It was probably because of the Self-Destruct Hopper incubation nests—he had used up all his luck.

  Originally, there were 15 Hydralisk incubation nests, but in this round of transcendental evolution, the number had plummeted to just 5.

  He had fully suffered from the 30% failure rate, and it even overflowed.

  Two-thirds of the Hydralisk nests were scrapped on the spot, and the swarm's daily output dropped by 100,000 units.

  This was a heavy loss for William.

  Even though he had mentally prepared himself, seeing the result in front of him still made his chest tighten with pain.

  There was nothing William could do but chalk it up to building up luck for the future Thunder Wyvern nests.

  Now, the new transcendental gene had been successfully loaded. Based on William’s experience, this fusion should be a great success.

  These eggs shouldn’t suffer any mid-development deaths. They should emerge from their cocoons without issue.

  As long as the newly produced Hydralisks and Self-Destruct Hoppers could successfully hatch,

  And as long as William could figure out how these gene tumors affected the existing Zerg unit gene templates,

  He could then begin adjustments and optimizations.

  After finishing these tasks, William—having gone through several emotional highs and lows over the past two days—

  Also felt a bit mentally exhausted.

  He reached up and rubbed his forehead.

  William decided to temporarily set aside the gene analysis work for today.

  “If I’m not analyzing genes, then what should I be doing?” The sudden free time left William feeling a bit empty.

  He stood suspended in mid-air, reached out, and with a swipe, a blue translucent light screen lit up.

  Opening his memo, a dense list of to-dos filled the entire screen.

  William went silent at the sight, his eyes going blank. With a swift wave, he shut off the screen and closed his eyes.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I’m blind. I didn’t see anything just now.”

  He stayed like that for a long while, deep in thought, until something suddenly came to him.

  “It’s already been two years since I last assigned the Queen Ant any tasks.”

  “It’s about time I checked how she’s optimized the Beast of Thunder gene template.”

  “Hehehe... I hope there’s a pleasant surprise waiting for me.”

  With that thought, William’s demigod spirit body slowly faded away in the skies of the divine domain.

  When he appeared again, he was already inside the Queen Ant’s designated underground cavern.

  There, the Queen Ant was lightly strolling around the cavern, dragging her massive abdomen.

  William was immediately stunned—how could those few tiny ant legs

  Support such a massive abdomen? And even move around so nimbly?

  “What’s going on?” William's divine sense immediately enveloped the Queen Ant, carefully inspecting her.

  Through his divine perception, he noticed a strange power subtly different from mental energy—

  It was like an invisible membrane wrapping around the Queen Ant’s entire body.

  It was this force that easily lifted her enormous abdomen, now nearing maturity and over two meters long, allowing her to move freely and effortlessly.

  Upon closer inspection, this invisible force felt like mental energy, yet slightly different.

  At this moment, the Queen Ant also sensed William’s presence.

  Her antennae gently twitched, and her whole body began to float.

  She quickly flew toward the location of William’s demigod spirit body.

  A crisp voice echoed in William’s mind.

  “Master, it’s so good to see you again.”

  At the same time, through the Queen Ant’s line of faith, William felt a pure sense of joy.

  He instinctively responded, “I’ve been busy lately, haven’t had time to check on things here.”

  “Have you completed the optimization of the Beast of Thunder gene template? I’m here to check your work.”

  As soon as he said that, William realized something—he had directly heard the Queen Ant’s voice just now.

  It wasn’t a thought shared through the line of faith,

  But rather, a voice transmitted directly through that unique mental energy.

  Without hesitation, William swiped open a translucent blue screen.

  Using his divine sense as a medium, he began analyzing the Queen Ant’s status through the divine console’s built-in analysis function.

  Vassal Name: Queen Ant

  Vassal Level: Transcendental

  Vassal Talents: Gene Fusion, Gene Adjustment

  Faith Level: Zealot

  Status: Mental Mutation in Progress

  [...truncated…]

  Seeing this, William was shocked. The Queen Ant was one of a kind in the entire swarm.

  If something went wrong due to her mental mutation, it would be a huge problem.

  Without hesitation, William began burning divine power to enhance his divine sense.

  Focusing especially on the Queen Ant’s invisible mutated mental force—

  And the Soul Crystal Core hanging around her neck—for a detailed scan.

  Although he had never heard of a Soul Crystal Core causing mental mutations,

  William was certain the Queen Ant’s mental mutation was one hundred percent related to that thing.

  Because the only item on her that could affect her mental power—was that.

  As he increased his divine sense, William finally traced the source of the change.

  Due to the Queen Ant wearing the Soul Crystal Core for an extended period, the strange soul energy within it—

  Which enhances the soul, boosts mental power, and promotes intellectual growth—had...