Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

Chapter 88 I'm going to forge myself a suit of insect armor!

"However, don't get too excited yet! Just cultivating these insect eggs is a major problem!"

Since I don't know the specific breeding methods, how should I raise them? After all, I don't know their origin or identity.

So, Wayne shook his head, set the eggs aside, and began to observe the carriers that held them.

Now that the insect eggs have been removed from the body of this insect corpse, compared to those living insect eggs...

When the Hive Intelligence scanned the insect carcasses again, no signs of life were detected.

It appears to be just an empty shell... or perhaps for some reason, it was originally a living insect.

However, something happened later that turned it into a vessel for those insect eggs.

Next, Wayne split off Spirit Binding Threads, aided by the Hive Intelligence's scanning.

They scanned the insect corpses in front of them several times, but they couldn't detect any spiritual energy fluctuations or traces of life force.

It seems to be nothing more than a simple shell, a corpse.

However, even if it is just a shell, it is still a good source of information for studying the origin of these insect eggs and that mysterious insect civilization!

So, immediately.

Wayne took out the scales from the dismembered insect corpse and placed them in a petri dish to conduct experiments, testing a series of data and attributes.

"Starting file recording: Unknown Zerg Civilization - Shell Sample Test Log, recording the testing process!"

Wayne gave the command to the Hive AI in his mind.

[File created, codename: Lost Zerg Civilization!]

Next, Wayne used tweezers to pick up a piece of carapace that had detached from the insect's abdomen.

This piece of carapace is about two fingers wide, irregularly polygonal, with serrated edges showing natural breaks.

Wayne placed it under the magic lamp for a closer look.

Under the soft white light of the magic crystal lamp, the surface of the carapace appeared dark gold, and under strong light, it emitted extremely subtle colors and lusters, like fragments of mica.

Next, Wayne gently scraped the surface with tweezers. No powder came off, and there were no scratches. Hmm... in terms of hardness, a preliminary assessment suggests it's more than ten times the hardness of a typical insect exoskeleton.

Next, Wayne tried again, picking up a scalpel from the side and attempting to cut the scales of the insect armor in front of him.

As a result, nothing was left on it. Wayne continued to cut forcefully, and after ten minutes, the blade had become dull, but still no marks were left on it.

"Hmm... the texture is hard enough!" Wayne thought to himself. "Record: at least 3.7 times that of quenched alloy steel, or 5.2 times that of an adult rock rhinoceros carapace."

Next, Wayne attempted to pierce the scales of the insect armor in front of him using the tip of the scalpel.

It still left no trace. Its shear resistance and puncture resistance are excellent. It may have some kind of non-dense structure inside, and the stress distribution is extremely uniform.

Next, Wayne took several sealed crystal bottles from the reagent rack next to him. These bottles contained various colorful potions, each with a corresponding label:

[Giant leech gastric acid extract (acidic)], [Incandescent lichen leachate (strong organic alkali, extremely corrosive)]

[Leachate from the rotten soil of the dead (containing unknown putrefactive agents)].

Wayne took out the first potion, used a dropper to take a drop from it, and dripped it onto the scales of the insect in front of him.

A hissing sound rang out, and a puff of white smoke rose up, but after the white smoke evaporated, the insect shell in front of us was still undamaged.

It is perfectly intact.

Next, Wayne experimented with high temperatures and freezing temperatures.

The first one used is the magic stone thermal radiation furnace, a material testing instrument commonly used by alchemists. It is powered by magic stones and has alchemical runes imprinted inside.

It can slowly heat up, reaching a temperature "enough to melt fine steel," which, if we were to draw an analogy, is similar to the 800 degrees Celsius temperature of my previous life.

Soon, when the furnace temperature reached 800 degrees Celsius, Wayne stopped heating.

It wasn't that the insect armor had reached its limit, but rather that my equipment had reached its limit, and the insect armor in front of me showed no signs of melting.

"High-temperature resistance...excellent!"

Next is the Magic Stone Cold Radiation Furnace, which is also a material testing instrument commonly used by alchemists, and it is also powered by magic stones.

However, the alchemical runes inside use an energy flow method that is completely opposite to that of the magic stone radiant furnace, thus achieving a cooling effect.

Wayne removed the armor plate; its temperature was high enough to instantly condense water vapor in the air.

Wayne placed it on the lab bench, with a thick layer of cowhide underneath.

Then, he pierced his tongue with thorns, picked up an iron hammer, and swung it down.

"clang""

A clear, resonant metallic ring echoed through the laboratory; the insect's scales showed no cracks or chips.

It has not a single hair-thin white mark, and its cold resistance is also extremely excellent.

Now, in the laboratory, after a series of experiments including corrosion, high temperature, freezing, and cutting, C...

Wayne discovered that these insect scales were simply... perfect!

After Wayne accessed all the experimental processes within Hive Intelligence, he saw a list.

[Hardness: Upper limit cannot be measured]

[Toughness: No cold brittle transition, extremely high impact resistance]

[Corrosion Resistance: All Corrosive Media Existing in the Immunoassay Laboratory]

[High and low temperature resistance: Covering the temperature range of -65°C to +800°C, no performance degradation was observed]

[Weight: Lightweight, weighing only 1/7 of steel plates for the same protective area]

Therefore... these insect scales in front of me possess a near-perfect comprehensive defensive rating that I have never seen on any material before!

"If that's the case..." Wayne's eyes flickered uncertainly. He thought of what his mentor Morse had told him earlier, and realized that he should learn one or two more sorcery tricks.

Since I only currently possess one skill, [Thorn Tongue], my sorcery tricks are too simplistic and monotonous—as for support-type skills like Spirit Binding Silk, I'll automatically disregard them.

They will face significant limitations in the Black Forest patrol in the future.

Furthermore, to be fair, I do need a defensive magic trick to protect myself and defend myself.

After all, the function of the swarm is to explore, plunder, and invade, to control the field of vision, to see every detail, and to oversee the whole situation.

However, with the current defensive strength of the insect swarm, it is indeed somewhat inadequate for self-defense.

It's not even as good as the protective enchanted gear that Mentor Morse gave him: the [Kiss of the Python] ring.

However, enchanted equipment is ultimately just an external thing; for wizards, a defensive type of magic trick is still indispensable.

After thinking for a moment, Wayne had an idea and took out a book of witchcraft from the drawer next to him.

This was a book of witchcraft and magic given to him by his mentor, Morse, after he officially became an apprentice of the Natural Symbiosis Wizard Tower through his experiments on biological iteration.

The text describes three sorcery tricks: [Thorn Tongue], [Wriggling Scales], and [Slow Eye].

Now that I've mastered the offensive spell [Thorn Tongue], the only defensive spell I have left is [Wriggling Scales].

Now, looking at the skill description on the [Wriggling Scales]:

[Wriggling Scales: Requires implanting five modified "scale seeds" under the skin. When attacked, the user consumes their own magic to stimulate the "seeds" to instantly proliferate and keratinize, covering the skin at the point of impact from under the skin to form a localized, [unclear - possibly referring to a specific type of scale].

[Active biological scales]

"Scales, scales..." At this moment, looking at the required "scale seed" material above, he thought, "If that's the case..."

""

Wayne's eyes were fixed on the insect scales in his hand. Weren't these ready-made "scale seed" materials?

You could use these insect scales to create "scale seeds," for example, to build yourself a... insect armor?