Chapter 157 (Patreon)
Content
After Dream few into the air, he made his way out of the forest and into orbit, going straight for his space factory.
"Okay. Let's properly figure this out."
He spoke as he sat down on a couch, getting comfortable. At the same time, Sophia began giving him schematics.
[Previously your muscles were a grouping of thermally activated, twisting carbon nanotubes. These muscles had already been artificially made on Earth when we summoned them. And they weren't bad. On average, it would provide a base increase in strength per gram of muscle by a couple hundred times. However, I've devised an even better setup for them.]
"Buckyballs."
[Yes. We can spiral buckyballs of carbon around each nanotube, giving them a kind of stub. And when these stubs hit each other from movement, they'll obviously provide deformation resistance. This setup will increase the mechanical strength of your muscles by several fold.]
"I get the toughness aspect, but what I don't get is the muscular strength aspect. These won't help in the contraction of my muscles."
[That's where the second modification comes in. We're going to add extra walls to each nanotube like a multilayer burrito. Usually it's only a single wall, which does indeed provide great strength. But multiwall tubes provide not only more strength and stability, but also thermal conductivity. This will provide much faster contraction abilities.]
"Huh... I like it."
[And to top it all off, we're going to be adding a bit of an extra twist to the nanotubes. Everyone knows that when you braid something, it gets stronger. Well it's the same concept with your muscles. Although they're already twisted, it's not in a very efficient manner. I'll be able to increase their strength by several times just from this change.]
"Okay. So what's the overall change look like?"
[With the braiding and buckyballs, you'll get a 60x increase in mechanical strength. With the extra burrito walls, you'll get an 8x increase in thermal conduction. I'm not entirely certain on the result of such a number, but it will definitely mean increased physical agility and contraction strength.]
"60x... I'm assuming that carrying this out will be difficult though."
[We will need the assistance of the solid mana to allow for the needed precision.]
"Then why were you trying to adjust things earlier?"
[I was adding the carbon that would be necessary and loosening the fibers to test whether it was feasible. The disturbance caused you to lose control.]
"Oh. Alright. Then since we're here, let's mess with this mana. Should I call the girls?"
[Right now may not be the best time. They're training on the demon continent.]
"Alright. That's fine. Don't want to bore them with this stuff anyway."
Saying that, Dream went to sit down at the table that still held the 49 orbs of solid mana. He took one and held the melon sized orb in his hand.
[Before we start though, do you want to call the church?]
"...Do I have to?"
[Well, you don't have to.]
"Send the Pope a message saying that the elves are on board and that I'm moving on to the dwarves next. Then ask if they're planning to go to the dwarves themselves."
[Ok.]
"Then we're good. Let's do this."
[Using the orbs is basically the same as using regular mana. And since we've already converted and taken control of them, this should be easy.]
"We just use it as a microscope. Is the carbon ready?"
[Yes. Everything's prepared.]
"Then let's start."
Nodding, Dream moved one of the orbs into his stomach.
Immediately, he received tons of information about the molecular structure of everything within the orb. It was a truly massive amount of information. He could see his blood, muscles, stomach, bones, and even all the enchantments. All down to the molecule. If it weren't for Sophia's processing alongside him, he wouldn't be able to handle everything.
One thing was interesting though. When Dream moved the mana into his body and began controlling it with his soul, he found that it wasn't nearly as difficult as it used to be. Although it wasn't as easy and fluid as controlling his own liquid mana, it wasn't soul tearing either.
Upon the solid mana entering, Sophia began guiding his control and started the project. Using the solid mana, they could not only use it as a microscope but use it to directly manipulate solids using Dream's particle manipulation skill. Although this proved much more difficult than just simply moving the mana, it was necessary so as to get optimal results.
She started at his core. Right now, all his muscles were loose and in disarray, and bunches of carbon were strewn throughout. She took the strewn carbon and bang forming it just as she needed. She formed the extra walls of the nanotubes, the buckyballs that would go along them, and then began twisting them into a complex braid of her own unique design.
<[Particle Manipulation] has leveled up!>
<[Particle Manipulation] has leveled up!>
Right as they started, Dream saw two notifications pop up. He nodded in approval. If this didn't level up that skill, he didn't know what would.
After the first strands of muscles were formed, Sophia's speed greatly increased. She went from only manipulating a few hundred strands of molecules to tens of thousands. Then to millions.
Sophia's abilities were for exactly this kind of project. She took massive amounts of sheer data, modeled it all as it was in the present, and figured out how to manipulate it to produce the desired form.
Everything was done mathematically and in conjunction with all the existing systems in Dream's body. Despite the changes she was making, she still had to allow for blood flow, insulation, regeneration, flexibility, and she even had to account for the shape. The factors were innumerable, and when everything needed to be done on a microscopic level, the variability became even crazier.
But if there was anyone or anything that could accomplish this impossible task, it would be Sophia. She was a processor brought to life by magic and sentience. Even Dream didn't have the slightest clue as to how she worked or why she was so amazing at what she did. All he knew was that when it came to these kinds of projects, there was no one better to rely on.
And she didn't let him down. After only 7 hours of construction, Sophia finished forming the muscles in his core. However, this was only the core.
"Damn. This is going to take forever."
Dream tiredly cursed when they finished. He had to drive the manipulation and it sucked the energy out of him. Although he was still relatively fine, this was only the beginning.
[This should take around 55 hours.]
"My energy won't last that long."
[I know. That's why I'm going to have the girls periodically come up and pass you some energy. Since they're training, Iris should be pulling plenty of energy.]
"Sweet. Tell them thanks for me."
[Tell them yourself. They should be boarding right now.]
"Oh."
"Hello."
Dream turned after he heard the voice. Luna and Iris were walking over. He smiled.
"Looking as beautiful as always. Have fun on your hunt?"
"Yes! We even killed a class 4."
Iris spoke up excitedly. Though Dream tilted his head.
"How?"
"Well, dad was there. But we helped."
"That sounds better."
"We're not that far off from being able to kill one. I'm getting faster and my fire is burning hotter every day."
"That's good. But only when you can take the hits will you be able to go toe to toe with one. Wait until your magic and stamina reaches S tier."
"Hmm... That's doable."
"Good. Now I would give you guys hugs, but I'm currently kind of paralyzed."
"Paralyzed?"
Both girls questioned as they sat down next to him on the couch. Iris went and poked his leg too, but when her finger made contact, it sunk in as if his skin and muscles were mush. Luna also saw this and here eyes went a little wide. Dream's muscles were always strong and tight, so these mushy muscles weren't a good sign.
"What the hell happened to you?" (Iris)
"Nothing much. I'm just restructuring my muscles, making them stronger."
"An experiment?"
"More of an upgrade."
"How long will it take?"
"55 hours."
"That's... over two days!"
"I know. It's gonna take a lot of energy too."
"Do you want us to stay with you?" (Luna)
"Not the entire time. Sophia told me you guys were training, and I don't want to interrupt. But I definitely wouldn't mind the company, at least every once and a while when you guys take a break."
"We can do that."
"Here's some energy. I'm full of it."
Saying that, Iris began transferring energy. Dream felt the stream of nourishment and relaxed a bit.
"Ahh, that's nice. I would kiss you right now if I could."
"Gonna make me do all the work huh? I guess that's fine."
Iris smiled and moved to straddle him, planting her mouth on his and giving him a deep kiss. Something about Dream being in this seemingly vulnerable and helpless state got her a bit excited.
After a bit, they separated. she smirked at him.
"Your face seems to work fine."
"I'm gonna work on that later."
"Mm. We'll stay here for a bit before going back out. We have our own objectives to achieve."
"Like what?"
"Killing a class 4. By ourselves. Class 3's are pretty easy and we usually have to find a group for the fight to be a challenge. So the next step is obviously class 4's."
"A good goal. Just be careful you don't run into multiple."
"We won't. Dad always has his aura out when we go."
"Good. Oh, you should also make sure you're leveling your skills. That's how you're going to get stronger."
"Of course. Both of us plan to max out our skills before class 4. Just like you wanted."
"You shouldn't be doing it for me."
"Let us worry about who or what we fight for."
"...Ok."
"Hehe, kiss kiss."
Smiling brightly, Iris went back to kissing him. Luna just sat there, watching and grinning.
..........
......
Over the next two and a half days, Dream continued to restructure his muscles.
Over this time period, Luna and Iris would frequently visit in between training sessions. They would give him much needed energy and he would give them plenty of sugar. Not that he really had much of a choice, but since when did he mind making out with his women?
At the same time, the Empires on both the Animal and Human continents were getting bracelets from Dream, and at this point, over 100 million had been given out. This was enough to cover a large portion of all the human armies and all government administrators. Needless to say, it caused an upheaval, in a good way of course.
This world had never had such effective communication. But despite the foreign technology, the people who received it quickly adapted and embraced the application. It was just too convenient not to be constantly used.
And as a side effect of it being so good, people were already calling for more. They all wanted to get one and begin distributing it to their family or friends or business partners. They were even willing to pay high prices for the bracelets.
Unfortunately, the person who built them was nowhere to be found. Not only that, but he had a hard enough time getting out as much as he did. The people who knew where the bracelets came from knew that it was only one person making them. So as requests were sent, they were quickly discarded.
However, the Empires were still receiving batches and batches of bracelets. Ships would come twice a day with a full load, and the bots manning the ships would always be there to hand them off. Although people found it weird at first, they quickly got used to communicating with these metallic humanoids that spoke just like a regular person.
The names of these bots were also spread quickly. They were known as the Bobs. Although they also went by another unofficial name: The Immortals.
The fame of these metallic humanoids had been spread far and wide after the battle at the Mercenary Empire. They were strong, fast, and exceedingly deadly, capable of taking on thousands alone with their 6 sword-wielding arms. They were so popular in fact, that when people saw those large metal ships, they quickly ran over out of curiosity. Everyone wanted to see the metal humanoids, especially the children.
Because of this, Dream actually had Sophia give the Bobs their own unique forms and personalities. Since there were only 50 of them, it wasn't difficult. Not only that, but he had them communicate with each other and build upon their existing programming. He wanted to see if they would evolve in some way. It would be another one of his experiments.
Other than that, during the two and a half day upgrade, the Church got back to him and told him that they would be going over to the Dwarven Empires. They also asked if he could come. This, however, was not possible. Not only was Dream busy, but he really didn't want to go.
So to solve the problem, Dream decided to go, just not in person. Taking a bit of time off from the upgrade, he built a robot specifically designed to be his avatar. This robot was very similar to Aegis, but unlike Aegis who functioned alongside Dream, this avatar would function independently.
And since he couldn't embarrass himself, Dream made this avatar far more powerful than any others.
This avatar wasn't made like the other bots. It had muscles, a brain, skin, and looked very similar to Dream himself. Though it was still obvious that this was a robot, it was one that stood out greatly from the others.
After enchanting it extensively it had both his abilities, scaled down of course. It also had built-in weapons, an internal reactor than ran everything, and its brain was on the level of a quantum computer. Actually, the avatar could run without the brain, but he decided to be over the top.
Along with its armor, this avatar had strength and toughness that even exceeded Dream's. It didn't have to worry about being a person, so it could be optimized for pure weaponization.
The only downside would probably be its weight. The thing weighed nearly 600 pounds and was even a few inches taller than Dream. But aside from that, this thing was perfect. It even had clothes.
After he finished making the avatar, Dream got back to upgrading himself. The avatar would be sent to the dwarven Empire the day after he finished his upgrade as that was when the meeting was.
With that, Dream was much more relaxed about everything. If there was ever any business that couldn't be done over the phone like an important meeting, he would just send the avatar. It wasn't like he couldn't operate it as himself. Hell, even Sophia could take his place and use the avatar.
.........
Sitting on the couch in the space factory, Dream, Luna, and Iris were staring at the avatar in front of them. It was still a day before the meeting at the dwarven Empire, but Dream was only 10 hours away from completing his upgrade.
At this time, Dream had just gotten through explaining the avatar concept, and both girls were judging it.
"...It's pretty cool."
Iris spoke as she spit a ball of fire at it. The fire hit the avatar and just extinguished.
"I know right? I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. Now I don't need to go there personally. I can just send this."
"So you'll just be up in the station as your avatar goes around doing diplomacy stuff?"
"I could be anywhere as my avatar operates. It's like a phone, but human shaped."
"And weaponized. This is just a weapon with arms and legs. I can see the blades and gun inside its body."
"Those will obviously be hidden. Either way, it's going to be very helpful. Once I'm done with the upgrades, I can focus on other things. There's still a lot to be done in preparation for the war, and I can't be wasting my time going to meetings. I need to be researching, building, or even fighting, and this avatar will help me do that."
Dream went into thought as he spoke. He had never stopped keeping an eye on the demons, and with every day that passed, the situation only got worse. At least with this, he could keep preparing.