Although Pupu possessed quite a few “Hive Race” traits, until now, Liya hadn’t really thought in that direction.
The reason was simple: the conditions didn’t allow it.
Establishing a Permanent Link consumed a significant amount of Heroic Mana.
Trying to Link tens of millions, or even billions of Pupu this way—even if she was willing to throw away her dignity and crawl into a Hero’s bed as a little wife—the key point was that even a single Hero wouldn’t be enough for her needs!
She couldn’t plant Hero Seeds in the ground and grow a whole batch of little Heroes the following year…
In short, the number of Heroes was limited, and the power of Heroes even more so.
Even setting aside the crucial question of “how to lock up a time-stopping Hero in a dark room and mine them day and night,” the limited resources of Heroes made it impossible for her to develop an endless race like the Tyranid Swarm.
But just now, Liya suddenly realized.
[I don’t need to Link an infinite number of Pupu. I just need to Link enough command centers!]
Just like a modern military command system, she only needed to remotely control the “Queens” of each branch, and then have the Queens command their surrounding troops.
Moreover, Queens were protected by their Summoned guards and weren’t easily killed.
In this way, limited Heroic Mana could mobilize almost unlimited Pupu.
Combine that with Transformation enhanced by the power of Heroes, and she could assemble Pupu with different functions to build a complete Magitek Industry system and produce Magitek Weapons for Pupu to use…
—Pupu Will! Kid!
Isn’t this way more exciting than being a Demon?
Demon individuals were strong in personal combat, but in terms of overall power… through a glimpse, even before Liya became Demon King, the Demons didn’t even have their own currency system.
Moreover, there was no peace within the Demons.
The First Demon Realm and Second Demon Realm were sworn enemies, the Third Demon Realm would backstab anyone for extra money, the Fourth Demon Realm routinely went mad and
slaughtered their own teammates, the Fifth Demon Realm was fickle and full of lies, and the Sixth Demon Realm equally discriminated against all living things except themselves.
Then, the six Demon Realms would team up every day to raid the Seventh Demon Realm to kidnap Succubi as Star Fury.
When this group of hidden dragons and crouching tigers were at home, Liya almost went gray with worry.
She spent every day pondering how to mediate grudges, how to unite the Demons, and how to improve the overall strength of the race… Occasionally, urgent reports from the secretary would spike her blood pressure.
But if she treated them as imaginary enemies instead…
[Pupu~]
Liya suddenly let go.
Not only did she let go, but recalling her past experiences made her laugh out loud.
After letting go, another thought burst forth in her heart like sunlight breaking through clouds: “Come to think of it, since my great Pupu people are so outstanding, why should I keep being a Demon?”
When a Run Tribe person has a change of heart, the world instantly opens up!
Excellent— from now on, this Pupu is the Pufeng Queen! As for Demon King, whoever wants it can have it! This Pupu doesn’t need it!
Thus, Liya smoothly switched national allegiances and immediately began testing the effect of Link on Pink Pupu.
As expected: Pink Pupu linked to her completely obeyed her commands, responding as naturally as her own limbs.
Aside from occasionally wanting water and instinctively hopping towards a source, they were almost like extensions of her will.
What surprised Liya most was that after linking, these Pink Pupu could also store Heroic Mana within them.
Unfortunately… they could only store it, not absorb it.
She still had to absorb and convert it herself before transferring it to them for use.
[It seems that near-death experience triggered some mysterious change in my body.]
Liya speculated inwardly.
She even suspected… In that hazy nightmare at the brink of death, when she looked down and met that huge scarlet eye, was it really just a delusion in her dreams?
[Forget it, even if it was real, thinking about it is pointless.]
Liya comforted herself.
At that moment, Jon had also finished chatting with Jonathan.
Jon said he couldn’t sit still and wanted to find something to do, asking if there was anywhere he could help.
Jonathan, however, advised Jon to learn to relax and not keep his nerves wound so tightly.
Otherwise, friends around him would find following him “unrelaxing,” and without realizing it, he’d become lonely.
Jon fell into thought.
“Friend! Friend!”
Liya couldn’t hold back anymore and popped her head out to call Jon, with a Pink Pupu ball peeking out beside her.
“What’s wrong?”
Jon quickly lowered his head to ask.
“Lili! Wants to go out and play!”
Liya declared loudly, pouting.
Jonathan saw Liya and almost didn’t recognize her.
“She’s wearing clothes now? She really looks like a little girl. Jon, your pet…”
“She’s a friend, teacher.”
Jon was afraid Liya would be upset and quickly interrupted to clarify.
Jonathan paused, then smiled, his expression turning gentle like when addressing children from the same village.
“Alright, she’s a friend. Jon, does your friend need to be fed anything? I’ll have Rocky prepare it for you.”
“Not really, I can handle it myself.”
Jon scratched Liya’s little head, carefully cradled her out, and placed her on the ground.
“Okay, go play, but don’t wander too far. Be sure to come back before dark.”
“Mm!”
Liya answered vaguely, then hugged the Linked Pink Pupu and ran off to find her other little friends.
The two mighty warriors had long since been added to the Pupu Network by Liya, making them easy to locate.
She hadn’t gone far before she found Commander Pika.
At that moment—the yellow mouse was surrounded by young women from the camp, who were curiously and gently Rua-ing it over and over.
Pupu are naturally gentle, and since the girls meant no harm, Pika didn’t use its electric counterattack.
It simply lay lazily on the ground, sipping rainwater accumulated in a shallow puddle.
Liya snapped her fingers lightly.
In the distance, “Pikachu’s” pointed ears suddenly stood up, and the entire Pupu bounced energetically, startling the girls.
It darted over to Liya, affectionately nudging and rubbing against her.
Liya grabbed its pointed ear with her slender hand, gave a gentle pull, and smoothly mounted her “horse,” her skirt fluttering like a butterfly.
Under the girls’ gazes, Liya’s graceful figure bounced further and further away on the yellow mouse’s back.
When she found the lost General Xiaohei, there was no one else around.
Liya parted the dark seam on Xiaohei’s head, took out a magic crystal, and fed it to the bewildered “Queen No. 1” bouncing behind her.
After feeding a dozen crystals, Liya propped up her little head, her beautiful eyes gleaming with eager anticipation.
She could almost see the notifications popping above No. 1’s head:
[EXP +3]
[EXP +3]
After successfully leveling No. 1 to Stage Three, Liya tested the Summon, Link, and Transformation skills that No. 1 had evolved.
Their effects were largely similar and could basically be considered extensions of her command chain.
“Unstoppable. This really works!”
Liya was overjoyed.
Pupu Queens could also use the Link skill, and if enhanced by Heroic Power, using it herself or through a Queen made little difference—they were both permanently linked to her.
Liya guessed that this was because Heroic Power had formed a binding with her… But as to why Heroic Power had bound to her, she wasn’t quite sure.
If Pink Pupu used the ordinary, non-enhanced Link skill, it would consume its own mana to temporarily extend the command chain—much like using the Pink Pupu as a WIFI transmitter to connect more “terminals” to the Pupu Network.
However, this kind of connection “drained power.”
If the Pink Pupu’s mana ran out, it would be like a WIFI transmitter losing power, causing nearby connected Pupu to lose their signal.
Pupu connected to the network could carry out more complex commands from Liya and would no longer lose control if their scent signals were blown away by the wind.
Liya calculated that with her current Heroic Power, she could permanently link twenty Pink Pupu, though the remaining magic crystals would only be enough to feed six of them to Stage Three.
[The Absorption Rate of magic crystals is still too low.]
[Whether it’s developing Magitek Industry or nurturing Pupu, I desperately need a sustainable source of mana…]
Liya sighed inwardly.
This was also part of the reason why some magic crystals accumulated.
Magic crystals had an Absorption Rate issue—different types of magic beasts produced crystals with varying suitability for absorption.
Some were easy to absorb, others were not, making the latter harder to sell.
On the other hand, absorbing a magic crystal of a non-matching Attribute would greatly lower the Absorption Rate.
Most Pupu could absorb magic crystals with water plus some special Attribute, but Pink Pupu were even more particular and could only absorb Water Attribute magic crystals.
But Water Attribute happened to be a hot commodity—supply was short and prices were high.
“I have to solve the ‘energy’ problem soon…”
Liya rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.