Chapter 146: Isekai’d Florida Man Resolute in Building a Democratic Nation by Sending His Snake Wife to Train a Squad of Riflemen Comprised of Beastmen and Lamias
RUMBLE
A low vibration swept across the landscape as a stone platform materialized, replacing a patch of the grassy terrain. The platform's circular shape, carved with intricate lines, resembled an enormous magical circle.
But what truly drew Felix's attention was the floating, symmetrical octahedron crystal hovering in the center. It slowly rotated, emitting a soft hum almost like a melodic lullaby. The entire structure radiated an aura straight out of a fantasy realm, something Felix had encountered countless times in the games of his past.
Felix stared at the crystal. It felt familiar, though he couldn't place from where.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached out and ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the crystal. It was cool to the touch like polished glass, and as his fingertips slid across, they produced a faint squeaking sound. He smiled at the sensation, marveling at the craftsmanship.
*DING*
A familiar notification chimed in his head.
<You have constructed the Fate Plaza. You can now teleport anyone near your domain to this location.>
<Note: Only authorized individuals, familiars, family members, or those who have signed a magic contract with you are permitted to enter your domain.>
Before Felix could even formulate a question, Jessica's system portrait blinked into view. Her timing was always impeccable.
"Jessica, how do I actually use this thing?" Felix asked, half-expecting a mountain of complicated instructions.
<Touch the Fate Plaza's crystal and open your system menu.>
<Also, only you, your familiars, and system entities can activate the teleportation function. Guests and contracted individuals will have to wait for you or a manager to use it.>
"Sounds like a hassle," Felix muttered, already imagining the future headaches.
As his domain expanded and he took in more residents, managing travel in and out of his floating island could become a logistical nightmare. Manpower was already stretched thin, and now he had to manually handle every single teleportation?
Still, there wasn't much he could do about it for now. Felix sighed, accepting his fate, and opened his system menu while his hand remained on the crystal. A new option caught his eye in the menu tab — Teleportation.
He pressed it, causing a new screen to pop up, showing a real-time camera feed from below the island. Embark on a quest at m-vl-em,py-r
The image displayed Clover, Jiji, the lamias, and the beastmen still busy working on the ground below. The system had already registered their presence, automatically adding their names to a new interface with small checkboxes next to them. Felix could now simply tick off the names of those he wanted to teleport.
"Okay, at least this part is user-friendly," he muttered, happy with the system interface.
But Felix had more questions. He asked, "Can I activate this when I'm off the island? I don't want to have to use the jetpack every time I leave or return."
<You can assign a manager to the Fate Plaza to operate it in your absence.>
<However, only familiars or system servants can be appointed as managers of system structures.>
Felix's face fell at the news. This reminded him far too much of the farming simulation he'd played earlier, where micromanagement was a constant hassle. Maybe his ancestor had been able to summon someone from another dimension to help manage things, just as Felix had summoned the hobgoblin to assist Terris.
Unfortunately, Jessica quickly crushed that hope.
<Your ancestor was extremely frugal with his lifespan. If you want more help, you'll have to buy it yourself.>
Felix grumbled under his breath. "Stinky old man."
Lifespan wasn't exactly cheap. For now, it seemed he would have to make do with what he had.
Closing his eyes, Felix reached out through his master-familiar communication function, planning to connect with Jiji though a system function. This was one of the system abilities he had purchased long ago, back when he was managing the Cement Golem.
Thinking about it now, he realized he hadn't checked on the useless thing in ages. Since he was using the ability anyway, he decided to check on the Cement Golem first.
With a mental command, he activated the golem's camera feed, which displayed its surroundings in real-time. A new screen popped up in his mind, revealing an unsettling sight.
A massive army of creatures marching in unison. The horde included mutated beasts, zombies, and even monster girls. They were heading somewhere with grim determination, and the Cement Golem, ever the silent sentinel, followed closely behind, protecting its assigned VIP—Jane.
Felix's eyes narrowed as he recognized Jane and Valley, both walking within the group. They were flanked by a contingent of monster girls unlike any he had seen before.
These new figures had black bat-like wings, their bodies devoid of clothing but covered in intricate black tattoos that conveniently concealed most of their private parts. All of them also had one of those lewd pink womb tattoos below their belly buttons.
The sight of them stirred a mix of curiosity and unease within Felix.
Where were they and where were they going?
What were they?
Who commanded them?
Still, there was one more important question.
"What is Jane up to now…?"
As he browsed the system shop menu, he stumbled upon a new function for the golem: Two-Way Communication. With a few taps, he purchased it.
And after allowing Jessica to install it into his system, a face-cam application materialized on his interface. Eager to test it out, he began to operate the app.
A system screen manifested in front of the golem, displaying Felix's face with clarity. Almost immediately, a new window popped up featuring the faceless visage of the golem, its face fixed squarely on Felix.
"Stupid golem, what's going on?" Felix's tone was full of irritation.
The golem dropped its shoulders and muttered in a sad monotonous voice, "…Cement, Semen."
Jessica, who had been silently observing the exchange, smacked her forehead in disbelief. The Cement Golem, an incomplete entity born accidentally from a store product, had questionable communication skills.
She doubted that Felix and the golem could understand each other. This master might have spent his precious lifespan on something useless again.
However, sometimes, Felix could surprise Jessica with his unique talent.
Felix paused as he processed the information conveyed through their mental link. After deciphering the golem's language, Felix confirmed the information.
"So, Valley and Jane got caught up in a curse? They've turned into… what, succubi?"
<…Huh?>
Jessica frowned, staring at both Felix and the golem in disbelief. Her expression had a mixture of confusion and concern.
What was Felix talking about?
The golem replied with a disjointed statement, "Cement! Valley cement-cement CEMEEEENT cement. Valley CEMENT Jane. Jane CEMEEEENT cement-cement, Semen."
<Huh?>
Jessica was speechless once again. She looked at Felix, doubting that he could make sense of this stupid language.
Felix's frustration boiled over. "So, that stupid broad got infected and became a succubus first. Then she forced Jane to look at the moon, causing her to mutate? Where were you? What were you doing at that time?!"
<HUH?!>
"…Cement," the golem replied. Its voice was devoid of any real emotion.
"I see. Don't blame yourself; you did well keeping tabs on them, even though you were barred from entering the dorm. Anyway, keep following those girls… Wait, where is my freaking engagement ring and my house key?"
<…>
Jessica shook her head. She dully stared at the two weirdos.
"…Cement." The golem replied.
"Oh, come on! She threw them away?! That's it. Come back immediately. Leave those girls behind and save yourself. They'll be fine on their own."
"CEMENT!" the golem protested..
"What? You're not leaving them behind? What are you, a U.S. Marine?"
"CEMENT! CEMENT!" the golem insisted.
"Fine, fine. You keep protecting them. But remember this. If one day they try to harm me or my new family, you must abandon them without hesitation. If those bitches backstab me, I'll dump them for real!"
"C-Cement!"
"Good. Over and out. I'm busy!" Felix declared, snorting as he ended the face-cam chat.
As the connection severed, some of the system screens vanished, leaving only the monitor displays of Clover Village, Jiji's point of view, Jessica's portrait, and his main system menu.
Jessica stared at Felix. Her expression was dull and exasperated. She let out a deep sigh, muttering under her breath.
<I can't believe this day has finally come. You've learned a Cement Tongue. Congratulations, by the way.>
"…"
Felix rolled his eyes and explained, "Mental connection. The new app allows me to read his intention."
<I was kidding.>
"Yeah, right. I never saw you make a joke."
Felix dismissed the awkward conversation and shifted his attention to Jiji, Clover, and her tribe members. As he needed to test the Fate Plaza's functions first, he summoned only Jiji, just to be safe.
…
For an entire week, Jiji had been diligently instructing her former subordinates and the beastmen about gun parts, aiming techniques, and proper shooting postures.
Her efforts paid off as she successfully drilled the fundamentals into a squad of lamia warriors, who were then tasked with imparting this knowledge to the rest of their tribe members. The atmosphere was charged with excitement as the warriors absorbed the information, eager to improve their combat skills.
Among the beastmen, a few showed remarkable promise, particularly Huchu, the lion warrior. He quickly distinguished himself as a prodigy, becoming the first to snipe ten targets at an impressive range of 800 meters without missing a single shot.
The other beastmen were no slouches either. They effortlessly hit every target at 300 meters while on the move, demonstrating impressive agility and precision.
Jiji felt an overwhelming sense of pride for her students. She was deeply motivated to teach others about modern weapons, believing that this knowledge would empower them to easily overcome rival monster tribes and human armies.
However, just as Jiji was about to take Clover under her wing for some hands-on shooting practice, Felix summoned her back.