An hour passed, and with it, the perimeter fence was completed. Made of beige segmented chitin, the wall reached high enough to prevent the Devil’s Curs from leaping over. The front section had a gate built into it, and mock hinges allowed for a door to be fashioned. The gatehouse was pinned together by two small towers that ended in more of the dog-turrets that Kenny used in his carriage form.

  “Hm, if I’m going to be reusing that design,” Kenny said as he tapped his chin, the two turrets twitching as they came to life and quickly killed the few Starspawn in range. “Then I best come up with a specific name for them.”

  As he thought, tendrils were stretched from his back as most of his mind was busy building his Hive. Thankfully, the Harvester Beast came back to deposit more victims to convert into biomass. A few of Kenny’s tendrils reached down into the dirt between the Gatehouse and the Digestion Pit, and quickly dug two thin lines connecting the two. Hollow cylinders were made from Kenny’s memories of pipes, their insides covered in Qi to ensure that the clean water flowing through them wouldn’t become contaminated.

  The other one was prepared to deliver the Gatehouse’s sewage back to the Pit, while a third, smaller pipe was laid out. That one’s insides were covered in the tiny Threads to carry Qi Stones to the …Artie class Turrets at the top of the Gatehouse.

  “Yeah, Artie is a good name,” Kenny said as Alexandra returned with her haul.

  “A good name for what?” Alexandra asked as she tossed her couple of dozen Hatchet Hens into the Pit. “Also nice gatehouse. You might want to spawn another Harvester Beast and start designing an actual combat minion.”

  Kenny pointed up at the Artie turrets atop his Gatehouse as Alexandra avoided his Tendrils, replacing the dirt and chitin tiles, before they moved on to the other cardinal directions to lay out more infrastructure.

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  “I’m naming that type of bio-turret after my childhood dog, Artie,” Kenny said.

  Alexandra nodded as she hummed.

  Behind her, one of Kenny’s Tendrils reached the Pit’s Biomass storage and pumped out half its stock. As Kenny lowered his right hand to his hip level, and from his palm spewed forth a torrent of tendrils, which piled together into a quadrupedal form.

  Thick green fur grew on the form of a large bear, 10 feet in length if it stood on its rear legs. The bear's teeth grew serrated edges on the back to prevent victims from escaping easily. The throat grew tendrils that were abnormally strong for their thinness, and they carried paralysis-inducing chemicals on their surfaces.

  Scales of chitin and calcium gradually grew under the bear’s skin as the stomach began to mutate and grow into a shredder of materials. This new organ would separate the more durable materials into smaller chunks, which would be transported around the body and used to grow scales or spikes on the bear’s back, sides, and elsewhere that would feasibly support a spike or spur without hindering the bear’s mobility.

  At the back of the bear’s mouth, a hole was formed that was covered by a thin sheet of muscles. Inside the hole, just between its lungs and spine, a series of specialized organs grew, crafting spikes from enamel. These serrated spikes were grown in a set of twenty-five, each a foot long, and there were five such pouches. Muscles and Qi Strings served as the firing mechanism for this biological gun.

  The less durable materials would be separated in two ways: either burned to maintain thermal equilibrium or absorbed into Qi. A solid one-third of the Qi being produced would be dedicated to the organic gun. The second third would be devoted to defense and mobility. The third was something that Kenny needed help with.

  “Hm, I think I need a sample of Water Qi,” Kenny said as he looked at the bear. “I want to make these things a counter to the Devil’s Curs.”

  Alexandra nodded as the bear shivered when he loaded a soul into the bear. “My family has a collection of Water-type stuff so that they can help you with that. How about you make that wolf again, to head into the city, then try to swap places with it. Maybe you’re the entire Strain of Paladin Threads and not just what was your human body.”

  The bear charged out of the compound and towards the nearest collection of Star Spawn that it could sense. The seven-eyed wolf was quickly remade and loaded with a small soul before it went into the city.

  “I wonder if I can get someone else inside my mindscape,” Kenny murmured as he produced another Harvester Beast. “Maybe a researcher would help. Though I will wait until the Empress is awake to give advice.”

  Kenny then formed a tv screen to showcase the perspective of the Bear as it reached its destination.