Middle class. Lower-ranking soldiers. Fixing the toads, the mediocre power of my ecosystem.
It's quite a challenging endeavor, but the Dessert Army is fundamentally a force of quantity, and it would be nice to be able to push it with more diverse species and even more numbers. Let's try and bring them up to a usable level.
"Wow."
"A single soulless response."
"That's because it has nothing to do with civilization...!"
First of all, I fixed some of these guys' genes.
Originally, as long as there was a specific flow around it, like a switch, it would grow infinitely even if all the flows around it disappeared, but when the flow decreased, it evolved in the direction of the organ stopping functioning again.
And there are also changes in the physical infrastructure to reduce the burden when growing larger.
"Why didn't their physical infrastructure adapt to the gigantic growth? Judging by the way you're modifying it now, it doesn't seem like it's biologically impossible."
Well, that's just speculation. It's not that they didn't adapt, it's just that they were slow to adapt.
For example, let's take human wisdom teeth.
In the original ape era, humans had larger jaws and more molars.
But as we evolved into Homo sapiens, we began to cook food with fire, and we no longer needed to strain our jaw muscles by cooking and chopping food into small pieces. As a result, our jaws became smaller.
But what are wisdom teeth? It's somewhat similar.
'Huh? The blueprint (DNA) says to make one more molar? Hmm… but there's no room in the jaw.'
The body does what its DNA tells it to do. So it just somehow manages to cram a molar into its tiny jaw, and that's what causes human suffering.
So, strictly speaking, Homo sapiens is a 'handicapped ape with a small jaw compared to the number of teeth'
4
"Oh, is that so?"
Yes. But let's say a person's genes somehow degenerate and they develop a disorder where they have one less molar.
So this person loses his wisdom teeth and becomes an ape with a perfectly proportionate number of teeth for his jaw size.
This is how evolution works: if teeth had shrunk first and jaw size later, wisdom teeth would not have existed.
But the direction of evolution doesn't care about that kind of thing. These toads are the same.
First, if there's a lot of dangerous magic outside, develop a mechanism that drastically increases your weight class, and then evolve the aftermath. This way, you can overcome the immediate danger of the "now".
But since it's already come to this, I'll take care of it. As their weight class increases, I'll make sure their physical infrastructure follows suit. But that doesn't mean they should let their body adapt perfectly to its size.
"Why?"
"It's a resource issue."
"Oh. Is that your problem again?"
"Yes, living things are very sensitive to resource allocation."
It was a simple experiment, but there was one where they bred mice with strong teeth to make the mice's teeth incredibly strong.
So, cavities were reduced, and teeth became incredibly strong, like monsters. Since rats change generations quickly, it was easy to induce change.
Well, why hasn't this evolution occurred in nature? Having strong teeth would be advantageous in every way for rodents, whose teeth are their primary weapon.
"Huh? Really? Why would you do that when they'd simply gain a huge profit?"
It's simple. The resources for making teeth were the same as the resources for making bones. In short, in exchange for having insanely strong teeth, these creatures' bones actually became weak.
So, the moderately strong teeth of modern mice are the result of finding a compromise between the bone density of the body and the structure of the teeth.
This is the so-called expensive organ theory. The organs of living organisms are in balance. If you invest resources recklessly in one area, you will end up with unusable resources elsewhere.
A representative example is humans. Humans have incredibly large heads and have achieved high intelligence.
However, because the evolution of the pelvis and lower body was somewhat delayed, unlike other primates, women have to go through hellish pain when giving birth, other primates can give birth on their own without the mother needing a live birth.
And in exchange for having great intelligence, they have weak intestines, so they get sick even if they eat something slightly wrong.
When you think about the creatures of the wetlands who can literally inhale feces without getting an upset stomach, you can easily see how fragile the human intestines are.
So, you're saying you roll around all day because you ate 'slightly' spoiled meat? If a hawk ate that, it would just eat it and say, 'Yum yum, it's delicious'.
"So?"
The same goes for giant toads. If a toad were to refine their body structure to the point where it could perfectly maintain its size when it grew.
Rather, it would become smaller. Because how much resources would it take to support such a large body with the body structure that perfectly supports it?
If they go further, they might just abandon their small bodies and just remain in a larger state, instead of needlessly switching between small and large states.
"That's a plausible change."
Of course, these two directions are also excellent evolutions. I believe they will emerge naturally, and I have no intention of stopping them.
But I want to evolve it to be the most destructive and vicious in the enemy ecosystem, if possible. So, I'm aiming for a diameter of 3 meters, even larger than 2 meters.
Three meters in diameter, hundreds of kilograms in weight. Even if its internal organs creak, its skeleton and muscles twist, its brain is damaged, and its digestive system is ruined, it wants to maintain its size by indiscriminately preying on life forms comparable to humans, and reproduce in large numbers.
And in my ecosystem, when they live in a place where magic power is lacking, they can just live as a small toad.
"You could say it's a vicious strategy… or you could say it's efficient."
Touching on living organism, the toad's 'giant gene' is present in all types of amphibians.
But I found out that it can be injected into reptiles.
It will take some research, but it seems like it could be injected into crabs as well.
"So, will we be able to see giant crocodiles, snakes, and turtles? They are already in your ecosystem."
"Maybe? However, the extent of their growth seems to be rather small. They are most specialized for amphibians."
But I don't think it will work for mammals, birds, or amphibians. I just can't figure out how to reconcile it with their body temperature control mechanisms… So, to be precise, it seems to only apply to cold-blooded animals.
"Are we going to give a name to this gigantic amphibian?"
Well, any creature that learns caramelization, whether it's a camel or something else, is given the prefix "caramel~."
Any animal that is caramelized can be caramelized, so in my ecosystem, I have caramel bison, caramel giraffes, and caramel deer.
But what should I call this? It might not even be necessary to give it a name. Maybe I could just give it a boring name like Giant Toad. I might run out of names later.
"Well, if you think about it, it's not something so great as to be called a cultivation technique. It's just a really simple mystery that puffs them up."
Like bubble gum that inflates like a balloon. Huh!
"You guys are thick-skinned toad from now on."
"Wow, wow, wow...
Right now, it's just a thick-skinned species, but if it gradually expands its species, it might become a subspecies of the order Gummiformes. In fact, the evolutionary order is reversed...
After all, amphibians are incredibly diverse creatures. You'd be amazed at how many species there are—frogs, salamanders, newts, caecilians, and so on.
Yeongwon is a minor creature that cannot even be searched because its name is pronounced the same as Yeongwon (永遠), and Mujok Yeongwon is not actually a Yeongwon, but it is an extremely minor creature named Mujok Yeongwon because it has no arms or legs...
Anyway, amphibians are incredibly prosperous creatures.
But since amphibians living in wetlands can grow so large, I'd like to go further. I'm quite fond of amphibians.
"How is it?"
First of all, among salamanders, there are some that are so large that they can reach 1.8 meters in length.
I'd love to try putting this gigantic gene into it. The same goes for the newt, a salamander. Could amphibians take over the ecological niche of the monitor lizard? Could a salamander dragon even be possible?
Another caecilians. They're amphibians, but they are long, snake-like creatures without limbs. They could probably grow to be gigantic, and then they could replace giant snakes.
However, the most anticipated element in amphibians that actually have this gigantic gene is something else.
"What is it?"
"Amphibians as a group are notorious for having some of the most viciously venomous creatures in the world. Like the poison dart frog, which can kill a human with just a touch."
"Ouch. Uh. Ouch."
But in fact, venom is a very expensive organ and a large body is also a very expensive organ, so large snakes have no venom and small frogs have a lot of venom.
It's said that the food has a strong venom…
Could these toads evolve beyond just being huge to spew the world's most vicious venom?
"Don't ask me. I only know about civilizations."
That doesn't help.
So, as I was pondering for a moment how to give a frog a venom gland, I suddenly had a realization.
Amphibians don't have venom glands, right?
"Hmph"
No, it's a case-by-case basis, but amphibians generally make their venom by eating toxic prey and concentrating it, right?
Then, surprisingly, it might not cost much.
Nyaltartep possesses the ability to create both insects and poisonous plants. If you create a poisonous insect, feed it to him, and then concentrate its venom, it might become quite useful.
"There is a way. But you must not lose sight of the essence of what you are trying to do"
That's true. I'm currently trying to train 'low-ranking soldiers'.
A giant, powerful soldier who uses poison. We can make one. But how much resources would it take to raise one?
In the end, I want to create a monster that lives as an ordinary toad without magic power, but turns into a toad when it gains magic power.
That's the essence, but constantly shifting your thinking toward relying on magic is extremely bad. After all, if it relies on mysticism, it will just end up competing with others in the high-magic zone...hmm.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I'm just curious."
"Yes."
"Is there any creature in my ecosystem that lives without needing any magic?"
"Hmm?"
"If the Gums can use a lot of magic power, or can live without using any magic at all, then what is the 'lower class' in my world? Can there be a lower class that barely uses magic power, or can't use it at all? Even in my world…
"Even the bugs in the Nyaltartap have some magic?"
"It's not like they don't have any."
And how on earth do they live? In this fantasy world overflowing with magic, why do they insist on surviving without using magic?
Thanks to the power of『Divine Unity』, it was surprisingly easy to find.
Before long, I was able to find the 'lower class' of my world.
"What is this?"
At first glance, it appears to be a jelly-like creature. It has a soft body but wears a shell. It wriggles around like a snail or larva. Its size is about the size of a finger joint, roughly the size of a real snail. Even the largest ones are only about the size of a finger.
"Is living like a real snail a strategy?"
I wondered what they ate, but they didn't even eat nectar. They just picked up scraps of dead meat, ate insect corpses, and dug up the ground to digest organic matter.
I don't know what survival strategy these guys have. They seem like they'll just be prey. I can sense their magical power, but it's weak.
Finally, one of the smallest fish in my ecosystem, a squid, discovered this and came to eat it.
Pot!
Suddenly, a mystery unfolded from the back of this small creature. Upon analysis, I discovered it was a mystery of the
The mystery of making oneself appear in the most disgusting way to one's opponent. To Sweet Tooths, it seemed as if the prey had suddenly turned into feces, and he simply walked away without showing any interest.
"It's a creature that accumulates the flow little by little from the surrounding food and releases it in a moment of crisis?"
So to speak, is it some kind of poison?
Well, in the end, if it can keep a predator from eating you, it doesn't matter whether it's camouflage, a strange smell, poison, or even a mental attack.
Because an ecosystem strategy is only useful if it can survive.
The strategy is to deplete the enemy's morale with the most disgusting and repulsive, but not particularly strong, creatures.
"Hmm?"
"Here you go again. What a hideous idea have you come up with this time?"
"I thought about it after seeing that, but isn't it true that just killing or injuring an enemy doesn't necessarily cause a decrease in combat power?"
"Is that so?"
Amphibians, including toads, are not very strong, but instead have organs within their bodies that act on mystical powers, or in other words, they have the potential to interact with mystical powers.
And those lowest-ranking creatures have the ability to accumulate and release mysteries that have a poison-like effect.
If we combine these two, we arrive at a simple conclusion.
"Sub-plan. A plan to spread hateful frogs."
"If only you could kill them honorably with a spear and sword."
You can't rely solely on Yogur-Thoth to reduce enemy morale.
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