Chapter 157: Chapter 157
Belissar had a thought. If stone was unlocked for building his beehouses…then would he be able to change existing beehouses into stone? He could both turn mundane beehouses into Tower features, and likewise could turn regular Tower beehives into beehouses, so it seemed like it would be possible. He tried to focus in on one of the Apiary beehouses, hoping some sort of Tower message might appear.
And indeed, the normal description menu appeared, with an option for upgrades. Belissar went ahead and focused on that and a new menu appeared.
Belissar’s Beehouse Upgrades:
- Expand to Bee Apartment (Cost: 100 DP or 25 if materials provided)
- Expand to Bee Barracks (Cost: 100 DP or 25 if materials provided)
- Change material to stone (Cost: 50 DP or 12 if materials provided)
- Boost honeycomb production (Cost: 25 DP)
- Boost growth for inhabitants (Cost: 25 DP)
Belissar’s eyes widened. He had expected the material option. He had not expected the other four. He could not only change a beehouse into stone, but he could apparently expand the beehouses into apartments or barracks, or boost their effects, though all at the cost of DP. Not much DP compared to the DP shop options…but back when he upgraded regular beehives into beehouses each upgrade and each expenditure of DP only affected one hive. So, it made sense, as he'd be spending DP to upgrade a single feature instead of saving up for new features, rooms, or monsters that could aid his Tower as a whole. And, well, his recent experience with buying feature choices taught him that a lot of DP could suddenly become very little once he started spending it freely.
Niobee didn’t respond right away, so Belissar continued pondering. He turned his gaze to find Niobee drooping a bit.
“Sorry, bees will work harder…”
His face softened and he held out his hand for her to land on.
“You’re doing great. In fact, I have an idea. I think we can just set the field on fire if another turtle shows up. Maybe we have the Apiary soldiers drop their flame radishes right on the flowers, and then I can make some mana honey to light it…”
Niobee slowly began to dance.
“Ok…should tell them?”
Belissar smiled and nodded.
“Yes, thank you Niobee. Keep up the good work.”
Niobee took off with a bit more pep in her wings. Belissar made a light sigh. On the one hand, he hated to see his bees feeling down about anything. On the other hand, that was no reason to expose them to a danger they couldn’t handle. He’d just have to hope the plan would work if they got a turtle tonight.
Once Niobee had relayed the possible plan to the Apiary’s soldiers, Belissar went ahead and triggered another minor+ purification.
It turned out they got one of the fast cats so all his worries and plans were for naught. But well, at least they had an idea if they ever did get one of those shades…and maybe they’d come up with something new in the meantime.
And so, a handful of days passed. The Third of the Sixth crawled over to a corner of her first hive. She still could scarcely believe how far she had come. Once, she had been the queen born a second too late to receive even one of the King’s magical palaces. Now, she had two, one of which was a brand-new design made especially for her. One made of immovable rock that no predator could break.
All she had to do now was fulfill her end of the bargain. This palace had been built specifically with the expectation that she and her hive would evolve soon. The First of the Fifth had granted her exclusive access to the flame radish flower patch, including the new mana flower that sprouted among them, and the King himself had moved that patch next to her hive. All eyes in the Apiary were on her, including the King’s.
And that’s why her current pace was unacceptable.
It turned out that her evolution was more complicated than the other queens. With medicinal or maddening honey, all a queen had to do was obtain sufficient quantity of honey with high enough mana density to fuel her evolution, and a stable enough hive to last a couple days without her. But this honey, this honey was different. Its hot temperature required the King himself to design an entirely new hive for her, and its temperature grew along with its mana density. Therefore, the Third of the Sixth had discovered that burning honey with high enough mana density to fuel her evolution…was too hot for her to even consume, much less submerge herself in.
But she would not accept failure. The King had saw fit to bless her with a magical palace, and now a second. The First of the Fifth had pledged her Visit NovelHub for more amazing novels and chapters. The Conduit stopped by daily to check on her.
No, she would not fail.
So, she began to drink the burning honey, as much as she could stomach without seriously harming herself. It was a slow…and painful process, one that brought her egg-laying to a halt as she consumed perhaps a bit more than was healthy for her. But, each and every day the pain was a bit muted and she could drink a bit more. She could even sense her mana begin to change, and the air of her original hive began to feel chilly. So, she pressed on.
And now, today, she was going to attempt to drink the honey of the Fire mana flower once again. The air grew hot even as she approached the single bright red cell. Her wings beat subconsciously as her antennae folded back and away from the heat. It took all of her will to extend her proboscis even as it burned…a feeling that only grew worse as she finally made contact with the honey. Her proboscis screamed inside and out as fire raged up and into her body.