Apocalypse: My Items Can Upgrade Infinitely

Lin Feng’s expression remained unchanged, motioning for her to continue.

The Mother Empress took a deep breath. The folded respiratory chambers on her abdomen rose and fell in a rhythmic succession, like the writhing segments of a caterpillar.

"The Mother Empress in Hai City you mentioned..."

"She is about to enter the Tier Three Middle Stage!"

"I don’t know how much Biomass or what additions to her Genetic Library she’s obtained, but she has already succeeded, all in less than a month."

"When we enter the Tier Three Middle Stage, the number of Low-tier Zerg we can control will multiply several times over. We can even hatch over a thousand Tier Two Zergs..."

"Most importantly, a Tier Three Mid-stage Mother Empress can hatch large numbers of Tier Two Wind-winged Zergs, or synthesize special types of Zerg with unique abilities."

"These special Zerg possess the Superpowers of you Human Awakeners, and their genes have been integrated with native Blue Star organisms, making them better adapted to the planet’s environment."

"If she is the first to reach Taihu Lake and consolidates her strength as a Tier Three Middle Stage, she’ll be able to conquer the next five hundred kilometers of territory in one fell swoop. Then, she can smoothly advance to the Tier Three Late Stage..."

"By then, it won’t just be the humans of the Southern Federation..."

The more Lin Feng listened, the more he realized the urgency of the situation. He picked up her train of thought, finishing the sentence for her:

"It won’t just be us humans. Even the rest of you—the other Early-stage Mother Empresses who have fallen behind on your Upgrades—will suffer at the hands of the Tier Three Mother Empresses. You’ll be hunted down and devoured, becoming nothing but fuel for their path to Tier Four..."

"I’m right, aren’t I?"

The Mother Empress Avatar solemnly dipped her head. This was the real reason she had risked appearing before a Human Awakener.

There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

When survival is on the line, even mortal enemies can cooperate.

A more significant reason was that the Jia City Mother Empress had never expected it. The Hai City Mother Empress, despite facing heavy resistance, had managed to turn the tables and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat...

Her progress was only slightly slower than the other Mother Empresses, and by using the human army as a whetstone for her forces, she was now on the verge of becoming the first to enter the Tier Three Middle Stage.

Once she completed her advancement, she would tear through Wu City’s defenses and take the most direct path to be the first to reach Taihu Lake...

Like a snowball rolling downhill, she would steadily expand her lead, widening the gap between herself and the other Mother Empresses.

As Lin Feng pieced together the truth, as if unraveling a silk cocoon, he had to admit it: the deal proposed by the Jia City Mother Empress was extremely beneficial to them both.

But Lin Feng still had his reservations.

’What if this is a trap the two Mother Empresses cooked up together? A carefully woven snare, just waiting for me to stand by while the Jia City Mother Empress occupies our rear...’

’Blocking the retreat path for me and the surviving defenders of the Thirteenth Division.’

’By then, even if I managed to escape with my life, I’d be indirectly responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people.’

Lin Feng needed a guarantee:

"How many Tier Two Zergs can one of you Tier Three Early-stage Mother Empresses control at most?"

The Mother Empress Avatar paused for a moment, then replied:

"Between two hundred and five hundred. The more powerful the Mother Empress, the more she can hatch, but never more than five hundred."

Lin Feng nodded and held up two fingers:

"Two hundred. I want two hundred Tiger Spine Zergs. Alternatively, you can swap ten Tiger Spine Zergs for one Tier Two Wind-winged Zerg."

"That’s my bottom line for this cooperation."

"My price is more than fair. It ensures you still have enough strength to protect yourself, while also allowing me to break out of this encirclement. I could even help you hold the front line for longer."

The Mother Empress fell silent. Her current strength, among the Mother Empress Swarm, was on the weaker end of the spectrum. Although she hadn’t faced any human resistance, she had been in such a rush that she hadn’t properly managed her territory...

As a result, her Biomass acquisition and the number of Tier Two Zergs she had hatched barely reached four hundred. A quarter of those hadn’t even finished metamorphosing into their adult forms.

Lin Feng’s exorbitant demand was to take half of her forces.

’But then she remembered his terrifying strength, and the cannon muzzle before her, a hair’s breadth from firing...’

After a moment of deliberation, the Mother Empress chose to accept.

A smile touched Lin Feng’s lips as he spoke lightly:

"One last question."

"You said this was a global, battle royale-style competition between Mother Empresses, where only the sole survivor can advance to Tier Four."

"Does that mean..."

"That a Tier Four Life Form is unique—that there can be only one?!"