Ch.4343. The Hive Mind of the Sea

This diving suit, which is worn over Theo’s existing white Valkyrie suit, is similar to the Hulkbuster from Ma■ if I had to make a comparison.

Standing approximately 3 meters tall, its body proportions are appropriately adjusted according to height.

However, there was a physical problem with boarding such a wide suit normally—one would have to forcibly contort their body to fit inside.

After much consideration, I decided to use spatial expansion technology, one of Seonggwang Group’s signature developments, to increase the internal space of the torso.

This way, the pilot doesn’t need to insert their actual limbs into the disproportionate suit’s arms and legs, allowing for remote operation. Additionally, the extra space created by the absence of the pilot’s body inside could be used to equip various weapons and components.

By applying spatial expansion technology to both arms as well, space was created inside the arms to insert interchangeable cartridges, ultimately allowing for weapons to be switched at will.

It’s equipped with air cannons for underwater combat, versatile laser weapons, energy weapons, somewhat ambiguous plasma weapons and harpoons. Even drills and missiles are installed.

Of course, among these weapons mounted on the limbs, none serve as the main armament.

The air cannon’s range is too short, merely enhancing punch power, while lasers and energy weapons are limited to long-range suppression. Plasma weapons are quite unstable underwater, and missiles are simply torpedoes for anti-monster use.

The drill—or more precisely, the oxygen drill—is closer to a weapon for destroying obstacles or attacking stationary targets, while the harpoon is actually just a high-speed mobility device with a short tip attached to the end of a wire connected to an anchor.

The truly effective weapon for defeating powerful hostile life forms—high-rank monsters—is the oversized integrated weapon held in hand. I’ve named it the Combination Blaster.

It has three A-rank “Blaster” type bio-weapons (laser/energy/plasma) attached to the main body like a gun-sword or grenade launcher.

The main body is a kind of psychic blaster measuring 5 meters in length, containing an A-rank bio-core as its power source. At maximum output, its attack power rivals Theseus’s energy breath.

Beyond this, the suit has additional means of attack.

Three pairs of auxiliary arms are embedded in the form of nanomachines inside the back armor plates. These alone can tear intermediate monsters in half—but that’s not all.

These auxiliary arms are synchronized with the interchangeable cartridges embedded in the arms, allowing them to either attach weapons from the cartridges to their tips or use their built-in close-combat weapons (psychic claws).

Of course, I didn’t neglect the need to keep up with the swift marine monsters of the deep sea.

The legs—especially the calves—are equipped with mechanisms that use the core’s energy to produce fuel for boosters, and the soles of the feet contain boosters that use this fuel.

Multiple auxiliary boosters that double as thigh armor are mounted around the waist, and if necessary, additional boosters can be attached to the suit using nanomachines.

Like these boosters, various components can be created as long as there are sufficient nanomachines, giving the suit considerable adaptability.

When evaluating all these elements comprehensively, Theo can certainly hold his own against the powerful high-rank monsters of the deep sea.

Finally, I can begin a full-scale invasion toward the lost territories of the seabed.

※ ※ ※

After completing the design of monsters to fight in the sea, it was obvious that this alone wouldn’t be enough to immediately reclaim the lost underwater passages.

The designs were complete, but the monsters needed to fight in the sea hadn’t been produced yet… and there was a problem.

The monsters I created were designed exclusively for marine activity, so even if I produced these marine monsters, I couldn’t transport them to land.

Since they can’t breathe outside the ocean, they must be produced in a location connected to the sea—but those sea-connected passages are precisely what I’ve lost.

If I try to create a new underwater passage, those damned dolphin-heads will find it, and if I build production facilities on land, revealing to humans that I can advance into the sea would undoubtedly cause headaches.

‘Theo, annihilate all hostile life forms approaching the site.’

[Affirmative.]

Therefore, my choice was to create a new passage connected to the sea, build a production facility there, and send Theo in the completed suit to defend against the Dolphinmen who would inevitably discover and attack the production facility.

Screech! Screeeeech!

Beep beep beeeeeep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!

Sensing that energy was gathering to create production facilities and new monsters, the Dolphinmen attacked the production base with frenzied screams, but Theo was incredibly powerful.

Woooong—Beeeeeeeeeep!!!

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

Whoosh—Slash!

There wasn’t even a need to use specialized weapons.

Theo turned a company of Dolphinmen into a honeycomb with rapid-fire laser shooters that emerged from the backs of both arms, and shredded a Dolphinmen general (Grade 5) who engaged in close combat using the psychic claws mounted on his auxiliary arms.

He crushed the Dolphinmen’s domesticated monsters with a mere swing of his hand, and these movements were repeated so swiftly and efficiently that the combat appeared almost mechanical.

Even though humanoid monsters are at a disadvantage in terms of physical prowess, that only applies when comparing the same grade.

Theo single-handedly slaughtered thousands of Dolphinmen troops, eventually activating the Combination Blaster in automatic firing mode to massacre the surrounding monsters.

The underwater environment turned red with the blood of slaughtered monsters, and chunks of corpses floated on the surface or sank to the bottom.

The marine pollution appeared particularly severe because I had intentionally set up the production facility in a bay for defensive advantages. Naturally, after eliminating all monsters inside the fairly large bay, Theo guarded its entrance and resumed the slaughter.

After impartially massacring all approaching life forms for just over an hour, the Hive Mind’s marine monsters were finally born from the completed production facility and began to roam the sea.

As soon as they were born, these monsters started cleaning up the devastated, polluted bay.

Hive Piranhas devoured small pieces of corpses, while Hive Tunas consumed larger chunks.

Hive Octopuses extended their tentacles to pull floating corpses down into the sea to consume them, and monsters that had eaten their fill returned to the production facility to become nutrients.

The cycle continued as an enormous amount of corpses were consumed by the Hive Mind’s monsters, which then became new monsters, all while I continued to supply additional nutrients.

Thanks to this, by the time the cleanup was complete, the number of monsters present here reached—at least 10,000 low-rank and 2,000 mid-rank monsters.

This can’t be compared to the land legions that easily exceed 500 million low-rank monsters, but when comparing just the mid-rank monsters, it represents about 2-3% of that force, which is certainly significant.

And now, a completed force worthy of being a boss in a game event is gathered in this narrow bay.

So, from now on—it’s time for counterattack.

I must kill those dolphin-heads who dared to invade my territory and dominate the surrounding seas with my monsters.

I must continuously expand and expand further, increasing the power of myself and my monsters—us—so that I can survive…

※ ※ ※

At the vanguard of the Hive Mind—my monsters’ advance—was, surprisingly, the Hive Tuna.

Some might ask why I didn’t put the most powerful Theo at the front to slaughter enemies, but that shows a lack of understanding.

In this world—Project Monster—the orthodox approach is to counter high-rank monsters with other high-rank monsters or hunters.

If the enemy’s high-rank forces clash with our mid-to-low-rank forces, one might think it’s advantageous for us to intercept their mid-to-low-rank forces with our high-rank forces, but this would only result in massive casualties on both sides.

Even if victorious, all that would remain would be a devastated army and one badly damaged high-rank unit. In the worst case, a high-rank force might even be defeated by numerous mid-to-low-rank forces—which is why the standard use of high-rank forces in this world is to intercept the enemy’s high-rank forces.

Anyway, back to the main point. The Hive Tuna at our vanguard, despite being essentially a mid-tier unit, serves as a biological tank.

It fires energy projectiles from the horns covering its body to create a field of fire that grinds down enemies, while simultaneously acting as a shield for the Hive Piranhas providing supporting fire from behind.

While the energy projectiles fired by individual Hive Piranhas may be mediocre, when hundreds concentrate their firepower on a single target, they can take down even mid-rank monsters.

Behind these troops, the massive Hive Octopuses focus on support.

They heal the wounded, supply energy, and occasionally come to the front lines to directly attack enemies or serve as shields for allies.

The total number of combat-capable Dolphinmen probably reaches several million, but this vast number is spread across a wide territory, so my monster legion always outnumbers the enemies they face.

Moreover, they don’t lack in power either, as all are monsters connected to a single collective intelligence—the Hive Mind.

They share vision in real-time to designate priority targets, cover each other’s blind spots, and I, as their commander, constantly monitor enemy positions and redeploy forces.

With Theo occasionally providing assistance within limits that allow for recovery of health and energy, and with troops being continuously reinforced, my legion has been victorious in every battle, securing territory twice the size of our original underwater domain.

And these remarkable achievements were accomplished in just three days since the legion’s completion.