Chapter 109: Each’s Purpose (7)
[It is presumed that the surviving enemies’ battleships were unable to properly respond to our counterattack and have escaped the planetary domain, but that does not mean they have completely evaded crisis.]
“Right. They must have come with a clear purpose. Is it the Alliance? Or another force?”
I scratched my head. There was still not much information. I knew that there existed a human race in the distant universe with technology far more advanced than Earth, but it was said that those called the Alliance had long ago split into various factions.
“…Anyway, what does Eve plan to do in response now?”
[As you know, I’m not feeling so good right now.]
Eve’s pride had suffered a great blow while simultaneously crashing against the wall of reality.
I, too, had been affected by the anger that Eve had just unleashed.
It was currently impossible to produce units to respond to the attacks from outside space. In other words, it meant it was time for choices.
And those choices would be difficult for Eve to accept in her current state.
“I actually think this has turned out for the best.”
However, I believed that this situation was advantageous. Although Eve had faced a humiliating defeat, this incident could, in a way, serve as a powerful opportunity for my plan.
“Her arrogance has soared too high. But once that arrogance is properly shattered and she realizes she is still lacking, she will certainly crave and desire more. If she wants something, it will make it easier to communicate.”
[Eve will move according to your design?]
“I will give Eve what she wants, and likewise, Eve must provide me with what I desire. There’s no superiority between us. Both of us are still far from what we need.”
Eve, who only respects and likes me, was well aware internally that she was stronger and smarter than I was, and it seemed she was intent on ‘correcting’ me according to her standards.
From my perspective, such a unification was absolutely undesirable.
I did not trust either myself, a mere human, or Eve, who had only been born a few months ago.
As the observer warned: Don’t let your guard down; this universe is far too vast, and anything could happen.
Perhaps Eve had come to understand that by now.
“So we both need to keep learning. Tell Eve my words. It would be better to completely relocate the base and move it off that planet before the humans from outside the universe arrive with a proper fleet.”
For the first time, I demanded that Eve move according to my opinion.
“Relocate the base…? You mean, you want me to run away right now?”
“A strategic retreat is the strategy you’ve utilized well until now.”
“That’s…”
Eve, who heard my words, fidgeted and then slackened her shoulders. I could feel traces of her emotions.
“That place we will base ourselves on is Redrium, which is connected by a gate. We will clean out the creatures there and make it our new stronghold. Afterwards, we can return here again.”
“We will return…”
Of course, this was only a strategic retreat, and not only Eve but I had no intention of giving up completely.
“And come to meet me. I promise that once you unite with me, I may be able to show you a way to escape that crisis.”
“…Really?”
“I have always helped you. From the moment you were just a mass of cells. The situation on Earth, connected to the demonic realm, is very complicated; there is certainly something we can gain. There are ways to make us stronger.”
Moreover, I had a carrot that was hard to refuse. I could feel Eve’s emotions shifting at my offer of help.
“Let’s meet after the relocation is done.”
“Understood.”
Rejuvenated, Eve began to mobilize the legion.
I sighed as I watched her. Raising a child is really tough. And it’s nothing compared to an ordinary adolescent phase.
[Eve opened the gate and closed it at the same time.]
Eve immediately opened a new gate leading to Redrium. I heard it was easy since it was already connected, but honestly, I didn’t understand such principles.
At the same time, she closed the gate that had previously been open in Menace. I could see the creatures confused, but there was no time to worry about that now.
Eve began to send her troops inside the gate, starting to clean the area. And she started to anchor the roots of her new nest there.
[This is the land where creatures destroyed everything and annihilated all living things. They were enduring by minimizing energy consumption, absorbing some of nature’s energy like heat and earthquakes as the power of Formancy.]
“…It’s unfortunate there’s nothing to eat, but that’s not important to us.”
Redrium, once inhabited by humans, was a barren world filled with red rocks and soil, where traces of life could not be found.
Of course, Eve had a method to extract energy even in such a place, just like the creatures.
The nest that took root in Redrium began to expand frantically based on the energy supplied endlessly from the nest connected beyond the gate.
The sight of the dark, twisted world tree of the legion growing several meters per minute felt like watching an accelerated frame.
[The existing nest is depleting energy in real-time and dying, while the new nest extending into this world is rapidly expanding its area.]
“What is the estimated time for the migration to complete?”
“Three days. Three days will be enough.”
In a cave near the rocky area, Eve, who had newly created her brain, caressed the nest made of black armor and Sacred Tree, murmuring the answer to my question.
In just three days, the entire legion would successfully migrate to another world.
“Reina. Kill all the enemies that exist in this land.”
Simultaneously, Eve gave Reina her forces and ordered her to kill all the creatures remaining in Redrium.
Naturally, Reina, who accepted that command, began to massacre all detected life forms, leading large species formed with the data of the creatures.
However, still, Eve’s mood appeared somewhat dark.
I couldn’t say anything about that either. That intense emotion was, after all, the driving force that could accelerate Eve’s growth and evolution.
“Expected energy supply efficiency is 58%. We need another method.”
At that moment, Eve calculated something and moved with determination.
In barren Redrium, where there was no vegetation to devour, it was said that the energy produced from the existing-sized nest would only be half of the original level.
In response, she would develop a new energy supply system.
[It was something needed anyway. The energy obtained by devouring organisms has limits. It’s a method suited for a base nest.]
“Right. We need a new method, a more efficient one.”
Eve’s gaze turned to the sun above and then downward into the earth.
The final decision was not the sun, which could not yet cover the entire planet to extract maximum efficiency, but rather the intense lava present within the planet’s core.
Geothermal energy is a resource utilized on Earth as well. But how does she plan to utilize it?
“We can abandon the planet and consume another one.”
[Concentrate energy on the roots of the Sacred Tree. The roots reinforced with Formancy will begin to penetrate the solid crust in an instant.]
I was momentarily stunned into silence by her statement of using the planet as a consumable.
Eve chose a method that thoughtlessly disregarded the environment, ultimately no different from that of a tree.
The only difference was that each of the roots of the Sacred Tree measured hundreds of meters in width, and the energy invested in them protects the roots while breaking through the crust like smashing tofu.
“We will convert the thermal energy from the earth’s interior using the power of the Sacred Tree.”
Such acts were occurring throughout the expanding nest.
I zoomed in on the screen. There happened to be a volcano near the nest.
Eve, who had killed the fire dragons dwelling in that volcano and extended her nest, also burrowed into the earth there.
True to its nature, there was hot magma not too far below ground.
The roots of the Sacred Tree, covered with a shield of Formancy, plunged directly into the magma.
“The efficiency of direct immersion in magma has been drastically reduced due to the shield, about 60%… I think there might be a way to improve it.”
Eve finished her calculations with satisfaction. The remaining task was merely to expand over time.
“By the way, what about registration? We’ve moved entirely to another world. The creatures were not units. And since there can’t be any units in this Redrium, where they exterminated all other life forms, will Eve’s ‘Winner’ rights still remain?”
[No matter how much you move, the registration cannot be changed. Eve’s affiliation remains the same, and her registration as the victor of a world remains unchanged. Progress is Chapter 5, level 8. And now other conditions are required to move on to the next stage.]
“…Other conditions?”
[Preparation for the game to move to the next phase.]
Though I dealt a hit to an external entity, which could be either a unit or a player, Eve, in any case, won the war between units contending for the supremacy of a world.
Thus, the chapter advanced and my level increased, yet there were no noticeable dramatic changes. After all, the game primarily serves to lead to a single outcome, the war between units.
“I can change the receiving location for the samples or gifts I give.”
[That is possible to some extent. Just remember, you should not lose track of it just because you have left.]
“That shouldn’t matter. It must be incredibly important for Eve to reclaim that land she could almost eat.”
Now I had stepped back a foot, but considering it, it was merely moving to a barren yet safer place.
Eve, having grown her power here, would inevitably march on obvious targets again.
*
“This is impossible…”
“That can’t be true. Their nests have completely disappeared.”
The moment Eve decided to migrate and attempted that plan.
Survivors from the local area, who knew none of the details at all, risked their lives to scout.
Those who used the mage’s eye were collectively frozen upon seeing the ruined city.
The city, which should have been covered in hideous nests, had transformed back into a dead wasteland devoid of any life.
This had occurred in just one night.
“That’s not all. Look over there!”
Their astonished gazes rose upward.
The mages collectively lost their words and trembled in their bodies. A scene they could not even fathom was unfolding.
Cutting through the thick clouds was an enormous battleship, incomparable to their airships.
Such a massive vessel.
And dozens of large and small ships followed in sequence, crossing the sky in unison.
“Quickly, inform the councilman! Hurry!”
One mage, barely regaining his composure, shouted and urged his companions.
