Ch.5757. Cavalry

[Hello, Teio.]

……..(joy)!

After the design was completed, the seed that would give birth to Teio was finished in just a few hours.

[How do you feel?]

(wonder)(happiness)(warmth).

This seed, roughly the size of a small car (like a Morning), was crafted directly by the hands of my main body, and despite being only around level 10, it already possessed self-awareness and identity.

Although its plant-type monster limitations mean it won’t be able to speak as fluently as other Tess monsters even when fully grown, it can still express emotions, which is sufficient.

[Shall we get going then?]

(surprise)!

Anyway, I transported Teio’s completed seed to the underground jungle under the strict supervision of four royal guards, and placed it in a cavity located in the southern part of the jungle’s underground.

I inserted the seed into the center where it would take root, and connected the fleshy pipes extending from the walls into the holes on the seed’s surface.

These pipes, connected to my main body’s headquarters, continuously supplied nutrients and Hive energy to the seed, allowing it to sprout immediately and grow rapidly.

The sprout soon became a long stem, which continued to lengthen and thicken as it received nutrients, while the branches at the end spread wider and wider.

The same was true for the roots, which grew vigorously along the paths I had designated, eventually dominating the underground areas throughout the jungle and grassland regions.

[How is it, Teio?]

(satisfaction)(joy)(exhilaration)!

And exactly 71 hours and 16 minutes later, Teio, having successfully grown to adulthood (Grade 1), happily sought my affection while simultaneously beginning to terraform its territory.

While it only made moderate adjustments to the lizardmen’s jungle area that had already been completed as my territory even before its birth, the transformation of the grasslands was dramatically more extreme.

The ground trembled and transformed, creating new terrain features, and the stream connected to the great lake became a deep, long river that joined with the jungle river.

Teio used its roots deeply embedded in the ground as a medium for natural psychic power to create seeds, accelerating their growth to instantly transform the grasslands into jungle.

Tropical trees nearly 100 meters tall sprouted up, while countless smaller trees and vines filled the empty spaces.

Now that the jungle environment has been created, it’s time to populate it.

Of course, there are quite a few creatures migrating from the existing lizardmen jungle, but since I had already thinned out that area, the monster density is lower than expected, leaving the overall area rather empty.

Therefore, I produced specially selected animal-type monsters that would be indirectly subordinate to me while being able to reproduce on their own, and simultaneously produced various insect monsters that were completely subordinate to me.

Since their original purpose was surveillance, these insect monsters are at most Grade 7 in strength, but they have exceptional reproductive capabilities, allowing me to cheaply produce tens of millions of them.

The variety of insects is diverse. From wasps with poison as potent as venomous porcupines to bees and ants the size of large dogs, beetles as big as mid-sized cars, and dragonflies comparable to wyverns.

However, these insects are merely meant to form the ecosystem and monitor the jungle, making them not particularly useful for defending Teio against invaders.

[Teio, can you handle it?]

(affirmation)(capability)!

That’s why I had encoded the skill Minion Production (A) into Teio’s genes, allowing it to produce forces to protect itself.

Minion Production. A skill that produces degraded versions of oneself or lower-grade members of the same species, with extremely varied methods of use depending on the individual.

True dragons produce lesser dragons by performing the creation process of their offspring alone, while queen ants essentially have no other production method.

Additionally, some Grade 0 monsters can create minions by condensing energy in the air like summoning in RPG games, so the methods are truly diverse.

In Teio’s case, it rapidly cultivates mobile plant monsters by using its psychic skills Seed Creation (A) and Growth Acceleration (A).

Of course, plant monsters cultivated this way aren’t very strong. Unless they’re allowed to grow naturally over an extended period, hastily produced plant monsters are extremely low-level.

These plant monsters, resembling giant tree humanoids between 4 and 20 meters tall, gain various special abilities as they grow longer under the influence of their surroundings. The problem is that when produced hastily, they’re born without any special abilities.

Their skills are limited to what any plant can do, and their characteristics, except for the life core, are no different from their skills.

Therefore, it will take quite some time for Teio to produce its plant monster minions, but given the vast jungle area available for plant cultivation, it’s worth investing the time.

In reality, fully grown plant monsters acquire diverse capabilities.

They can spray various plant toxins like poison gas, mimic carnivorous plants to create trap-like abilities, or create various biological weapons using only plant materials to demonstrate extraordinary close combat.

Additionally, they can use psychic abilities inherited from Teio to control insect monsters or dominate organisms they touch, giving them abilities comparable to decent mid-tier monsters.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, as I was nearly finishing the terraforming of the grasslands.

“Master, I have returned.”

[Good. Well done, Seri.]

Seri, who had been staying in the jungle for a while, returned to the headquarters through the underground passage.

“Not at all. This is merely action for a greater good, so I’m fine.”

[……I see.]

After feeling uncomfortable with her words—the result of causal confusion from being dominated while preserving her hunter experience—I quickly moved on to the main topic and asked her a question.

[Seri, I have something to ask you.]

“Yes, please ask anything.”

[Good. Then I’ll ask you, as the one among us most experienced in dealing with monsters. When facing Hive Mind monsters, would something similar to the cavalry you commanded recently be helpful?]

Hearing my question, Seri fell into contemplation, and after a moment, as if having reached a conclusion, she gave her answer.

“If it’s the primitive cavalry used for disguise now, they would just be fodder, but if it’s cavalry equipped with advanced gear… yes. They would function as a significantly meaningful force.”

After hearing Seri’s answer, I finally decided to organize a cavalry unit under her command for her, something I had only been imagining until now.

While I can’t exclude the influence of my hobby, I believe that cavalry—which has not only become outdated but completely disappeared into history in this world—could paradoxically be quite effective now.

The main reason cavalry declined in modern times was human firepower. Even when front-line infantry appeared, cavalry had already shifted from the main force to a supporting role, and after the development of machine guns, they were practically retired from the frontlines.

The problem is that a horse’s defensive capabilities and speed simply cannot penetrate the fire network of various heavy weapons, but what we’ll be mounting our cavalry on are mid-tier monsters that I’ve customized.

The barrier formed by the life core or the psychic shield powered by psychic energy from the life core cannot be penetrated except by energy weapons that also use life cores as power sources.

A deliberately customized monster can gallop at speeds that make motorcycles seem trivial, and according to my plan, they could even fly at such speeds.

Of course, to maintain these specs along with close combat capabilities, we’d have to give up on ranged attacks… but that’s easily solved by equipping the rider with heavy weapons.

In addition to heavy weapons, riders can flexibly switch between weapons suitable for different situations: shock lances or energy swords for close combat, laser machine guns for medium-range engagements, or plasma pistols as a type of anti-tank weapon.

While it might seem inefficient at first glance to use two mid-tier monsters to properly operate cavalry, I am convinced.

If used properly, the synergy between the mounted rider and the monster carrying them will be several times more effective than operating them separately.

……..I can’t say there’s no personal interest involved.