The Mainland War – Chapter 45
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1 day since the last chapter…

Succubus homeland, Rex and Kira’s room

 

“You need to get out of bed! Wake up!” Rex yelled as he started shaking the sleeping succubus.

 

The thick cotton matting that made up the bed was incredibly comfortable, and a thick comforter and finely woven sheets were like a cocoon of warmth. In her mind, a dream of a large flying reptilian creature that breathed fire was attacking a mighty succubus fortress built into a mountain. They sealed all entrances and lived in comfort as it could not breach their powerful walls. A victorious smile crossed over her face as she had outsmarted the scaly creature.

 

“Kira! Don’t pull the covers over your head!” Rex sighed in exasperation. 

 

Rex looked around the room and saw a bottle of oil that Kira kept on her nightstand that was used for her tail and wings. The moment she arrived she immediately began hinting at how much she had missed this treatment and how lovely it would be to get an oiling. Rex had obliged her and after a shoulder massage, she had fallen into a deep sleep and now wouldn’t wake up. Suddenly his sight moved back to the nightstand and the bottle of oil and he began clearing his throat.

 

Putting on his best female voice he tried to sound aggrieved as he made a report. “Leader Kira! All of the succubutter is gone!”

 

Suddenly Kira sat up and threw the covers off her face as she had a serious look on her sleepy face. “I order the formation of an investigative panel to find out why we are out of succubutter!” 

 

Suddenly she looked around the room in confusion as she reached up and used her palms to wipe her eyes before her eyes snapped to her nightstand. A smile crossed her face when she saw the full bottle of succubutter and realized it had just been a bad dream. Then she stretched her shoulders and looked outside to see that the sun had risen already. 

 

“We’re going to be late to help prepare for the feast tonight!” Kira called out in shock as she stood from the bed revealing her cream-colored nightgown.

 

Rex’s jaw then hit the ground when she discarded the robe in a single movement after using her tail to undo the string in the back. One thing that Rex had noticed was that there was no such thing as an ugly succubus. Kira had an almost pear-shaped body with a round butt that was full and plump. Her breasts weren’t the largest but they were incredibly full and much perkier than they had any right to be. 

 

Succubus's skin did not scar like humans or animals did, even with her training her skin looked as soft and smooth as a baby's. He could even attest to its softness and elasticity after having slept in the same bed with one for several years. Comparing her to his ex-wife, who was considered only average on Earth, was like comparing a luxury pillow to a cold hard stone. Having her next to him helped him sleep better, it was like replacing your mattress for a much better one.

 

It didn't take Kira long to put on her underwear, the most popular models among the succubi were a bikini style that tied at the sides. Due to their wide hips, finding elastic materials that didn’t wear out was something the succubi didn’t care to experience so most of their underwear used strings. The designs had shifted to modern looks very quickly, Rex felt like he might have influenced it since he had ordered his clothes to look modern. The last step for Kira was to put her shorts and shirt over her underwear, a thick belt went around her waist that was held closed by a polymer buckle.

 

“Rex, why aren’t you getting dressed?” She asked innocently.

 

“Go ahead and go first, I will catch up,” Rex told her seriously. 

 

“Are you sure?” Kira asked skeptically.

 

“Yeah, I just thought of something important and don’t want to lose my train of thought,” Rex said as he reached over and pulled out some graph paper and a pencil.

 

Kira didn’t think anything about it as this was normal behavior for him, instead, she decided to show her support. Running out of the roof she came rushing back after several moments holding a glass of water and a can of food with a spoon. She reached over the front of him and placed it on the table next to the chair he was sitting in and then smiled at him like a good wife.

 

“I will see you at the fire pits then!” Kira told him and headed for the sliding glass door.

 

Rex smiled and waved at her but his face was red from their close encounter. When she had placed the food on the table, she had pressed her large breasts right into his face and he could still see the small pink buds in his mind’s eye from her changing. The front of his pants had sprung a tent, and her smell was still fresh in his nose and filled the room with its sweet scent. Rex had long thought that succubus sweat contained an aphrodisiac, anywhere where they worked out frequently had the same sweet scent that seemed to affect him in this way.

 

“Dammit! It won’t go away!” Rex complained looking at his pants.

 

***

A few hours later…

 

“Holy crap! How much food have the succubi canned?!” Rex asked in shock as he began walking through the underground warehouse. 

 

“It is a phenomenal amount, we receive six pallets in a shift and we run in three shifts,” Guffrey announced.

 

“This is more than what I designed the equipment to handle, how are they producing so much?” Rex muttered to himself.

 

They were standing inside a warehouse that had been cleared from below the canning plant, this was the easiest way to store it. With concrete, I-beams, and steel sheeting, it looked just like a modern warehouse on Earth, even though they were underground. Tracks were going to connect the entire network of warehouses that could facilitate fast movements of resources. The main hub was planned to be placed underneath the weapons research plant since that would also be one of their main productions.

 

The metal shelving held plastic pallets that were used to hold stacks of food held in cardboard containers just like in the modern world. Plastic cling wrap was then used to hold everything firmly together and it was raised using a crane to its needed shelving unit. If there had been a single race to benefit the most with their friendship with Rex, it would be the dwarves. And the tall pallets of food that were stacked in rows from the floor to the high ceilings were a testament to the prosperity of the island.

 

“Shaya made some copies of the machinery, I think she was trying to make sure she understood it all.” Guffrey laughed.

 

“That makes sense, did she recently place a large order for metal with you?” Rex asked. “I am talking close to 80-90 tons.”

 

“No, it was closer to 500 tons and she wanted it made in very specific shapes. It reminds me of the train you told me about, but it uses these weird bands of metal to move.” Guffrey explained.

 

“It is called a tank, I will apologize in advance for the noise they will make.” Rex sighed in exasperation.

 

“What is a tank used for?” Guffrey asked.

 

“Think of it as a small fortress that moves, they are all armed with a cannon and a machine gun,” Rex explained. “They used the same engines as the ships we use, they will be quite intimidating.” 

 

“The tracks are almost laid out the way you wanted, when are the trains going to be ready?” Guffrey asked. 

 

“I plan to start that project after we finish the festival,” Rex explained. “I have hit a roadblock on one of my projects so I am going to give my mind a break and do something else.” 

 

“A lot of our smiths and artisans want to learn from you, that is why the interest in the weapons manufacturing plant has increased,” Guffrey explained. “What use is a blacksmith when they aren’t  needed to make weapons or armor?”

 

“Any blacksmith would feel that way if they saw all of these perfectly uniform steel cans, and wondered if they could rival that production speed,” Rex commented.

 

“Was that your plan?” Guffrey asked.

 

“The metal resources were something we were going to have to source no matter what we did, the succubi just don’t have the numbers. I wasn’t upset when they passed on that technology as I would have done the same.” Rex commented. “Many of your people take up production hobbies, mostly metalwork since you lacked things like cloth in the past.”

 

Looking over at a large metal table he could see the starts of a quilt that was being assembled. It was primarily red, with the bronze-colored cloth used to form the color of his house, there were also steins of alcohol, pickaxes, and various other dwarven motifs. It was another one of Guffrey’s various hobbies and each one took several months of work to complete. He often went to the textiles plant that the succubi ran to buy various types of fabric and to look for new ideas.

 

“When they first saw the lathe and mill, they were impressed but didn’t see it as anything that incredible,” Guffrey explained. “This though, this can be seen clearly. A blacksmith might be able to make 5 or 6 cans in a day. That single machine you made can produce perfectly uniform hundreds, otherwise stacking them like this wouldn’t be possible.”

 

“Most of the armor that your guards all wear is handmade, it is carefully crafted and fitted to the dwarf, to the point where it is hard for another one to wear it,” Rex explained. “Your race was the first in this world to create guns, yet you live underground where resources are scarce. I have great respect for the dwarves, and I realized after our first get-together as an island that I needed to change my approach. I needed to show the dwarves something that would make them want to work with us in a closer way.”

 

“The Flintlock clan would have welcomed you with open arms, their patron took on the name of the gun he created. He also worked his way into the hearts of the dwarves through his contributions to the various clans.” Guffrey explained. “When we first made contact with the elves, it was solely to trade for food since they had a surplus of it. After being attacked by the elves, the beastmen, and the skaarn, we quit making contact with surface dwellers and started taking what we needed instead.”

 

“I was too hasty before, I realized that after thinking about it. An alliance that is built in a few minutes can be broken off in the same amount of time. Maybe I was too eager, but it is in both of our interests to take things slowly.” Rex said with a sigh. “But we have a feast to prepare for and little time.” 

 

“Hahaha! Too right. What do we need to pull?” Guffrey asked as he pulled up a binder of papers. 

 

“Is that the inventory sheet?” Rex asked.

 

“The cans tell us what type of monster the meat came from, some of it tastes better than others. We use the type to determine its place, it makes keeping the same stuff together a lot easier.” Guffrey explained. 

 

Rex took the binder and began looking through it carefully.

 

“Fanged whale is a must, it is delicious! So is the Rockspitter, really savory! Oh? Do we still have Decapus meat? That can be put on salads!” Rex was getting excited looking over the types of meat. “Sorry, I couldn’t eat this stuff before, so I still get excited.”

 

“You look a lot better now, have you been doing any training?” Guffrey asked.

 

“No, the opposite. I forget to eat constantly and it is even worse with Kira gone.” Rex said bashfully.

 

“Leader Kira was very angry, she threatened to train us until our tail leather fell off,” Bren responded.

 

“Then why are you my only guard today?” Rex asked with some skepticism.

 

“As a secretary guard, I must stay by your side in case I am needed. The leather on my tail is also very important to the happiness of my wives, I do my best to maintain it.” Bren told him seriously as she stroked the appendage like a cat.

 

“Well, I will get the cans pulled for you, is there anything else you need?” Guffrey asked.

 

“Do you have anyone who can handle logistics?” Rex asked. “The dwarves seem to be the most organized of any of the people on the island.”

 

“What is wrong with the Pride of Men doing it?” Guffrey asked.

 

“Most of them are beastmen, they have problems reading things. The feline races like Simbad have terrible nearsightedness and can’t read without glasses.” Rex explained. “They have more logistical problems than either of us do.”

 

“The lady who runs our armory is a beastman,” Bren explained. “She knows where every single weapon is, she is quite skilled.” 

 

“We have had someone like that all along?” Rex exclaimed in shock.

 

“I will introduce you to her after the feast, but we need to get moving if we are going to get everything done on time,” Bren told him seriously.

 

“You are right, Bren. Guffrey, if your people would like to learn, then they can work with me as I build the train. I think that will be the thing that convinces your people that working with us closely will be very beneficial for them.” Rex guaranteed. “But we can have that discussion later.”

 

“We can talk more over food tonight.” Guffrey agreed as he turned to go back to his quilting.

 

“Alright Bren, that is the canned goods down. Now I need to go and collect the mana from the mushrooms and see if I can get Flora to wake up.” Rex said and popped his neck.

 

“Flora?” Bren asked.

 

“I wanted to name the plant creature, it has been too long. I will run it by her, but she doesn’t understand the language very well yet.” Rex said with a laugh.

 

The two turned and were heading to a large section of the underground island that was dedicated to mushroom farming. The area under the swamp was too dangerous to mine due to the high amounts of water and oil that could flood the tunnels. That was until recently when all of the trees and grasses had formed a thick curtain of roots that left a large section of it mineable. All of the sewage on the island was moved to this section where it would undergo a process of purification.

 

Instead of using a complex system of pools to drain and settle the sewage, one of Blue’s many child slimes would instead break down most of this waste chemically leaving behind various nutrients that would then be fed into large chambers where the mushroom spores would be spread. After only a few days they could then be harvested as the adult fruit bodies would be fully ripe and spores would be extracted for future batches. Rex only needed to supply mana to it in the form of a liquid source from magic stones he had dissolved, it had become its own industry thanks to Ferris.

 

***

A short time later…

 

“It is very hard to keep up with him,” Rex muttered as he carried the large bucket. 

 

“He is very dedicated, which is a good thing,” Bren told him.

 

“Yeah, very dedicated. He tests the potency of the mushrooms from every single batch, he plans to make the roots into alcohol. He is trying to keep the hallucinogenic properties and brew it into a beer.” Rex explained.

 

They had made it outside and were making their way to the massive plant that grew in the center of the large pool. The entire area was bursting with life and a thick canopy of trees worked to provide shade along various paths. The colors of the various plants had been changing rapidly, and instead of just blue grasses, greens, reds, yellows, and oranges had also appeared. Various types of new fruits and berries had all appeared, this was on top of the trees that Rex had requested she make. 

 

Rex had begun eating some of them along the way as he tried to figure out if they would be better as jams or as cocktails. The only thing he needed her to create was sugar cane, but he wasn’t calling her out for that. Since this was a festival to celebrate the land and the harvest, it felt strange not inviting the most important one. That was because this forest was becoming one of the largest producers of food on the island, it outstripped the farms they had by a massive amount.

 

The grasses, the fruits, the leaves of the trees, the flowers, everything in the forest was edible and no toxins had yet to be found. Bob had even taken to eating some of the trees saying that the wood could be sold to the beavermen as a delicacy. Rex walked up to the large plant sitting in the center of the pool of clear water, as he took a moment to admire it in its majesty. All around it vines grew to create a network over the waters that was strong enough to stand on, and he could see that small fish had started to grow in the pool under the plant.

 

“That is new,” Rex commented as he kneeled and looked at one of them between a crack in the vines.

 

It looked like a koi fish, with large eyes and a round mouth with short whiskers around it. They were black with white and purple spots, they had short fins and rounded bodies that were chubby. The number of them was staggering, he figured that there had to be close to a hundred thousand small fry swimming in the pool. They were eating a small weed that grew on top of the water, it grew in clusters and seemed to break off smaller pieces of itself. 

 

“Can you eat them?” Bren asked skeptically.

 

“Maybe, but this water wasn’t able to sustain life before. All of the sewage mixed with runoff from the oil made it too hazardous.” Rex explained. “This makes me think that our friend may be doing a lot of work in this area behind the scenes. Did you know that we only recently started redirecting our sewage?”

 

“I am a succubus, I do not have to worry about such problems.” She explained. “We are very hygienic people.”

 

“We came to invite her, let's see if we can wake her up,” Rex said as he set the bucket down and pulled open the lid.

 

Inside was a light blue fluid that was clear and filled with a gel, it was the result of breaking down the mushrooms with natural solvents to concentrate the mana it contained. He had realized that the other chemicals didn’t matter much as the plant only seemed to care about this type of mana. The conclusion he had reached was that the mushrooms could convert the mana from animals into a form that was easier for plants to take in, so he was going to just give her that. Turning the bucket over, he dumped the contents in the water which caused the small fish to start jumping around happily.

 

“That’s good, I was worried that the fish might be harmed but it looks like I was wrong,” Rex said as he finished pouring it and set the bucket to the side.

 

“If you were worried about them, why did you pour in the mana?” She asked.

 

“Because I don’t know how else to get it to her, I can only do it this way,” Rex explained. “Until she can talk to me herself, I can only do things this way.”

 

“Isn’t this a festival dedicated to her? It is thanking the land for its harvest, or something like that.” Bren reasoned.

 

“We are also thanking the seas for their harvest as well, so it is more than that,” Rex said as he watched the large plant start to bloom.

 

Now that they had the large cannons the ocean had become one of their greatest sources of food. Not only had fish begun to congregate towards the island where it was safer, but the monsters had started to finally retreat from the near waters. This had made collecting limestone much easier, and they were also able to get things like seaweed in greater abundance. A year ago food had been an issue for him but even with his old constitution, he would be able to live happily here. One of the things he was most excited about was seeing how people had figured out how to use the various ingredients.

 

“That smell is wonderful, I wish I could make my home smell like her,” Bren commented as the massive flower started to bloom.

 

The entire place began to be filled with a strong floral aroma that was sweet yet also very distinctive. It carried a complex set of smells like a rose garden did, but it was much less overwhelming. Her large purple and black petals with their golden formations were majestic and seemed to give off the solemnity of a king. This image was blown away though when he saw the excited blonde female waiting for him at the center of the large flower bud. 

 

The moment the petals opened she started running out of it with her arms wide open for a hug and an innocent light in her green eyes. The dress she wore was the same one that seemed to be made from flower petals, and he noticed that she seemed to be more sure in her steps. Seeing her running towards him so enthusiastically reminded him of Kira when she was younger. 

 

He couldn’t help but open his arms with a silly smile on his face which caused the plant girl to start making happy sounds as she reached him. She dived into his arms and he was shocked at how light she was, she felt like she was only half the weight of a regular person. It was one of the first times he hadn’t been completely bowled over by someone. Just like Kira, she felt much softer than she had any reason to be, but he figured that her biology had to be very different. 

 

“It’s good to see you again, how are you?” He asked.

 

In response she began to chirp happily at him like a bird, he could only laugh along as she kept making happy sounds.

 

“Today we are throwing a festival, we would like you to come.” He said to her, as she made questioning noises. “No, I don’t need you to grow anything for it. We wanted to thank you for everything you have provided for us.”

 

She seemed reluctant to leave his arms, but he wouldn’t be able to carry her even if he tried. He was a firm believer that machines existed to make life easier and humans weaker. Borscht was a wonderful bear who could lift a car's weight over his head, and he would happily do it if Rex promised to brush out his fur.

 

“Would you like to come?” He asked with a gentle smile.

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