Chapter 367: Episode 24

The day of the high tide is approaching. The deep blue sky, with dawn yet to break, reminds me of that day I suffered death and defeat.

Quinn is on a small atoll mountain. Using "Together," he gazes at the horizon with keen senses. Black smoke rises from the sea a few kilometers off the island like a signal. A twisted, distorted tower emerges from there.

"North-northwest, 1 enemy, zones 3 and 4, prepare to fire."

The signal is sent via radio communication (telepathy). The act has no practical meaning. "We" are constantly sharing feelings and information in real-time. There is no need to express it in words.

It is a statement of intent, so to speak. The spark of the coming war for racial survival. No one can take a step back. Win and live, lose and die. It is simply a primitive struggle, without justification, without titles, and without complex reasons.

The enemy is a Disaster (Risk) of a giant conch shell. It is a creature adapted to the waters of the Dark Continent that can generate powerful magnetic forces from its shell. Once, I was pushed to the brink of total annihilation by this snail.

In fact, I died back then. I am the child who is still alive now. Once in the Almeiza machine, once in the battle against this conch shell, I am now already the third generation.

Chimera Ants can express the characteristics of the organisms they have eaten in their offspring through Foraging Mating. In other words, the number of genetic traits an individual possesses increases with each generation. The word "evolution" is lukewarm; it could be called a blasphemy against the fundamental way of life. However, in the Dark Continent, such strength is nothing. Chimera Ants are just one of the weaker species found everywhere.

Nevertheless, it makes no difference to the possibilities given to me. Originally, the survival strategy of Chimera Ants was to constantly increase the number of strong individuals in the next generation by eating and mating with exuberant fertility. Until now, my power has been limited.

Despite being a Chimera Ant, a part of me denies it. It could be said that in the process of trying to be human, I created an unnecessary line within myself. It has been resolved so far, but I am too lazy to move forward from here. Right now, I do not have the strength to persist.

This is also a risky gamble. You will have both the consciousness of "being human" and the consciousness of "being a Chimera Ant" at the same time. The fact that I have two consciousnesses has not changed until now, but it is a matter of degree. If one stands, the other will not. To some extent, the limited power of the Chimera Ants is also a result of their incompatible consciousnesses.

Double standards weaken and corrode one's conviction as a Nen User. It shakes the determination to have a firm goal and live for it. Or, you might become mentally unstable by realizing the contradiction and accepting it.

One thing I can say is that there is a decisive difference in consciousness between the former me and the current me. I do not know if this is a good change or a bad one.

Born in the third generation, I gained the power of numbers. From existing as an individual to existing as a group. That is to say, multiple subjects exist simultaneously, forming a state where thoughts are unified under one consciousness-sharing body. Currently, the number of subjects has increased to thousands, all equipped with the Ant Queen's reproductive ability and possessing about a thousand eggs.

With this, I think I can create as many Quinns as I want and shoot "Sacrificial Cradle" as I please. However, if the calculation is wrong, that is the specification of Nen Ability. "Idolatry" stipulates "cannot create two spirit dolls at the same time" as a constraint. Even if the number of subjects increases, this constraint is effective.

That is to say, no matter how many bodies there are, only one can be created. As long as we share consciousness, all bodies operate like "me," and we cannot escape the restriction. The same goes for the eggs used as payment. More than 50% of the total number of eggs consumed by using "Sacrificial Cradle." All bodies consume the same number of eggs. This means you cannot use it twice in a row as before.

Since that is the case, I feel it is better to let the bodies that are independent and do not share consciousness use Nen Ability, but the individuals that have turned off "Spirit Synchronization" stop moving completely, like an empty shell. A part of the senses can be divided and manipulated, but if the consciousness is completely independent, it will not move as if it were dead.

If "Sacrificial Cradle" can only be used as before, even if the number of subjects increases, it cannot be said that the shortage of long-range attacks has improved. For example, if you fire a beam at an enemy on the sea several kilometers away, you can stop it. Now all you have to do is wait for the enemy to approach you.

However, this point has not been overlooked. The power I have gained is not limited to "numbers." It has the ability to absorb the characteristics of the enemy by eating it. I gained the ability to generate magnetism by eating the minerals in the conch shell.

On the days of the high tide, giant snails come to this place to collect Blue Light particles from the lake. These particles are the source of the power that controls magnetism. You could call it the hope (return) of this island. The snail uses it.

I have a different constitution among the Chimera Ants, capable of eating metal and reflecting its characteristics in my exoskeleton. Since the result of that hybridization would appear in the next generation, I had not actively used it until now, but I did not hesitate to get rid of the restriction. What became possible as a result?

The conch tower towering over the sea is enormous, visible even from the island. With the target identified, the ants lined up along the coastline activated "carbuncle" all at once.

A bud grows on the wide base, swelling like a cactus. The bud is unusually large, about 10 meters long. The shape resembles a morning glory. It has a slender shape, and the tip is as sharp as a folded umbrella.

The carved bud of the red gem is decorated with spiral blue lines. This line also extends like a geometric pattern on the subject.

The subject that created it waits in the form of being embedded in the base of the bud. Starting from the ovipositor of the tail needle, a bud is formed on the axis. Its true identity is an elongated barrel of a cyst launch tube. The launched cyst Bullet gains propulsion through electromagnetic acceleration while passing through the bud.

This technique, called "Erosion Bud Bullet (Systburst)," uses the principle of an electromagnetic projectile gun (railgun).

When I was on the research ship, I often spent my free time reading. There were many books related to the military, and one of them had a description of railguns.

Two rails are installed in parallel, with a conductor sandwiched in between, sliding between them. Then, an electric current flows through the conductor from one rail to the other. Then, a magnetic field is generated there, and the Lorentz force acts, and the conductor moves as if it were being pushed between the rails. A railgun is a device that uses this force to push a Bullet.

In firearms that use gunpowder, most of the energy is lost as heat unrelated to the projection, but the energy loss of a railgun is minimal. Furthermore, compared to conventional weapons where the gas expansion rate caused by an Explosion is the limit of the Bullet's muzzle velocity, it is easier to obtain initial velocity. The speed difference is as isolated as comparing throwing a Stone to a gunshot.

The speed of the projectile alone is a tremendous force. The projectile has a range of hundreds of kilometers, exerts abundant destructive power without using explosives, and can easily and accurately intercept attacks such as long-range ballistic missiles. If this weapon were put into actual use, the history of war would change completely.

Many prototypes were built, but a weapon that could withstand actual use was not completed. Many challenges remain.

The problem of friction that occurs when the conductor moves on the rails. Furthermore, even if a small amount of resistance occurs, a large amount of current flows, generating a large amount of Joule heat. Even if the strength of the rails and the barrel could be controlled somehow, the strain on the conductor moving at high speed inside the rails could not be avoided. The heat evaporates the conductor and turns it into plasma. Ultimately, a method to completely control the change in current or magnetic force has not been found, and there are technical limits to acceleration.

However, in this ocean, there are enough Miracles to make the impossible possible.

"Prepare to fire."

The bud begins to rotate like a drill. Slow at first, then fast. With each increase in the number of revolutions, the line begins to emit a strong Blue Light. Blue particles rotate and disperse.

Magnetism and electricity are inextricably linked. It cannot be felt from the outside, but inside the bud, accompanied by magnetic force, a large amount of current is generated. Huge energy is trapped inside the bud, not leaking at all.

"Blooming (Fire)."

Release.

Atmospheric fluctuations that cannot be perceived as sound. A flash of lightning cuts through the dim sky. All that remains is the cruel bud that fired the impact. The barrel, unable to withstand the energy of the plasma conductor, turned into a paste, and the red metal internal organs scattered like crushed tomatoes.

More than twenty muzzles are lined up side by side. The Bullet reaches the target at such a high speed that it lands at the same time it is fired. The conch turret, hit by the Barrage, deforms as if bitten by a giant, releases the energy inside, and collapses.

I thought I had defeated him, but I realized that his Malice had not completely disappeared.

"Ken."

The crumbling top of the tower turns toward the island. It flashes like the light of a lighthouse.

There is a shock that cannot be compared to the sound of the previous shot. Before the enemy ran out of strength, he fired the last arrow.

I can use a new weapon, a railgun, but it was not created from scratch by me. It does not have a simple structure that can simply bring blue metal into its body. The one who possesses that "blueprint" is the snail Disaster they are currently facing.

They rotate the shells to generate energy and fire projectiles from the top of the shells. That device is indeed a practical railgun. By eating the conch shell, I ingested the shell components along with the metal. The drawings contained therein were accumulated as genetic information, and through innate expression, it became possible to use "Erosion Bud."

The enemy's attack is fundamentally different from my attack power. In theory, there is no upper limit to the Bullet speed of a railgun. The longer the barrel, the more current you pass through, the more you can accelerate the projectile. First of all, they cannot compete with the size of the weapon.

Of course, we are taking precautions. I mobilize my whole body to build a Barrier with red cacti, completely surrounding the small island. It is not just any cactus. It is a super-hard metal that metallizes the condensed Aura and increases its density to the limit. It has the hardness and flexibility like Hardened steel. This is not something that can be made on the spot, and the limit is one 50cm square animal that can be completed in a day.

Moreover, in battle, the countless subjects attached to this layer of Barrier will apply a "En," and its power will jump several times. This is not a defense that can be broken by a half-baked attack.

However, the conch's blow easily tore through this Barrier. Although he kept his distance, Quinn was almost scared away by the aftermath of the Explosion.

The Barrier at the point of impact disappeared as if it had been scooped out with a spoon. It evaporated instantly. The hazy seawater rolled in, and the heat wave that scorched the skin spread, simultaneously creating a mirage. The surrounding atoll mountain had already disappeared by half. If there were no Barrier, it would have penetrated the lake and destroyed the atoll on the other side.

In fact, the several battles that have taken place so far have destroyed about one-third of the island. The blue light of the lake is now connected to the sea through the scars of war, scattered with broken cactus Stone Crushing, without any trace of its former beauty. The loss and damage of this battle are enormous. The destroyed Walls are rebuilt, and then destroyed again. It is a repetition.

This is by no means a one-sided opponent. This is a life-or-death battle. The single-shot power is high, but the energy storage is slow. Against the snail that cannot fire continuously, "Erosion Bud" has low power but can be fired in large quantities. I managed to deal with it by taking it down and deflecting the trajectory before the enemy fired.

Fortunately, he is not a very smart enemy. They attack in large numbers, but they do not cooperate. So far, there has been no long-range attack that exceeds our range. If the enemy had appeared and organized an attack on days other than the day of the high tide, the island would have already fallen.

Even if he is seeking the power of the Chimera Ants regardless of how he behaves, he does not have the confidence to move forward. This level of strength is still not enough.

I am lost in overthinking. Let us focus on fighting the enemy now. Aiming at the conch turrets layered in the sea, I aimed the cannon.

There are two main plague numbers on this island. One is the magnetic snail. And the other Disaster is the plant-type monster in the center of the lake. This has already been dealt with.

The small island in the lake disappeared without a trace along with the Disaster due to the "Erosion Bud Bullet (Systburst)" fired at the same time. The Aura absorption phenomenon also subsided.

The next day, they found some fragments washed up on the shore of the lake. It was an object that seemed to be the head of that plant soldier. The seeds were collected from aggregated flowers such as broccoli.

At first, I emphasized safety, prioritizing the elimination of threats without question, but I wanted to know what kind of Disaster it used. Therefore, the seeds were analyzed under strict control.

It was very vigorous; the seeds sprouted in a short period of rain. When I tried cultivating it, it could take root firmly even in sandy soil with only seawater. At first, it just looked like a weed, but it truly felt like it was absorbing trace amounts of Aura through the ground.

A fully grown plant would begin to sprout branches and grow leaves. Its shape resembled the plant soldiers guarding the small island in the lake. When I picked it while it was immature, I saw small, autonomous behaviors. The details of the powerful nephew who once almost took his life were clear at a glance.

This plant soldier had powerful digestive fluid inside its body. This was certainly dangerous, but it was not that much of a threat on its own. It had enough dissolving power to corrode the surface of the skin upon contact with Quinn. That Nen Bullet was mainly composed of digestive fluid, and it seemed to have its properties enhanced through a Manipulation System ability.

Enhancers also have the ability to strengthen the power and functions of things. As if it could instantly destroy everything it touched, the Nen Bullet enhanced the dissolving power of the digestive fluid. That immense power was the power of the dissolving force, not the attack power of the Nen Bullet itself.

Absorbing Aura was also a Nen Ability that this plant possessed. To be precise, the "Root" part of the plant exercised this ability. In addition to feeding on the Aura absorbed from other living beings, it seemed to provide it to the plant soldiers generated on it as an energy source for its dissolving Bullet.

Even if the upper part of the leaves was cut off, the Root remained alive and began to produce plant soldiers again. The plant soldiers were organs created on the premise of Separation from the Root, and as the lineage of a young Nen user, they were also separated. The Root presumably absorbed Aura from the attribute system and also used Manipulation System abilities to control the plant soldiers. The plant soldiers could fire melting Nen Bullets with enhanced functions. The enhancement was amazing, but the proficiency as an Emission system was not that high, and the range was short.

I wondered if these abilities could be combined through feeding. There is nothing better than having many available attack methods. I wanted any ability I could get. I was originally a Chimera Ant with Red Plant characteristics. If there was a precedent for merging plants, was it possible?

However, the mating experiments encountered difficulties. Even if you say you absorb the genes of what you eat, not all food is compatible. For example, I often eat nut kelp, but my offspring did not inherit its characteristics. I don't know what triggers feeding mating.

Regardless, I realized that by becoming one with this plant, I ate it in earnest. Cultivation was easy, so it could be harvested sustainably. Even when they were full, they would continue to eat and lay eggs until they vomited. As a result, an expressive individual was finally born.

However, the expected results were not obtained. Its main body seemed to be able to spit digestive fluid from its mouth, but it did not have the ability to enhance it into a dissolving bullet. Even if it could be strengthened a little, it was system-level Training. It was not yet at a level that could be called a "Start."

Even after eating Katlai, it was not just inheriting his "Start." An egg with his spirituality was created, spreading its results through shared consciousness, and the information was transformed within me, becoming a new power. The captured ability had once passed through my filter.

I suspected that insufficient Memory was one of the reasons I could not capture "Departure." If there was enough free space in the Memory, and the "Departure" system I imported matched my specialty system, I felt I could almost reproduce the same ability. Of course, this would consume quite a bit of Memory.

What matters is whether the ability comes from the soul or from matter. Nen Ability belongs to the mind and soul, so I cannot inherit them because I do not have a Container (memory). However, if it is a physical characteristic, it can be absorbed by the Chimera Ant's ability. I don't know what the limit is, but I obtained a powerful weapon called the Conch Shell Railgun.

I want to eat enemies with stronger characteristics. At this rate, no matter how much time passes, we will not be able to cross this sea.

Quinn is at the farm. This is where the plants are grown. There are four such farms on the island. A large number of specialized subjects are working here to monitor and grow the plants.

Although attempts to crossbreed the plant failed, it continued to be used as food. After all, there are thousands of subjects on the island. The supply of kelp washed up on the beach could not keep up with demand. Or rather, it was precisely because of the success in cultivating this plant that there was a system capable of producing such a large number of subjects.

Even if the subjects could survive for a long time on photosynthesis and water, they needed to eat separately to lay eggs. Red Plant is edible, but eating them does not produce eggs. Other organisms or large amounts of metal are required.

The plants on this Elaborate Island can be safely grown as long as they are not neglected. When the Root grows too much, it absorbs a large amount of Aura. By harvesting the upper stems and leaves before this happens, the growth of new plant soldiers will take precedence over the growth of the plant itself, so the growth of the Root can be stopped. Vegetarians harvested when immature do not pose much danger. Eat this

It can grow well without water or fertilizer, presumably because it uses Aura as nourishment. An individual can be harvested in about three to five days, producing soldier parts one by one every day. In about two weeks, the soldier parts will be produced smoothly, but after that, production efficiency drops, and the Root will wither in about a month. If the soldier parts are not picked, it seems to live longer. The lifespan under natural conditions has not been studied.

Anyway, because it grows quickly, the subjects working on the farm do not rest. Occasionally, there are individuals that grow rapidly, as if life were being squeezed out, and sometimes they are in a hurry to respond. Even now, the plants being picked in front of Quinn are being done one after another.

The plants that have been processed are sent by the subjects transporting supplies to the subjects responsible for building defense bases all over the island. Since construction site work consumes a lot of Aura, photosynthesis alone is not enough, so they must eat well. In addition, they are divided into several roles such as sea surveillance, egg-laying, and mating research.

The appearance of the subjects lined up to transport pistons is exactly like ants. I don't know if this is a way to approach the original image as a Chimera Ant. A question arose.

First of all, my breeding system is foreign. All born ants are Ant Queen. A child exactly like the parent is born with the exact same consciousness. For a long time, I have built a network of shared consciousness with the eggs, so I created multiple subjects as its extension without any discomfort, but it can be said that their ecology is adapted to a species called Chimera Ant.

Chimera Ants were not originally a race with a fixed appearance, but as far as I am concerned, I feel that something is fundamentally wrong. I am trying to become something other than a Chimera Ant. It is becoming

Then what am I? I remember what Gragg Mcmiyah said to me.

"Who are you! Quinn!"

I cannot answer. So far, I have never answered. I tried to become human, but the fact that I have such thoughts tells me that I am not human.

"Who are you?"

You are me. The subject is always "you." I tried to adapt myself there. I tried to make myself "you," rather than myself without an answer.

Katlai, Gragg Mcmiyah, Cheru, and Tokunosuke.

/You/You/You/You

I have many people bringing food.

/Young life

Even when separated, the soldier part of the plant can survive for a while. When killed, the Aura stored inside disappears, so it can be sent alive and eaten alive.

/Keep moving

Crops are planted regularly in the fields.

/That room

Under Quinn's feet is a withered plant. Some crops do not grow well like this.

/Inferior goods

Reach out. Eliminate.

"……?"

Quinn looked around; the subjects working on the farm had stopped moving. Everyone was motionless.

But this was only for a moment. The subjects immediately returned to the actions decided by the collective consciousness.

Other than that, there was no such abnormality. "Psychological Synchronization" was working properly. It looked like it had stopped, but perhaps it was just my imagination.