Chapter 169: Chapter 169

The First of the Fifth hovered before the Apiary’s Shrine of Bees with all the other queens hovering before her. They were, of course, not all too excited to be summoned from their hives…but their wings were not buzzing and their stingers were not subconsciously extending like they did in previous group meetings. It seemed they were growing more curious than suspicious at each and every meeting. The First of the Fifth didn’t blame them, for she had done everything in her power to suppress her rivals previously. Still, they needed to work together for the sake of the King and the hive of hives, so she was pleased that they were starting to lower their guard. Especially since today, she would be requesting their help.

“Want to raise new queens. Any queens ready to raise too? Can exchange drones this time. If need more honey, can give.”

The First of the Fifth had countless tasks at this point. She needed to test and cross-pollinate new flowers. She needed to look into the dangerous karnuq’s manipulation of fully-processed honey. She needed to ensure the new, slower queens continued growing at an acceptable pace. She needed to arrange the delivery of honey from the Apiary to the Flower Meadow, more so now that there was a new, significantly larger soldier type to raise. She had to continue supplying honey to the King’s honey traps. And, of course, to do all of this she needed to not only maintain but expand her honey production, all without sacrificing the quality that the King deserved.

So, she decided the first task to address would be her latest plan to raise new queens, not to send out and claim new territory but to reinforce her own hive as her daughter, the Fourth of the Seventh, and the Flower Meadow queens had all done. Scaling up her operations would allow her to then tackle each of her tasks with more resources and attention than she could if she attempted to do so now.

At the same time, though, she was not going to demand that the Apiary queens provide her with drones like she did before. All of them were donating honey to the Flower Meadow, so all of them could benefit from scaling up their operations. It would therefore benefit the entire hive of hives if all the Apiary queens raised new daughters. And if the First of the Fifth had to give up some of her own honey to get them all ready, then she would.

The other queens watched her for a moment before the Second of the Sixth slowly began to dance.

“…can. Can’t expand deliveries to Flower Meadow at same time, though.”

The other queens looked at the Second of the Sixth for a moment, and then slowly began to report their hives’ statuses as well. The queens that were still baseline monster bees generally had enough. The queens that had evolved into more specialized types were a bit short of reserves due to the honey spent evolving all of their workers and, in the case of the digging and burning queen, moving their hives into new beehouses. Still, the situation was such that the First of the Fifth should be able to cover them…though, as the Second of the Sixth stated, they wouldn’t be able to expand their deliveries to the Flower Meadow at the same time. She’d have to ask the Conduit about that, then, as doing so could delay them from raising lancers. For perhaps the first time, the First of the Fifth found herself short of honey, compounding the need to scale up their operations.

Coincidentally, the Conduit arrived just then. The First of the Fifth happily saluted to her. At least they’d be able to ask her right away, while they were all still gathered.

Niobee then slowed down a bit.

“Though…they said can’t give more honey to Flower Meadow than doing now. Won’t be able to help raise lancers.”

Belissar paused and rubbed his chin for a moment. That was something to consider, then. But he had to make his choice quickly as he saw the Apiary queens begin to stir, since he knew they’d prioritize his plans over their own.

“Um, they’d also need to evolve gardeners for themselves, too, right? I think we should expand first, focus on getting their hives going.”

Well, slower lancers meant a slower expansion purification…or less options should another emergency purification come about. But Belissar hoped that Beero’s new lightning attack would cover them for the latter, so he was willing to wait on the former. If the Apiary queens expanded, that would mean more honey for the gardeners and lancers, as well as anything new they got from the next expansion. But well, Belissar thought of all that after making the decision. The truth was he’d rather the bees focus on what they wanted to do than to drop everything for his own plans. Р𝐚ꞐÖ𝖇È𝒮

And indeed, the Apiary queens would have plenty of their own work to do in the future. Because Belissar had received a message, and reports from the bees, that there were several new cross-pollinated flowers now.

A new sleepy chamomile flower bloomed that slowly pulsed with a faint glow. A light mist condensed around the latest cloudberry and sweetvetch flowers. But there was one in particular the drew Belissar’s attention. One whose changes were so great that the Tower itself now acknowledged them.

New plant detected. Slime Flower is now available.

A new mana flower had sprouted up among the Gelatinous Heather. Faintly glowing nectar seemed to ooze out of its center, almost a jelly rather than a liquid, and even its stems and leaves appeared moist. Belissar walked over to observe it more closely.

- Type: Slime, Nature, Trap, Spawner

- Mana Upkeep: 20 per node (40 due to Blessing of Bees), 10 (20 due to Blessing of Bees) to enable in compatible rooms

- Description: A flower that concentrates its mana into thickening its sap, which will spill out and engulf any creature that damages it. This effect extends partially to its nectar as well, which if left to pool in sufficient quantities may eventually condense into a slime core. The slime will then carry the flower’s seeds along with it as it begins to move, spreading the seeds around while also hunting nearby pests, further protecting the flower.

Belissar couldn’t help but stare at the description. A flower…that spawned slimes? In fact…a flower that was itself a monster spawner.