Chapter 102: Choose your departments

"Okay, it seems we all understand our roles. And don't forget to note down the number of leaflings that chose to join your departments. I'll be expecting the numbers right after this," Lucius said to them before gathering the crowd's attention once more.

"You guys can come to the Premiers whose departments you're interested in. You all have until the latest tomorrow to choose a department. You will begin working as soon as you've evolved," Lucius announced, prompting the leaflings to begin crowding around the Premiers.

Almost half of the leaflings crowded around Lucius. He wasn't sure whether they actually wanted to join the Fabrication and Creation department, or whether they came simply because he was the temporary Premier.

However, he was rather happy with the number, as this department would be responsible for the construction of most of the commune's infrastructure. So the more hands the merrier.

A good chunk of leaflings were also crowded around Alpha. Perhaps because they had all once been a part of the squads, they felt that integrating into it would be easy. Though they were going to be in for a rude awakening, as from what Lucius had seen with Alpha's training, there was no rest.

A minority of the leaflings were spread between Hannibal and Asclepius. With Asclepius having only about 3 around him, and Hannibal having 5.

"Will we be building cottages once we join this department?" one of the leaflings asked, pulling Lucius from his pondering.

"Among other things, yes. In this department you will create all sorts of things. From cottages to weapons, to fun contraptions. I assure you, of all the departments, this will probably be the most interesting," Lucius replied, remembering his army recruiter days.

"If we join, will we be named faster than the others? Since this department is led by what many are calling the 'Supreme Premier'," asked another leafling, in a somewhat overly suspicious tone.

"Supreme Premier? This is a temporary seat, one of you will be named Premier once you've evolved. And no, sadly joining this does not give you the chance to be named faster than anyone else," Lucius explained.

~And what does he mean that many people are calling me the Supreme Premier? I just announced the Premiers a few minutes ago,~ Lucius thought to himself, completely confused by this.

"I told you not to ask that, why are you always like this," another leafling whispered to the one that had just asked the question.

"Are you saying this just because you want it to seem fair on the surface? Can this be taken as a sort of confirmation for the blatant favoritism you are about to show your Department?" the same leafling asked again.

~What's wrong with this little guy? He sounds like a conspiracist,~ Lucius thought to himself before answering. "No, I actually mean it. There will be no favouriti-" however before he could even finish the leafling shot his next question.

"Why hasn't Ghost been named a Premier? Are you perhaps hiding one of the Departm-"

"Sorry Lighted One, my friend isn't okay. He hasn't been getting enough sleep... isn't that right?" the conspiracist leaflings friend interrupted, shoving the leafling back.

Once that little fiasco had died down, the leaflings began asking questions as well. Things such as what benefits they could expect to get, how long they would have to work, and how they could climb up the ranks.

Lucius promptly answered the questions, with most of them being answered with 'I'm still thinking about that' as he needed more time to think properly about the incentives. If the leaflings didn't find their rewards to their liking, their productivity would be low.

Once all the questioning was over, he noted down the number of people who wanted to join the department and went to check on the other Premiers.

It seemed most of them had finished as well and had noted down the numbers.

The Department of Internal Security had 10 new recruits.

The Department of Research and Experimentation under Asclepius had 2, while the department under Hannibal had 4.

And finally, the Department of Fabrication and Creation had a total of 16 new recruits. A few leaflings still needed time to think about which department they wanted to join.

"Great work guys. It's getting a little late, and I still have a few things to do. So I will allow you guys to do whatever you want for now. We'll discuss the finer details of the departments tomorrow," Lucius said to the Premiers, before dismissing them.

Asclepius hurried back to her lab, apparently excited to get back to work. The others however remained behind, it seemed they had more questions, much to Lucius's dismay as he really wanted to go see the arachnid babies.

"Captain, before I get the crux. Can we deal with the shrooms that attacked us? From what I've heard from Artemis, it seems Asclepius might not be so bad, but seeing her reminds me of what happened. I can't go back to that... 'sleep' state before I know our attackers have been dealt with," Alpha said.

~I've been so busy I completely forgot about them,~ Lucius thought.

And to be fair, who could blame him? The shrooms were such a minor enemy at this point, he could probably kill them all without so much as breaking a sweat. But there were advantages to doing this past just revenge.

"We'll head over there tonight," Lucius replied before turning to look at Pagan. "There are still needle spears left over right?" he asked.

"Indeed, Lighted One. Asclepius and I secured a few more since you left," Pagan replied.

"I thought you guys ran out of arachnid meat. What have you been trading?" Lucius asked, in surprise.

"They seem fond of webbed-one flesh as well. And sometimes they give it to us for free," Pagan explained.

~Hmm, for free you say? No, nothing is free. They're probably just trying to create good relations so that when we do get more arachnid meat, they'll be the first people we go to,~ Lucius deduced.

Which to him, was quite respectable. Nothing could beat good business relations. So Lucius made a mental note to hunt for more arachnid flesh soon.

"You'll arm yourself with the needle spears, and what about you Hannibal? Do you want to be a part of this?" Lucius asked, turning to Hannibal.

"Definitely," Hannibal replied. Alpha acted like he did not hear it, and continued to look at Lucius.

"Listen, when we go there, we will not face them as enemies. So do not make them suffer, their deaths should be quick," Lucius began.

"I know that you guys are still upset over the deaths of the leaflings, and so am I. But remember, they did not hold malice to those leaflings, they did not hate us. They killed us as a means to live, and though I do not condone their actions, remember that we too will soon do the same," he explained.

"So let us not be hypocrites. We will not always do right toward the goal of growing our commune, so let's try to make things as logical as possible. The main reason we are going to kill them is to make an example out of anyone who threatens our commune," he explained.

"So leave one or two of them alive. You may injure them however you will, but leave them just good enough to pass on the story,"

~If anything, the survivors will only be able to tell other shroom clans about what happened. Fear can work to our advantage when we devour some of them into our commune,~ Lucius thought to himself.

"I understand, Captain," Alpha replied.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me," Lucius said, before heading to the area where Pagan had stored the meat. On his way there he met the insectoid, who at first stopped dead in its tracks, acting as if it were dead.