“ARUGEHHH!”

In the heart of Clearspring City, the desolate and crumbling streets lay beneath a veil of gray-green mist, a scene of utter ruin and decay.

A grotesque, wounded beast thrashed wildly, but the iron hand pressing its head to the ground, a hand crusted with crimson fungal growths, did not move an inch.

From the fissure in the helmet above, a blood-red glow glimmered like a demon’s pupil.

Out of fear and awe, the noisy two-legged creatures called it an Evolved Type, or a Rotten Knight to be exact.

But to the Hive that controlled every Slime Mold in this city, that minuscule fragment of its vast body was no more than a single atom. It was insignificant, nameless, and easily replaced.

Thea was no different.

Yet unlike the others, when the Mother Body in the Hive created Thea, it had poured extra care and attention into her design.

The newborn Thea not only inherited the refined essence and nutrients of two centuries of evolution, but also the Hive’s will itself.

And in that will lay an expectation that Thea would spread the Hive’s reach farther than ever before. To the lands where the Mother Body in there could not yet touch.

The small intruder still struggled in vain, roaring, relying on brute muscle to resist the product of two centuries of evolution.

The Main Mother Body watched the primitive organism quietly, and instead of commanding its countless fragments to devour it, it lowered its gaze toward Thea, who stood silently in the ruins.

“Eat it.”

The command spread through the air carried by spores.

Thea sensed its mother’s call and nodded slowly. Then, it raised its scarlet tendrils which were viscous and glistening like molten flesh.

Those were its arms.

From their tips, countless cilia pulsed, sending invisible ripples through the sea of spores that blanketed the city.

The gray-green haze began to gather around the furry bear-like monster, wrapping it tighter and tighter in a suffocating shroud.

“ARUUUUGEHHH!”

Terror flickered across the creature’s face. It fought harder, its thick muscles writhing like worms beneath its fur as it tried to break free from the iron hand holding its skull down.

Thea merely watched before closing its hand.

The mist surged outward in a pulse. The monster’s chest swelled violently, its eyes bulging wide. It gasped for air, but its body grew heavier, weaker, until finally, it could no longer move, collapsing lifelessly under its own weight.

A wisp of gray mist drifted from the gap in its helmet. The Rotten Knight released its grip, stepping back with solemn reverence, like a true knight honoring a fallen foe.

“Good.”

Watching its child wield its power with mastery, the Main Mother Body smiled, and across the city, the spores trembled in waves of joyful frequency.

Its child had learned to take away breath itself. It seemed Thea would surpass its previous offspring. Thea was stronger and more perfect.

In the Hive, the Main Mother Body could already see it, the weak organic beings scattering in terror as Thea hunted them down.

Thea gazed down at its outstretched tendril, its arm, and spoke softly. “My body cannot breathe. I can hear their cries.”

The spores around it and the countless fungal entities she controlled were all parts of it, extensions of its mind, its body, and its will.

A gentle answer came. “Do not fear, my child. Your enemies are the same. Those fragile creatures, like the one at your feet, must breathe constantly to survive. You can endure far more than they ever could. You are better suited to this land beneath you. And this world will ultimately belong to those who can adapt.”

“Now, eat it.”

Thea nodded slowly. Its lower body, flowing like the hem of a skirt, writhed forward toward the unconscious beast.

That spreading skirt opened like a giant crimson maw, peeling away from the ground to reveal a dark slit.

From within, countless blood-red tendrils lashed out like slender leeches, piercing the creature’s body in a blink. They punctured its hide, drained its blood, and drew the remaining organic matter into Thea’s body.

The surrounding spores pulsed in waves of ecstasy. The Rotten Knight lowered its head even further, the crimson glow in its eyes flaring brighter.

At that moment, every Slime Mold in the ruins bore witness to the coronation of a new king.

And they rejoiced in its birth.

All except one anomaly.

Feeling the bloodlust saturating the air, it instinctively held its breath, suppressing even the faintest whisper of thought.

Fortunately, it didn’t rely on spores to communicate. The others couldn’t detect or sense its existence at all.

Otherwise, without question, those creatures would have torn it apart in its cradle without hesitation...

...

The official website was as active as ever, and it was all because of a brand-new server announcement.

[Server Announcement: The Returning Tide Expansion Released!]

[Description: Spring has arrived, the season of reproduction for all living things has come, and of course, the asexual Slime Mold is no exception.]

[We once naively believed that Hives arose naturally from spore clusters surpassing a critical concentration, but mounting evidence shows that Hives are born from Mother Bodies, and new Mother Bodies are incubated from old Hives. The newborn inherits not only its progenitor’s genes but also its combat experience against us. Coupled with the effects of a mild winter, the Tide this year will be fiercer than ever!]

[According to the Biological Research Institution’s forecast, the Tide is expected to arrive around March 1st (in-game time). Prepare yourselves, players, this may be the most brutal challenge since the game’s launch!]

[Event Rewards: Completing event quests and defeating Evolved Types grants event points, which can be exchanged for exclusive gear and titles! Earn enough to join the final prize draw! The prize pool includes not only mysterious items unknown even to the developers, but also rare rewards such as the DLZJ-1 Ethereal exoframe! Don’t miss your chance!]

After half a month, Wasteland Online followed the old expansion of Extinguishing the Torch Church with another major expansion.

The sheer speed of the update stunned many players.

And, just as Chu Guang expected, the announcement triggered a full-blown earthquake on the forums, the new expansion instantly topping all trending discussion lists among players and cloud gamers alike.

- What the hell! Where’s Beta 0.6?!

- Wasn’t the Tide just a short event in Alpha 1.1? They just reskinned it into a whole expansion?!

- This event feels so scripted!

- Trash update! Even Paradox copy-pasting MODs and CA’s DLC price hikes weren’t this bad!

- Brother Light, my beloved dev-dad, please give me a helmet! T.T

- Three years, 30,000 helmets, and the supply’s still absurdly low, Light, can you even run a factory?!

- Not his fault! The factory workers must be slacking! Come open one in my village, I’ll get the chief to hire for you!

- Nah, come here instead! I’m the village chief, we’ll do it for free!

- I’ll make you do it for free!

- ???

- Bro, that’s kinda kinky...

- Pass it on, someone wants to do Brother Light.

- Everyone’s lost it!

- Heh, what a joke! All this over a helmet? I’m done, not even dogs would play this fake ass game!

Sitting in the library, Chu Guang skimmed through the forum and chuckled quietly, long used to their antics.

That said, he couldn’t deny they had a point. The New Alliance’s population had surpassed a million, and the number kept growing. Compared to that, issuing only 50 to 100 closed-beta slots per day was indeed falling behind.

Even with the 30,000 accounts already distributed, players still made up less than 3% of the total population. Spread across all territories, they barely made a dent.

He realized he was basically playing a simulation game where he was always short on something. When food wasn’t the problem, it was manpower. When he had both, it became territory, and when he conquered enough territory, manpower ran short again.

“... If we clear the Hive in the center of Clearspring City...” he mused, “... Maybe we’ll unlock a new floor.”

That should mean more slots, right?

Staring at the eager seedlings on the holographic screen, Chu Guang smiled faintly.

Don’t worry.

There’ll be plenty of chances to be harvested.

Everyone gets a turn.

At that moment, Little Seven, perched on the pen holder, lifted its head and said sweetly, “Master, your little players have reached the second ring!”

Chu Guang’s eyes lit up. He tapped his finger to close the forum. “Switch the feed to their view.”

Little Seven saluted playfully. “Roger roger!”

...