“Strategy”

Rare immediately had the engineers start digging a tunnel that connected the wolves' den directly to the queen's chamber. She was initially planning to just widen the route she had originally taken during the raid on the nest, but a direct route would be shorter.

There were ten engineers who could work, so for now she'd have them all take turns working on it. She would then have any other engineers who recovered start working on a new tunnel that connected to the old mountain cat base.

While the engineers got started, Rare wanted to look into Sugaru's [Haplodiploidy] skill tree more. Considering the skill names and the type of ants that could be produced, the three current options, [Infantry], [Combat Engineer], and [Cavalry], couldn't be the only ones. There should be ways to unlock more types, like say [Artillery].

"Actually, isn't this part just like a strategy game…?"

Strategy games were fun in their own right, but only when the rules were made clear beforehand.

Right now, there were five [Infantry] and one [Cavalry] ready for action. They had been grouped together and sent out to patrol the cave's surroundings. The six of them formed a squad; for the time being, there wouldn't be different ranks of squads, they'd just be mixed like this.

She could use this group to determine an operational cost-benefit analysis of the ants based on the XP and resources they earned. Then she could come up with strategies and apply them within the boundaries of the game rules.

There just weren't enough ants this time, so the squad was almost all infantry, but in the future it would be better if each squad had a more balanced makeup. This would include [Engineers] and, if they existed, [Artillery].

That said, as far as actual military activities went, as long as they didn't pick a fight with one of the six countries, their enemies wouldn't be organizations or militaries but private forces at best. In which case, for the most part, even if their side only had the weaker types of soldiers available, they should still be pretty much unbeatable.

"By the way, Sugaru, did you spend any XP on your ant followers' stats at all?"

Currently, Rare didn't have enough XP to spend on the hundreds of ants on her side, but she wanted to know how their status was. It seemed, though, that Sugaru never gave them much thought and just treated them like disposable pawns.

If that were the case, then no matter. Or rather, being able to work this army to the bone without worrying about the consequences was perfect. They could even be replenished by using Sugaru's LP and MP—it was like being able to grow and harvest soldiers from your own field. And potions basically became fertilizer. The possibilities excited Rare.

"Speaking of disposable, what happens when ants die? Is there some kind of penalty? Like maybe they get weaker for a period of time…? Specifically, do they lose XP, or maybe is the individual ant itself lost forever?"

Sugaru seemed unclear on the details. If the corpse could be recovered, it was, but after confirming that it was dead, it would disappear. And since she didn't have a revive skill, she didn't know if they could be revived at all. She only ever considered pure numbers, so it was faster to just produce a new ant over reviving a dead one. She had just never thought about it.

Incidentally, it appeared that Sugaru didn't have an accurate grasp on the total number of ants under her control. Rare had never heard of running an army without knowing its exact composition, but that seemed indicative of how little value the ants' lives had.

However, she didn't want to treat Kerry, Hakuma, and the others that way. She wanted to come up with some method of reviving them in case the worst ever came to pass. That said, she was pretty sure no revive skills had been discovered yet.

In any case, what was important now was to build up military strength. At the very least, she wanted Sugaru to be constantly producing more ants at a rate that matched her natural LP and MP regen.

"Well, having you at full LP and MP is a waste, so let's have you use some up. For now, let's increase our [Engineers]. There's a mountain of work to do, and it's not like [Engineers] can't fight at all. When incorporated into combat squads, they can be used for diversions and as smokescreen from a distance. Not to mention, most people won't be able to tell the difference between [Infantry] and [Engineers] anyway, so they'll be good for intimidation."

Actually, looking at them closer, they were slightly different in color. It was hard to tell in the dark, though.

"Is there a room you can use for production? The girls are using the queen's room right now."

The entire cave was controlled by their allies, so it didn't really matter where she did it. In that case, this room here was as good as any other. According to the Help documentation, there were no larvae, they were born as full-fledged ants; she was mildly interested in exactly what kind of lifeforms they were supposed to be.

Rare watched the birthing process closely while simultaneously monitoring Sugaru's status. [Engineers] weren't that expensive, so she could pop out several eggs without worry.

"Or like, I didn't realize she actually laid eggs. Ah, they're already hatching."

Rather than shattering, the surface of the egg ripped apart like fabric, and from within a dark-brown [Engineer Ant] emerged.

The five newly born [Engineer Ants] already began lining up before Rare. This meant they already had a sense of self-awareness. Insect monsters developed really fast.

"Hmm, so if I said 'I want [Infantry] right now,' can you make them immediately? Is there any kind of cooldown?"

Sugaru explained that [Infantry] could be produced right away, but it was currently impossible to make more [Engineers]. While there was no system limit on how many eggs could be laid at once, the maximum effective number was based on how much LP and MP she had. With regards to the current situation, it was possible to produce [Infantry] right after making [Engineers], but the cooldown for [Engineer] would be frozen until [Infantry] finished cooling down. In other words, it worked the same as it did for casting magic. It was nice that they shared the same system.

"I appreciate the explanation. It was very easy to understand. It was easy, but… Man, it really is inconvenient that you can't talk… It wouldn't help when we're far apart though… Hmm."

If there were a skill like [Contact Follower] or something, that would address all her concerns, but none of the skills that she could learn looked like they fit the bill, and there was nothing promising in Sugaru's skills either.

"Is there really nothing…? Something that lets me communicate with my followers in my head… It would be best if it was something that allowed us to talk when we're far apart. Something like telepathy, or a long-range… phone call… Hm?"

So actually, all of Rare's followers, including Kerry, could access their own inventories now. That was a result of reversing the words she had heard during the tutorial, about how the system saw nearly no difference between players and NPCs. In which case, maybe…

"If I… added my followers as friends, couldn't I chat with them via friend chat?"