After parting ways with the four-member squad, William finally settled back into his familiar rhythm. He anchored his divine domain in a strategically optimal location and launched 30 exploration beacons into the void. Within ten days, he detected a new demigod and immediately maneuvered his domain toward the target. Upon intercepting it, he initiated an invasion without hesitation.
By now, William had mastered the art of invading divine realms. He first dispatched Venomstrike Dragonflies to scout the environment. If the target domain wasn’t barren, he deployed Zerg units proportionally based on its size. For domains under 100,000 square kilometers, he adopted a straightforward strategy: 500,000 Zerglings per 10,000 square kilometers as the initial wave. This tested the enemy’s defenses, allowing him to gauge their strength and decide whether to escalate the assault or retreat—a streamlined process honed through relentless repetition.
Five years passed in this cycle of ruthless efficiency. During this time, William received no distress signals from his former teammates, likely because their cautious, collective approach required longer recovery periods between invasions. Unlike them, William operated at maximum capacity, exploiting every target he encountered. Few demigods could withstand such relentless aggression.
Most adversaries he faced controlled domains under 200,000 square kilometers. Only once did he encounter a realm nearing 500,000 square kilometers, suggesting Lex had directed him to a region dominated by newly established demigods rather than seasoned entities with domains spanning millions.
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The spoils of these campaigns were immense. William expanded his domain to 4 million square kilometers and amassed a vast genetic library. A breakthrough came after obliterating a 300,000-square-kilometer realm, where he discovered a colossal, hornless triceratops-like beast. Though domesticated as livestock by its previous owner, this creature’s hyper-efficient metabolic system solved a critical bottleneck: scaling Zerg bio-mechanics to support massive units.
Harnessing this genetic goldmine, William engineered the Beast of Thunder—a 10-meter-tall, 15-ton armored juggernaut. Its wedge-shaped cranial armor shielded it during charges, while layered chitinous plating provided full-body protection. Twin pairs of scything bone blades on its shoulders, powered by hypertrophied muscle fibers, could cleave through fortifications. However, these titans came at a cost: each consumed hundreds of times more resources than a Zergling and required 18 months of larval gestation followed by six months of voracious growth to reach combat readiness.
Currently, William’s domain housed only 20,000 mature Beasts of Thunder. Prioritizing their production would allow 500,000 units within years, but their role remained supplementary. Zerglings, numbering 220 million, still formed his primary force, their cost-effectiveness and versatility unmatched.
As William reveled in his ascendant momentum, a terse message from Lex shattered his focus: “William, come immediately. Details upon arrival. Coordinates attached.”
Puzzled but obedient, he redirected his domain toward the provided coordinates, the void swallowing his thoughts of conquest.
