No one checks the state of their body by talking to their own hand.
Right hand, how are you feeling right now?
Ah, condition good. Perfectly fine.
Unless there’s something wrong with their mind, almost no one would do this, but for the sake of my mental health and the future of my species, I intend to live a life where I talk to my own body.
Respond, my right hand!
At once, an answer came back in response to my call.
“Yes, Your Majesty. The report is ready.”
After hearing Jarvis’s reply, I expanded my senses. I could feel them leaving the cocoon that was my main body, crossing the plains, piercing through the atmosphere, and spreading out into the entirety of space.
I could feel the legions the original Overmind had spread across nearby star systems while expanding its domain.
“The Legion’s territory spans ten star systems, and possesses three habitable planets, including the capital planet, Lushaka.”
Fortunately, it didn’t yet have a vast domain. In the game I played, countless races all started with a single capital star system for the sake of difficulty balance, and empty territory belonged to whoever occupied it first. So this tiny little domain meant we were still in the early game.
“According to the star map, our northern border is in contact with the United States of Deneb. To the east, our territory extends to the center of the galactic bulge. To the south and west lie neutral star systems untouched by the influence of any power.”
In other words, the only nation we had made diplomatic contact with so far was the United States of Deneb. That made diplomacy with Deneb all the more important. I had no idea what nations lay beyond Deneb, outside the reach of our exploration range, or what kind of nation we might run into in the southwest.
“The military legions are currently divided between Planet Solar-03 and the capital planet Lushaka, as they had recently been carrying out a mission to consume the organisms of the Solar star system.”
Just as Jarvis reported, I could feel that most of my legions were on those two planets. They had been consuming the organisms of Planet Solar-03, but were now on standby with all activity halted due to some kind of ripple caused by my reincarnation.
When I felt out what kinds of forces the previous Overmind had been using, there weren’t many types, as if to prove we really were in the early stages of the game. Small flying beasts, scouting beasts, transport space whales, ground troops, and laborers. That was it.
Creatures that would help with internal affairs? Not a single one.
Food production? None. We invade other planets, eat the organisms there, and make up for it that way.
Luxury goods, consumer goods? Not needed. Of course not, since this is a hive mind that obeys an Overmind with no individual self.
Underground resources? We are mining some of those. Just as the ZerX need minerXls and vesXene gas, it seems a certain amount of resources is necessary to maintain the Legion.
But since war has always been the top priority, there are no proper facilities or systems. The laborers simply dig up whatever they happen to find.
It would be correct to say that conquest had been possible with such a pathetic force composition only because this was the early game.
And on top of that, nothing had been invested in internal affairs?
If the United States of Deneb found out about this horrifying domestic situation, the first thing they would do was become suspicious.
Bastards whose internal administration knows nothing but war are pursuing peace? It was obvious they would snort and not believe it at all.
I’ll have to make sure we don’t look like a swarm of locusts that devours everything and moves on.
Aside from this deformed state of military affairs, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.
The organisms that originally lived here had almost all been eaten, and since we didn’t need residences, there were no separate homes, no facilities, and only a few buildings meant to assist the Overmind existed on Lushaka. They were alive, by the way.
Most of the troops were in hibernation to conserve food, and the entire species seemed to be asleep until the next target was decided.
The fact that there was nothing noteworthy could be called the noteworthy point.
Actually, that was good. If everything had been functioning normally and smoothly, and the troops had been actively carrying out biological activity, they might have become an obstacle when I tried to shift toward a peaceful course.
They had no egos and weren’t active, so I could probably just get rid of them easily. Excessive military spending has always been enough to make a country stagger, after all.
If I had my way, I would get rid of all the troops and go all-in on internal affairs, but that’s something you can only do in a game. If I disbanded all my forces and the United States of Deneb lost its mind and attacked, we’d be destroyed without even being able to respond.
No, wait. Do I even need disarmament? Can’t I just keep them hibernating and wake them when needed? Since they’re organisms, in an emergency, I can just use them like taking emergency rations out of the fridge, right? What a ridiculously broken race.
“That concludes the status report on our Legion, Your Majesty.”
“Good work, Jarvis.”
In truth, listening to Jarvis’s report was the same as organizing my own thoughts.
Just as I can feel the Legion, Jarvis can sense the entire Legion as well, though he is incapable of controlling it. Jarvis and I are seeing and feeling the same thing.
But Jarvis is designed to summarize what he sees and feels into sentences, and I listen to that and make judgments more easily.
Actually, there’s no such thing. I’m just lonely being alone as a monster. Isn’t it nice to have someone to talk to?
In any case, I think my priorities are roughly set.
Externally, aside from the United States of Deneb, no other powers exist yet, so I only need to worry about diplomacy with Deneb.
As for the troops, I’ll leave them untouched in hibernation. The first matter of internal affairs our species needs to solidify is food.
The troops are in hibernation, but the laborers gathering resources, as well as the buildings on the capital planet including Jarvis, continue to consume organic matter. At this rate, the organic matter stockpiled through hunting until now will be exhausted.
What method is there to secure organic matter without hunting other living beings? There’s no real need to think about it.
In primitive times, humans continued their lineage through hunting and gathering. And once they were able to secure a continuous food supply through agriculture, they could truly begin to develop civilization.
The answer is farming. The problem is that the ordinary crops in my knowledge don’t seem like they’ll be enough.
Can harvesting a few times a year supply food for the entire Legion? We’ll need additional methods too.
But right now, there’s no sharp solution. For now, it would be better to plant crops, hold out by absorbing the hibernating soldiers, and search for other methods.
Then we need to farm. But our capital planet, Lushaka, has fierce sandstorms, and its surface is so barren that it’s utterly unsuitable for agriculture. No, in the first place, it isn’t even suitable for living creatures.
One of the other planets isn’t especially suited for farming either, but fortunately, we do have one planet in our territory that is excellent for agriculture.
Planet Solar-03 of the Solar star system.
In other words, Earth.
Earth is a quiet planet where the indigenous inhabitants have almost disappeared, but its soil and natural ecosystem, including its water resources, have been preserved to some extent for the warriors’ habitation.
“Jarvis? Send the workers to Solar-03.”
Then I recalled the genes of the plants that had been devoured on Earth. What I needed was quantity. Taste didn’t matter at all. They would be absorbed as organic matter anyway.
Wheat, rice, potatoes, corn, and other crops used as staples on various continents came to mind first. I suppose they were staple foods because they grew in the greatest quantities?
And then I quickly decided on rice. When you think of East Asia, it’s got to be rice, right?
Why am I thinking of East Asia? This isn’t because I used to be Korean. There’s a very rational reason. Aside from East Asia, Europe and the Americas have already been devastated and are no longer environments where farming is possible.
When I recalled the memories of this body, at the time of the Legion’s invasion, Earth’s rotational axis had placed the Atlantic Ocean facing the Legion’s fleet. The Americas and Europe, which became the first targets of the ground invasion, were completely smashed, and the remaining continents were the next targets.
…Now that I think about it carefully, there might still be survivors on Earth.
Not long after the invasion of Earth began, I reincarnated, and all military activity stopped, so there may still be people alive at the edges of the continents or underground.
Unfortunately, however, I’m not human right now, and I can’t save them. Mercy is something offered by those with leeway, and the Legion is not that well-off right now.
All I can do is pray that they survive on their own in good health.
In any case, since I decided on rice, let’s plant it first and improve whatever needs improving as we go.
With that in mind, I made this.
“Your name is Nongvis.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Nongvis had an appearance like a smaller version of Jarvis.
I reduced the surface area of the sensory organ—the skin—used to commune with the Legion, and increased the size of the head to expand brain capacity for intelligent activity.
From now on, Nongvis will be responsible for the Legion’s food sector.
Unlike Jarvis, his ability to commune with the Legion is significantly weaker, but he can perform basic genetic manipulation on his own and secrete hormones to issue orders to the workers.
In other words, he will live as an Earth native while creating new rice varieties, researching them, and improving production yields.
With this, I’ve done everything I need to do for internal affairs. Since the Legion can solve most problems by creating new life-forms through genetic manipulation, replenishing the endlessly consumed organic matter is the most important national objective. Farming is everything. I’m counting on you, Nongvis.
That should be enough for food for now. The envoy should be arriving soon.