The Eccentric Entomologist is Now a Queen's Consort

Chapter 87 Food Crisis (1) The Problem Notice

"Man, my monster party dreams are finally coming true," he muttered to himself, his lips curving into a grin as he thought about the scurabons and the frog variant chimera ant that had all grown larger.

"But… now what?"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he got about the possibilities. Finally, he had the means to create a real monster party—like something straight out of one of his favorite isekai anime. But as the excitement built up, a nagging thought interrupted his daydreaming.

"Wait, they're all bigger now. That's awesome, but… wouldn't that mean they'd need more food?" Mikhailis frowned, realizing he hadn't considered the logistics of keeping such large creatures alive.

Rodion's voice chimed in, his tone matter-of-fact but with an unmistakable hint of sarcasm.

Mikhailis sighed and rubbed his temples. "Of course. Should've known there'd be a catch."

Rodion continued.

"Two days?!" Mikhailis shot up, his eyes widening in alarm.

"What are they eating again? Carbs and proteins, isn't that right?"

A status screen popped up in Mikhailis's glasses, showing the exact breakdown:

_______

Current Food Storage:

Carbohydrates: 41,000 kg/day

Proteins: 0.73 kg/day

Lipids: 215 g/day

Daily Consumption Rate:

Calories: 18,450 calories/day

Proteins: 2 kg (enough for 2 days)

Lipids: 600 g (enough for 2 days)

_____

Mikhailis stared at the numbers, his frown deepening. "So, in two days, they're going to run out of everything, huh? But damn even the result of their hard work hunting and scavenging could only sustain for two days because of the evolution, huh... Damn those proteins are already in kilograms, you know?"

Mikhailis scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm not too keen on sending them out more often. I mean, if they keep scavenging, they'll eventually run into someone's territory, and the last thing we need is to mess with the ecosystem or piss off the locals. Plus, ants don't exactly have the best survival rate when foraging."

"Good thinking, Queenie," Mikhailis muttered with a smirk. "Yeah, relying on foraging alone is too risky. We need something more reliable. Something like… farming?"

Mikhailis raised an eyebrow. "Nightshade mushrooms, huh? Not bad. But we still need to scale up production, or else we'll end up depleting the magic scarabs for food, and that'd be a waste."

Mikhailis leaned back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "So, more production… but not just mushrooms. We need something that can grow quickly and in large quantities."

Rodion, always quick to respond, displayed several images of the agricultural chamber on Mikhailis's glasses. The chamber was massive, stretching deep into the underground, and filled with rows upon rows of glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms seemed to thrive in the damp, dark conditions, but even Mikhailis could see that it wasn't enough to sustain the rapidly growing colony.

"Okay, so, farming mushrooms isn't going to cut it. We need something more. Maybe a creature that can increase plant productivity? Or… what about monsters with plant traits?"

Mikhailis grinned. "Yeah, go ahead. Hit me with the options, Rodion."

"Territorial and aggressive? Well, we could deal with that if we can contain it. What else?"

Mikhailis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Less aggressive… might be easier to control. But it sounds kind of slow. Anything else?"

Mikhailis nodded, considering the options. "I like the sound of that last one. Quick regeneration, and we don't have to keep replanting it. The spreading part could be a problem, but if we keep it confined underground, it should be manageable."

Mikhailis chuckled. "So, the queen's going all out with her sustainable food plans, huh? Well, it's better than relying on hunting all the time. Who knows what kind of mess we'd cause if we started wiping out the local wildlife."

Mikhailis rolled his eyes. "Right, because the last thing we need is a bunch of angry druids knocking on our door, yelling about how we ruined their sacred forest."

"Alright, so we've got agriculture and livestock farming as our main options. But we'll need to figure out how to balance it all out—like, make sure the nutrient production exceeds the depletion rate."

Mikhailis sat up, rubbing his hands together. "Well, it sounds like we've got a plan. We just need to find the right creatures and start farming. I can already picture it—our own little underground ecosystem."

Mikhailis's grin widened. "A big ant monster colony, huh? Sounds like something straight out of a dungeon-building game. I can't wait to see how this turns out."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. No slacking off."

Mikhailis chuckled. "You're starting to sound like my old teachers, Rodion. But don't worry, I won't let the queen down."

The images on his glasses flickered again, showing the expanding agricultural chamber. The workers were already busy enlarging it, their tiny figures moving quickly as they dug out more space and prepared for the next batch of crops. It was impressive—thirty by thirty meters, filled with nightshade mushrooms. But even that wouldn't be enough to keep up with the growing colony.

"We'll need more than just mushrooms," Mikhailis muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "We need variety. Something that can grow fast and give us the nutrients we need."

Continue your saga on empire

He smiled, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Yeah, I think you're right, Rodion. This is only the beginning."

As the images of the expanding colony filled his mind, Mikhailis couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. His monster party was coming together, and with the right planning, they'd be unstoppable. This was going to be his legacy—a massive, self-sustaining colony of powerful creatures, all under his command.

And the best part?

It was only the beginning.