Became the Queen of the Legion

‘Improving the soldiers is also something we need to do consistently.’

Even at this moment, we’re hunting or discovering and raiding villages of low-level demonic beasts like goblins and kobolds, but attacking a proper ‘power’ is a different story altogether.

Therefore, I planned to attempt a major overhaul of the combat troops before the war.

As our level increases, as we accumulate more genetic information and experience, and crucially, as I continue to accumulate trait points, we could keep evolving.

[It’s too inefficient to discard all currently produced and scheduled troops and produce new soldiers]

“Are you crazy?”

The system understood that I was going to discard the soldiers I had painstakingly created and produce new ones.

But that’s a crazy idea. Even if we fully digest the existing soldiers and turn them into nutrients, there would still be losses.

When that goes into the thousands, the loss is severe.

For us, who now even uproot and eat plants in addition to all living animals, such a loss is a big blow.

“I should create a new facility that can modify existing soldiers on this occasion.”

What I envisioned was the development of a facility that could modify existing soldiers without killing them.

Considering all the abilities we currently possess, it seemed entirely possible.

“How… is that even possible?”

“This might be easier to understand if you see it directly.”

Because it’s closely related to my unique power that can’t be shared through the hive mind, Seira seemed unable to even grasp what I was talking about now.

Seeing her dumbfounded expression, I smirked and led Seira to a place where preparations had already been completed by mobilizing hundreds of workers.

A huge pit had been dug in the flat ground near the nest entrance, where even the few remaining plants had been completely uprooted, leaving only dark soil exposed.

I connected tentacles drawn from inside the nest to this pit, which could accommodate dozens of people at once.

“I’ll inject my omnipotent cells into the nutrient solution, make them proliferate infinitely while nutrients are supplied, and turn this entire pond into a mass of omnipotent cells.”

Thick, dark, sticky mucus began to pour out profusely from the end of the tentacles.

This mucus, which is nutrient solution mixed with water and nutrients digested through artificial digestive organs, contains everything we need, and all the nutrients I receive through tentacles are exactly this.

“…”

Seira flinched at the sight of it. As if it was disgusting and creepy.

In fact, it’s understandable. She’s not yet accustomed to filling her stomach with nutrient solution.

Of course, she couldn’t chew food directly like me and had to receive nutrient solution, but she hadn’t yet completely abandoned her identity as a vampire.

‘I’ll have to do mental reconditioning soon.’

Although it’s a drawback of maintaining her ego that she can’t truly become one with us even though her body has become one with us, I didn’t think it was a problem or unusual.

Anyway, the longer she stays with us, the more she will inevitably be influenced by us.

And most importantly, her body is clearly under my control.

If I command the cells in her body, she could feel the nutrient solution I give her as the most delicious thing in this world and feel the strongest pleasure from fighting our enemies.

It would be nice if she fully adapted her mind on her own, but if she can’t do that, I’ll have to help her inevitably.

Whether Seira wants it or not, she will become completely like us in the future.

“When we immerse the soldiers’ bodies in this completed modification pond, the omnipotent cells proliferating in the pond will be absorbed into their bodies and transform them into new forms.”

When the gurgling nutrient solution had filled about half.

I slowly immersed my body in it. At the same time, I started dropping cells from my body towards the nutrient solution that had risen to my waist.

‘That’s enough.’

My spreading cells divided infinitely, absorbing the nutrient solution.

Smiling satisfactorily in the sticky pond gradually turning black, I summoned one soldier that happened to be nearby to this place.

* * *

“This can’t be…”

Honestly, every day had been a series of shocks since Seira joined the army as a member.

Restoring her completely broken body and being able to handle magic power again seemed trivial in comparison.

And today, the queen once again showed behavior that destroyed common sense. She immersed a perfectly living soldier in the pond and pulled it out transformed into a completely different being.

“This is a newly made common soldier. I concentrated its abilities on mobility and close combat.”

While Seira was blankly staring at it, the queen, who had somehow mounted on its head, raised the corners of her mouth with her red eyes gleaming.

‘Indeed.’

Even to Seira’s eyes, the newly modified common soldier seemed specialized for the purpose the queen mentioned.

This new common soldier, which might occupy the largest number of individuals in the hive from now on, was almost the same size as before, about the size of a small compact car, but its form had completely changed.

Unlike the previous ones which still had traces of Black Death Worms, the six legs had been reduced to four.

These four legs, which looked like spider or crustacean legs, were wrapped in hard exoskeletons and could also be thrust down like sharp spears if necessary.

The main body is very thin and slender compared to the legs.

The main body, which seemed to consist only of muscles and exoskeleton, had no reproductive organs, excretory organs, or feeding organs.

The only things attached to the main body, including the head, were sensory organs.

And only the best performing organs from various demonic beasts were attached, maximizing the light and sturdy physical abilities.

“No need to eat, no need to excrete, no need to reproduce. These have only one job. To find and kill enemies.”

The queen calmly replied that it was inevitable as she sought the most efficient form, having created this impossible life form.

“How is that even possible…?”

Seira muttered blankly as she looked at the organ attached to the head part of the common soldier like a helmet, which could instantly shoot out and extend like a long poisonous needle.

No need to eat, no need to reproduce. Can it even be called a living being then?

Living teeth and claws existing only for the hive.

That’s what the army’s combat troops were.

And she couldn’t help but become more and more afraid of the existence of the queen who directly conceived, imagined, and actually created such things.

It felt like the queen’s joke about adding another arm was no longer a joke.

“From now on, we’ll create these modification ponds in other nests too and start modifications all at once. The newly produced soldiers are already the newly modified soldiers. The time it takes is 69 hours 12 minutes 24 seconds without variables. In other words, three days later, you and I will lead an army of 10,000 to attack that city belonging to who knows who.”

The queen grinned and informed Seira of the detailed plan.

In fact, even the one talking to Seira now is just an avatar of the queen.

Construction had already begun elsewhere, and behind, multiple soldiers were sequentially coming in droves to immerse themselves in the modification pond and emerge as completely new beings repeatedly.

“We’ve been scouting for several days now, but there’s nothing particularly unusual. The main forces seem to be goblins and kobolds, with a few orcs and dark elves, beastkin, etc., just at the level of travelers.”

Reconnaissance of the enemies continues as well.

Although she’s continuously acquiring information about the city through the eyes of scouts hiding their bodies stealthily, she grumbled, sitting crookedly with her elbow on the armrest of the chair, seemingly unsatisfied.

[To obtain more information, the level of information warfare must be increased]

“Who doesn’t know that.”

She snorted at the system message that responded to her grumbling.

The problem was that the information scouts could acquire was limited to visual information from just watching.

Of course, it was possible to discern the enemy’s scale and characteristics just by looking, but she wanted more detailed information.

Exactly what kind of place that city is, who’s ruling it, and so on.

‘Maybe I should have gone myself after all?’

At the current level, the only way to acquire the level of information she wanted was for the main body or avatar with a somewhat acceptable appearance to go directly.

Because Seira’s face is known to them.

However, after much deliberation, she didn’t go that far. Even if she tried to act moderately, there was too little she knew, making acting itself impossible.

“Never mind. It’s enough as long as there’s no trace of a player.”

In the end, she abandoned the idea. The information obtained through scouts was sufficient for now anyway.

What she was most wary of was the power of players, but no traces that seemed to belong to players were found in the city.