Bear as Many as You Kill

Anyway, we'd somehow managed to gobble up the largest Red Scourge hive currently on Milano-V in one fell swoop.

"Oh, right, Elena. How widespread are the Red Scourge on this planet, roughly speaking?"

"At least a million strong."

"Got it. If the planetary government doesn't step in soon, things could get dicey."

"It's not the planetary government's problem. If we're not careful, we could get dragged in too."

Truth be told, on the scale of the entire planet, that hive was just a drop in the bucket—barely worth mentioning.

After all, we'd rescued the pioneer group from the Red Scourge raid, and on top of that, we'd provided supplies and test subjects like a true giving tree.

Now, with the newly joined hive in tow, we decided to break out of this massive encirclement and head to a proper city.

Of course, before that, a perfectly reasonable question popped into my head: Wait, aren't we the bad guys? Can we just waltz into another city?

"No need to worry about that. In the early stages of planetary colonization, cities will accept anyone who brings something useful."

"Hmm."

"Of course, space monsters like the Red Scourge are off-limits due to the risk—they're shot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on sight."

"But we're planning to feed and house them here anyway, so no need to sweat that."

"Exactly. And, if I may say so, most of our people are just ordinary pioneers anyway. From the city government's perspective, we'll blend right in with the settlers."

"Oh ho."

Surprisingly, Elena assured me this wouldn't be an issue at all.

Just to be safe, while leading the destroyer with the pioneers toward the city, I cross-checked on the gallery.

Every comment backed up Elena's words, so I figured no further comment needed.

And sure enough.

We headed to the nearest city with our roughly 5,000 pioneer refugees.

"Welcome! We're still colonizing, so the more people, the better."

"Is that so?! Lucky us!"

"Also, after negotiations with the city administration, we're establishing an official Demonia Empire branch here, separate from the ship."

"Ooh!"

The city government welcomed us with open arms, quickly distributing our new friends throughout the city.

Seeing that, I couldn't help but think...

I'm no SF expert, but usually when 'pioneers' and 'cities' mix like this, one side rejects the other and chaos ensues.

Or at least, internal strife slows things down, right?

Curious if others wondered the same, I checked the gallery.

"Oh ho, so that's how the system's built."

With everyone saying it's always been this way, just relax and enjoy—I let out a small sigh of relief, no extra worries needed.

Meanwhile, our destroyer was parked in the city spaceport hangar.

We watched the onboard labs and facilities get moved to city-provided buildings for remodeling.

To the pioneer city, we weren't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just dozens or hundreds—we'd brought over 5,000 'people'. They were thrilled.

"Doctor, the city government offered part of their biometrics database as extra compensation."

"Really?"

"Yes. Given our contribution's size, they offered more rewards. I asked for that."

"Perfect! Excellent work!"

I couldn't negotiate, so our trusty assistant/inspector/adjutant Elena Vermouth handled it masterfully.

Snagging extra rewards like that, we had a sweet time.

Hey, even this was a solid win. Immense satisfaction.