A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

“Move! We’ve received the order!”

“They said the plan went awry. Are we still going?”

“The battle is over for now. Instead, move quickly!”

The encampment was in chaos.

Contrary to the original plan, the main forces were the first to be ambushed by enemies wielding strong and mysterious powers.

According to the reports, they managed to fend off and repel the ambush.

Amid this sudden turn of events, the planned operation was still executed.

Having closely observed the Legion’s war, I was the quickest to finish preparing for departure.

“Honestly, my opinion of you has changed. I was worried you’d be a burden since you’re young and a rookie, even if you’re a Hunter.”

“I was in a bit of a hurry too.”

Cox, one of the fellow mercenaries, chuckled as he packed his equipment.

I vaguely deflected the remark.

There was no time to think about anything else; urgency was the priority.

I had to provide the Legion with the power to overcome this crisis as quickly as possible.

“Everyone, get in! We’re leaving!”

The Black Snake Mercenaries boarded their vehicles.

The escort target was a single vehicle carrying researchers from Evolution.

As I was about to climb aboard, I noticed a group of people preparing for deployment, just like us.

They were also researchers, escorted by soldiers.

“They’re probably affiliated with a government agency.”

Cox, who was seated next to me while checking his gun, muttered.

[The situation remains evenly matched. Their corpses may serve as our nourishment, but the cost of consumption is equally high. Mass-producing troops to overwhelm them is also difficult.]

“…”

Even while traveling in the vehicle, I continued to monitor the screen on my mobile phone using the app.

‘Can this really be solved by adding just a few more demonic creature specimens?’

However, the more I looked, the heavier my heart grew.

The momentum of the Mutant Destruction Fungus was that overwhelming.

[Do what you can. The Legion will find the answer from there.]

As if reading my thoughts, these words appeared.

Of course, I trusted the Legion. But…

[Moreover, the Legion is both enraged and delighted. You know by now, don’t you? A crisis is an opportunity for growth. The Legion understands growth better than anyone else.]

I absentmindedly nodded.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have understood this before.

But now, it was different. I had undoubtedly grown.

And understanding this difference firsthand, I could comprehend the Legion’s obsession with growth.

“We’ll reach the point soon! Everyone, get ready!”

Around that time, Robert’s voice came through the radio.

“Cox, Yan. Take positions when we reach the point. Sneaky, you take the opposite side with Henson.”

The mercenaries swiftly disembarked from the vehicle and moved to their assigned positions.

The researchers also got off quickly and began their tasks.

I was stationed in the center with Robert, ready to act in case of emergency.

“It’s a mess.”

Robert muttered under his breath.

As he said, the site was in complete disarray.

The bodies of fallen allies had been hastily recovered for the reinforcements, while the enemy corpses were left untouched.

Traces of battle, like bullet marks and bloodstains, were scattered everywhere.

I discreetly observed my surroundings.

For now, all I could see were the corpses of lower demonic creatures like Gnolls, but they were still specimens. I needed to photograph them quickly.

“Uh?”

“Captain! Come over here!”

At that moment, a few mercenaries called out to Robert.

This was my chance. I discreetly took out my mobile phone and prepared to take photos.

There were plenty of corpses lying around. I glanced around briefly and snapped a photo of a Gnoll’s corpse lying near a destroyed tank.

“There were mentions of strange techniques that made them stronger. It must be a technique obtained from a Player. But all we can extract is the genetic information of a Gnoll. No matter how I think about it, Gnolls are Goblin-level creatures. Will it even be useful?”

[You don’t know yet. Do you think what you can obtain here is limited to just that?]

The words that reacted to my muttered thoughts carried a meaningful tone.

Almost simultaneously, my sharply honed instincts, refined compared to the past, caught onto something.

A chilling Predator’s Killing Intent. It was the intent of a predator.

“Damn it…! Everyone, get down!!!”

The ground shook, and Robert’s shout rang out.

I instinctively leaped off the ground.

“Ugh…”

I rolled onto the ground.

With a deafening explosion, the ground erupted, and something massive revealed itself.

“It’s an ambush!!”

“Shoot it!”

Gunshots echoed, accompanied by a gut-wrenching, horrific howl.

I hurriedly got to my feet.

The massive beasts that had burst forth from the ground charged directly at those resisting with gunfire.

[Take this. These are the things your Player risks his life to retrieve. While he may be below average and feeble as a being, his actions are not.]

“Graaaaah!”

In a dim cavern, a massive living creature was transmitted directly.

It had a long, snake-like body comparable in size to a dump truck, with two strong and sturdy arms attached.

Its entire body was armored with durable teal armor plates.

Its especially tough head could withstand a close-range strike from a tank’s armor-piercing shell without a scratch.

“Grkk…”

The creature, disoriented by the sudden change in location, looked around in confusion.

The only thing it saw was a half-melted Gnoll corpse lying on the ground.

Its sensory organs twitched.

In reality, its group had only emerged above ground because they sensed the large amount of blood soaking into the earth and came up to feed.

[Perhaps because it’s a subterranean creature, it’s trying to dig back into the ground.]

The creature began to dig into the flesh wall covering the ground with its powerful forelimbs and claws.

“A useful one.”

At that moment, the creature growled and turned its head toward the source of a sound.

In its view was a small creature no bigger than its head.

The baffling part was that, despite its sensitive sensory organs, it hadn’t noticed any presence at all.

“It’s no wonder. This entire nest is me.”

The Legion moved its nest.

Tentacles shot out from the writhing flesh walls on all sides, instantly wrapping around the creature’s body.

[Its strength is too great. The muscle efficiency it produces at the same volume is more explosive than the Legion’s compressed muscles.]

“It’s becoming more tempting.”

As the creature struggled, the tentacles began to snap.

In response, a different kind of tentacle emerged this time.

These were tough and coarse, resembling tree branches.

“Kiiiii…”

These tentacles, imbued with a special force—dark crimson aura—instantly broke through the creature’s sturdy armor and burrowed inside.

They then began injecting a modified fungus into its interior.

The Destruction Fungus wasn’t the only one capable of learning and evolving.

To counter the increasingly vicious Mutant Destruction Fungus, the Legion had long since enhanced its own infection power.

The Toxin that copied the infection power of the Mutant Destruction Fungus proved to be too much for the creature.

Its internal organs were completely destroyed, and the Otherworldly Monster, ravaged from within, ceased moving and slowly collapsed before lying entirely on the ground.

The Nest began to spray secretion over the gigantic body of the enemy and gradually started to envelop it.

‘Delaying until new Soldiers are produced is less efficient.’

On one side of the Nest, the corpse, covered by a thin Flesh Wall, resembled a massive tumor.

Meanwhile, the Legion swiftly completed its calculations.

Dragging out the current battle any further would result in greater losses than immediately pouring in Energy to complete the upgrades.

[The Demonic Mole Cricket: 11A1087]

As soon as the analysis was complete, the Legion began the modification of new troops while simultaneously injecting Omnipotent Cells capable of Accelerated Growth for immediate transformation.

Soon, something writhing beneath the Flesh Wall tore through it and rose.

The Demonic Mole Cricket, a Native Creature that once burrowed and lived in the hard and barren lands of the Demon Realm, now wore even tougher Black Armor and emitted a fierce Red Glow, transforming into an even more terrifying Monster.

“Go, kill them.”

The new form of Soldier, now connected to the Legion’s Spirit, immediately smashed through the ground and carved a path upward to the Upper Stratum.

[We have acquired powerful data. Indeed, analyzing and combining beings from various worlds seems to lead to even greater perfection.]

“…”

[Are you worried about him?]

“His emotions are currently extremely turbulent.”

The Legion muttered absentmindedly.

Even through emotions alone, it could vaguely grasp his state.

The Demonic Mole Cricket was not a Unit but a Native Creature from that land.

Because of that, the first time, the crisis was overcome by transmitting a photograph, but now the Legion, having analyzed the Demonic Mole Cricket, was aware that they lived in groups.

One specimen per type was all they could use.

These creatures, weighing tons, couldn’t even be sent as food through a workaround.

[If he dies, so will you.]

“It doesn’t matter.”

The Legion remained utterly unfazed.

Not yet. It had yet to find a reason to continue existing without him.

Despite reading a considerable number of books and accumulating knowledge, the philosophical essence cultivated by humanity had failed to bring about any meaningful change in the Legion, which was profoundly aware of its non-human nature.

“…Feeling affection again. Why?”

It only furrowed its brow at his emotions, which were beginning to change once more.

Now, at the end of his intense emotions, he was once again feeling a fluttering sensation.

Whether his feelings of affection or goodwill were directed toward the opposite sex, the same sex, animals, or some other context was irrelevant to the Legion.

What mattered was that those feelings were not directed toward itself.

The Legion turned away and left the area.

The Mask remained the same, but now, unlike before, its long, flowing black hair swayed gently.