Chapter 292: The Nest and the New Expedition

The series of test results on the "Scourers" left Gao Jie Ming highly satisfied.

These "living missiles," which pursued speed and one-time destruction to the extreme, perfectly filled the gap in his aerial assault and rapid strike capabilities.

Next, according to the predetermined plan, he turned his gaze toward another area awaiting completion: cannon fodder units for naval warfare.

However, compared to the relatively smooth development of the aerial units, the design and implementation process for the naval cannon fodder proved exceptionally rough.

In the end, it consumed a full fifty years of Gao Jie Ming's time before the final version was finally produced.

At this moment, crouching inside a specially made giant ecological cultivation tank in the laboratory, was a massive existence that occupied nearly the entire room, slowly writhing.

Its whole body presented a deep ink-black color, with a texture that looked like viscous crude oil.

Overall, it resembled some kind of giant slime, lacking a fixed form, merely rising and falling there unconsciously,

flowing.

Holding a high-precision biological detector in one hand while activating the All-Purpose Eye, Gao Jie Ming used both methods simultaneously to perform a final indicator scan on this colossal creature.

The data streams jumping on the screen were stable and powerful; every parameter detected by the All-Purpose Eye had reached, or even exceeded, his expected design values.

He slowly set down the instrument, deactivated the sorcery, and let out a long sigh, a complex expression of relief mixed with accomplishment appearing on his face.

"Finally—completed."

Actually, the initial concept for developing naval cannon fodder was not particularly difficult.

But the problem was that after completing the Scourers by the book, Gao Jie Ming's heart, belonging to a researcher who pursued perfection and the extreme, kept "stirring restlessly" during the process.

Various whimsical ideas and layered function additions emerged endlessly, causing the design goals to be changed again and again.

What was ultimately born had long transcended the category of "cannon fodder," evolving into the monster-like creation standing before him.

Strictly speaking, this thing could no longer be called a single cannon fodder unit.

It was a comprehensive oceanic combat platform integrating survival, defense, attack, and production into one!

Its basic form was this seemingly clumsy black slime-like body.

Its combat style was flexible and bizarre; it could attack or harass by separating parts of its body to simulate various forms of aquatic creatures.

And when facing powerful enemies, it could rapidly aggregate its dispersed body parts, causing its size to swell dramatically.

Transforming into a mountain-sized giant, it would launch crushing physical attacks or energy impacts of immense force.

Beyond pure physical attacks, this thing's offensive and defensive means were relatively direct, mainly relying on its internal energy core to fire energy cannons of various attributes and to sustain a tough energy shield.

But the truly terrifying aspects of this creation, which Gao Jie Ming had continuously modified, lay in two points.

First was its ridiculously exaggerated efficiency in resource conversion and energy absorption.

Matter in the Aerial Plane was extremely scarce, causing creatures within it to evolve extreme survival capabilities in such barren environments.

Gao Jie Ming had fused the matter-decomposition abilities of several highly representative creatures from among them, enabling the "slime" before him to digest everything organic it could contact to the greatest extent.

Whether algae, fish, or even the corpses of enemy units, it could efficiently convert them all within its body into nutrient-rich biological gel, used for its own maintenance, growth, or stored as "ammunition."

At the same time, it inherited an energy absorption system similar to that of the Black Giants, capable of continuously drawing thermal energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into its own energy.

That deep black color was the external manifestation of its high-efficiency absorption of energy across all spectra.

The second point, and the one Gao Jie Ming was most proud of, was the built-in biological hatching platform.

Inspired by the Lava Giant hatching pools, a micro, highly efficient hatching cavity had been modified inside this thing.

It could channel the energy and biological gel it collected into the hatching cavity, serving as a rapid frontline hatching nest for "Scourers"!

This meant that on the oceanic battlefield, the "Nest" itself was a mobile production base for "living missiles."

It could continuously manufacture Scourers, whether for aerial support or underwater attacks.

Although the Scourers' speed would be greatly reduced underwater, the combat power they brought should not be underestimated.

Even more brilliantly, this hatching platform could, when necessary, temporarily double as a "first-aid station," providing emergency energy to the cores of Black Giants recovered after self-detonation to accelerate the reshaping of their bodies!

Gao Jie Ming actually had even more fanciful ideas in his mind, such as integrating reconnaissance units or adding spatial jump capabilities.

Unfortunately, limited by the internal volume capacity and his own knowledge constraints, he could only regretfully stop at the current "half-finished product."

"The codename for this thing—let's just call it 'Nest'!" Gao Jie Ming casually decided on its name.

He instructed the laboratory's automated puppets to begin transporting large quantities of basic biomass and pure energy to this newly born "Nest" so it could complete its initial growth and stabilization.

After doing all this, Gao Jie Ming sat back in his familiar work chair, leaned his body backward, and spaced out for the first time in ages, letting his thoughts go blank.

He clearly realized that at the current stage, the qualitative improvements he could make to his direct combat power and legion composition had basically reached the limit allowed by his current resources and knowledge level.

The Black Giant legion, the Scourer air force, and now the "Nest" navy—the trinity of land, sea, and air cannon fodder systems had initially taken shape.

Magic treasures, talismanic sorcery items, and various sorceries had also been updated.

All that remained was to rely on time to accumulate numbers and to carry out some detailed optimizations and refinements.

This meant that for at least the next fifty years, although he still had a vast amount to learn, experiment with, and research, his overall combat power level would not undergo any earth-shattering leaps.

Therefore, for a moment he felt somewhat at a loss, only subconsciously calculating various tactical combinations, legion ratios, and fine-tuning his own combat style in his mind.

He didn't know how much time had passed before a deep sense of fatigue washed over him.

Gao Jie Ming did not resist, allowing himself to sink into a pure sleep that required no meditation and no thought.

Rest, sometimes, is also part of cultivation.

When the dim "sun" of the Elosia Plane rose as usual the next day, Gao Jie Ming had already regained his usual calmness and focus, throwing himself back into a disciplined life of research.

Over the next fifty years, Gao Jie Ming began to systematically step down from his various positions at Noren Academy No. 147.

He communicated with Dean Avery Knight, explaining that he was facing a mandatory expedition and needed to prepare and hand over his duties in advance.

The Dean expressed understanding.

Soon, a sorcerer who had just rotated back from another plane's battlefield and also belonged to the Alchemy Logistics Department was arranged to take over Gao Jie Ming's work.

The handover process was exceptionally simple—after all, the Alchemy School still had no new apprentices.

The main tasks were the routine inspection and maintenance of life-saving props and monitoring systems during the graduation trials held once every five years, along with occasionally refining some low-grade sorcery items or potions for other students within the academy.

For another experienced Alchemy Sorcerer, these administrative tasks were a piece of cake.

Thus, while maintaining his own cultivation and research, Gao Jie Ming easily completed the handover of his duties, peacefully passing the final fifty years before the mandatory expedition.

When the deadline finally arrived, Gao Jie Ming used the cross-plane teleportation array to once again reach that place both familiar and strange—the assembly junction of the Wizard Civilization Expeditionary Force.

This time, his luck seemed favorable; having just completed his registration, he happened to arrive just as a large-scale expeditionary force was assembling.

After registering, he flew straight toward the designated assembly square.

However, when he clearly saw the scene upon the square, even with Gao Jie Ming's composure, he could not help but inhale sharply in shock.

As far as the eye could see, the entire immense square was now filled to the brim with densely packed figures of wizards!

Robes of various colors, strangely shaped magical ornaments, contract demons of diverse sizes, and war constructs hovering in midair formed an endless sea of people and a ocean of radiant energy.

Gao Jie Ming roughly swept the area with his spiritual sense and was horrified to realize that the number of wizards gathered here likely exceeded one million!

This figure was truly astonishing!

Under normal circumstances, a medium-sized plane expedition mobilizes only around one hundred thousand wizards.

Even when facing those tough nuts to crack, powerful planes requiring a focused assault, the scale rarely exceeds two or three hundred thousand.

Yet, facing this scene of a million wizards gathered together, Gao Jie Ming's heart inevitably sank.

This was absolutely no ordinary expedition; what the Plane Nuolun Workshop intended this time was undoubtedly enormous, and what they were about to face was likely an unimaginably difficult battle situation.

Silently, he found a relatively less crowded corner at the edge to land, quietly pricking up his ears to try gathering some intelligence from the conversations of the surrounding wizards.

"... This scale is far too large, isn't it? I have experienced five expeditions and have never seen so many people!"

"One can only say the target plane is likely very special, but until now, no news has leaked out."

"However, with such a difficult enemy, both military merit and resources should be quite abundant, right?"

"... Before that, it would be better to first consider whether one can survive."

However, the surrounding wizards seemed just like him, knowing very little about the specific details.

But the solemn atmosphere permeating the air, tinged with a hint of fanaticism, clearly conveyed a consensus: an expedition capable of mobilizing such massive military force for the Wizard Civilization meant that what lay ahead would absolutely be an unprecedented hard fight!

To increase their chances of survival in the cruel war to come, many temporary recruitment points for small groups had spontaneously formed across the square.

Many wizards loudly announced their specialized fields of wizardry and their weaknesses, seeking complementary partners to sign temporary combat contracts and form squads to jointly face the unknown dangers.