Chapter 182: Plundering the Tyrant's Genes
The special cavity formed by the Hatchery concealed Abathur within. Although the conditions seemed simple, it was enough for Abathur to use the spawning pool inside to complete his genetic modifications.
Listening to Kerrigan's report, Lucan admitted that he was also taking a gamble. Logically speaking, a special, non-combat Zerg like Abathur should not have been placed in such a dangerous location as Commorragh. As the research and development unit of the Zerg, his command ability was mediocre at best. His only advantage was that he could use the suitable genes hunted by the Swarm to continuously strengthen the Zerg, giving them infinite possibilities.
Normally, the Zerg could also evolve, but the speed was too slow. The existence of Abathur, however, allowed the Zerg to possess the ability to evolve in response to the different characteristics of their enemies, much like the Tyranids. He could adjust the characteristics of the Zerg hatched by the Swarm at any time, according to the situation on the battlefield.
And when it came to biodiversity, there were truly few places that could compare to Commorragh...
The Kabals that went out on raids would bring back sufficiently powerful creatures from all over the galaxy to Commorragh and send them into the fighting pits. Those who were old, weak, or had no combat value were not even qualified to enter Commorragh and were tortured to death long before. These creatures were then subjected to another round of screening and enhancement at the hands of the Haemonculi. Only the most unique bio-alchemical materials were worthy of their attention.
Compared to painstakingly searching for them himself, plundering them directly here was countless times more efficient. On a biotechnological level, no matter how deviant Lucan found the Haemonculi, he could not deny the superiority of their selection process. And if Abathur's existence was truly discovered, he could use a Nydus Worm to send him directly back to Char.
At this moment, the Zerg in the testing ground had also begun their hunt. The creatures that Tevantias had used to test the Zerg's war potential would all become a source of strength for the Swarm. This testing ground even contained a powerful Tyranid behemoth unit that had been modified and captured by Tevantias—a Hive Tyrant. The similarity between the Zerg and the Tyranids made Tevantias want to see which of the two was superior.
Swarms of Zerglings were now acting as the vanguard, sweeping through and searching for prey in this area. The Dark Eldar under Tevantias, who were responsible for observing the Zerg, were also amazed at their efficiency. The various xenos placed in the testing ground were being continuously slaughtered.
This testing ground was not without its own powerful xenos. After being modified by Tevantias, their bodies, combined with blasphemous technology, made their combat effectiveness extremely formidable. But the weakness of the individual Zerg was compensated for by their numbers, and the existence of the creep minimized the Swarm's losses. And they could continuously produce more Zerg. Tevantias had not expected that the Zerg could not only use biomass but also inorganic matter, which had caused him to miscalculate the speed of their development.
In the face of a sea of Zerg, unless an individual's strength reached a certain peak, they could only be hopelessly and completely overwhelmed. And the genetic characteristics of these xenos were also brought back to the Hatchery.
"The reproduction speed and combat ability of these creatures are truly astonishing. Is this a new species created by Master Tevantias? However, the number of these things is fast approaching the threshold set by Master Tevantias. Should we take the initiative to cull their numbers?"
"Not yet. Their combat data is more important. Besides, haven't they encountered that terrifying Tyranid Hive Tyrant yet? Look, they are about to encounter it."
Two Dark Eldar, sitting in a skiff, constantly observed the Zerg's activities. Just as they said, the ever-expanding Zerg finally encountered the most terrifying enemy in the testing ground.
The massive Tyranid Hive Tyrant, in this Dark City within the Webway, had completely lost its connection to the Hive Mind. This had turned it into a war machine that only knew how to fight and kill. Its body was covered in thick chitinous armor, and the four massive bio-scythes on its four arms indicated that it was a Tyrant designed by the Hive Mind to specialize in close combat. The desire to kill and devour filled its will. The instincts of a beast made it want to vent its rage at every moment.
When the Zerg's Zerglings first encountered this powerful Tyranid monster, a battle inevitably broke out.
"See? Aren't the numbers of these creatures being reduced now?"
The Tyranid Hive Tyrant began to display its terrifying side. After all, this wasn't a game where an attack always caused damage. The claws of the Zerglings couldn't even cause any damage to the Tyrant's carapace. And every swing of the Tyranid Hive Tyrant could take the lives of a dozen or more Zerglings. At this moment, the Hive Tyrant was rampaging through the Zergling swarm as if it were playing a hack-and-slash game.
At this time, Abathur also observed the presence of the Hive Tyrant.
"Potent bio-specimen detected. Special carapace can provide swarm with stronger defense. Sharp bio-weaponry can increase swarm's attack power. Swarm requires this gene."
Abathur wiggled the tentacles in front of him. Under his control, more Zerg swarmed toward the Hive Tyrant's location.
When more powerful Zerg arrived on the battlefield, the Hive Tyrant's battle began to become more difficult. The high-intensity corrosive acid of the Roaches continuously eroded the Tyrant's armor. And when the chitinous carapace was corroded and became brittle, the spines fired by the Hydralisks began to successfully breach its defense. It had to be said, the original purpose of the Hydralisk was anti-air; its range and armor-piercing capabilities were both terrifying.
But even with its fragile flesh exposed under the carapace, and even being turned into a pincushion by the spines, the pain-immune Hive Tyrant still relied on its strength and speed to slaughter the Zerg. One had to marvel at the tenacity of this creature's life force.
But in the end, there was only one Hive Tyrant. There were no other Tyranids here to protect it. When dozens of Banelings were produced and then exploded like biological bombs around the Hive Tyrant, the highly corrosive acid completely destroyed it. The life of this terrifying Tyranid creature had finally reached its end.
The Zerg began to break down the remaining corpse of the Hive Tyrant and bring it back to the Hatchery.
"Gene acquired. Evolve more powerful Zerg for the Swarm!"
Abathur also planned to integrate the genes of this Hive Tyrant into a special Zerg unit he could create. That giant beast unit known as the Brutalisk was a variant of the Ultralisk, superior to the traditional Ultralisk in all aspects, and could even attack air units.
But the most valuable part of the Hive Tyrant for the Zerg was not its combat genes, but its characteristics as a synapse creature. The Zerg had a clear disadvantage in synapse creatures. Although the Overlord had a certain combat capability, it was only relative. Once the Overlord was killed, the Zerg would inevitably fall into a brief period of chaos. Just like in the game, where the Overlord increased the player's controllable population, this was a drawback of loading the game's mechanics. Abathur hoped to create more combat-effective and adaptable synapse creatures for the Zerg.
At this time, a dozen different biological samples were dragged into the Hatchery, and Abathur immediately began his modifications. Not all samples were useful, but a special modified creature called a Khymera caught Abathur's attention. This unnatural, dog-like creature, modified by the Haemonculi's biotechnology, was larger than a Zergling and had greater physical strength. And its attack contained a special bio-toxin. Perhaps this toxin could be transplanted onto the Zerglings to enhance the basic combat capabilities of the Swarm.
The Dark Eldar responsible for monitoring had also witnessed the entire battle. If the Zerg had simply steamrolled the other creatures in the testing ground, their battle against the Hive Tyrant had demonstrated the true power of the Zerg. Now they understood why Tevantias was so interested in this race. It had to be known that they had paid a considerable price to capture this Hive Tyrant.
"Besides these creatures, all the other test subjects are dead. But they seem to have stopped expanding! What should we do next? Should we report to Master Tevantias?"
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