At that moment, the Ant Queen was still in shock, completely unable to believe that even angels had been defeated by a Goblin!
Just like Sara, she was utterly convinced.
She had become a mindless fan of Lin Tian.
"If even an angel was taken by His Goblin Majesty… and if I was taken by His Goblin Majesty… does that make me equivalent to an angel?!"
She pondered.
On the enormous fleshy mass of the Ant Queen, eggs poured out like a flowing river!
All of them were hybrid soldier ants.
Or rather, hybrid goblins.
Their overall appearance was much closer to that of goblins.
They had humanoid bodies, green exoskeletons, mouths full of sharp teeth, and crimson eyes.
Within the Zerg Empire…
After Lin Tian took a moment to rest, he headed toward the ant colony's underground palace.
Upon seeing him, the Ant Queen immediately detached herself from the fleshy mass and pounced toward him.
"Your Goblin Majesty, I saw everything earlier! Please, please allow me to bear your offspring once more! I want to give birth to even more goblins for you!"
"Uh, doesn't your ant race produce offspring for life after just one instance?" Lin Tian asked.
The Ant Queen paused for a moment, "Well, no, not really. The hybrid goblins are so powerful that I can only lay about ten million at a time, and then I need to…"
She was obviously lying.
It was simply the Ant Queen's personal preference.
Lin Tian immediately saw through her thoughts, as she was completely enthralled by him.
He replied, "I'm not in the mood right now. I'm here to ask how many hybrid goblins you can produce at the moment."
"My reserves are only at one million, far fewer than the Zerg Queen's," the Ant Queen said pitifully.
Upon hearing this, Lin Tian didn't think it was too little; one million was just right.
With hundreds of millions of corpses, it was entirely possible to forge an Overlord-class army with an average combat power of 4,000!
Sweeping through an army of over a hundred million would be no issue.
In terms of a low-tier army, it could be said they would have nothing to fear from any empire on the continent!
He then urged the Ant Queen to begin laying more eggs.
However, Lin Tian had a concern—although he could control the hybrid goblins, the Ant Queen could control them as well.
If the Queen Mother were to produce offspring, she would be able to control the goblins, too.
"Your Majesty, is something bothering you?" asked the Ant Queen, who was becoming more excited with each egg she laid.
Her face was flushed, and she appeared to be thoroughly enjoying herself.
Lin Tian suddenly realized that he had almost forgotten something important.
Why not just ask the Ant Queen directly?
She was part of the Zerg and should know how to resolve the issue.
He quickly explained the problem to her.
Upon hearing it, the Ant Queen replied immediately, "That's simple! We Zerg have a Queen Core inside us. As long as it's removed, we're no longer Queens. We lose the ability to control or manage the Zerg we produce. We become purely… production tools."
When she mentioned these last two words, the Ant Queen emphasized them with particular enthusiasm.
For the first time, Lin Tian felt utterly disgusted!
Though she had submitted to him, there was something indescribably strange about her.
But as long as the problem was resolved, that was enough.
In simple terms, the Zerg's method of controlling their offspring relied on the Queen Core organ.
In contrast, goblins ruled through a clear genetic hierarchy, where higher-ranking goblins controlled the lower-ranking or weaker ones.
In theory, this wasn't as efficient as the Zerg.
After all, if a subordinate was stronger than the ruler, it could easily lead to rebellion unless they were genuinely loyal.
The Zerg, however, had control cores.
Even if the Ant Queen was weaker than her soldier ants, or even weaker than an average ant, she could still command millions of them or even an entire colony.
"Alright, you focus on production. When the time comes, we'll send the hybrids out to devour experience and clean up the battlefield," Lin Tian said as he left.
Developing low-tier combat forces was no longer the most important thing.
He only had one year left.
He urgently needed to develop high-tier forces to fight against the angels and break through the Uninhabited Zone.
Soon after, Lin Tian summoned Gobu Kuang and the others.
Gobu Jian was also present.
"Boss, what's going on?" Gobu Kuang scratched his head as he asked.
The three of them had been searching the Zerg Empire for female Zerg who hadn't participated in the battle.
There were many captivating butterfly-type insects, and their variety was astounding.
Lin Tian, with a serious expression, said, "Gobu Kuang, you've already reached your level cap. Gobu Tian and Gobu Shan, you two go find the strongest corpses to devour and level up as soon as possible."
Gobu Tian and Gobu Shan were overjoyed.
"I've been so worried about not being able to help you, Boss! This is great news!"
"I shouldn't have wasted time playing around back then! I should have been like Gobu Kuang, always eating and evolving into a Goblin King! I'm sorry, Boss!"
"Thank you, Boss, for your generosity!"
The three hurried off to the front lines.
This time, whether the remains were bitter or disgusting, they would devour them all to reach the level cap as quickly as possible.
Because Lin Tian ruled their group, they, like Gobu Kuang, were unable to directly evolve into Goblin Kings.
Unless they chose to betray him, which would allow immediate evolution.
Currently, Gobu Tian and Gobu Shan's overall combat strength was only a little over six thousand, far too weak to be of much help.
On the other hand, Gobu Kuang had the support of four world-class magical artifacts, in addition to being a Goblin King.
His combat strength had already reached ten thousand.
A typical Goblin King's strength was usually around five thousand.
However, following Lin Tian had allowed Gobu Kuang to significantly raise his potential limit.
Combined with magical gear and accumulated battle experience, he had been able to reach ten thousand.
"Boss, what about me? I still feel weak. All I can do is use the Royal Domain to boost your abilities, but I'm not really useful otherwise…"
Gobu Kuang said, sounding pitiful.
Lin Tian's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Although it's actually good that you transitioned from a tank to a support role, if you want to keep tanking and dealing damage, I'll definitely help you."
A combat strength of ten thousand wasn't nearly enough.
At the very least, it needed to be over fifteen thousand.
But raising his combat strength by five thousand wouldn't be easy.
Lin Tian had only reached seventeen thousand by devouring three demigods and completing mating rituals.
Not to mention, there were plenty of powerful beings whose nourishment Gobu Kuang and the others hadn't been fortunate enough to enjoy—like One-Eyed Owl, Alice, and the Flame Dragon Mother.
"Thank you, Boss!" Gobu Kuang said excitedly, nearly kneeling on the spot.
Lin Tian quickly stopped him.
"Only outsiders kneel before me. You've been with me for so long, no need for such formality."
"Hahaha, you're right, Boss. I'm just too excited and too in awe of you…" Gobu Kuang said, slightly embarrassed.
Seeing his reaction, Lin Tian couldn't help but smile bitterly.
The method to improve his combat strength was through 'Abnormal Fusion.'
By fusing with the bodies of other Demon Kings and devouring their skills, raising combat power by several thousand should be achievable.
However, there were no other wild Demon Kings left in the current wilderness.
He would have to set his sights on the so-called "impenetrable" Uninhabited Zone beyond.
"System, initiate Life Simulation."
Lin Tian didn't want to wait for the hybrid goblins to finish devouring the battlefield's corpses, which would take far too long.
After all, with billions of bodies, it would take at least ten days to consume them all.
…
[Life Simulation System Activated
Current Scenario: Calm Before the Storm
With Alice's help, you defeated the angel and experienced an unprecedented delicacy.
Your strength increased significantly.
Next, the Ant Queen laid one million hybrid goblins, which devoured every corpse on the front line battlefield like a tidal wave.
Due to your genes, once they reached level eighty, they directly evolved into Overlord Goblins.
It took about ten days.
Gobu Tian, Gobu Shan, and Gobu Jian all reached level one hundred.
Unfortunately, none of them were able to evolve into Goblin Kings.
A massive army of one million Overlord Goblins had emerged.
You were extremely satisfied, but there was a faint sense of emptiness, as you had become too powerful and had no enemies left to challenge you.
Ten days had passed.
You ordered Katheryn to set up a standard teleportation array in the area, and then led your army back.
The plan was to establish a base upon your return to the Goblin Empire.]
…
Reading this part of the simulation, Lin Tian spoke up, "Stop the simulation and jump to the current progress."
"Crossing into the current scenario!"
"Whoosh!"
In the next moment, Lin Tian went from sitting in the ruins of the Zerg Empire to being seated on the throne of the Goblin Empire.
[Summary: None.
Score: 5 points (out of 100)
Reward: 5 Life Points.
Life Simulation completed.
Time progress: 17 days.]
…
"Boss, Boss?" A familiar voice pulled Lin Tian out of his daydream.
It was Gobu Tian.
He then added, "We're going to check out the Goblin tribes. We heard from the cannibal eagles that a Goblin King has appeared in the Great Tomb."
Lin Tian was slightly surprised, "Mm… alright, go ahead. Don't come back unless you make a stunning impression."
"Hahaha, Boss, you're being too hard on them! With how powerful you are now, how could they possibly amaze you?" Gobu Kuang laughed, teasing.
The group had no choice but to depart.