Became the Queen of the Legion

[Achievement, Hunting (1) completed. 1 trait point awarded as reward]

[Achievement, Hunting (2) completed. 1 trait point awarded as reward]

We are now actively hunting to the extent of being recognized as achievements, using our size and organization that goes beyond the category of ordinary Black Death Worms.

Thanks to this, we hunted several prey that we couldn’t have caught in the past, chopped them up, and brought them back to the nest.

But actively going out to hunt like this wasn’t simply to fill up on nutrients with high-protein food.

[Large amount of physical data secured. Individual modifications are possible using the Physical Modification trait]

“You’re openly telling me to create chimeras, so I’ll make them.”

This was the real purpose. Securing a kind of ‘material’ for us to become stronger.

I have the queen’s authority to control the entire species. I also have omnipotent cells that can manipulate each cell.

Using these, we don’t need to act and grow according to predetermined genes.

I can compose the colony with soldiers that I create and nurture as I please.

‘First, divide them into combat troops and workers.’

The first action was to subdivide the classification that was lumped together as workers.

A typical Black Death Worm colony consists of one queen, a few males, and numerous workers, with the workers essentially handling almost all actions.

Combat, construction to repair the nest, housework to care for larvae and the queen, even going out to explore and collect food, all of it.

All the queen and males do is mate from beginning to end.

The path we want to go is completely different from existing Black Death Worms, so I decided to overhaul this inefficient and basic structure.

The highest proportion should be given to combat troops, corresponding to soldier ants.

“Workers will strictly do only work, and combat troops will take charge of all combat-related tasks.”

Opening the trait page visible only to my eyes, I entered the 「Physical Modification」 page and attempted the best modification I could do within my current capabilities.

This is quite an important task. Because the amount of resources consumed, that is, nutrients, for production differs.

Nutrients are not infinite. I had to find the most efficient way to use nutrients.

“Disarm the workers. Make them as light as possible, and in a form that can do many tasks.”

To reduce the nutrients invested in workers who will be excluded from combat, I removed the exoskeleton which requires a lot of nutrients as it’s heavy, and gave them strong jaws that can dig the ground more easily and carry things more easily, rather than sharp jaws for killing enemies.

Their body shape also became slimmer and their size reduced to pre-molting levels.

Looking at them like this, their appearance that came to my eyes now had changed to look similar to Earth ants with their bodies inflated.

“Give the combat troops harder exoskeletons and venomous fangs.”

Conversely, I invested more nutrients in the combat troops than producing existing workers to create stronger bodies.

The samples of other demonic beasts we hunted were helpful. For an exoskeleton harder than the Black Death Worm’s back shell, I extracted and used the back shell of demon realm beetles, and for agile and strong legs to reinforce mobility, I took them from spider demonic beasts.

I created venom glands inside their bodies and attached venomous fangs taken from spiders.

In addition, I transformed the front pair of legs among the six legs into thick and sharp pickaxe-like appendages.

The intention was for them to strike down enemies with those or firmly hold them, and kill enemies with the sharp venomous fangs attached to their jaws.

“I guess this is it for now.”

[Design completed. Please inject the newly combined genetic formula into newly born individuals]

I prepared meticulously, using all the data we currently have, racking my brains.

As I sighed, the system instructed me to apply the completed combination formula to newly born individuals.

Injecting the combination formula is not difficult. I just need to inject the genes created in my body into the artificial uterus.

“…Grow quickly. So I can test in real combat whether they’re well-made or not.”

I smirked while blankly watching countless eggs wriggling inside the uterus.

And slowly opening my mouth, I dripped the black saliva gathered at the tip of my tongue into it.

My genes mixed in it will seep into the eggs and change their very composition, so those born from now on will be the newly modified individuals I created.

Strangely, even though it was full of sticky mucus and wriggling eggs, I didn’t find it disgusting at all.

I just wanted them to grow quickly and become soldiers supporting our colony.

「Consciousness Enhancement 2」

「Reproduction Enhancement 2-1」

While waiting for the newly modified soldiers, I invested in consciousness enhancement and reproduction enhancement using points gained through hunting-related achievements.

Consciousness enhancement also entered stage 2.

The change upon entering stage 2 is that I can now divide my consciousness into two at will.

“Ugh, what is this…”

When I first tried it, I dry heaved.

It felt like my right eye and left eye were seeing different things, and showing them in front of me simultaneously.

I could handle two tasks simultaneously with these separately divided consciousnesses.

It was an ability that made me wonder if it’s even possible to get used to it.

[Due to Reproduction Enhancement, reproduction speed becomes faster]

The reason for investing in reproduction enhancement was to produce soldiers faster.

As the ability of the artificial uterus is enhanced, the speed of creating eggs and growing them becomes faster.

To the extent that now it takes less than two days for fertilized eggs in the artificial uterus to hatch into larvae.

Considering the period for larvae to grow into adults, growth from a single cell to an adult is completed in almost a week.

‘Should I make one more uterus?’

Thanks to this, the males who have to mate constantly are dying, but I didn’t stop there and made plans to increase the artificial uteruses.

Anyway, it seems like we won’t need males later on, so there’s no problem in increasing them.

If the uteruses double, the number of soldiers produced also doubles. The number of individuals increases twice as fast.

“Very good…”

I invested massive nutrients and used them to add one more artificial uterus inside the nest.

After seeing it satisfactorily, I grinned. If stronger soldiers are produced in greater numbers, we can secure that much more nutrients.

We just need to create stronger, more numerous soldiers with that and repeat this process.

When I first opened my eyes here, it seemed impossibly daunting, but now it felt like something quite doable.

“What is it?”

[A worker has discovered a swamp toad’s den]

That’s when something was detected in my consciousness connected to other individuals.

“That monster toad? It’s a tier 2 monster…”

I fell into deep thought.

The huntable monster tier list divided by users who mainly played the demon realm civilization.

I combined that tier list with the knowledge I’m acquiring in real-time here to create a new tier list.

I put the weakest enemies that we can currently hunt and use their genes for modification in tier 1, and ranked the grades up in order.

The toad discovered this time was tier 2 according to that tier list. It means that even if we hunt with all our might, we can’t digest and analyze its body at our current level.

‘I’ll just remember it and hunt it later.’

I didn’t want to bother with tier 2 prey already when tier 1 prey are scattered around.

I just remembered its location and sent out more scouts to search for prey.

From another kin’s nest we can raid right now, to huntable tier 1 prey, they’re overflowing.

“Let’s devour them all.”

With sparkling eyes, I gave orders to those active outside to attack and hunt such beings.

Who could stop us?

As we thoroughly select and kill only huntable enemies, the prey around the nest gradually become extinct starting from nearby.

The kin’s nests we take through war were tastier prey than any other.

“I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped.”

Especially the kin’s queens were like a delicacy to me. Because it gave me achievement points every time I personally killed a queen.

As long as it gives greater rewards than others, there was no reason for me not to be greedy.

‘Is it joy? Or…’

A strange emotion welled up as I personally executed the kin’s queen dragged in front of our nest in a miserable state with a burst belly.

It was a mix of pity and elation from growth at the same time.

Of course, we suffered losses in each process, but the growing larvae and eggs quickly filled those vacancies.

[Enemies are approaching]

“Those bastards…”

Perhaps disliking our actions, they started to swarm in just before my first modified soldiers were about to emerge from their pupae.

The giant centipedes I classified as tier 2, which once burst and killed my body instantly when I directly possessed it.

Three of those creatures were heading straight for our nest.

My face naturally crumpled as I confirmed this through a worker’s eyes.