After Shaura’s brief introduction of the rules, a notification pinged in Han Wu’s mind.
[Hunting Event system loading...]
[Loading complete.]
This was the system Shaura had created to help participants after sealing all their powers. Han Wu opened the panel.
[Name: Han Wu]
[Barrier Durability: 100 (reduced to zero means elimination)]
[Energy Points: 0 (obtainable by killing Digital Sprites, absorbing energy crystals, etc.)]
[Evolution Points: 0 (obtainable by killing Digital Sprites)]
[Materials: None]
[Gifts Received: 0]
Below the panel were two options. The first was the Evolution Tree, which contained Han Wu’s locust evolution paths. Clicking it, he saw a spherical web of paths branching from the Common locust into billions of evolution routes. The sheer scope of Random Evolution was staggering.
However, Han Wu didn’t need pure diversity. While a certain amount of variety was important, he also needed to give his units a sense of shared identity. This was vital to form racial advantages and species-based armies for combat. That was the unit development he envisioned[1]. Most of these tangled paths would eventually have to be pruned, leaving only a select few optimal routes for his locusts.
The second option was the shop, but it would be grayed out until he received gifts.
As Han Wu was thinking this, a notification rang.
[Contestant Han Wu, you have received a gift from viewer “Saliya”: 1,000 Divine Essence]
Han Wu was both stunned and grateful. Saliya had spent a lot of money to support him! A typical Major God without any special backing or windfall would need two or three months to accumulate 1,000 Divine Essence. Saliya’s generosity was a testament to her family’s deep pockets.
The donation meant his shop icon had now lit up. Inside were various goods. He could spend Divine Essence to recharge his barrier, as well as purchase energy points, evolution points, and even materials.
It was a clear shortcut. After assessing his situation, Han Wu spent 400 Divine Essence on 4,000 energy points, then another 400 on 400 evolution points. The remaining 200 he kept in reserve.
Evolution points could unlock icons on the Evolution Tree. At present, Han Wu only had the regular Common locust, a juvenile-tier creature. While he could spend energy points to summon juvenile locusts at a rate of ten units per point, summoning these weak basic units was a waste.
If he wanted to summon stronger variants, he needed to unlock their evolution. The first one that came to mind was the Bomber Locusts that had carried him early on. Opening the tree, he found the icon.
Bomber Locusts were adolescent-tier. Unlocking the icon cost ten evolution points and one Fire Crystal. Once unlocked, he could summon two units with one energy point.
Fire Crystals cost ten Divine Essence in the Shop, meaning it would cost him twenty Divine Essence in total to unlock. It was affordable, and the summoning cost was reasonable too.
Han Wu kept scrolling. Multiple evolution paths branched from the Bomber Locusts. The most familiar was the Magma Locust, a mature-tier unit in the Sprite Civilization. It was a direct upgrade that enhanced the self-detonation ability.
There were also other evolution paths, such as the Air Burst Locust, Firemight Locust, and Spitter Locusts. These locusts had previously evolved from Random Evolution and were incorporated into the Evolution Tree for him to choose.
Han Wu weighed his options. His Bomber Locusts were born to sacrifice themselves in a suicidal explosion against their enemies. This only worked because he could breed many of them in a short amount of time in his divine realm.
However, in the Sprite Civilization, summoning locusts cost energy points. Spending them purely on self-detonating units felt wasteful in the short term, but could still be a worthwhile investment for his overall evolution strategy in the long run.
The self-detonation line was his signature offensive style. He felt compelled to preserve it.
In the end, he decided to commit to it. For the mature-tier slot, Han Wu chose the Magma Locust. It cost a hundred evolution points and a Flame Crystal worth fifty Divine Essence. Once unlocked, each Magma Locust cost five energy points to summon. It was ten times pricier than a Bomber Locust, but worth the power.
The perfect-tier option on the fire elemental self-detonation line was the Magmabomb Locust. Upon detonation, this species released a flood of magma and showered the area with thousands of superheated shrapnel, dealing devastating damage within a hundred meters and also over time. Unfortunately, the cost of unlocking it was far too high for the time being, so Han Wu shelved it.
While he had been working on the evolution paths, danger had crept close. This was the Sprite Civilization. Despite Shaura’s conquest, those from the Divine Civilization were still viewed as intruders, and Digital Sprites’ first instinct was to eliminate them.
Han Wu’s first opponent was a tough one. His system scan identified it as a mature-tier Digital Sprite called Devilsprite.
It had tattered wings, a pitch-black body, solid muscles, and stood at three meters tall. Every part of it radiated power.
Despite only being a mature-tier life form, Han Wu judged that it was equivalent to at least a Lord life form. Unfortunately, his Magma Locusts were Heroic at best.
The Devilsprite didn’t care for Han Wu’s plight, unleashing its signature move, Death Claw.
Han Wu’s sealed abilities left him defenseless, but the barrier absorbed the hit. Ten points of durability vanished in one strike.
Han Wu winced. Ten durability equaled ten Divine Essence. The Devilsprite’s life wasn’t even worth that much!
“You think I won’t fight back?” he muttered, spending a hundred energy points to summon twenty mature-tier Magma Locusts. “Magma Locusts, go!”
1. Is this eugenics with extra steps, or GMO? ☜