The Hermit Crab Overlord's Military Consulting

The key to running industrial-scale agriculture is one thing above all.

Sustainable farming. And that turns out to be ridiculously difficult.

First of all, there's a limit to the land's fertility—in other words, the nutrients the soil can hold.

Fritz Haber was a bastard who created poison gas and slaughtered millions, yet he still received the Nobel Prize and is hailed as a great man simply for inventing chemical fertilizer.

Why? Because thanks to that fertilizer, Earth's population exploded from one billion to over eight billion, and it looks like it could easily support ten billion or more.

Good grief. He's even more of a son of a bitch than I thought. He already multiplied ten billion intelligent beings by ten times?

“Even someone like me knows that growing too many plants will eventually exhaust the land’s fertility.”

“I’ve been raising the land’s level using Mihun and Sesaisa’s methods. But since you, Wahando, are closer to me than those two, we’ll do this in a more life-friendly way.”

I’m not a chemist, so I don’t know how to make fertilizer, and I have no idea whether Fritz Haber’s method could even be replicated with this ancient-era technology. Probably not. Unless we use magic, that is.

But I do know about eco-friendly farming methods, sustainable agriculture, and ways to restore soil fertility.

“What’s the method?”

“The simplest way is to plant crops that actually increase fertility.”

“Are you joking? You just said growing plants consumes fertility.”

“No. There really are plants that increase fertility. If you’re willing to accept lower yields, you can sustain it almost permanently.”

The classic example is beans. More precisely, the root nodule bacteria that live in legumes.

These bacteria produce nitrogen—the nutrient plants desperately need—in the form of ammonia. In exchange, they suck nutrients from the plant, while the plant uses the ammonia to grow. That’s why growing beans restores the land’s fertility.

“I can create those root nodule bacteria and legume plants right away. Your race only eats meat, so you won’t need them, but my original species could eat those beans too.”

“Huh. It seems my world never had anything like that.”

“That’s possible. Or maybe you just never noticed. But we can’t stop here. We need to introduce even better farming techniques.”

Things like the Three Sisters method used by the indigenous people of Mesoamerica.

It’s simple: you plant corn, beans, and squash all at the same time.

The corn provides a natural trellis for the beans to climb.

The beans fix nitrogen in the soil, helping the corn and squash thrive.

The squash spreads wide leaves that shade the ground, retain moisture, and suppress weeds.

And best of all—corn, beans, and squash are all edible for humans. This method is so incredibly efficient that it guarantees continuous production at levels you’d never believe were possible before chemical fertilizers.

We would adapt this harmonious style of farming using combinations of livestock feed crops.

“Can your species truly not eat plants at all?”

“Grass is for animals.”

“Then we’ll use them purely as livestock feed. Taste doesn’t matter—focus on cultivation efficiency and fertility preservation. These are essentially military supplies, so manage them well.”

Fortunately, Wahando’s world already had several useful plants. There were even some he had deliberately created as food for his land hermit crabs. These things eat soft stone and soil just to make their shells? They really are similar to the Dessert Legion.

With the convenient mechanism of magic and the enormous administrative power of Wahando’s world, it was possible to implement sophisticated and thorough agricultural planning. That meant we could go beyond simple three-crop combinations and use four or five or more.

First: Crops that condense atmospheric mana and infuse it into the soil. Nothing too fancy, but they also serve as natural supports.

Second: Crops that consume the land’s mana to produce nitrogen compounds and other nutrients. Essentially magical plants.

Third: Protein-rich plants that form symbiotic relationships with root nodule bacteria and raise soil fertility. I made sure the hermit crabs could eat these too.

Fourth: Stem-fruit crops that consume massive amounts of fertility and grow explosively. I shaped them like gourds that climb along the ground and stems, hanging in heavy clusters.

Fifth: Famine-relief type plants whose leaves and roots regulate field humidity and temperature. Most importantly, they grow aggressively no matter how poor the soil, how much water there is, how dry it gets, how cold or hot it becomes. Even in the worst-case scenario where farming fails completely, they at least leave something for the livestock to eat.

We combined these five. Since the world already had all the necessary materials, proper hybridization and selective breeding made it entirely feasible.

The only problem was that management was insanely difficult. But thanks to Wahando’s insane politics and the meticulous hermit crab workers, they succeeded in implementing this five-crop polyculture system that required near-artistic labor and almost pathological attention to detail.

The massively produced crops were then fed in bulk to the livestock. I’d worried the crops and animals might not be compatible, but they apparently tasted good—the creatures devoured them greedily and grew fat.

And when Wahando’s people tried eating the livestock raised this way, they burst into continuous exclamations of amazement. It seemed far more delicious than anything they’d eaten before.

Wahando raised both claws toward me, acknowledging the dramatic rise in culture and the insane increase in food production.

“I’ll just take the sentiment.”

Anyway, I understood why he was so ridiculously happy. And it seemed he also understood that he had received an absurd amount of world contribution points from me—close to several million points.

Now it was time to receive the consulting service from the ‘Overlord of Shurado.’ I moved with Wahando into my own ecosystem.

I had already twisted the terrain a bit according to his earlier instructions, but Wahando had even more demands: how to arrange the coral, where to place the mountains and valleys, how to make the wetlands longer and more complex, and so on.

But since none of it sounded logically wrong, I followed his orders and reshaped my world into the single most infuriating terrain possible for any invading civilized army to break through.

“So that was about thirty percent of the consulting. What’s the rest that’s supposed to boost my military strength by around two hundred and seventy percent?”

“It’s similar to what you gave me. First, ‘unit types.’ Second, ‘knowledge.’ No matter how I look at it, you know absolutely nothing about military strategy.”

That’s a bit harsh. I mean, I’m not exactly a military otaku, but still.

“From what I’ve heard, you’re planning to deploy your troops like this, correct?

Phase 1. Candy + Bisyakheet + Repair Gamchi + the Majesty of Yogur-tosoth

Phase 2. Carnivorous Bread + Carnivorous Pudding + Sugar Lumps

Phase 3. Dark Rim + Caramel Camel + Yogurt.

And once the dimensional passage opens, you dump swarms of Gamchi along with jellies and bread to completely devastate the enemy world’s farmland. Is that right?”

That’s what I did during the seventh collision. It got a bit messy midway when Tademoira got mixed in, though.

“Yeah, that’s right?”

“The order in which you deploy your forces is completely wrong. I’ll explain while introducing the new unit types I’m adding. Biin. What is the first phase of war?”

Even I have at least heard of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

“First is reconnaissance. You have to know the enemy to win.”

“Correct. However, while your creatures are tough, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they completely fail to utilize any information gained from scouting. Those Repair Gamchi you send in phase one are your scouts, not the Dessert Legion’s scouts.”

When I thought about it, he was right. The Gamchi’s reconnaissance doesn’t determine the Dessert Legion’s movements. I’m the only one who learns about the enemy world.

“But the Gamchi can’t speak. Their intelligence isn’t high enough to give detailed reports either.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

What kind of nonsense is that? I thought, but Wahando continued.

“The second phase of war is to attack once reconnaissance confirms the enemy is weaker than you. So think about what ‘the enemy is weaker than you’ actually means.”

……?

“It means fewer numbers. War is ultimately fought with numbers. The standard is to engage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when the enemy has fewer troops than you.”

“Ah…… yeah, that makes sense. But I told you the Gamchi can’t report back?”

Wahando slammed his claw against the ground.

“You dense fool. The Gamchi don’t need to report anything.”

“???”

“They simply need to swarm and circle around the enemy in proportion to the enemy’s numbers and strength. That way, at the very least, the Martial Sugar Lumps—who can count and understand numerical superiority—can see the new numbers and launch a surprise attack.”

“!!!”

When I heard that, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself.

Bees dance to tell their hive-mates the distance and location of flower patches.

And highly intelligent birds like crows cooperate with wolves to hunt prey they can’t take down alone. They act like trained falcons, signaling the location of prey so the wolves can hunt, then share in the meal.

It had already existed in nature. I knew how to apply it militarily, but I had never connected the dots.

“Also, the Dark Rim can substitute for heavy infantry, and the Caramel Camel for heavy cavalry. First, shape the terrain to your advantage and deploy the sturdy Dark Rim. Then send in the Caramel Camels in sequence.

With powerful ground forces attacking both vegetation and people and devouring them, you should operate the Martial Sugar Lumps and Gamchi to follow the heavy cavalry camels.

Caramel Camels have excellent eyesight and extremely tall necks. They should be able to respond to the Gamchi’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠movements—attacking, retreating, or leading the herd. They can act as commanders.

The ‘Candy’ should be scattered afterward. They seem like light cavalry, but what kind of idiot charges light cavalry head-on?

Once the infantry forms the anvil, the cavalry must become the hammer. And light cavalry like the Candy are most effective once the enemy formation has collapsed, so they should be deployed later. Why on earth are you putting Candy in phase one?”

There was nothing logically wrong with any of it. It wasn’t even that hard to adjust.

“Next, I’ll explain how to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠operate the Magic Sugar Lumps rather than the Martial ones. The Magic Sugar Lumps seem capable of memorizing many things and transmitting knowledge. You’re recruiting from Tademoira, right? If you can create various plants, make flowers that lure the jellies and have them carry those around.”

“Why?”

“Because jellies are fundamentally ‘creatures that emit mana.’ In other words, after the Magic Sugar Lumps pour magic onto the enemy and run low on mana, they can go near the jellies to replenish it. That way the Magic Sugar Lumps can keep casting spells continuously.”

Use the jellies as supply units?

“Also, the slow but tough Magic Sugar Lumps seem to have a habit of defending territory, so you’ve only been using them as garrison troops. Instead, send them into the enemy world, have them hide in quiet places, and cast magic. The magic they should use is space-time magic.

No matter how strong Yogur-tosoth is, having him open dimensional gates and spray magic all by himself is too much of a burden. The Magic Sugar Lumps, who excel at base defense, should act as beacons to make it easier for Yogur-tosoth to cross into the enemy world.”

Good grief. That works too?

Of course. The Magic Sugar Lumps could learn space-time magic. I had never even considered the idea of summoning Yogur-tosoth from inside the enemy world using them.

“The Magic Sugar Lumps must more aggressively destroy the enemy’s mystery zones, feed them to the jellies, and make them emit pure mana.

No matter how you look at it, half of your world’s combat power comes from Yogur-tosoth. For this to be a proper fight, that Yogur-tosoth needs to smash the enemy world as quickly as possible.

Instead of waiting for the dimensional rift, you must actively shape the environment.”

Wahando gave me three or four more strategies that even “a monkey-brained idiot could understand.”

There were new unit types that needed to be added, things I could implement immediately, but… he had clearly suffered so much from his subordinates that he built strategies under the assumption that they were complete morons.

“To summarize, instead of simply mixing strong and weak units, you must divide your forces into proper branches—scouts, infantry, cavalry, archers, engineers, and so on.”

“I don’t have archers.”

“You have an air force instead. Whether archers or artillery, their role is ultimately to strike the enemy from a safe distance where they can’t be attacked.

Bisyakheet fight in close range, but they essentially perform the same role as archers or artillery. They are living, moving shells that accurately fall on target points to carry out massacre and destruction.”

“……!”

“And you must link the aforementioned scouts with the Bisyakheet. For that, use the Bisyakheet’s sense of smell. The scouts that inform the enemy’s numbers and strength should emit intense but low-cost signals proportional to the enemy’s power. The best is to release olfactory signals along with flow.

Also, the swarm Gamchi are surprisingly intelligent. Does it make sense to simply let them eat grain on their own? Listen. While consulting you on livestock feed, I learned something about plant-based supply…”

Endless military strategies poured out. Knowledge that I could have come up with myself if I had just thought about it.

Rather than secret techniques, most of what Wahando shared were things like, “Looking at the creatures you have, why aren’t you doing at least this much?”

After receiving an enormous amount of military advice, I was left speechless.

Thank goodness I could remember all of this with my divine ability. I should write it down and keep using it as a military manual.

“That’s all. Angel. My advice is finished, so could you compare our contribution points?”

“This fucking… crab boss bastard……”

“Hah! I don’t know what that means, but being called boss sounds like a compliment to me.”

I felt utterly miserable. No matter how I thought about it, this was…….

I had expected this.

At least the difference wasn’t too bad. Since one contribution point equaled four points, it was effectively only an eighty-thousand-point gap in contribution.

“So, Biin. Will you pay in points?”

That would mean goodbye to my Mythic trait.

“……No. I’ll provide resources from my ecosystem according to the price list you gave me last time. Even after paying off the debt, I’ll give you another three hundred thousand points’ worth, so sell it to other worlds as you see fit.”

“Selling at more than half discount? I’m endlessly grateful. I’ll gladly accept.”

In the end, although I was the one receiving points, only Wahando’s mood improved. He would probably use the received materials to trade with other players or further strengthen his own world’s military power.

Well…… fine. Either way, the military consulting was excellent.

In the next collision, no matter who shows up, I’ll crush them with a Dessert Legion of one million military strength.