Douluo: Transforming Xiao Wu into a Zerg Queen Was Just the Beginning

Chapter 24 - 24: A New Zerg Unit – Custom-Fused Soul Beast

Bonus Chapter, enjoy

****

A harsh alarm blared in Lin Fan's mind, the Overmind's voice ringing with urgency.

Inside the spore pod, the spider's body continued to expand, its eight legs and abdomen twitching violently.

Golden liquid wasn't the only thing oozing from its splitting carapace—strands of golden light seeped through the cracks as well!

Lin Fan's eyes narrowed. With a flick of his wrist—

WHRRSSHH—!

Fleshy walls erupted from the ground within the incubation chamber, rapidly sealing off the other spore pods.

Xiao Wu quickly stepped in front of Lin Fan, her massive black bone wings folding forward to shield his entire body in a seamless barrier.

BOOM—!!

A deafening explosion erupted from the swollen spore pod, a blazing fireball and shockwave tearing outward!

Fortunately, the flesh walls had risen in time, absorbing the full brunt of the blast.

Above, layers of creep-like biomass dropped from the ceiling, smothering the fire and sealing it beneath their sticky folds.

Ssshhhhh...

Thick smoke billowed through the chamber, accompanied by the acrid scent of charred flesh, drifting into Lin Fan's nose.

He signaled to Xiao Wu, who retracted her wings. The ruined aftermath of the explosion came into view.

The spore pod that housed the spider—along with all the veins connected to it—had been completely vaporized. The explosion had even carved a pit in the chamber floor over three meters wide and five meters deep!

The blood-red flesh at the bottom of the crater squirmed and writhed, trying to regenerate with the help of the spreading creep.

[Explosion gene test failed. Initiating improvement protocols.]

The Overmind's voice echoed calmly in Lin Fan's mind.

Staring at the wreckage, Lin Fan was deep in thought.

That single blast had shaken the entire chamber. He could feel the violent tremors beneath his feet, even struggling to keep balance.

Even Xiao Wu—at Soul Emperor level, strengthened further by the Queen of Blades' Zerg-enhanced physique—had her body tremble slightly as she shielded him.

That explosion had been truly terrifying.

And all this—from a mere ten-year soul beast after gene infusion.

Suddenly struck with a thought, Lin Fan quickly shouted, "Wait! Cancel the gene improvement protocol!"

[Protocol halted.]

After a moment's thought, he asked, "Overmind, is it possible to relocate the pelvic incubation chamber outdoors?"

Testing inside the hive had proven too dangerous. The unstable nature of the explosive gene made spontaneous detonation highly likely.

After witnessing that spider's blast, Lin Fan wasn't about to risk more test detonations inside the hive.

A few more of those, and he might lose all his incubators—or worse, damage the Level-3 Hatchery itself.

He would literally cry if that happened.

The Hatchery housed many of his most precious resources—including a ten-thousand-year soul bone!

[Affirmative. Worker Drones can facilitate external incubation.]

"Perfect!"

Lin Fan brightened, then took Xiao Wu, a few Worker Drones, and about a dozen sub-hundred-year soul beasts up to the surface.

They found an open, secluded clearing.

The Worker Drones spaced themselves out, lying flat on the ground and initiating the hatchery process. Giant, independent spore pods inflated instantly.

Lin Fan thought for a moment, then gestured—at once, the surrounding creep rose up and formed thick, fleshy walls between each pod.

Even though they were outdoors, his cautious nature urged him to layer in extra safety.

Better paranoid than obliterated.

As Lin Fan reviewed the genetic database, he waited silently for the new pelvic incubators to finish forming.

About half an hour passed.

Ssshhh—!

Several pitch-black incubators pulsed with faint pink light as they writhed atop the creep-covered grass, like giant grotesque hearts. Their outer membranes were covered in twisted veins and thick, throbbing arteries.

A normal person would be horrified to see these structures—they looked like something out of a nightmare.

Lin Fan pursed his lips. He'd mentally prepared himself for how grotesque Zerg structures could get...

But somehow, the buildings and units kept evolving into even more sanity-shattering abominations. The uglier, the better—like some eldritch design philosophy.

Lin Fan even joked to himself: Will there come a day when the Zerg win wars purely by traumatizing enemies with their hideousness?

He entered the first incubation pod and placed two ten-year venomous spiders inside.

Though he had several of these new incubators, building even one wasn't cheap—it cost as much energy as two Level-2 Hatcheries.

Raised with a penny-pinching mindset, Lin Fan wanted the best results at the lowest cost.

He looked at the restrained venomous spiders, then voiced the idea that had popped into his head earlier:

"Overmind, merge all unstable, explosive, or flammable genes into the explosive gene strand."

[Warning: This will raise gene collapse probability to 90%. Confirm?]

"...Wait. Only 90%?"

That was lower than he expected!

He thought for a second, then added: "Also include any fire-related genes and any genes that enhance mobility."

[Collapse probability: 100%. Gene fusion complete.]

[Final gene result—unidentifiable, unnamable, unstable.]

Lin Fan grinned ear to ear. Exactly what I wanted.

He clapped his hands together, excited. "Begin gene infusion!"

The Overmind hesitated—hesitated—for the first time.

There was a pause.

[Acknowledged. Initiating process. My Lord, please prepare accordingly.]

Ssshhhh—!

Countless tiny blood vessels extended and slowly burrowed into the spider's body.

Colorful, mysterious fluids oozed through each vein—every single one containing a distinct, isolated gene solution. Mixing them prematurely could be disastrous.

If something went wrong before injection, the experiment could fail before it even began.

BOOM—

Suddenly, ten thick walls of pulsating flesh rose within the hatchery pod. Each one shimmered with a dark sheen—possibly a protective measure.

A small observation window opened, allowing Lin Fan to monitor the experiment.

He twitched at the sight.

The Overmind... did all this?

This was the same entity that was supposed to follow his every command without question—and it was practically building a bomb shelter.

How much does it mistrust my judgment!?

As the gene fluids approached the spider's body—stopping exactly five millimeters from contact—everything went completely still.

Then—

All at once, the veins injected their contents into the spider's body with surgical precision, synchronized down to the millisecond.

Inside the pod, Lin Fan watched.

Just a moment ago, the spider had been writhing violently.

But as soon as the genes entered its body—it froze.

Utterly motionless.

Even the fine hairs on its body didn't move.

It looked more like a statue than a living creature.

Lin Fan stared, puzzled.

But then, the spider began twitching again, as if nothing had happened.

There were no visible changes—no bulging veins, no mutations, no explosions. It was like the gene infusion had never happened.

"...Did it work?"

"Wasn't this supposed to have a 100% failure rate?"

BOOM—!!

****

If you want to support me or read advanced Chapters (8+), consider checking out my pat.

/Salsita2k