Chapter 521 - 248: Selecting a Kill Target, Absorbing the Purple Crystal Brain Marrow

Chapter 521: Chapter 248: Selecting a Kill Target, Absorbing the Purple Crystal Brain Marrow

After leaving Yunxia Ridge, Lin Feng brought Shen Jie along, and carrying three empty cases, they arrived at Beihai Town, not far to the north.

The small town, built along the river, flickered with sporadic points of light, indicating human activity.

Making no effort to hide their presence, the duo was soon stopped by guards at a checkpoint. After Lin Feng explained their purpose, the squad leader, who was only a Tier One Early Stage Awakener, quickly ran back into town to report the matter.

Before long, a Major who was at the Tier Two Early Stage received the duo and led them to the command post.

Along the way, they saw many warehouses, once used for storing grain, that had been converted into Zerg corpse processing plants. On the assembly lines, workers wielded knives, cutting and sorting the bodies.

Inside a local villa, the two saw Qin Hu discussing defensive layouts with a group of commanders.

There were far fewer people present than when Lin Feng had last met them in the Capital City, and many were new faces.

Seeing them arrive, Qin Hu made brief introductions, paying special attention to Shen Jie beside Lin Feng. He praised him as a prodigious hero, who, at only eighteen, had already stepped into the Tier Two Late Stage Realm of Perfection.

He was stronger than most of the Awakeners present.

However, Qin Hu was still unaware that this was the very person who was the original source for the perfected genetic modification surgery.

Without samples of Shen Jie’s Superpower Cells, Ling Shuyan could have racked her brain and still never perfected the genetic modification technology enough for widespread implementation in such a short time.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qin Hu dismissed his subordinates and asked Lin Feng the purpose of his visit.

Lin Feng slowly walked forward and studied the map of the North hanging in the command room. It marked all the Zerg Race locations near the Capital City, including the approximate whereabouts of each Mother Empress.

"We plan to launch an attack on the nearby Zerg Race tomorrow afternoon, before the trial begins. The goal is to have all our Genetic Warriors advance to Tier Two Late Stage Perfection."

"Furthermore, as the original Awakener of the Genetic Assimilation Superpower, Shen Jie has already mastered the Power of Spine Zerg Realm. We’ll use this opportunity to have him kill a Mother Empress and complete his advancement to Tier Three."

Hearing Lin Feng’s words, Qin Hu was stunned for a long moment. It wasn’t until he sensed an aura from Shen Jie, far deeper and more powerful than his own, that understanding dawned on him.

His gaze then fell upon Shen Jie, now filled with awe for a superior power, and his voice carried a tone of deep respect when he spoke:

"Thank you for your help with the genetic technology. Since such a great opportunity is at hand, allow me to congratulate you in advance, Brother Shen!"

Shen Jie nodded humbly. In truth, Lin Feng had only mentioned this in passing when he came to find him, so Shen Jie himself was still in shock.

"I came to you this time with two requests. The first is to help select the Zerg Race and Mother Empress targets to eliminate. The second is this..."

Lin Feng continued, pointing to the three black cases behind Shen Jie.

"You have thirty or forty thousand Awakeners under your command, right?"

"I want to acquire tissue samples from their Superpower Cells for research. Like Ling Shuyan and her team, I want to uncover the secrets of evolution."

"In exchange, we’ll bring your men along for the decapitation strike on the Nest tomorrow..."

"Consider it an advance demonstration of how to concentrate elite power to quickly eliminate a Zerg Race Mother Empress."

"We’ll split the harvested Tier Two Zerg Eggs fifty-fifty. As for the remaining Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs, you can have them all."

Hearing the generous terms Lin Feng offered, Qin Hu was overjoyed. It was an unexpected windfall. Flustered and flattered, he quickly replied:

"Not at all, not at all! It’s a trivial matter!"

"The genetic modification surgeries for my men are all handled by the biotechnology personnel Ling Shuyan sent over. They’ve formed an affiliated military medical research institute, and they already have Superpower Cell samples from every single Awakener on my team."

"I’ll have them fetch the samples for you in a moment."

Lin Feng nodded and turned back to the map.

"Which one do you think is best?"

Qin Hu reined in his elation, his expression growing serious.

"You’ve already dealt with most of the Mother Empresses to the southwest and south, leaving only two—one Early Stage and one Middle Stage. And now they’re hiding deep underground, turtled up in the Southwest Suburbs..."

"We can rule that area out."

"So our best targets are in the west and northwest directions."

"As for the north and southeast, those are over eighty kilometers from our base. If we rush in blindly without understanding the terrain and the situation, we could easily find ourselves caught in a pincer attack."

"In the west and northwest, aside from the Mid-stage Mother Empress that once guarded the western flank, there are five other Tier Three Early-stage Mother Empresses distributed between twenty and forty kilometers from the Capital City."

As he spoke, Qin Hu picked up a thick marker and circled a place on the map.

"Based on the terrain, this Mother Empress is the farthest from the Capital City. It controls the Yong’an River to the northwest and, like the one at Yunxia Ridge, guards a critical pass from its position in this forest park."

"To the west, it can leverage the waterway for a direct route to the Yong’an Reservoir, seventy or eighty kilometers away, giving it a path to threaten the entire Northwest Grassland..."

"Fortunately, it hasn’t advanced to the Tier Three Middle Stage yet. Otherwise, the Federation’s top brass would probably be ordering a full retreat, pulling back over a hundred kilometers!"

Lin Feng smiled, his eyes fixed on the map.

The mountains near the Yong’an River had terrain similar to Yunxia Ridge, but it was less treacherous. Furthermore, to ensure easy access to water, this Mother Empress had built its Hive on the edge of the forest park, with the river flowing directly at the foot of the mountain.

This meant that by simply occupying the hilltop at the Hive’s entrance, they could control the Zerg Race in the entire region and cut off their surface reinforcements.