Apocalypse: Hero of Potato Fields-Chapter 350 - 343: Design of the Insect Army

Inside the Shelter.

After discussing the plan with Hubert, Lin Yi was satisfied and they both left to attend to their own matters.

The cleanup team still had a lot to do.

The warriors were training diligently; they needed to learn to cooperate in battle while riding.

Solomon had already given them mounted combat training, but only on rhinoceros beetles.

Mutant horses were bigger, stronger, and smarter, but also harder to control.

Besides, they only had seven beast tamers.

Sila was responsible for managing all the other horses, so the riders had to control their mounts themselves.

"It’s a pity we don’t have a ’rider’ skill or something," Lin Yi thought on his way to see Melanie.

He wanted to learn about the situation on Earth and in Hanover.

Evidently, there were a few thuggish individuals in the city actively looking for him.

And the female twins were clever; they didn’t tell them too much, and everything was fine.

They even appeared healthier, thanks to the potatoes and spring water, which really worked.

After understanding the situation, Lin Yi went to see the Professor.

It was no easy task to meet him.

He was either busy tending to a large number of patients or researching the Stat Reset Potion.

The meeting was pre-arranged by Chen Youyou, and Lin Yi almost ran late.

"When can I experiment on the mushroom tree, Lin Yi?" the Professor asked upon seeing the boss.

"Mushroom... tree? Oh, you mean the tree you mentioned to me a few days ago...

We should be able to clear a piece of land from the island by tomorrow or the day after, then do whatever you like.

If you want to try the ’Savior,’ that’s fine too."

"Great! If I can figure out how the island was purified, I can create a device or substance to cleanse the virus in the same way!

Then we can save Earth and develop my vaccine to restore zombies to their original state.

Azaleas has been talking about that vaccine."

The Professor was very excited about the impending discovery.

These two former elders had been working well together recently, even starting to tackle projects as a team.

The old Mage was very interested in the idea of restoring zombies. He

also took a keen interest in Earth sciences, especially chemistry and physics, learning whenever he had the chance.

"Once we’re done with the island matters, I’ll definitely start finding some new staff for you."

"That would be so helpful. We’re severely understaffed." The Professor almost every day asked the boss for more manpower, which Chen Youyou was sick of hearing...

"...What did I come here for again?"

It took Lin Yi twenty minutes to get to the point.

During this time, the Professor complained a lot about material shortages, incompetent staff, and various other issues.

Old Mark had become less reserved and more anxious since gaining a unique skill.

This might be a common problem among the "young"...

There were many things to discuss, so the meeting lasted a long time.

The main topic was the chips used by the Horu people.

Lin Yi was very eager to replicate these chips, but the Professor was highly skeptical of the feasibility; the technology was too advanced.

Replicating it would take too much time and require more manpower and equipment than they currently had.

Afterwards, they talked about the alien prisoners.

After the interrogations, these prisoners were handed over to the Professor for research.

Mark used them to test the effects of different doses of the Immunity Pill, but in the end, they all died.

However, Lin Yi was not interested in this.

He wanted to hear the Professor speak about the electronic implants he’d mentioned, where Horu officers had artificial hearts, eyes, and arms.

The artificial hearts allowed them to maintain high levels of adrenaline during combat.

Thus enabling them to fight better and longer; the artificial arms were synchronized with their eyes to improve accuracy.

The Professor was still researching these implants, but his AI had already learned a lot through analysis.

"We really shouldn’t have killed their engineer..." the boss murmured sadly.

"I completely agree," the Professor replied.

After the discussion, Mark did several scans of Lin Yi’s body, and it was quite late when Lin Yi finally left the lab.

During this time, many people came to see him, including Chen Youyou and Solomon, as there were so many issues only the boss could resolve.

Meanwhile, Annie was busy opening rewards, but only opening advanced rewards.

After all, forcing her to open hundreds of thousands of white rewards alone was too cruel.

Therefore, Lin Yi established a new office, managed by the luckiest girl in the Shelter.

Solely for opening rewards.

Annie was overjoyed—she had become the boss!

Blaise and Valerie agreed to help her recruit staff to work for her.

Annie’s office belonged to the Department of Economic Development, so her supervisor was Immanuel.

This rejuvenated elder could be very strict; he wouldn’t let her slack off...

"Boss... can you come see me?" Lin Yi was contacted by Siri just as he escaped from the laboratory.

"Alright." He replied in his mind, then teleported to Siri’s location.

Or more precisely, to the entrance of her nest.

Lin Yi appeared before the soldiers guarding the Beetle Queen’s nest, who saluted and reported that everything was normal.

He nodded and went in.

"Everyone’s here, huh?" Lin Yi saw his three children.

"Father!" the three children said in unison, kneeling on one knee.

"Hmm?"

"Please allow Mother to create an army for us so that we can lead them into battle for you."

"This is why you called me here?" Lin Yi asked, looking at the gigantic Beetle Queen.

"Yes... they have been requesting this..."

"What do you think? I had promised... not to use your children as soldiers."

"It’s okay, I will give them the most basic intelligence, and my children will command them."

"Alright then, you may."

Lin Yi thought for a moment and looked at the three children.

"What kind of soldiers do you want? Have you decided?"

"Not yet, I want you to help them."

Lin Yi turned around and saw the embarrassed expressions of the three people; at least that was how he perceived it.

They had absolutely no idea what kind of soldiers they wanted!

Perhaps they thought Lin Yi would hand them an army directly, and then they could lead it into battle like their fathers, achieving great victories.

Lin Yi tapped his head, quickly formulating a plan.

He created small carnivorous beetles with thick shells and wings for Kaya.

These beetles were modeled after a species called "dragon lice," which are aquatic beetles on Earth.

They have short legs and powerful jaws that can even bite through stone, and they are about the size of a cat.

Intelligence: Basic, 0 points

Body Type: Teacup Size, 5 points

Body Form: Beetle, 15 points

Attributes: Weakened, 0 points

Skills: Unset

Genetic Skills: Wind Speed, Color Change, Air, Lightning

Special Features: Unset

They called these beetles "Devourers" because they were Kaya’s offspring, and thus she had the right to name them.

To connect the Devourers with Kaya, Siri used her DNA and conducted simulations.

In fact, after several generations, the beetles’ attributes and survival capabilities stabilized.

The only difference was that she removed their breeding ability in the final version.

If the breeding ability was kept, Siri would lose her connection with these beetles after a few generations.

And ultimately be unable to control them.

Due to using Kaya’s DNA, the Devourers inherited some skills.

Each Devourer costs 20 points, and if Siri were to work at full capacity, she could produce a thousand a day.

Next up was the design for Alyosha’s warriors.

He wanted them for close combat on the front lines, so the design was for fast, strong insects incapable of flight.

Intelligence: Basic, 0 points

Body Type: Middle, 40 points

Body Form: Beetle, 20 points

Attributes: Basic, 5 points

Skills: Unset

Genetic Skills: Magma, Extreme Constitution, Wind Speed, Combat Reflex

Special Features: Unset

For a prototype, Lin Yi directly borrowed the design of the Archnids from the "Star River Team" movie.

However, Siri was very picky about the design, so they ended up the size of horses.

Alyosha liked the name "Archnid," so it was kept.

Interestingly, both the Archnids and Devourers had magic abilities, but they couldn’t actually cast spells.

According to Siri, their magical manifestation was the fireproof ability of the Archnids and the electric bite of the Devourers.

When the Devourers bit their prey, they would release a charge into them, much like how a snake injects venom.

Each Archnid costs 65 points, and Siri can produce up to 338 a day.

Next is Boria.

His preferences were a bit different: he wanted heavily armored insects capable of breaking through dense enemy formations and even fortifications.

This idea was challenging to produce.

For example, a rhinoceros beetle takes three days to mature, and making larger insects requires even more time, reducing the daily production rate.

They discussed for a long time but eventually agreed on producing worms...

Of course, not actual worms, but armored beetles that resemble worms.

They had numerous short legs, a body length of fifteen meters, and enormous jaws.

The main feature of these beetles was their long-range attack capability, able to fire earth magic spikes, and earth magic also made them move faster on the ground.

Intelligence: Basic, 0 points

Body Type: Middle, 40 points

Body Form: Beetle, 20 points

Attributes: Basic, 5 points

Skills: Unset

Genetic Skills: Regeneration, Enhanced Endurance, Earth

Special Features: Spikes, 5 points

These magical insects were called "Spike Bugs," a nightmare incarnate for women everywhere.

They are fifteen meters long, half worm and half centipede, armored, with sharp teeth and spikes.

Due to their "Regeneration" skill, they could immediately grow new spikes, but for that, they must consume rocks, soil, or enemy corpses.

These beetles also required significant oversight from Boria; ideally, they would be given at least some basic intelligence.

Siri can produce up to 314 Spike Bugs a day.

She promised that after the next evolution, she would be able to produce many more beetles than before.

... But who knows when that will be?

Lin Yi then contextualized it for the professors, discussing beetle symbiotes that could aid in piloting mechas.

After lengthy discussions, they figured out how to achieve this, and... succeeded.

It was terrifying but indeed effective.

They designed symbiotic worms that could breed within the human body and integrate with the brain and brainstem.

The primary insect, the one that bred offspring within the human body, acted as the server, while the offspring acted as additional computing units.

This beetle essentially created a parallel consciousness capable of handling some of the computational needs of piloting a mecha.

For example, it could analyze visual and auditory information, filter out useless information, or only transmit critical data to the user.

The symbiote could also help regulate the host’s physical condition and aid in battle, such as enhancing the host’s reaction speed and accuracy.

The symbiote had many interesting potentials, and Lin Yi even considered getting one himself...

But of course, the important thing was to enable people to pilot mechas and allow the symbiotes to upgrade.

In simple terms, this organism would consume some of the host’s experience points, but each upgrade would also make the host stronger.

They decided to manufacture 400 Devourers, 100 Archnids, 75 Spike Bugs, and 4 Miner Bugs.

Also, 5 "Brains," which were the first generation of the symbiote they designed.

After designing the insects, the boss went home to sleep.

It was already 5 AM; at least he could catch a nap for an hour or two...