He sighed. "In the end, the conditions for using a nuclear bomb are just too restrictive. They’re only suitable for halting the Zerg Race’s expansion. For me, there’s no compelling reason to insist on acquiring one."
Looking at the voluptuous woman before him, who was incredibly nervous and struggling to hide her trembling, Lin Feng shrugged with a look of regret.
"Sorry, but while a nuclear bomb is certainly powerful, it just doesn’t fit my situation. Is it better to trade a pile of Tier Two Zerg Eggs for a deterrent that I can’t even use, or to turn them into actual, living Tier Two Awakeners? The latter is far more practical!"
Ling Shuyan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
Although she had expected Lin Feng to hesitate, she never imagined he would have so many reservations, even listing the numerous drawbacks of a nuclear bomb.
And he wasn’t wrong.
She couldn’t refute his points.
Simply being powerful wasn’t necessarily a good thing; the prerequisite for killing a Mother Empress with a nuclear bomb was the ability to pinpoint and lock onto its exact location.
Otherwise, the Federation’s initial "Decapitation Strike" plan wouldn’t have ended in failure.
The few other nuclear-armed nations in the world had already conducted similar nuclear strike experiments, and just as predicted, the results were lackluster.
A few bombs only served to temporarily slow the Zerg Race’s advance.
But soon, mutated swarms that absorbed the nuclear radiation would leave their bodies, now filled with deadly fallout, at the front lines to contaminate human soldiers.
Using a nuclear bomb was an attack that would kill one thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own. Unless it was an absolute last resort, who would willingly sign up for that?
A nuclear bomb could be useful for Lin Feng’s plan to become a Tier Three Awakener, but the conditions for its effectiveness were too restrictive, requiring an extremely delicate balance.
But Ling Shuyan couldn’t give up.
If she could close this deal and acquire a batch of Tier Two Zerg Eggs, it wouldn’t just be a great help to her own research; the support for the Jin City Research Institute from the main Biological Research Institute would also increase significantly.
Furthermore, the Human Gene Complementation Plan was completely under the control of the Research Institute, independent of the military. The Supermen hatched and cultivated by this plan would naturally have to obey them—the researchers—in order to sustain their own lives.
This meant that the Research Institute’s influence would skyrocket in the future, and it would no longer need to be dependent on other factions.
After Ling Shuyan sent the research data on the Tier Two Zerg Eggs back to the Biological Research Institute, they introduced her to the Gene Complementation Plan and emphasized the importance of acquiring live Zerg eggs.
They had to retrieve live Tier Two Zerg Eggs from Lin Feng at any cost!
The plan was to use the Life Energy and metamorphic properties of the Tier Two Zerg Eggs to bring about the transformation and birth of Supermen.
After her own analysis, Ling Shuyan concluded that the only thing the Federation could currently offer that would be attractive to Lin Feng was the thousands of nuclear warheads secretly stored away during the age of peace.
But now, Lin Feng’s analysis had shattered Ling Shuyan’s last remaining hope, causing it to vanish like smoke...
Forcing herself to remain calm, Ling Shuyan made a concession.
"While a miniature nuclear bomb might not fit your current plan, it’s perfect for setting up ambushes against the Zerg Race in advance. With over a thousand kilometers of strategic depth throughout the Southern Federation, you’re bound to find a suitable opportunity for an ambush."
"Just because you don’t need it now doesn’t mean you won’t need it later."
"Besides, our nuclear warheads are quite clean. The minimal contamination they cause poses almost no threat to a Tier Two Awakener."
"Even if you can’t use it now, there will certainly be a time when you can. Just as you said, an unused nuclear bomb is still a powerful deterrent. Especially as your faction grows, the security a nuclear bomb provides in your rear safe zones is something that Tier Two Zerg Eggs can’t buy."
Lin Feng’s eyes narrowed, and his tone softened slightly.
"Then how many Zerg Eggs would you need for one miniature nuclear warhead?"
Ling Shuyan swallowed, suppressing her excitement and nervousness. The final, most crucial moment had arrived. She asked tentatively:
"Fifty?"
Lin Feng’s expression turned cold. ’Fifty eggs? Isn’t that just daylight robbery!?’
He still had over one hundred and seventy Tier Two Zerg Eggs on hand.
He had transported a total of three hundred and eighty eggs from the Nest Underground of the North River. After the one hundred and fifty used by the Tier One Late Stage Awakened, two hundred and thirty remained. Just yesterday, Chen Yanyan had used a little less than fifty to quickly reach Tier Two Late Stage Perfection.
Ling Shuyan’s offer of fifty Zerg Eggs was equivalent to taking a third of Lin Feng’s remaining stock!
Of course, after he killed the Mother Empress and reached Tier Three, there would be many more opportunities to seize Tier Two Zerg Eggs, and even to hunt Tier Three Early-stage Mother Empresses in other regions...
But Lin Feng was someone who never willingly took a loss. He was the type to pluck a feather from a passing goose. If he agreed so easily, wouldn’t his entire prior performance have been for nothing?
He immediately shot back in a cold voice:
"Fifty?!"
"Do you think I’m running a Zerg Race hatchery?"
"Fifty Tier Two Zerg Eggs could create fifty Tier Two Awakeners! Pushing it, you could even create a single Tier Two Late Stage Perfection Awakener! With that kind of value, who in the Federation’s high command or the military wouldn’t trade me a nuclear bomb for them?"
"I imagine those in power would be more than happy to trade a few nuclear bombs to solidify their own positions."
"Especially since it’s just the warhead, without an advanced missile delivery system. The value of the warhead by itself is limited!"
"Director Ling, it seems the Biological Research Institute’s sincerity isn’t all that great. If I needed to, perhaps the high command of the Thirteenth Division would be a more suitable trading partner!"
"No, no, no! We can discuss it, it’s all negotiable!" Ling Shuyan hurriedly explained, terrified that displeasing Lin Feng would cause the deal to fall through.