Chapter 17: I Thought It Was Time to Play City Tycoon
But even so, we didn't have a way to immediately boost the population en masse right here.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't like we had zero options...
"Elena, how about we round up some citizens, turn their bodies into living hives, and crank up the birth rate?"
"The moment you do that, you'll get a front-row seat to the Heisenberg City government and citizens staging a last stand."
"Ugh, yeah, figured as much."
"And even if you crush the backlash in Heisenberg City, you can't completely seal off the info. The planetary government would orbital-strike us into oblivion on the spot."
"Oof."
"So, as much as I hate to say it, if you're dead set on that, I recommend conquering a planetary system first, then setting up a secret base on some asteroid."
"Oh, you're not actually stopping me?"
"It's the easiest, most convenient way to build up forces later on. Besides, you're not the type to be stopped just because I say so, Doctor."
"Heh."
For boosting the 'birth rate,' the quickest, most effective mass-cloning plan via citizen hives came with a dire warning.
The second we tried it, we'd be wiped out by orbital bombardment from planetary government ships—not even bullets, but spaceships in the void.
So, I shelved the 'make up for losses by breeding' meta.
It was still too early for that.
Time for other methods.
But excluding those extreme options, the rest—like luring in settlers or crafting policies—were total mysteries to me.
"Doctor, this is about the current resident welfare policies for the city."
"Ughhhh."
"FYI, this is the draft report for the Empire, and this one's the budget review for the Heisenberg City resident attraction plan."
"Bluh... bluhbluh?"
"You're broken."
Anything involving paperwork especially fried my brain.
To avoid a catastrophe from meddling in the unknown, I delegated full authority to Elena and Mayor Impedo.
Of course, if anyone saw this, they'd say, 'And you're supposed to be a villain org exec? Where's your ambition?'
"Doctor! At this rate, outsiders might think Elena the inspector—er, assistant—or the mayor is the real boss, not you, the branch chief and imperial governor!"
"Yeah, but nothing's riskier than an idiot poking at stuff they don't understand."
"Pardon?"
"It's like when a dumb lab tech asks for Reagent A during an experiment, you give 'em B, and boom—everything explodes."
"..."
Then and now, the scariest thing isn't the do-nothing slacker.
It's the 'incompetent but hyperactive' type.
No way was I becoming that.
Let the experts handle it.
Of course, while Elena and the city council hustled on the legit stuff, I wasn't just sitting around eating rice.
I only avoided the legal, mundane policies.
In my expertise? I went all out.
For example, the labor shortage from population drop.
*Squish squish... Pffft!*
"Grurrr."
"Kreeeak!"
"I thought you were making Chimera soldiers, but these are clones."
"Uh, yeah, but... are they really intelligent enough for labor?"
"They're fresh out—vocal cords not fully formed, brain data still sorting. Give 'em a few minutes; they'll be fine."
Using the bio-clone facility from Demonia Empire support gear, patched up somehow.
For heavy machinery jobs too tough for manpower?
"Go, Chimera-mon! Body slam!"
"...?"
"Ah, sorry— not body slam, lift it up!"
"Chi... Chime-chime...?"
"No need to humor the doctor's weird antics, soldier."
I deployed Chimera soldiers that could solo 3-4 armed adult Red Scourge grunts—or ten at once.
They handled heavy equipment roles with their superior physiques, wrapping up the shortages neatly.
Plus, I rounded up my direct Red Scourge ferals from the wilds outside, moved 'em near the city.
Spread their territory wide to deter other rampaging swarms from hitting us.
And when I had spare time, inventions or jury-rigged old fusion reactors supplied some city power.
I threw everything I had into fortifying the city's defenses.
Oh, and yeah, the thought crossed my mind: why not just clone-spam the population?
But before asking Elena, I checked the gallery.
Unfortunately, the veterans shut down the easy-mode exploit cold.
I sighed in regret, but hey—despite the reality, it still felt like a game sometimes.
Weird 'game balance' kicking in at odd spots.
Go figure.
Truth be told, all those measures barely held the status quo.
Another week passed.
Humid heat hit our continental chunk, AC blasting full tilt.
That's when it dropped.
"Doctor, one good news, one bad. Which first?"
"Can't it just be good news...?"
Elena, rocking her 'functional uniform' (read: gacha-game sexy skin) suited for summer sweat.
I braced for doom, starting with the good to soften the blow.
Didn't help.
"Population crisis averted. 30,000 'citizens' just migrated in."
"What the—? Well, glad my week's groaning is over."
"And the bad news tied to that: they fled because a nearby pioneer city collapsed."
"...Huh?"
"A city three times Heisenberg's size crumbled under Red Scourge infiltrators and assorted disasters."
"Ehhh?!"
Just when it felt like City Tycoon time, reality hit: a massive Red Scourge horde dwarfing the one we nommed 10 days ago.
The bigger city fell, refugees flooding us and neighbors.
Suddenly, population was the least of our worries.