of water.

This is also the main reason why Zero is not in a hurry to expand the swarm rapidly. With their current number, compared with the resistance that the opponent can gather, it is completely enough.

Today, the Lizardmen have basically lost their right to rule over a large area of ​​land in the east. Although there are still some Lizardmen defending the city, the swarm has not completely ruled such a vast area.

But from Bocuse to the east, the Saadman Empire has been unable to achieve smooth communication, and the empire center has lost contact with this land, so naturally there is no jurisdiction.

With the number of insect swarms, it is far from reaching the level of actually occupying this land, but every minute and every second, they are running in groups on this land that does not belong to them.Either gathering and plundering, or forcibly attacking the city, gathering and scattering at will. This vast and fertile land has in fact become a hunting ground for the Zerg, and the prey they breed are the dwindling number of Lizardmen. !

Countless joys and sorrows are staged here, and human tragedies happen here every day.But the swarm has no emotion, no one will be moved by it, some just kill.

(End of this chapter)