Episode 10: So, Roughly How's This Damn World Flowing? (Part 1)

Anyway, after receiving a building as compensation from the Heisenberg City government—the official name for this pioneer city—the situation was, well, what can I say.

Unlike quite a few users who still hadn't built proper branches and were living nomadic lives aboard their spaceships,

I'd been lucky from the start, managing to set up a branch in a real city, even if it was small. At least, that's what I figured.

-BOOM!!

"Enemy attack?!"

"Doctor, are you okay?!"

"Ah~ sorrysorry~ I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just blew something up during an experiment!"

"……."

"D-Doctor, your body's been cut in half!"

"Kyaaah!"

Every now and then, minor experiment accidents would split my body in two. Pain was blocked in advance, so it didn't hurt,

but still.

"……Doctor, what the heck is that?"

"I was testing a drug, but I accidentally mixed it up with my drink. And then this grew right out."

"Wait, a drug that changes genes and gender? If something like that exists, we could sell it and make the branch filthy rich."

"I told you, it was a mistake during testing. So it wasn't a full gender or gene swap—just this grew."

"……."

Unintentionally chugging the wrong drug turned me from a TS beauty into a TS beauty with a dick.

Besides that, there were the usual awkward vibes from moving into a new house, but…

Despite all these incidents and accidents, nothing truly dangerous happened. So my subordinates, the city folk, and the administration all went,

'Ah, I get what these weirdos are about now.'

It was enough for everyone to understand each other fully.

About three days after receiving the building, settling in, and getting congratulatory wreaths from the city government and others for our grand reopening.

-Squirm squirm squirm wriggle crunch slurp

"Yep, nice and peaceful!"

"Doctor, you're buried in that monster you made to replicate a Red Scourge bio-nest, and you call this 'peaceful'?"

"What's the big deal? Our baby's not biting, so it's fine, right?"

"……Sigh."

The bioweapon I'd been culturing for experiments went berserk, hugging me like I was its mom and wrapping my whole body in something gooey.

Setting aside these minor hiccups, things were problem-free. I decided this meant we'd properly settled in.

And with this peaceful setup, all the miscellaneous issues sorted out…

"Anyway, putting that aside, Doctor. The Empire heard our report and sent additional support."

"Oho?"

"It's customized for you—mostly funds and supplies to solidify our grip on the city, plus about 50 custom test subjects for making Chimeras."

"Oh yeah, perfect timing!"

While that tentacle monster—what used to be a bio-nest—kneaded my whole body, slimy tendrils or flesh bits worming between my fingers and toes,

Elena must've reported our achievements properly to HQ.

We'd arrived on that ship, now treated as our ultimate weapon and deterrent, parked idly at the city spaceport.

A spaceship about the same size—100 meters—zipped down from orbit, air-dropped massive cargo containers of supplies onto our rooftop, and zoomed off.

In less than a week in this mystery game world (or whatever!), I'd gone from nothing to a building owner (sorta).

It had a rural vibe, but we'd planted roots in the city. Even though I knew zilch about this stuff,

I felt all sentimental, wiping my nose with my mechanical arm instead of my bound limbs.

Feeling settled, and with Elena and the subordinates sorting the supplies,

the giant bioweapon that had restrained me finally had its fun and shrank—defying physics—into a 4-5cm marimo ball in the little tank on my office desk.

While they handled things, I figured it was time to check the world's backstory and lore.

I should've done it right after arriving, but I'd been too busy.

Of course, dragging busy Elena into it would've earned me dead eyes and a "Don't you have a heart?" glare.

With some human conscience left, I sprinkled nutrient pellets into the tank for my rolling marimo "long boy,"

then fired up the gallery—which had grown nicely—and scavenged for neat lore dumps.

Unlike day one, over the three days, some gallery jerks caused nasty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠incidents—like terrorists wrecking other users' branches on the same planet,

or political backstabbers targeting newbies and vets alike, getting caught and booted.

Even multi-level marketing scams recruiting other users as subs got exposed.

Humanity-lacking idiots soured the mood a bit,

but the culprits all got wrecked, so things had chilled out.

By the time I checked the gallery, the last three days' drama had settled nicely.

"Hm."

Seeing this truly peaceful vibe, I felt confident enough to toss out some questions.