Chapter 343: Arrival of the Emperor, Feeding on Dragons!

Thinking of this, Zhou Huai's heart pounded uncontrollably once again.

A swarm of bugs that could spew Dragon Breath?

A swarm of bugs with the Physiques of giant dragons?

A swarm of bugs capable of physical attack immunity and elemental transformation of their bodies?

Countless possibilities instantly surfaced in Zhou Huai's mind.

Every single one of them sent thrills of scalp-tingling terror through him!

This was no longer a simple matter of becoming stronger.

This was creating a brand-new, terrifying race with infinite possibilities!

There was no time to lose.

He quickly focused his mind and began naming this Clone, which was destined to shock the world.

As the very first SSS-Class Professional in his hands, it had to have a name worthy of his status.

It took a full two and a half minutes.

A word filled with a sense of conquest and overbearing dominance finally surfaced in Zhou Huai's mind.

Caesar!

From now on, there was only one Great Emperor in this world!

That was none other than me, Emperor Caesar!

[System Prompt: Naming successful! Clone 'Caesar' created.]

[System Prompt: Please shape the appearance for Clone 'Caesar'.]

Zhou Huai pondered for a moment, and a clear image gradually took shape in his mind.

What he wanted was not a mortal monarch, but the Dominator of the swarm who stood above all things.

A head of platinum-long hair, purer and more dazzling than Moria's silver hair, draped casually over his shoulders like condensed moonlight.

His skin was a nearly transparent, cold white, with the veins clearly visible, yet it exuded an inhuman texture, resembling the finest top-grade suet white jade.

The contours of his facial features were deep and handsome, every line seeming as though meticulously carved by the gods, perfect to the point of being flawless.

What was most special were those eyes.

That was a pair of compound eyes as transparent as amethyst, with countless tiny facets refracting cold light, devoid of the slightest human emotional fluctuation.

There was only absolute rationality, along with indifference toward all things.

He wore a pitch-black, luxurious robe. The material of the robe was neither silk nor satin, resembling instead something polished from the carapace of an unknown insect, with mysterious dark golden patterns flowing across its surface, possessing both the majesty of a king and the ferocious aesthetic of biological armor.

[System Prompt: Clone 'Caesar' appearance shaping successful!]

[System Prompt: Generating Clone, please wait…]

This wait was more protracted than any before it.

A full two hours passed.

[System Prompt: SSS-Class Clone 'Insect Emperor Caesar' has finished generating!]

Unable to wait any longer, Zhou Huai summoned Caesar.

Hum——!

Space warped slightly.

That platinum-haired figure silently appeared inside the bedroom.

He stood there quietly, even more aloof and cold than Moria.

Moria's melancholy was a kind of aloof arrogance that kept people thousands of miles away.

As for Caesar, it was pure indifference.

As if everything in the world was no different from dust in his eyes, not worthy of him investing a shred of attention.

The light in the room seemed to be absorbed by those amethyst compound eyes the instant he appeared, growing dim.

Zhou Huai closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank into Caesar's body.

The feeling was completely different from controlling other Clones.

There was no sharpness of Yasuo, nor the overbearing dominance of Xiang Yu.

There was only a sense of absolute control, as though he had become a collective of a massive will, where every single thought could mobilize hundreds of millions of living beings.

He slowly raised his right hand, which wore a black carapace glove, and gently slashed at the air in front of him.

Rip—!

A pitch-black spatial rift silently unfolded.

The other end of the rift was the [Zerg Space] that belonged exclusively to the Insect Emperor.

That was a boundless biological nest composed of dark purple flesh and black carapace.

Massive fleshy pipelines like intertwined blood vessels covered the dome and ground of the nest, throbbing slowly and pumping a dark green, viscous liquid.

The air was filled with a rich, sweet, fishy odor similar to pheromones.

On the ground of the nest, fist-sized tumors were rapidly swelling and bursting.

Every time a tumor burst, a ferocious beetle, pitch-black all over and the size of a fingernail, would crawl out from within.

They shook the thin wings on their backs, and then merged into the black stream on the ground composed of countless kindred, orderly crawling toward some dark corner in the distance.

One every second.

Never stopping.

Zhou Huai's mind stirred.

A newly hatched Soldier Beetle immediately broke away from the main force, flapped its thin wings, and flew out from the spatial rift.

It landed very obediently on the palm of Caesar's hand.

[Name: Soldier Beetle]

[Rank: LV1]

[Strength: 3]

[Mental Energy: 3]

[Agility: 3]

[Physique: 3]

[Skill: Bite LV1 (Inflicts attacks on the enemy using sharp mouthparts.)]

In the past, seeing bugs like this would only make Zhou Huai feel disgusted.

But looking at this pitch-black little fellow in his hand now, he felt an exceptional fondness.

He extended his finger and cautiously stroked the smooth, hard carapace of the Soldier Beetle.

"Little fellow, hungry, aren't you?"

A cold arc curved up at the corners of Caesar's mouth.

"Let's go, Master will take you all to have a good meal."

As his words fell, he took strides, directly left Ye Family Manor, and drifted toward the direction of the East Gate.

…

Outside the East Gate had long since turned into a scorched earth.

Because it was uncertain whether the beast tide would make a comeback, the surviving residents inside the city still stayed at the temporary camp near Ye Family Manor, not daring to venture out.

Therefore, this vast ruin appeared exceptionally dead and silent at this moment.

Caesar's figure was like a ghost, weaving between the broken walls and ruins without making any sound.

Soon, that massive headless dragon corpse appeared within his field of vision.

Even though it had been dead for two days and two nights, that massive skeletal remains still emitted a terrifying high temperature, scorching the surrounding air into distortion.

Controlling Caesar, Zhou Huai slowly arrived at the edge of the giant crater.

From Ye Family Manor to here, he had spent half an hour.

And in this half hour, within the [Zerg Space], eighteen hundred brand-new Soldier Beetles had already hatched.

Following a stir in his mind.

Hum——!

Dense, tiny black dots, like an ant colony whose dam had burst, poured out frantically from the spatial rift behind him!

They converged into a black torrent, emitting a scalp-tingling, dense buzzing sound, and swept toward the massive dragon corpse at the bottom of the giant crater!

However, how could the remains of a Hell-level BOSS be so easy to devour?

"Sizzle—!"

The hundreds of Soldier Beetles rushing at the very forefront had just made contact with the scalding flesh and blood of the dragon corpse when they were instantly ignited by the terrifying high temperature, turning into wisps of green smoke without even leaving charcoal behind.

But Zhou Huai did not issue an order to retreat.

The energy remaining within this dragon corpse was precisely the best nourishment for the evolution of the Soldier Beetles.

Once the corpse completely cooled, the effect would be greatly discounted.

Death was the price that must be paid for evolution.

The subsequent Soldier Beetles defied death, stepping on the dissipated embers of their companions, rushing forward wave after wave!

They avoided the areas with the highest temperatures, burrowed in from the huge wounds of the dragon corpse, and frantically tore at the flesh and blood containing massive energy with their sharp mouthparts!

"Crack! Crack!"

The sound of dense gnawing was endless.

Even though Soldier Beetles continuously died in the high temperature.

Yet finally, the first Soldier Beetle that successfully devoured enough dragon blood began to undergo strange changes in its body!

Its originally pitch-black carapace rapidly faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, replaced instead by a searing, fiery crimson!

Its body size also suddenly expanded by a circle, reaching the size of a thumb!

Within that pair of blood-red compound eyes flashed an even more berserk light.

Following closely was the second, the third…

As time passed, more and more Soldier Beetles completed their metamorphosis!

They no longer feared that terrifying high temperature, like elves bathing in magma, drilling in and out within that massive dragon corpse and gorging themselves!

Even a portion of the Soldier Beetles, after devouring the flesh and blood of the dragon's throat, actually opened their tiny mouthparts and spewed wisps of tiny flames!

Zhou Huai watched all of this, a trace of satisfaction flashing within those amethyst compound eyes.

This evolution speed was even faster than he had imagined.