Thirty Galactic Standard days after the treaty was signed with the United States of Deneb.
I entrusted trade to Hunterlak and Killerlak. The two entities headed for the Albireo star system and carried out the exchange smoothly, though since we had no idea what items might prove useful later, they traded for things more or less at random.
Among them, what stood out were the seeds of the plant the United States of Deneb had adopted as its staple food, as well as various animals native to Deneb’s planets.
No, how did they know we needed such diverse genes and think to bring these for trade?
Whoever they are, Deneb’s trade representative has excellent sense.
When we received the animals, I asked whether it would be all right to dismantle them all, given that we were a species specialized in living bodies, and was told that was precisely why they had brought them.
The kindheartedness of the United States of Deneb moved the Queen’s heart, and we handed over the largest space whale in the Legion—in other words, a super-sized surveillance camera—as a friendly gift to the United States.
The animals we received through trade with the United States were all creatures I had never seen before, but fundamentally, they did not deviate far from the creatures that had existed on Earth. Perhaps because Deneb’s capital planet, Olympus, was, by its setting, an environment similar to Earth, its ecosystem also seemed to have a similar feel.
We failed to secure any useful animal genes, but still, being able to see new creatures was at least a brief bit of entertainment while replenishing organic matter.
Then does that mean the only real gain from our first trade was these plant seeds? They called it “Luson,” and after absorbing a few and analyzing the genes, I found that this was giant rice.
It was a plant made by simply giving up on defenses against diseases and pests, drastically increasing its size and yield, and cultivating it en masse in a perfectly controlled environment.
I suppose once a nation can control things on a planetary scale, even matters that would have been absurd by Earth-era common sense become manageable.
“Nongbis. Can we use this crop?”
“My Queen. With our current level of technology, it is impossible to perfectly control Solar-03’s environment. It may only be cultivable because of the human tendency to build things called structures.”
“As expected, huh?”
After all, the Legion’s buildings were less like human architecture and more like enormous living organisms, so it would be difficult for them to imitate humans, who used various machines to perfectly regulate light levels, temperature, and humidity.
What living creature could maintain the temperature and humidity inside its body with perfect precision, without the slightest margin of error?
If we absorb this rice called Luson and apply the genetic modifications related to increased yield to our own rice, then at least this won’t have been a wasted trip.
We should be able to obtain genes resistant to diseases and pests later, too. Then we’ll be able to make ultra-rice.
And so, just as I was swallowing my disappointment over the results of the trade and going back to farming, I was able to confirm a very interesting fact through the space whale.
◈
“So this is a space whale.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. To be honest, I find myself wondering how such a creature can even exist.”
After completing trade with the Kingdom of Rushaka, they had received a space whale and the Tyrant wasps that the Rushakans called odd-job workers.
As if proving their insectile, monstrous appearances, the two life-forms demonstrated just how outstanding their genetic manipulation capabilities were.
Because without genetic manipulation, creatures like these could not possibly exist in the world.
This life-form called a space whale understood and obeyed language, was docile, was massive enough to rival a single warship in size, could navigate space, and was fast enough to pass through hyperlanes. On top of that, it had a sturdy defense that low-grade weapons could not penetrate. In exchange, however, it ate more than anything else in the universe.
The life-form called a Tyrant wasp could operate through photosynthesis with only a very small amount of food, and it was specialized in digging up ore veins or transporting large quantities of cargo with its two enormous, sturdy claws.
Creatures that were so obviously made to be used as workers could exist in the wild? Absolutely impossible.
The Tyrant wasps could not be controlled through language, so they had received pouches containing hormones, and since they had also been told they were free to dissect and analyze them, the wasps would become research subjects. After all, no matter how large their claws were, they were still weaker than drills and excavators.
But the space whales were a different story. First of all, they were living organisms, not machines, so they could not be hacked by the Teluris Assimilators. In addition, because they recognized their owners, there was no risk of capture. Since they could carry an enormous amount of cargo, the capacity that would have gone into building transport ships could be redirected elsewhere.
It was truly an excellent deal that could change the course of the war.
“—Those are their traits. After a few tests, I believe they can be deployed to the war immediately.”
“They’re real treasures, aren’t they, Aleksandr?”
The president had recently stopped taking headache medicine. He had thought that his term, which had begun well, would end in utter disaster, but perhaps God had heard his earnest prayers, because a proper lifeline had been lowered to him. These days, the corners of the president’s mouth were practically hooked over his ears and refused to come down.
“Indeed, Your Excellency. Stabilizing the southern border, and at the same time providing a key point that will change the war. And what they ask for in return are things of no value to us, like plants and animals. They are truly close to the perfect partner—”
“What do you think about mounting cannons on that space whale’s back?”
“Pardon?”
“No, I mean, its back is so wide. Doesn’t it look perfect for putting guns on it?”
“How would we fix them to its back? We cannot drive them into its skin, can we?”
“We can wrap them around it. Like putting on a ring.”
“!”
The president’s suggestion was adopted immediately. With weapons from the United States of Deneb mounted on them, the space whales became a highly favorable counter to the Teluris Assimilators.
The Teluris Assimilators, who had long neglected investment in weaponry and therefore lacked firepower, had waged war by using the overwhelming production power of machines to launch mass assaults, then subjugating captured ships and humans under their machine intelligence.
In that process, they needed to destroy the engines of the United States of Deneb’s ships, leave them drifting through space, and then attack them. But the Teluris Assimilators’ low-grade weapons could not pierce the space whales’ hide, and even if they did, the wounds were rendered useless by their excellent regeneration, so there were no cases of the whales being shot down.
On top of that, they now carried weapons with outstanding firepower on their backs.
For the first time since the war began, the Teluris Assimilators had to acknowledge that they had fallen into an inferior position, with a star system being occupied by the United States of Deneb.
And the Queen was watching the entire process.
“What a shame. What a shame.”
If the enemy the United States of Deneb was fighting had been an organic empire, the space whales could have devoured them and absorbed their genetic traits.
Machines were useless. Machine intelligences produced nothing but scrap metal—every weapon, facility, technology, and member of their population without exception—so absorbing and utilizing them was impossible. They could not even provide the bare minimum replenishment of organic matter. In other words, they could not be used as a meal substitute either.
The part I was conflicted about was this.
When other nations fail to grow because they are waging war, the basic principle is that I alone grow and widen the gap.
But if the United States of Deneb smoothly wins the war against the Teluris Assimilators here, it will absorb the Assimilators’ territory and star systems as they are, causing its weight class to rise tremendously. Its domestic economy, which has been operating on a war economy, will not be easy to fix, but eventually it will be fixed, and I am worried they may become too powerful.
Then should I drag out the war?
Our national strength could surpass that of the United States of Deneb, and we could even solidify that position, but the problem is that the United States of Deneb would no longer be able to serve as an ally.
Geographical advantage? None yet.
Technological strength? Irrelevant to us, since we’re all-in on biotechnology.
Military power? How strong could the military of a nation with far weaker national strength than ours possibly be?
In space, simple numbers are meaningless. If an end-tech interstellar civilization comes along and blows up an entire planet, what can a swarm of gnats do?
And dragging out a war while forcing them to suffer damage does not match my direction. I would rather take advantage of the fact that they are at war and need vast quantities of supplies to increase their dependence on the Legion and establish ourselves as clear allies. After all, I am a pacifist.
“Jarvis.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
“Absorb 10% of the warriors in hibernation and convert them into organic matter. We will increase space whale production. Besides that, we need to create other things we can export to the United States of Deneb while they are at war.”
“It shall be done.”
Both to strengthen the Legion’s military power and to make active use of organic matter, we began producing war beasts.
Since we had also confirmed the tactic of mounting weapons on space whales, we created space whales with recessed areas where cannons could be wrapped around them, and with more ferocious temperaments.
In addition to that, we made carapaces that automatically regenerated when damaged, slow bio-engines that could run on food instead of fuel in emergencies, pseudo-ZerXlings whose ferocity had been reduced but were still far stronger than dogs and suitable for combat, and more.
We created and exported several life-forms that the United States of Deneb would find attractive, and as the export of war supplies increased, the United States of Deneb also realized that we were at war and seemed to sense our intention to help with their war. They actively imported them and used them in battle.
Part of the United States of Deneb was gradually being replaced by “me.”