I thought it would be big, but I never imagined it would be this enormous!"
In the small courtyard, apart from the central ginkgo and the pumpkin next to it, all the clutter had been temporarily cleared away, even the sprawling pumpkin vines had been retracted.
Around the pumpkin, the stone-bricked ground seemed as if something had rolled over it, with traces of fractures circling inside the yard.
Bai Yi, with an orange cat on his head, stood under the eaves, looking at the mess in the courtyard with a bit of a headache as he held his forehead.
From the beginning, Bai Yi had considered the impossibility of starting the gigantification fusion without drawing attention, because he could not leave Taian.
Hence, it took him two days to complete the fusion of all the other earthworm genes, before starting on the gigantification.
Despite being prepared and making space for it, the final size of the worm after gigantification was still unexpectedly large.
Originally, in order to maximize the effect of gigantification, Bai Yi had deliberately increased the earthworm’s size during Life Weaving, to a girth thicker than his own waist.
After stacking it with gigantification, the earthworm unexpectedly resonated with the gene entry, almost instantly filling the yard’s space.
It was the quick reflexes of the orange cat that saved the yard by transferring the earthworm over to Bai Sheng’s side.
Otherwise, Bai Yi would not only have to explain the damaged ground but also how to explain tearing down the house.
Fortunately, without having been seen directly, the damaged ground in the courtyard could still be talked away.
With a wave of his hand, Bai Yi let the pumpkin drive its vines through the fractured stones into the ground, calmly opening the courtyard door to see the somewhat anxious maid, Niaoniao.
"Miss Bai, was that noise just now another new thing you concocted? Are you hurt?!"
Niaoniao had become accustomed to the troubles caused by Bai Yi, who would occasionally spawn some "explosive" (literally) transcendent plants during this period.
At first, Niaoniao would be concerned about what mishap Bai Yi had caused, to report it timely.
But after several incidents like sunflowers exploding, beans turning into a machine gun spraying wildly, and lettuce literally becoming a boxer punching down walls, Niaoniao’s worldview had been thoroughly updated.
She had given up and let Bai Yi do whatever as long as he didn’t injure himself.
Her gaze scanned Bai Yi up and down to confirm he was indeed unharmed, then she let out a sigh of relief.
"Miss Bai, please be more careful next time. What did you damage this time? Niaoniao will have it fixed right away."
Actually, already so proficient at this...
Bai Yi, thinking about the troubles he caused recently, scratched his head awkwardly and stepped aside to let Niaoniao into the courtyard.
Just upon entering the yard, Niaoniao noticed the severely damaged ground and the "culprit" responsible for all this—a mature pumpkin whose vines had penetrated the ground and completely crushed the stone bricks.
This pumpkin’s strength is remarkable; it seems Miss Bai was attempting to modify it?
Niaoniao made her judgment based on experience, circled around the yard, pulled out a small notebook from her person, and jotted down the spots needing repair.
"Miss Bai, please be extra careful with your experiments next time. Niaoniao will now go and find the ’repairman’ to come over, please wait a moment."
Bai Yi nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken and escorted Niaoniao out of the yard.
"Thank goodness, it seems she hasn’t noticed anything amiss..."
"Although ’a little’ chaos was stirred over there, it has been successfully dealt with."
The orange cat leaped out from the void, coiled itself back on Bai Yi’s head.
It had left as soon as Bai Yi went to open the door since it hadn’t had time to drop by and say hello due to the rush.
However, on the other side, since the Swarm Network had moved out to fight, the sudden appearance of the gigantic insect didn’t really cause any damage, except for a scare to Bai Sheng, who was directing the swarm.
"As long as it’s been received, that’s good...
Yesterday, Bai Sheng said we suffered from inadequate defenses, this Burrowing Worm should still be able to help. This is my proud creation!"
Although the prototype Corrosive Earthworm is just a white soldier type, it has unexpectedly become very powerful under the enhancement of gene entries.
The combination of Dragon Scale and dense fat, along with the newly acquired Hard Shell (Plant) entry by Bai Yi, enables the "Burrowing Worm" to have the defensive power to withstand bombs.
This is the result of tests conducted by Bai Yi using the ability of Transcendent plants to simulate an explosion; even if the strength is slightly diminished after gigantification, the difference won’t be too significant.
Even if such a powerful attack does injure the worm, its strong self-healing ability can quickly recover, or even allow it to actively sever part of its body to undergo a splitting reproduction.
Moreover, unlike other insect types, after gigantification due to physiological structure and armor limitations, its strength, Constitution and other attributes are relatively weaker compared to the same soldier types.
On the contrary, after gigantification, the muscle mass of the worm becomes more developed.
Without any Extraordinary Abilities or special attacks, relying solely on its physical Strength, it can even be a match for the [Chimera]!
Coupled with its enhanced Corrosion secretion, this Burrowing Worm can almost be called a killer of buildings!
On the other hand, after the worm connected to the Swarm Network, Bai Sheng also learned about the abilities of this giant worm.
He couldn’t help but feel that his master was really just in time.
Before bringing his Swarm into the Sun Church Court, Bai Sheng would never have imagined that even the bishop at the Sun Church Court’s outpost would fall under the onslaught of the Swarm.
To encounter those huge and intricately constructed Gold pyramids at the heart of every city after entering the territory of the Sun Church Court was unexpected.
Although the bishop of the Sun Church Court had a trump card—a Divine Fragment that could control storms and Lightning—
His physical strength was much weaker compared to Emilia’s [Chimera], and the furious output came with an equally fierce consumption.
The Swarm had nearly countless lives to expend against him, but he could end the fight after just a couple of hits from the Swarm.
Leveraging the numerical advantage of the Swarm, after sacrificing nearly ten thousand Erosion Worms, they successfully caused the bishop to fall within the outpost of the Sun Church Court.
However, as Bai Sheng continued to advance, he encountered those towering Gold pyramids located in the center of each city.
As the pyramids of the Sun Church Court, similar to the status of a church and built from pure stone material by the power of the faithful, they are tall and thick.
They serve not only sacrificial purposes but can also be a fortress to withstand external enemies.
Although the Swarm has venom that can corrode metal and stone, it’s rather unrealistic to think of corroding an entire pyramid to nothing.
They could only enter through the few entrances and started a forced 1V1 "street fight" with the Sun Church Court’s Transcendents.
The Swarm, losing the advantage in numbers and facing Transcendents with a terrain advantage, suffered casualties that were much higher than expected.
Well, that means going from a ten-fold loss in attacking a settlement under Emilia’s assault to a hundred-fold increase, a difference of ten times!
But most importantly, due to these pyramids, the advancement speed of the Swarm was greatly reduced.
Unexpectedly, it was only yesterday when Cat Boss mentioned it in passing, and now the master has quickly "delivered to the door."
Of course, it would be nice if she could be notified a bit earlier next time for delivery.
Just now, she was directing the Swarm to press on inside a pyramid, strangling the concealed Transcendents. Had she not been somewhat cautious, she might have really had half her health bar smashed by the worm.
The enormous body, strong physique, combined with its innate digging ability, truly makes it a destroyer of structures.
With this worm in hand, those pyramids will no longer be fortresses for the Transcendents but their graves!
Bai Sheng couldn’t wait to see the combat prowess of the giant Burrowing Worm behind him, which was as thick as two meters.
Coincidentally, there’s a pyramid at the city center where they are now attacking.
Bai Sheng promptly issues several commands through the Swarm Network.
The Erosion Worms, which were previously struggling with Transcendents inside the pyramid, decisively left their foes and retreated without any hesitation or longing.
And the worm that coiled itself into a mound of flesh behind also received the order from the Swarm Network, diving headfirst into the ground, aiming straight for the city’s pyramid with the gold plated spire, glimmering with dazzling golden light.
"Come, let me test this worm out!"
Devil Worm: Suspected Siege Unit of the Swarm, its physique is extremely strong, so much so that even Transcendents struggle to contend with it. There are currently no records of it being killed. It primarily operates underground, like a devil that emerges from the depths to reap lives...