Juggernaut: Rise of the Zerg

Chapter 247 Discovery on the Living Planet
Since the Octopus Man brought information about energy crystals from the Krichtel Galaxy, Zero has been very curious about this substance.

It was not until later that the swarm of insects also arrived at Critchtel and discovered a phenomenon that even the octopus had no chance to detect until it became extinct itself, that is, energy veins.

Hundreds of years have passed since the Zerg arrived in Krichtel in 964, and the Zerg's research results in this area have generally been quite effective.

From being forced to wait for the energy crystal to appear at the beginning, to entering and exploring it, to freely opening up the abundant energy, and finally to the emergence of wormholes, while taking into account expansion and other events, it is still possible to achieve this level, and with The contribution of Velvet people is inseparable.

However, while the achievements are remarkable, the problems faced are also increasing.The more you study, the more you will feel that your knowledge is insufficient. This sentence should be here.When the energy vein was first discovered, the Zerg had only one goal, and that was how to obtain more energy crystals through it.

Nowadays, the energy crystal reserves of the Zerg Swarm are already quite rich. If it were not for a huge project such as the relocation of the entire clan, the energy crystals continuously obtained from various mineral veins would be enough to maintain the expansion and development of the Zerg Swarm.

But along with it, besides prosperity, there are more problems.

This dimensional gap, identified by Pop as a sub-dimensional passage, seems to contain many secrets, but the Zerg seem to know nothing about it.

For hundreds of years, Zerg has blossomed in all directions throughout the entire river system, from a single star system to a star cluster structure composed of thousands of stars. It is foreseeable that in the future, if there is no invincible civilization or species, the entire river will be destroyed. It was only a matter of time before she was taken into my arms.

Even outside the river system, the swarm has an "enclave" that has not yet been connected, but to this day, the secrets inside the current wormhole channel have not been fully revealed regarding the previous energy veins.

Lyman Galaxy, a star system where energy life has just left, Gore led the insect swarm to take root here.This red dwarf star is extremely dim against the background of the universe. Compared with the blue giant stars that the insect swarm once ruled, it is far inferior in brightness and heat.

Fortunately, its lifespan is long enough. If the universe faces death one day, it may be the last batch of stars to die.

There once was a wormhole entrance here, but now it has disappeared, and Gore can't even determine its relative position.Tried many times in various ways and finally gave up.In this star system, the Zerg will probably have nothing else to gain.

It plans to actively search for galaxies with energy life in order to establish a long-term observation plan and finally figure out what they are doing when they find these channels!
But now the insect swarm can be said to have more than enough defense but not enough offense against this mysterious energy life.Let alone tracking, it is difficult to detect the other party at a certain distance.

This is the problem that Gore intends to solve. Nowadays, the Cerebrates are the "frontier officials" of the Zerg race, and Zero has rarely directly intervened in their specific affairs.

In Critchtel, everything seems to be back to the time when the Zerg was born. Zero and Sass guard the main body of the Zerg here and continue to expand further.

Ruhr's newly discovered mineral vein outlets in the local system have all established large or small stable wormhole channels according to demand under the leadership of Sars.As for the other brainworms that were "released", especially Todd, who led the development of the Velvet people, and Gore, who presided over the Lyman system, Zero was basically in a state of free rein, allowing them to develop on their own.

As for whether Gore acted alone or in conjunction with other brain worms, Zero did not intend to follow up in real time. His main concern now was the process of being conquered and assimilated by the Brocher Federation.

Of course, Zero did not end up personally. He just found it interesting. In addition, the Brocher people's research on dark matter also interested him.

Under Todd's control, their theory also attracted some attention among the Federal Academy of Sciences.Many scientific researchers in theoretical physics have unanimously expressed their strong interest in this theory that they have ignored in the past.

As for the assimilation process of the Federation, it has only just begun.The original social system of the Brocher people was forcibly destroyed, and the puppet coalition government, under the threat of the guns of the Third Fleet, formulated new laws and decrees that were conducive to creating post-war racial tendencies.

Of course, the Velvets have not carried out any immigration plans to this planet. At least on the surface, everything except military affairs is determined by the Brochers. This saves them a lot of trouble and makes it easier to implement many political orders. Much more.

The long history of the Velvet people has given them enough experience, and they know very well the consequences of making interest demands on this newly defeated civilization at this stage, so everything is very gentle, just like the Third Fleet straddling the It’s like space-based battleships don’t exist.

Of course, even so, armed resistance and chaos never stopped during these years.However, with federal support, the Brocher Commonwealth government has roughly re-established a new global order. Dissatisfaction, fear and hatred cannot be eliminated in this generation of Brocher people, and civil war is inevitable.

Under the control of Todd, the Velvets gradually transformed the Broche civilization in the direction they wanted. Without direct intervention, within two years, the puppets of the Commonwealth had already experienced a major purge. The government has initially wiped out rebels around the world with controllable armed forces.

As an intelligent race, recognizing the situation is also an ability. It is absolutely impossible to develop as freely as before, and the other party has not shown any intention of killing them all. So integrating with the other party can ensure the survival of civilization to a certain extent. It is a good choice, and maybe it can develop rapidly by riding on the east wind.

Resisting stubbornly will only destroy the last hope of the entire civilization. This is clearly seen by these Brocher people who choose to surrender.As long as there is a glimmer of hope, they are unwilling to do such things to help others, but the warships stationed in orbit tell them that there will no longer be any suspense about this matter.

....................................

In 1466, the Zerg, the brainworm Luer led two Zerg scientific research units into the real universe from an unexplored passage exit.

But this time, luck finally came to the Zerg.

Looking at the stars from the dark and deep space of the universe, many celestial bodies hidden in the dark are invisible to the eyes of the Zerg scientific research units.

Inside the star system, on the second planet, traces of a living planet were observed from far away in Ruhr.

This is the third life planet that appears in front of the insect swarm after the Velvets and Brochers. Strictly speaking, it should be the sixth, but those previous planets did not even have macroscopic species. They are no different from ordinary rocky planets and belong to the group that are directly ignored.

It is still unclear whether there is civilization here, but it is almost [-]% certain that there is life on this planet.

If intelligent life really exists, then there is no doubt that they are another lucky civilization like the Velvets. There is an energy vein near the orbit of Planet 1.2, which is [-] light-hours outward from the orbit of their home star. .

But they seemed not so lucky, because Ruel led the Zerg to arrive here.

But it seems that even if there is civilization, it is probably in its infancy, and at most it is just like the original lizard people.

Now that he discovered this kind of thing, Luer simply stopped his exploration activities that had lasted for decades and began to develop nearby on the third planet in this system.

If it had never encountered this living planet, Ruhr would also have to do the same thing at this time. After the passage is reopened later, the place will be handed over to Visser for management as usual, and it will continue to explore.

Over the years, the only eight Cerebrates of the Zerg race, except Ruel, have each managed an area. They can be regarded as independent. However, a living planet is an extremely rare luxury in the universe, and it requires luck. Fortunately to meet.

This time he encountered it, and he was ready to see it for himself.

The first thing to do is naturally to make the insect swarm large enough to ensure that it will not capsize in the gutter. Therefore, the third planet has become the first choice target.Starting from scratch in a star system with sufficient mass, the Zerg have had countless experiences so far. The Zerg scientific research unit carried by Ruhr has maintained its consistent ability to reverse the transformation of the Zerg into a hatchery. Since Sars put the microscopic units After successfully transforming the "seed" into a hatchery, the Zerg's ability to adapt to various accidents has been greatly improved.

These scientific research insect species were originally going to establish a Zerg base here. They took Ruhr and successfully landed on the surface of the planet.

When the energy units penetrate the earth's crust and insert their roots into the hot and active lava, nothing can stop the Zerg from existing in this system.

They are like out-of-control cancer cells, frantically absorbing the energy from the planet's core and multiplying rapidly on the surface.

Twelve Oridays later, the first Zerg space unit had entered planetary orbit, then the second, and then the third.

Two months later, there was already a huge Zerg fleet in orbit with a total number of more than [-]!
Even the Velvets' main force of the Federation's Third Fleet only has more than [-] main battleships. Although the Federation, which has been at peace for a long time, maintains sufficient production capacity, it does not maintain a large army.

Therefore, without crushing technological advantages, the Third Fleet will not be an opponent of this Zerg fleet.

In 1467, when this living planet once again "passed by" the No. [-] planet where Ruhr was located, the swarm of insects entered its orbit.There were no preliminary tests and the release of satellite insect species, and there were no necessary preparations. The other party did not have any space defense at all, and there was not even a satellite in its orbit.

When the swarm of insects streaked across the sky and fell to the earth like meteors, Ruhr suddenly felt a little bored.Because this is obviously a wild planet, and nothing of value will exist.

It should have thought of it earlier. The stars in this galaxy are still very young, and its stellar activity is much more frequent than that of middle-aged stars. Compared with Ori, it is closer to the star, which means As it almost completely depends on the "face" of the star, it is difficult to get rid of the status quo.

On the other side, there are no giant planets on the periphery of the galaxy as a barrier. In this case, the birth of life on the inner planets is not only extremely lucky, but it may also face the crisis of extinction at any time!
Such conditions can stabilize the existence of an environment suitable for life, just like an opportunity stolen from one to two hundred million years in the cracks between disasters. In such a short period of time, the fire of civilization may not have burst out, but it has been forced to went out.

Through the vision of the Zerg unit, Ruhr looked at the life on the surface that looked like wild beasts, and felt a little ridiculous.

What value does such a living planet have to the Zerg?Maybe we can provide some special genetic samples, and with luck, we might be able to shed some light on the brainworms.But that's all. Other than that, there's nothing worth the swarm's troubles with.

However, there is a price to be paid for underestimating the creatures in the universe, although the insect swarm is not afraid.

It still brought some surprises to Ruhr, although there was no way to harm the foundation of the insect swarm.

On the surface of the planet, the swarm of insects that landed found a kind of plant pollen. Originally, this thing was not worth paying attention to, but when the swarm of insects came into contact with it, they temporarily broke away from Ruhr's command!

All this time, the Cerebrates have never made any mistakes in the leadership of ordinary insect swarms based on the will of the insect hive. As long as they get Zero's instructions, the insect swarms can be said to be in their hands like an arm.

But this time, what he thought was an ordinary landing, actually made Ruhr feel a sense that the insect swarm was out of control!

This made Ruhr, who was originally uninterested, instantly excited. If there really is such a substance on this planet that can affect the control of the Zerg, then it actually represents the weakness of the Zerg in a sense!How can this be allowed?Without figuring it out, Ruhl couldn't leave.

But the strange thing is that Zero himself did not feel that any Zerg unit was out of control, which showed that this influence was between the Hive Mind and ordinary Zerg units.

For so long, Zero has never felt any threat from a biological level. Except for the fact that the insect swarms that have entered the wormhole have not been directly controlled so far, nothing has ever been able to affect the connection between him and the individual insects.

But even if it only affects the command authority of the brainworms, this is enough to make him alert.Originally it was just a small fight between Ruel, but at this moment, Zero also began to pay attention to it.

It didn't take much effort to discover that this substance was actually a special kind of pollen. Ruhr was already familiar with comparative experiments such as the controlled variable method, and quickly targeted a patch of plants and finally determined its location. The source, to be precise, should come from a pheromone.

But the blame lies here. Logically speaking, the so-called pheromones that can have an effect on the Zerg are nothing more than some chemical substances. However, the link between the Hive Mind and the Zerg Swarm has not been clear so far. The specific way.

Perhaps it is the special connection between the individual and the will of the group, or something else, but it will not be interfered with by such superficial external means.

However, this is the fact that the swarm's own immune system has no response.Of course, there is also a possibility that this substance briefly affects the insignificant "brains" of ordinary Zerg individuals, thus causing certain interference.

But this conjecture was quickly ruled out, because there was nothing unusual about the connection between Zero and the Zerg individuals. Regarding this, Zero had done experiments on this a long time ago when the Zerg were still on the surface of Orui.

Whether the Zerg individual is connected to the brainworm or to itself, it is all related to the insignificant "consciousness" of its own existence. Once the "consciousness" is destroyed, even Zero will not be able to get any feedback from it. .

Of course, at that time, the Hive Mind had not yet even sprouted, and the Cerebral Worm Sath could only affect the insect swarms within a fixed range.

But the principles are the same. Judging from this point, we can conclude that this kind of pheromone, or this kind of chemical substance, seems to be magically able to have an effect on the connection between the hive mind and the insect swarm!
This made Zero a little bit interested in how it did it and whether there was anything else at work. If these were not figured out, they might one day be used by the enemy.

Of course, even so, it is not serious. Rather than worried, Zero is more curious. Perhaps with the help of this unexpected discovery, he may be able to figure out the specific relationship between the will of the hive and the insect swarm.

He vaguely felt that it was not just the so-called pollen or some chemical substances. There might be something different here. Otherwise, it would make no sense for the insects to roam the river for so many years. But something happened on this primitive planet.

This will be left to Ruhr to discover. Originally, it was not interested in it, but it was already preparing to leave this galaxy and continue to explore the great cause of the Milky Way. Now it finally started to take it seriously.

Since the brainworms dispersed, Zero feels that he has discovered a lot more interesting things. The indifference caused by the long-term silence seems to have changed. Occasionally, it can remind him of the time when the Zerg were still on a small island. scene.

That's a good thing, at least that's what Zero thinks.The brainworms still have their own personalities and thoughts, but it seems that he can only remain alone forever. Over the past thousands of years, he has almost forgotten how he came here in many ordinary times.

Of course, I didn’t really forget it, but during those times when nothing special happened, time seemed to speed up. Zero felt that his perception of the passage of time seemed to have become much slower. He still remembered that at the beginning, it was I felt a little tortured, and then I seemed to be numb.

Gone are the days when being in the perspective of an ant can make him excited like on the original island.

The insect swarm has become billions of times more powerful, and is no longer afraid of any natural or man-made disasters. Even powerful interstellar civilizations are secretly controlled by the insect swarm, as if nothing can threaten the survival of the insect swarm.

However, it became increasingly difficult for him to feel those simple joys.At that time, he had never felt the leisurely and interesting feeling of leading the ant colony to "forage" on the beach again...

(End of this chapter)