Lily walked out of the tunnels she had made, observing the Savage Land stretching before her, its untamed beauty rich with potential and lurking dangers; just in the time she had spent evolving she had already lost around 20 of the worker units she had made due to lurking danger.
But she also gathered quite a few of the prehistoric flora and fauna that she could get her hands on; so she just needed to devour them and gain attributes from them.
The strange blend of ancient flora and prehistoric creatures offered an abundant array of resources, though she knew her mass reserves needed careful management because of her plans.
She currently had around 54000 mass, while that may seem like a lot it was not nearly enough for the nest she had envisioned, she wanted a nest that stretched across this entire land.
She wanted to conquer it all, and eventually, she would but for now, she had to start small.
With her evolution she unlocked a new type of unit that she could make, she deemed them 'building units'. As the name would suggest these were units that were essentially living buildings, for the most part, they couldn't move after being made but they had useful functions.
There were eight in total she could make right now, and while she couldn't make most of them and wouldn't go through them for the time being, there were two that she wanted to make from the start.
It was wiser to use her mass in a small but significant way that would benefit her from the start; so after considering her options carefully and getting a scope of the land, she came to a conclusion.
First, the Breeding Spire.
As the name would suggest, it was the backbone of her hive and a structure that would allow her to nurture new units and adapt existing ones at a faster rate, without her needing to personally do it.
It would cost her 16,000 mass, a significant amount from what she currently had, but one that would allow her to ensure steady growth and reinforce her hive in the coming days.
Given the dangers of the landscape, this was a much-needed insurance.
The second choice was a more pragmatic one, as she would need mass to fuel her expansion, and so the Harvesting Well was a necessary choice.
This structure would use the natural material around it and provided to it, breaking down materials and converting them into mass for her and her hive. And at 10,000 Mass, it was an investment that would ensure she never depleted her resources again.
Plus it would provide mass to the other buildings without her needing to do so herself.
With her decision made, she made her way back into the tunnels and found a good chamber to make the buildings. Taking a deep breath, feeling the surge of her ability within her, weaving her will into something tangible and alive.
The blackish goo leaked from her body and began to form before her. She could feel her Mass reserves depleting quickly as she poured her resources into the construction of the new units. The black goo bubbled and twisted, like a living mass it changed and molded over and over again until it formed a large structure that seemingly melded into the wall.
In the end, it formed a large mass that looked like flesh and bones; with tendrils going into the ground and walls around it. t seemed to move with rhythmic breathing, as if alive.
With the Harvesting Well formed; she could feel it connected to her instantly, and while it didn't provide a lot at once, every few seconds she could feel a few mass be provided to her; in tune with the building's breathing pattern.
Next, she decided to move on to the Breeding Spire, for this one she planned to place it deeper within the tunnels so that outside forces couldn't reach it easily.
Ordering the Worker Units to make a new chamber, a large one, she planned to put it into a massive chamber, where she would building multiple Spires in one to turn it into a breeding ground.
After a few minutes, the chamber had been made and she began to make the Breeding Spire; just like with the previous one it formed as a black goo that molded and took shape, eating away at her mass as she did leaving her with barely anything.
In the end, the structure looked almost like a weird marshland with flesh and eggs; it had weird bone-like pillars and flesh pools with what looked like eggs and holes in them. These were the spawning points for the units that would be made, with the flesh pools being the mass stored.
She could feel her connection to it established the second it was completed, she could install various genetic codes and capabilities and then set the Spire to automatically breed Hive Units; be it workers, scouts, hunting, and so on.
This would be a large bonus to her swarm, and saying she was satisfied when she made both would be an understatement.
A deep satisfaction settled within her, a sense of progress that strengthened her resolve; with these two structures, she was no longer just existing here— she was establishing her foothold.
These two structures would mark the beginning, allowing her to grow her hive steadily while planning her future in the Savage Land; she had already made contact with some of the local wildlife and even tribes through her scouts, but she didn't interact further with them just yet.
She planned to however do so soon, at the very least she wanted to have a solid foothold within the Savage Lands before later June, as she wanted to leave around that time.
From her memories, something important would happen, and she needed her main body to be there for that.
With the rough estimate of the day being May 18th, she had roughly 20 days to do what she planned.
Stepping back, she allowed herself a moment to savor the scene, free from distracting thoughts of the future, then moved on; time to meet the locals.