Chapter 77

"Pila, what does your family do? You said your dream was to move your family to the terrarium with the front number... If you come as the 28th, I can accept you. Our terrarium is completely empty, so we desperately need people."

"Truly a bizarre terrarium. How does the World Tree's branch maintain itself without people? Oh... No, I shouldn't ask anymore. I'm so curious, but the amount of diamonds you keep offering seems to be telling me to shut up."

Loop ran out of Pila's lab to fetch the contract form.

"My sister is a druid... and my parents run a small restaurant. Compared to Loop's family... well..."

"Perfect. When Loop's family moves, they'll need to survive, right? But can they farm? The 28th terrarium will have a hard time with food supplies."

"Should we start worrying about that? They do tend to their garden... but I'm not sure about farming. Maybe our family isn't the best fit?"

"No, no, for food supplies, we should establish trade routes with other terrariums. As I said, we need people who can do productive work. Of course, they'll have to find their own place to live."

Since only dryads live in the terrarium now, we didn't worry about food supplies, but if people move in, things will be different.

Even though a large amount of diamonds was exchanged, the Elder remained quiet, so I looked back suspiciously. At this point, he should have jumped out annoyingly, right? I saw Mesquite smiling kindly and the Elder deliberately ignoring me.

"My master, Jay. I've warned the young Elder. He shouldn't interfere with Jay's work when important matters are discussed in human society."

Indeed, my angel... my Mesquite...

Pila said that the 42nd terrarium was in better condition than Loop's, so she would consult with her family and let me know. But the 28th terrarium is a dream location, so she was confident of a positive response.

Loop brought her research and the contract form. After signing the contract and the transfer documents, I finally checked what the research was.

It was... a parasite...

"Oh, I forgot to mention."

As soon as I removed the cloth covering the glass jar, Mesquite swallowed a scream and hid behind her back, and Pila calmly said,

"Loop is a specialist in insect alchemy. She's quite skilled in this field."

I couldn't believe that the thread-like creatures swimming in the transparent liquid in the glass jar cost 4,000 diamonds.

This was the first time I had seen a living, wriggling parasite. I had seen them in movies or videos where they were extracted from red flesh, but...

What did I buy with my money? Even with an infinite supply of diamonds, I found myself contemplating rational consumption.

"Perhaps you don't like my research? Oh, I haven't explained it properly yet."

Loop, seeing my shocked expression, was anxious that I might have given a below-expectation judgment on her research. She had received many good conditions for transferring her research and was worried it might all be in vain.

She tapped the glass jar containing the parasites. The thread-like parasites swam around, trying to avoid the vibrations from her fingertips.

"They're still lively, even though I haven't fed them for a while due to lack of money."

I wanted to give her a thumbs up for her nonchalance, as if she were talking to a pet. After confirming that the parasites were still in good condition, or rather, that their market value hadn't dropped, she straightened up and tidied her clothes.

"Loop, 1st-class researcher of the 18th terrarium alchemy tower! I will now present my invention!"

When she entered the lab, she looked haggard, but with her invention by her side, her eyes sparkled like when I offered 5,000 diamonds.

"My invention, 'Loop Parasite 5,' or 'LP 5' for short, meets all four criteria of the best alchemy parasites by the master of insect alchemy, Erwin, and has a special feature."

"It's not easy to meet all four criteria. In that sense, Loop is truly remarkable, and her invention is the best, except for the high maintenance costs, Elder."

Pila chimed in, and I saw a parent boasting about their child at a school festival. I noticed one corner of Loop's mouth curling up.

"First, adaptability. My LP 5 can parasitize any host organism!"

"Of course, it can also be used on my invented wasps without any issues."

"Second, regenerative ability. My LP 5 can quickly recover from injuries or infections!"

"Elder, it's almost impossible to kill with regular medicine. Do you believe that Loop poured an entire bottle of bathroom cleaner into the jar during the presentation? You can still smell the pungent chemicals."

Indeed, I noticed a smell similar to bleach when I got close to the jar.

"Third, breeding control. My LP 5 can only reproduce when the user wants it to. This allows for excellent population control, preventing misuse and maintaining rarity!"

"It's really challenging. Parasites created by insect alchemists like Loop need to make specific hosts perform specific actions and survive for a long time. Alchemy parasites are so robust and reproduce so quickly that they often deplete the host's nutrients and destroy it. If you make the parasite weaker, its regenerative ability drops, and if you limit the host, its adaptability decreases."

Loop glared at Pila, as if telling her to stop interrupting. Pila, who had been lecturing like an insect alchemy teacher, shut her mouth.

"Lastly, responsiveness. The host can be perfectly controlled according to the parasite's purpose. My LP 5 has special features in breeding control and responsiveness."

It must be the climax. I was so absorbed by Loop's confident attitude that I was ready to clap.

"The special ability of my LP 5 is the transfer and infection of 'purpose'!"

"Huh? What's that?"

Pila, who had been watching Loop's reaction, jumped in.

"Elder, you didn't like that my wasps eat other bees, right? If you use Loop's parasites, the wasps will stop predating and start infecting other bees!"

"What would you use it for? Infection?"

I just wanted wasps... why keep evolving them? What does infection mean? Are you going to make them sick?

"First, my wasps will stop predating and instead attack other bees to spread the parasites. When the bees are attacked by the wasps, they will be infected with Loop's parasites, which will follow the original 'purpose.' To train this 'purpose,' you need to feed them, which is why the maintenance costs are high."

Loop avoided my gaze when I mentioned the maintenance costs.

What Pila was saying sounded like... a zombie virus. Super zombie wasps that infect and control... I ended up with wasps that not only had all sorts of strange features but also carried parasites. And they were going into my smartphone!

"Elder, what 'purpose' do you think would be the most impressive? What would be the most commercial? If you can control other bees without killing them, wouldn't that be a huge success? To train a high-level 'purpose,' you'll need a lot of food. The parasites are so simple that they can't learn more than one 'purpose.' I recommend distorting the message the bees carry, making all messages the same word."

"It sounds like spam emails. Infected spam emails..."

"For example, a message like 'Meet me at the square for lunch today' would be changed to 'Pila is the best alchemist.'"

"Don't use my LP 5 for such trivial things."

Pila shrank back at Loop's reprimand. It was entertaining to see her cower like a scared hamster at every small action of Loop's.

"Okay, it's better than controlling all the bees... Do you have to implant the 'purpose' now?"

"You can do it later if you want. You can change it anytime to what the user desires. Just remember that the previous 'purpose' will be lost, and the derived parasites' 'purpose' will also change."

It was both disgusting and fascinating. At this point, it felt more like the Trojan horse virus that wrecked my computer when I was young.

"Elder, can I start my research now? I want to integrate Loop's parasites into my wasps quickly! Just to let you know, the breeding control of the parasites only works on the same species of bees. More detailed target setting or targeting other organisms is impossible. If you want to expand, I can do more research..."

"Ah, just do it. Only for bees. Do it roughly and quickly."

"How will you do the feeding training? If you've decided, I need to go and get the food..."

"By the way, what do the parasites eat? Why are the maintenance costs so high?"

Please, don't make it more disgusting. Please. I don't want to lose all my interest and have to look for other wasps.

"Actually, to make the regenerative ability strong and the breeding control robust, I used the power of the World Tree... The parasites won't even look at anything else unless it's part of the World Tree... I used to feed them potions, but it was too much to handle..."

"...Part of the World Tree?"

"Yes, they eat anything that has fallen from the World Tree. Potions are ultimately sap... I didn't think it would work, but since there were successful cases, I tried it and succeeded..."

From my experience, anything related to the World Tree is extremely expensive.

But more importantly, isn't the World Tree a sacred entity in this world? You fed its parts to these parasites? Even dryads are born from the World Tree...