Aksai’s next task was far more complicated than simply commanding the Void Gu to move.
He needed to make them understand an idea—not a simple command, but an entire sequence of actions related to his upcoming bloodline experiment.
This was where Druidic Familiar differed from Beast Taming. It wasn’t merely an exchange of sensory information. It allowed Aksai to imprint new information onto the minds of his familiars, much like writing information onto a compact disc with a disc writer rather than simply reading existing information with a disc player.
This was the difference between a read-only memory unit and read-only memory unit with administrative rights to write new sets of information onto existing units.
As the Void Gu approached Humeyin, Aksai carefully formed the first thought within his consciousness and attempted to transmit it through the Druidic Familiar connection.
The response was immediate.
But he could only guide them toward their target.
Nothing else happened.
The Void Gu continued floating around Humeyin just as they had been floating around him moments earlier.
Aksai frowned.
"Again."
He transmitted the thought once more.
Still nothing.
It seemed that through his experiments, Aksai had created a familiar bond with the Void Gu in which they recognized his body as a place they needed to return to in order to survive. This was the result of Aksai’s careful breeding using the Gu Farming methods mentioned by the Poison Gu King.
Aksai could also forcibly control the Void Gu whenever he wanted to destroy his enemies, having them enter their bodies and tear them apart from within.
However, the surgical precision required for this bloodline experiment was fundamentally different from the task of destruction.
What he needed now wasn’t a blunt weapon capable of causing indiscriminate damage from within.
He needed a scalpel capable of operating with microscopic precision.
The tiny creatures simply seemed incapable of understanding what he was trying to convey.
Aksai narrowed his eyes.
Even after doing everything right, he had finally encountered the main bottleneck of the experiment—something he couldn’t properly predict through theoretical simulations using Nuri’s sandboxing capabilities.
After all, Nuri’s simulations required sufficient data to generate satisfactory results. This was Aksai’s first time collecting the necessary data for this particular application in the first place.
The problem was that the Void Gu didn’t possess sufficiently developed minds. And even with known parameters, they were unpredictable as hell.
As it was already established, their intelligence was closer to that of insects than demon beasts. Aksai had already known this, but the practical limitations were far more severe than either he or Nuri had predicted because they had underestimated the level of precision required.
The Void Gu could recognize certain stimuli.
They could respond to instincts.
They could follow simple patterns.
But processing a complicated chain of information was beyond them.
Trying to imprint an elaborate bloodline experiment into their minds was like trying to explain an entire formation to an ordinary ant.
There simply wasn’t enough mental capacity to hold all that information.
"So I have to simplify it."
Aksai began breaking his thoughts apart.
Instead of:
Enter the target’s bloodline circulation, identify the abnormal accumulation of Light Essence, observe its movement, avoid the soul, and report the changes through the established network.
He reduced it to:
Enter.
Observe.
Avoid.
Return.
This breakdown of commands finally worked.
A few Void Gu responded.
Aksai breathed a sigh of relief before dividing every complicated instruction into smaller pieces.
Each individual command was simple enough for the creatures to understand.
But another problem soon appeared.
There were too many Void Gu.
Even if each individual creature could follow simple commands, coordinating thousands—or potentially millions—of them individually would be impossible.
Aksai frowned but didn’t become irritated.
Thankfully, he had already anticipated this problem.
"Nuri."
His voice echoed softly through the chamber.
A moment later, the neural link fabric connected to his consciousness responded.
Aksai explained what he needed, and Nuri immediately began executing a specific set of commands it had already prepared beforehand.
This solution was something Aksai had employed previously, although he hadn’t made much use of it after the initial Void Gu Farming had succeeded.
The goal wasn’t to make every Void Gu intelligent.
Instead, they would once again share their limited intelligence—this time among a new generation of Void Gu.
Nuri began establishing a network between selected groups of Void Gu.
The creatures were divided into clusters, with each cluster receiving a central node.
That node communicated with the surrounding Void Gu and coordinated their movements.
Then, several central nodes were connected together. Those nodes communicated with higher-level nodes, creating a structure that gradually began to resemble a vast network of servers.
Individual Void Gu became the smallest processing units.
Small groups formed local collective consciousnesses.
Those collectives communicated with one another through higher-level nodes.
Finally, the entire structure was connected together.
Aksai watched the process carefully.
The tiny clouds of Void Gu began moving differently.
They no longer behaved like completely independent creatures. Instead, they moved with coordination.
Aksai could sense information passing between the groups.
One cluster received a command, processed the information, and passed the relevant portion to another cluster.
The system continued expanding in this manner.
Aksai’s eyes narrowed with interest.
"So this is what you get when you combine Druidic Familiar with Nuri’s network architecture."
He looked at the interconnected swarms.
A strange smile appeared on his face.
"I’ll call it..."
He paused.
"Void Gu Hivemind."
Naming the system would make it easier for Nuri to store it as a set of executable macros. As Nuri collected more data, Aksai would find it easier to use this ability in the future.
Eventually, the network was complete.
Now came the real test.
Aksai activated Druidic Familiar again.
This time, instead of trying to imprint his thoughts directly onto individual Void Gu, he connected himself to the entire Void Gu Hivemind.
The difference was immediate.
Aksai’s consciousness seemed to spread throughout the network.
He could feel thousands upon thousands of tiny creatures simultaneously.
Their individual minds were weak.
Almost primitive.
But when linked together, they became something entirely different.
Aksai slowly transmitted the first instruction.
Enter.
The entire hivemind responded.
The Void Gu moved as one.
Observe.
Another command.
The instruction traveled through the network, reaching every connected group.
Aksai could feel the information being distributed and simplified along the way.
The individual Void Gu didn’t need to understand the entire experiment.
They only needed to understand their assigned portion.
One group would enter.
Another would observe.
Another would maintain the connection.
The higher nodes coordinated the entire sequence.
For the first time, Aksai managed to imprint something resembling a complex plan into the Void Gu.
The Void Gu had always been notoriously difficult to control.
Their instincts were strange, and their behavior was unpredictable.
Even Aksai, despite possessing the Druidic Bloodline, couldn’t simply treat them like regular obedient demon beasts.
But the problem wasn’t that they couldn’t understand him.
The problem was that each individual Void Gu was too primitive to understand anything complicated.
By combining Druidic Familiar with the Void Gu Hivemind, Aksai had effectively bypassed that limitation.
He hadn’t made the individual creatures smarter.
He had simply made them work together.