Ch.2626. Hive Flight

# The Replacement Plan

The replacement plan. There are three main conditions for becoming a target of this plan that I’m currently executing.

First, they must be able to exert strong influence on the world in some way. Since the purpose of the plan is to exercise strong influence, there’s no point in targeting an ordinary person A.

Second, they must have completely severed family ties, or never had parents to begin with, minimizing the possibility of suspicion. Ideally, they should also have no close friends.

And the final condition is that they must have no spouse, girlfriend, or children—regardless of blood relation—so that extended absences won’t cause problems.

Given how strict these conditions are, there aren’t many suitable candidates, and implementation is difficult. Nevertheless, I considered this plan absolutely necessary.

I can conduct various covert operations to interfere, or use it for public opinion manipulation. Also, if I replace military officials or high-ranking personnel, I can obtain advance information about various military operations that could pose a threat to me.

In theory, if I were to replace even one person among the president or senior members of the ruling or opposition parties, I could gain influence over the Republic of Korea.

…Though the difficulty would be extremely high.

Anyway, this highly effective replacement plan is divided into two stages. The first stage is the biological tissue transplant that I performed on the youngest daughter of Seonggwang Group and the reporter from the Monster Department.

This monster—biological tissue—which replaces part of the lower brain and spinal cord, is perceived as just part of the brain during examinations unless directly observed, and functions as such, as I’ve mentioned before.

Additionally, if I wish, I can peek into the vision and thoughts of anyone with the biological tissue implanted in their brain, and indirectly influence their behavior to guide them to think or be led in specific directions.

However, there are clear limitations to this indirect influence. It’s merely guidance, so if you try to lead someone to do something completely contrary to their will, it won’t be effective.

You can guide a person whose memories have been manipulated to believe they owe a debt to repay that debt in a specific way, but you can’t make them suddenly donate their entire fortune in the name of repaying that debt.

Therefore, to solve this problem, there exists the second stage of the replacement plan: “human replacement.”

Human replacement—literally replacing the target person with a human-mimicking monster under my control, specifically Nina No. 79.

Since I need to separately create monsters designed from the genetic level specifically to replace that person, it takes time, requiring complex preparations such as arranging extended vacations in advance.

For this reason, it’s very difficult to implement without first implanting biological tissue in the brain, but in return for this difficulty, various advantages are provided.

Having a completely replaced human who follows any command, the fact that even if they die, the corpse remains human, and the ability to use the original human as a hostage if discovered.

Additionally, the replaced human is physically connected to the Hive Mind, allowing them to reside in Nina No. 79 during normal times. If they try to act impulsively, I can simply cut the connection, so there’s no problem.

Besides these, I can do almost anything imaginable, so the more replacements I make, the more beneficial it is for me.

Of course, having only started a week ago, I’ve only replaced a total of six people so far.

※ ※ ※

Even while the reporter’s brain tissue replacement was in progress, I was handling various tasks using my divided thoughts.

I was gaining combat experience through simulated battles with the Level 1 monster Dragon—which I named Theseus—and continuously sending self-destructing spider monsters toward Gangwon Province to prevent any suspicion.

Meanwhile, I was actively utilizing the enhanced energy generation ability gained from becoming a Level 1 Hive Queen to continuously produce or design monsters, and establishing an anti-air network somewhere on the ground with a shield that blocks satellite imaging to mislead others about my location.

Among other ongoing tasks like preparing to create new high-level monsters, what I’m currently doing with my main personality? is reconnaissance.

And for this purpose, I produced a monster specifically designed for reconnaissance.

Hive Flight

Grade :: 6

Level :: 82

Stats

Strength :: 45

Agility :: 255

Vitality :: 100

Intelligence :: 60

Resistance :: 45

Energy :: 95

Command :: 0

Traits

Monster Gene(E), Predator(C), Hive Mind(C), Subjugation(EX), Bio Core(C), Aerial Combat Specialist(C), Lightweight Armor(D), Stealth Psychic User(D), High-Speed Maneuver(D), Constant Levitation(D)

Skills

Acrobatic Flight(C), Psychic Stealth(C), Psychic Acceleration(C), Complex Detection(D)

Bio-weapons

Laser Shooter(C)

Having borrowed the exact appearance of a military drone, this monster has the typical form of an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft except for its mouth, with a wingspan of 3 meters and a body length of 2 meters.

All its stats, skills, and genes are meticulously configured for swift, undetected reconnaissance, making its combat capability questionable for a mid-tier Grade 6 monster.

Its only means of attack are the laser shooter fired from its head and direct ramming, and without legs or claws, it would be mercilessly torn apart by other aerial monsters in close combat.

However, in exchange, this monster possesses advantages that other flying monsters lack.

It can effortlessly reach heights beyond the clouds where ordinary monsters cannot go, and while supersonic speeds might be challenging, it can easily achieve subsonic speeds.

Additionally, it can fly all day without issue and precisely detect ground conditions even from above the clouds. I was using this monster, designed specifically for aerial reconnaissance, to scout the surrounding areas.

After flying along the Baekdudaegan mountain range to check on famous named entities like the Mountain Lord and its pack or the Fire Dragon of Mount Baekdu, I descended toward Hwanghae Province to confirm the locations of various monsters.

In the jungle of Hwanghae Province, lizard humans—Lizardmen—live with a population just under 10,000, but the issue is that these Lizardmen all form a single group.

Thanks to communal child-rearing and a hierarchical social structure, they live in a massive city in the middle of the jungle, complete with primitive educational facilities and rudimentary markets.

In those educational facilities, they teach newly hatched Lizardmen how to tame reptilian monsters, combat techniques, and how to craft primitive weapons from monster by-products.

They’ve even built an Aztec-like pyramid in the center of their city, with a religious ceremony involving sacrifices performed on an altar at the top.

In contrast to these Lizardmen, the plains adjacent to the jungle teem with Orcs—green-skinned beings with an average height of 3 meters, large tusks, and burly bodies.

They live in villages of several hundred, with larger settlements housing over 1,000 Orcs. With hundreds of such villages, their total population likely exceeds 100,000.

Though barbaric, violent, and so primitive that calling them primitives would be an insult to actual primitives, they fight against the Lizardmen due to their superior physique, overwhelming numbers, and instinct to unite only when fighting others.

Given that these groups have opposing characteristics and form complex social structures not seen in previous game series, either the Lizardmen or Orcs are likely one of the playable monster races.

Anyway, having finished checking the humanoid monsters in the northwest, I directed the Hive Flight southward to reach the airspace of the area I needed to monitor most carefully.

And just after the Hive Flight arrived in the airspace above Pyongyang—a living hell where more than seven Hive Minds were competing against each other.

‘…Wow.’

I was at a loss for words, only able to utter that exclamation as I beheld the miserable state of the place.

Over land reduced to nothing but ruins by explosions, countless tentacles extended just like at my base, colliding with other tentacles that seemed to originate from different sources.

Fighting above were tens of thousands… no, hundreds of thousands of monsters. These monsters, each with different forms, sizes, appearances, and grades, were tearing at each other, slashing, and firing psychic attacks in fierce combat.

When hundreds die at the front line, thousands more rush in from the rear as reinforcements. On the ground, underground, in the air—wherever you look in Pyongyang, these monsters are devouring each other.

It was truly the embodiment of “the war of all against all.”

While thinking this, I simultaneously understood why the government was hiding Pyongyang’s condition from its citizens.

No one could maintain their composure if they knew that just north of them, mid-tier monsters were dying by the dozens per second, and low-tier monsters by the thousands.

‘Sigh, then let’s check on the Level 1 monsters lastly…’

With that thought, I was about to move the circling Hive Flight when I suddenly noticed something.

‘What is that… No way.’

And that sight was enough to fill me with terror for a moment, despite my Composure(A).