Apocalypse: My Items Can Upgrade Infinitely

"Those are humans from Jia City?! There are still people alive in Jia City?"

Lin Feng nodded.

"Of course. But don’t get your hopes up. They’re being raised in captivity by the Zerg Race. To be precise, the Jia City Mother Empress is keeping them for experiments..."

"Just like how humans analyze the Zerg Race, they’re studying our physiological traits—especially the intricate human brain, which you could call the crown jewel of evolution on Blue Star."

"Maybe in the future, we’ll have a bunch of human-looking Zerg mixing in with us, which will make rooting them out even harder."

Chen Yanyan’s heart skipped a beat.

"Then what should we do? We have to save all of them, right?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Lin Feng shook his head.

"The outskirts of Jia City are crawling with Zerg guards. It’s not like you didn’t see the situation this morning."

"There’s only one way. Kill them all."

Chen Yanyan sighed softly, a hint of regret in her voice.

"So, did you take care of it cleanly?"

Lin Feng shrugged.

"I was about to do it, but then I ran into a Tier Two Spiritual Element Zerg, one of the parasitic hosts."

"Heh, and then guess what happened..."

Chen Yanyan raised an eyebrow.

"You managed to kill it, and to avoid being surrounded by the Mother Empress, you fled Jia City immediately?"

Lin Feng laughed.

"Keep dreaming. The moment we stepped into Jia City, we were under the Mother Empress’s watch the entire time."

"That parasitic host didn’t show up by accident. The Jia City Mother Empress wanted to... cooperate with me on something."

Now Chen Yanyan was even more confused.

"Cooperate? With a Mother Empress?!"

The corners of Lin Feng’s mouth tilted up slightly as he gave a faint nod.

"That’s right. It was a deal."

"The truth is, not all the Mother Empresses are on the same side..."

......

After Lin Feng finished explaining everything, Chen Yanyan let out a long "Ooooh" of understanding, her face lighting up with excitement.

"With those two hundred, doesn’t that mean we can get a batch of Tier Two Awakeners in just ten days?!"

Lin Feng nodded.

Two hundred Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs were more than enough to get the two pieces of equipment he had to Full Level. The remaining few dozen would give Chen Yanyan and the others a chance to advance to Tier Two.

The sky was growing dark as the Land Patrol Battleship drove back to the Taihu Lake Service Area, fifteen kilometers away.

The area was right next to Taihu Lake, with 2,500 square kilometers of vast waters stretching out behind it, holding the richest biological resources in all the Jiangnan States.

Among the Zerg Race Mother Empresses invading the various regions, whoever could first take control of Taihu Lake and harvest the Biomass within would seize the advantage in this global winner-takes-all competition.

For a moment, standing on the bow of the Battleship, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, Lin Feng even had the thought of poisoning the lake to exterminate all aquatic life within.

Unfortunately, the Great River flowed from west to east, constantly feeding into this endless Great Lake. It was unrealistic to think he could deplete its resources in a short amount of time.

Besides, the consequence of such an act would surely be uniting the Mother Empresses, making them single-mindedly focus on dealing with humanity.

It would only rob the survivors of their chance to breathe and accelerate humanity’s extinction.

After thinking it over, Lin Feng gave up the idea and returned with the Land Patrol Battleship to the temporary camp at the service area.

By now, the team members had finished resting and were preparing dinner. When Zhang Liying saw Lin Feng return, she hurried over to the Battleship.

Lin Feng jumped down from the Battleship and got two pieces of news from her—one good, one bad.

The good news was that Shen Jie’s Tier Two Awakening was complete, and he was fine.

The bad news was that during his Tier Two Awakening, Shen Jie had activated his Devouring Assimilation Superpower. A layer of black Outer Armor had grown on his body, and two sharp black blades had sprouted from his forearms, extending to his elbows.

While not as extreme as his fully transformed Zerg People State, it was still exceptionally grotesque.

But the most serious problem was...

When he woke up from the coma induced by his Awakening, he discovered that the Black Armor on his body and the black blades extending from his elbows had become fixed in place...

He couldn’t retract them into his body. Even if he pried them off, cutting away skin and flesh, they would just grow back as small, shiny black armor plates the size of a fingernail.

Furthermore, Shen Jie wasn’t even using his Assimilation Superpower, which meant this... thing... had become his normal form. He couldn’t restore his body by deactivating his Superpower.

By the time Zhang Liying led Lin Feng to a hotel room on the second floor of the mall’s rest area, he found Shen Jie inside a room with a king-sized bed, staring at his reflection in the mirror, his face clouded with anxiety...

Half of his face, starting from his jaw, was now completely covered by Black Armor that extended down his neck and under his shirt. Lin Feng guessed his entire body was probably like that.

Ten years ago, during his edgy teenage phase, Lin Feng might have thought it looked cool. But now, in an apocalypse where their entire civilization was on the brink of extinction, the survivors’ hatred and disgust for the Zerg Race had already reached its peak...

Even the Genetic Warrior program, run by the higher-ups and the Research Institute, was something they had to carry out secretly under immense pressure when the front lines were collapsing.

And after it was successfully completed, there was none of the fanfare and publicity like before. At least, judging from Qin Hu, Lin Feng didn’t see the Thirteenth Division placing much importance on it.

If Shen Jie were to walk out now and be seen by the other team members, even if they didn’t say anything after an explanation, they would surely harbor some resentment in their hearts...

Not everyone could handle living and fighting alongside a half-human, half-Zerg monster.

The daily battles were already tense enough, keeping everyone’s nerves perpetually on edge. The slightest disturbance could easily trigger a stress reaction.

But there were plenty of ways to solve this.

Lin Feng knew it was best not to use force to suppress their feelings. Instead, he should find the right opportunity for Shen Jie to showcase his incredible strength.

For example, if the team got surrounded by a Zerg Swarm, Shen Jie could make a grand entrance, go on a rampage, and lead them to safety. In that case, admiration and envy would overcome their inner resentment and discomfort.