The war continued.
And it was more brutal than before.
"Report, the number of Void Zerg has dropped to 17.03 percent!"
Maeve's voice echoed across the command post.
"Report, Void Zerg numbers have dropped to 16.97 percent..."
"Report, Void Zerg..."
The overall number of Void Zerg had reached a critical breaking point.
For the first time, their total had fallen to only the tens of billions level.
It was something worth celebrating.
For the first time, the once endless gray tides had begun to recede, flowing back like the retreating edge of the sea.
But there was no time to celebrate.
Because this war between Heaven Mountain and the Zerg was far from over.
Peter stared grimly at the data panel, waiting for Maeve's next report.
Sure enough, after she finished announcing the initial updates, she began reading out the new figures — the number of legendary-class creatures on the battlefield.
Now, those numbers were the foundation of the war.
"The number of enemy entities above legendary level is 130 million... correction, 140 million... correction..."
"Correction... correction..."
A completely new class of Zerg had emerged — utterly different from the ordinary swarms.
And their numbers were growing at an alarming rate.
These newly hatched horrors bore no resemblance to the frail Zerg of before.
Each of them was powerful — stronger than any previous generation — and every single one possessed strength above the legendary level.
Their fighting styles, too, were completely new.
Some bore layers of dense armor like living siege machines, crushing enemy lines beneath their charge.
Some sprouted multiple wings of flesh, soaring through the skies at speeds rivaling starships.
Others turned their bodies into living weapons, spewing deadly spores that could infect an entire battlefield within seconds.
---
"How terrifying."
In the Endless Abyss, Chu Hao gazed at the chaos of the battle between the Zerg and the Heaven Army.
On the battlefield, a colossal Titan-sized insect was devouring Heaven soldiers like living candy.
"I didn't expect the Zerg could mutate into such powerful forms."
As he spoke, Chu Hao recalled the "classic Zerg design cases" he'd studied back in school, and couldn't help but be amazed.
The so-called "classic designs" of those times only ever reached the peak of the legendary level — and even then, those Zerg were individual, unique specimens, incapable of mass reproduction.
Compared to these organized, hive-driven Zerg, the creations of those so-called divine designers were more like exotic beasts than a true species.
Yet even those lesser designs were enough to secure a place in the history of Zerg design.
But now, seeing the Void Zerg's evolution with his own eyes, Chu Hao realized those narrow-minded creators could never have imagined such an overwhelming, dominant race.
And the most incredible thing of all — the Void Zerg had not been *designed* by any god.
They were the result of natural evolution.
"How fascinating."
"A species so extreme, yet capable of creating over five thousand distinct subtypes from a single bloodline… this surpasses anything ever achieved by the gods."
"The level of design here is simply—"
Before Chu Hao could finish his thought, the captured Brainworm beside him interrupted, its voice buzzing through the abyss.
"Great Lord of the Abyss, you are mistaken!"
"Design itself is not what matters. What matters is how precisely one applies the traits of that design."
"Oh?"
Chu Hao turned his attention to the fat Brainworm, which was currently transmitting its biological design knowledge to Daimon.
Hearing the interruption, Daimon immediately struck the creature on the head with one of the spines on his brain.
The Brainworm blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding why it had been hit.
It was an innocent creature — newly brought into the Endless Abyss — and it clearly didn't yet grasp the art of reading the room.
"You are gravely mistaken," the Brainworm continued. "You see design in everything, but that is not the truth!"
"If you were more observant, you would have noticed that the rise of these new Zerg forms was long foreshadowed!"
"For example," it said, waving its tendrils like a professor giving a lecture, "the heavy chitin armor — it already existed among the common swarms. But because of limited resources, it only appeared around their joints."
It was referring to the colossal, kilometer-tall Zerg that were now devouring Heaven soldiers like candy.
"These powerful new variants merely increased the resource investment during incubation, amplifying that armor exponentially!"
"The chitin armor design itself isn't rare," it continued. "But to apply it effectively to a living organism — on such a scale, without failure — *that* is the true difficulty of biological design."
"Unfortunately, you lack the patience and attention to see that simple truth."
"That is why I interrupted you — to tell you that design alone is meaningless. What matters is how precisely one applies its traits."
The Brainworm's gestures and tone were almost comical, like a scholar scolding a student.
Chu Hao merely smiled and didn't take offense.
He knew that this creature's understanding of bioengineering likely surpassed that of most gods.
At the very least, it was far superior to his own.
Since it spoke with such confidence, it must have a reason.
"I see," Chu Hao said thoughtfully. "So it's not about design, but the application of traits."
"In other words, these so-called mutated legendary-class Zerg are really just ordinary ones — but with vastly greater resource investment?"
The Brainworm nodded eagerly.
"You can put it that way! You finally understand!"
Chu Hao nodded, then asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time.
"Then tell me, Brainworm... how can I perfectly merge the genetic sequences of demons with those of the Zerg?"
In previous experiments, the Zerg's genetic structure had completely overwhelmed that of the demons.
Now, Chu Hao wanted to reverse that.
He wanted his demons to gain the same terrifying adaptability as the Zerg.