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BD - Chapter 225 - A Request Bee-queathed
🕑 Added 2025-01-17 20:05:01 +0000 UTC
Juosiutik had the biggest smile Belissar had ever seen on her face as she held out a bunch of flowers to him. He returned the smile as he took the flowers.
A moment later, the flowers vanished.
Sufficient samples gathered. Quickblossom is now available!
Current Applications: Apothecary’s Hut*, Fairy Grove** (* = node only, ** = node only and variable growth rate)
Juosiutik bounced in place.
“Was that enough?”
Belissar’s own smile grew.
“Yes, we can now make quickblossom.”
Juosiutik’s eyes moistened a bit even as she clenched her fists.
“Yes! I can start mass producing my mom’s potions from now on. I can even start experimenting with the recipe…”
Her eyes suddenly widened.
“Wait, what if I use add sedative or shocking honey, or maybe even both! Or maybe I could mix the two honeys directly and…”
Belissar chuckled as Juosiutik began muttering to herself. He left her to it and turned his attention to Frelis and her rose monster.
“So, all the flowers are ready?”
Frelis danced the salute.
“All flowers planted, bloomed! Ready!”
Belissar grinned and reached down to brush her back…as well as the rose vines hovering nearby, careful to avoid the thorns.
“Excellent, I’ll let Tarwantrad know we’re ready. Great work you two, and all the gardeners!”
***
At this point, though, the day was coming to a close and Tarwantrad had already left, so Belissar just left a message with her monster. He tackled the daily purification and set up for the celebration as usual. He looked up to see Niobee flying in with the butcher queen and smiled.
“Everyone, this is our first butcher queen, who’s living in the rabbit room.”
The queens rushed over to see the new queen. The butcher queen, contrary to Belissar’s expectations, didn’t wilt or flinch as the larger queens approached, not even when the evolved Fourth of the Seventh or the big bumblebee queens hovered over her.
“Hello, am First Butcher Queen of the First Dynasty of the First Butcher Spawner. Nice to meet King’s hive of hives!”
Belissar glanced over at Niobee and smiled. It seemed she had filled in the First of the First Butchers on a lot. The other queens, on the other hand, welcomed her with open legs. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter danced with her after the initial greetings finished.
“New queen drink honey?”
The First Butcher confirmed.
“Got it, will bring honey to help new hive tomorrow.”
The First Butcher froze before making loud and long buzzes. The First Daughter danced her off, however.
“Is fine, hive of hives help each other. We help First of the First Butchers set up hive now, First of the First Butchers helps once hive established. Queen mother and Fourth of the Seventh did for me, too.”
Belissar’s chest grew warm as he watched the new queen join the hive of hives, with all the others enthusiastically helping the newcomer.
***
The next day, Belissar received a message from Tarwantrad that she’d stop by as soon as possible to open up the flower nurseries. He made sure everything was ready on his end by setting up a shortcut to the Apothecary’s Hut on the Fairy Grove wall closest to the nexus door. He informed all of the bees that the exchange would likely begin soon and asked the gardeners to remain on standby. The Fourth of the Seventh also indicated that she would, in between maximum speed “Amazing, incredible!” dances.
In the meantime, Belissar resumed work on the Fourth of the Seventh’s wax golem. Using spell bees to magically create wax burned through his mana at a frightening pace, but each day he was able to create a few more and keep them working a little longer, so they were still making progress. It was just as his mana was flagging that the Tower called for his attention.
A monster has evolved!
Honeyswirler Monster Bee Queen is now available!
Belissar’s eyes widened as he thrust his tower sight towards the Apiary. There, he found the First of the Fifth emerging from her cell. The Fourth of the Seventh had taken days for her evolution and he had expected the same, but apparently not. In but a single day, the First of the Fifth had returned.
She was now far larger, a bit smaller than the Fourth of the Seventh but not by much. Her abdomen was now even bigger compared to the rest of her body as before, and had the same depressions as a honeypot. Her antennae had also grown longer and fuzzier, while her legs had become thick enough to hold her new bulk. Belissar went ahead and checked what the Tower had to say on her new body.
Honeyswirler Monster Bee Queen
Vitality: Small
Strength: Minor
Speed: Minimal
Magic: Above Average
Defense: Minimal
Resistance: Minor
Special: Above Average
Notable Skills: Brood Mother, Command Offspring, Honeyswirling, Rapid Evolution, Storage
Spawner Upkeep: 40 (20 with Blessing of Bees)
Evolves From: Monster Bee Queen
Description: A monster bee queen that has specialized in the production of honey. No longer content to simply imbue honey with mana, the honeyswirler swirls their mana in a process not unlike alchemy to produce honey with new effects and far greater mana density. While the honeyswirler gains few combat capabilities compared to base monster bees, the potent honey they produce allows them to support greater numbers of evolved bee types. The honeyswirling capability can also be used to more effectively absorb mana from honey into the bee, enabling faster and easier honey-based evolutions.
This one is a queen who can raise a hive of honeyswirlers. Additionally, the queen gains the abilities of the honeypot to enable honeyswirling within her own body, allowing her to mass produce honeyswirled royal jelly. She can also apply swirled honey to her eggs even before they hatch, allowing her to lay eggs that will hatch into evolved bees without requiring further feeding. Modified communer antennae also allow the queen to participate in honeyswirling across her hive from a stationary position.
As an evolved monster bee queen, the honeyswirler monster bee queen also has a superior ability to raise evolved bee types and can lay monster bee types in her evolution lineage in addition to honeyswirler monster bees. She also has a superior ability to apply specialized honey to her eggs to lay monster bee types in other lineages.
Belissar smiled as he read the description. It sounded absolutely perfect for the First of the Fifth, the queen making the most honey and helping everyone’s evolutions. He dismissed the description and then turned to Niobee and the Fourth of the Seventh. The Fourth of the Seventh was dancing with concern, though Niobee appeared to know what was going on.
“King ok?!”
Belissar nodded.
“More than ok. The First of the Fifth has finished evolving. Want to go see her?”
The Fourth of the Seventh immediately replied.
“Amazing, incredible! Want to see!”
***
The First of the Fifth emerged from her cell and shook herself. She took stock of her new body as her workers crawled over her to check if she was ok. It only took a quick check for the First of the Fifth to pause and then buzz her wings.
This was it. An evolution that would allow to produce types of honey never before seen, to push the quality of her honey to ever greater levels. Not only that, she would be able to support the hive of hives and fulfill the King’s task better than ever. She could experiment on new honey types right within her own body, and produce honey perfectly suited for driving evolutions.
Her astonishment only grew as she extended her senses to check on the status of her hive. From her workers’ reports, only a single day had passed since she had started evolving, far shorter than it had taken the Fourth of the Seventh. If the cause had been the more powerful honey she used to evolve, then her new abilities would dramatically accelerate the hive of hives’ growth.
Still, it was not all good news. The speed with which her instincts drove her to evolve meant she had scarcely a chance to warn her children before leaving them to manage the hive, as well as her responsibilities to the hive of hives, some of which would be far more difficult now. While her ability to produce honey had improved dramatically, her body had grown large and ponderous. She could still fly and move, but it would not be a quick affair. Traveling about to check on the hive of hives personally might not be practical anymore and certainly would not be efficient even if it was. She would have to consider that, especially now that her presence in her hive was even more valuable than previously.
She paused again, though, as her mana reached her daughters…and found one she had not expected. Her daughters flew through the hive to greet her, led by the First Daughter she had sent away long ago.
“Queen mother! You evolved!”
Her First Daughter crawled up to her and she brushed the now much smaller queen with her antennae.
“Did, First Daughter came too?”
Her First Daughter danced the confirmation.
“Heard queen mother ask daughters to watch hive, came to help.”
The First of the Fifth could not respond at first. After she had nearly starved the First Daughter with her own neglect, her child had dropped her own hive to come and help. As such, she had not even included the First Daughter intentionally when she had made her request, but the First Daughter had heard and come all the same. She responded the only way she could.
“Amazing. First Daughter is amazing, incredible. Thanks for helping.”
The First Daughter paused at first…then broke out into a happy dance. The First of the Fifth thanked her other daughters as well for taking care of things as she checked on her hive and the hive of hives beyond. She was once again astonished.
Her hive was running as efficiently as she had left it. Beyond that, there had been no disruption in their support for the hive of hives. In fact…if the First of the Fifth wasn’t mistaken, things were running even more efficiently than before. The First Daughter had leveraged her hive’s location by the shortcut wall and the information exchange she had built between the hive of hives to easily determine the hive of hives’ needs and adjust honey deliveries accordingly.
The First of the Fifth found there was nothing she needed to handle, no issues to resolve. A simple reclamation of authority and then she was free to experiment with her new abilities and begin evolving her workers. She turned her attention back to her First Daughter as an idea sprung into her mind.
“First Daughter, have question. Want to take over King’s request and watch hive of hives?”
The First Daughter froze once more before buzzing her wings.
“Queen mother?!”
The First of the Fifth brushed her antennae to calm her down.
“New body big, hard to move around. New powers focus on honey, best if can work on that. First Daughter handled hive of hives perfectly while I evolving, is in perfect position to do job. Think First Daughter would help hive of hives even more.”
To pass on the King’s personal request to her, to let someone else manage the hive of hives, it was unthinkable. But the First of the Fifth had realized her role. To elevate herself above the other queens was no longer her goal. The best thing she could do, the best way she could help the King and the hive of hives, was to pursue the path of honey with all of her energy. She had planned to continue managing the hive of hives only because no other queen was positioned to do as well or better as she…until now.
Now she saw. Her First Daughter had carved out a place for herself within the hive of hives despite all of the First of the Fifth’s mistakes with her. And now…the First of the Fifth had to admit that the First Daughter would do a better job than she. If anything, it was the First Daughter’s information that allowed her to do a good job in the first place…and the First Daughter’s passion to take of other queens was far greater than her own.
So, the one she would hate more than passing on a request from the King was leaving it in the mandibles of a bee less suited to the task. The King only ever deserved the best in all he asked for.
The First Daughter stumbled about.
“Queen mother…”
Then she shook herself and buzzed her wings before beginning a salute dance.
“If King ok with…will do best. Will take care of hive of hives like hive of hives took care of me.”
The First of the Fifth brushed her antennae once more.
“Know you will.”
Author’s Note:
Schedule Update: Confirming the previous proposal to take next week off, feels like it’ll be good if I take some time to reset about now. Maybe I’ll go and update that glossar-bee haha. So, to confirm with actual dates, no chapters 1/20 to 1/24 (plus the usual weekends), posting will resume on 1/27!
Now back to the story!
And so the First of the Fifth…gave up her preeminent position to her daughter?! …um, that’s…she’s, uh, retiring while she’s ahead to pursue her hobby to ensure her heir is up to snuff and securing her legacy? A-As expected of her?
Or…has a new challenger risen? Perhaps she’s been outsmarted by her own daughter, who has convinced her to hand over all her power willingly?! She taught her everything she knew and the daughter is now the master?!
As expected of the First Daughter!
Anyways!
How will the First of the Fifth impact the hive of hives with her new powers? Can the First Daughter look after the hive of hives in her stead? Has the great First of the Fifth finally been outplayed after all? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
AEgamer1
Just did! They normally don't give me a specific time and I operate on a late time zone haha.
Durphymcbob
Hey author what time today is the story getting stubbed? I don't want you to get in trouble with the publisher.
Bryan
When First of Fifth manages to make Ambrosia... Do we all think that will be the end? Hang up her hat and just settle for what she already knows? I hope she finds and makes something beyond Ambrosia. Something that even the God of All Bees has to recognize as new.
phantom
Those drones were for other queens.
phantom
Decided to look it up. It was chapter 111.1. The requirement was actually for them to gain sapience to acknowledge her. though it was heavily implied evolving into a monster bee would grant that. but still being a monster bee was not itself the requirement.
phantom
The Sigmaka claiming they tried to tame monster bees is proof they exist. as they obviously couldn't try if they didn't. I just sort of guesses that natural born monster bees didn't count or something. It could also be a plot hole by the author. Also monster bees are huge. I doubt they would make that mistake unless they didn't know what normal bees looked like. They also got grub things to evolve so monsters can't be that uncommon. Yet we don't see towers pop up everywhere so I can only guess there is some weird requirements for gods to interfere.
Lisa
Yes, 4 of 7 and the First Daughter raised multiple queens together. More than 1 of 5 has, I think (4 of 7 laid 21 drone eggs for that one flight). And I agree that having a queen grow to command all other queens is probably not great (that's for Belissar and Niobee), but being the chief information conduit and logistics manager should give her some sort of leader/managerial role.
Lisa
I'm not sure there are such a thing as wild monster bees. The QoAB PoV was that Niobee was her only direct hook into the world until Velebee became one. That implies that there are no other mana-imbued bees on the planet, and all these bee types and evolutions are purely theoretical until Belissar spawns them. The sigmaka claim to have tried and failed to domesticate monster bees does argue that they exist, but I think it would be a contradiction if they do. Perhaps the large bees that the sigmaka tried to domesticate were simply large mana-less bees that looked similar to soldier monster honeybees?
Durphymcbob
I mean i think her and 4th of the seventh actually had daughters togethers and traded drones. But yeah the king is the leader of the Hive of hives.
phantom
She has not raised any queens so she would not qualify for Queen of Queens. and really I do not think any bee should take it as it really doesn't benefit the tower at this point.
phantom
It was a thought I had. After all there doesn't seem to be much point for her to be there just to give a list. and also with normal bees struggling to evolve in the wild monster bees probably aren't evolving that much either.
Lisa
Anyone else get the impression that the Queen of All Bees is personally writing these monster types based on the queen in question, rather than picking the most suitable class from a list?
Lisa
The First Daughter was already the closest thing the hive of hives had to an information/intelligence head, what with being the chief queen of the shortcut room. Adding logistics management is a reasonable evolution of role for her. I wonder if she’ll be the one to get the Queen of Queens evolution? Or perhaps something more like a communer evolution, with Nomad-levels of communication ability but a body with more of an ability to think/remember/organize information? Perhaps multitasking and communication with any and all hives without needing drones to connect the mana? Or perhaps she’ll just bee-come a spider in the center of a web of shortcuts…
phantom
The major reason it is important is because her honey aids in evolution. Not just her hive. Any bee it aids in evolving.
phantom
All evolved queens can raise a hive of their evolutions to my knowledge. (Except perhaps the queen of queens since it focuses on raising more queens.) Well the Firstborn probably wasn't aware of that she believed the queens not evolving was holding back the Hive of Hives for a reason.
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter. Loved the evolution 1st of 5th, seems like she found her passion. And she's passed on her duty to her better prepared daughter. Brilliant. Hope you enjoy your break, we'll be looking forward to your return.
phantom
A stray thought I had. but of course an insect adapting to feasting on meat of creatures bigger than itself would not be intimidated by bigger bee queens. and given butcher is an evolution she is pretty much an apex predator. One last comment but yay for first daughter. It is a dream for a parent to say you are worthy of taking over their responsibilities.
Maestro
So, if I read her description correctly, she can raise more honeyswirler queens with the royal Jelly. She can also raise an entire hives worth of honeyswirler type bees (including honeypot, so honeyswirler honeypots?). Yeah, I think she has basically declared her niche and planted a flag in it like nobodies business. Huge expansion of honey production to supercharge any hives growth. Almost feel like she could provide start up resources to any new queen that spawns and probably barely notice the expense.
Durphymcbob
Yeah, I mean she still can research new honeys, and help the other apairy queens with efficiency, as i can see alot of them following her footsteps in becoming honey swilers as well, just in their specialized honeys. 1st of the 5th is more of the manager of the honey factory itself now.
Dalton
That's character growth
phantom
Logistics manager (which she was before) while important is not as important as the actual logistics. Really her current role is more prioritizing doing what is important rather than trying to be in the spotlight.
Durphymcbob
TLDR: 1st of 5th giving the role of keeping an eye on the HoH isn't her stepping down it's more of her fully accepting her role as Honey RnD, and leading the Apairy Floor.
Durphymcbob
Thanks for the chapter! Ah so many little thi is finishing up and setting up for the next arc! And 1st of the 5th evolvition is complete, the honeyswiler that is perfect for her, she has always been the leader in developing new honey types and the production of them. She isn't really needed to wear so many hats she is part of the Hive of hives, other can help with her large burden. First daughter having her hive in the Shortcut apairy, and having her hivemate, 4th of 7th being the scout of HoH it makes since for her to handle the sharing of information and keeping up on the status of all hives. 1st of 5th is the the floor leader of the Apairy so honey delivery's will still need her help, she just won't need to find out what is needed where, the information specialist that her daughter has become can just figure that out and send her that info to send out the honey to where it is needed. And she doesn't need to focus on crossbreeding new flowers, when we got Frelis leading the gardeners with the flower nuresy in the alchemy room. That room seems perfect for making new flowers, once a new flower is made she can just be notified to seem some workers to harvest from it. She is just sharing some of the many hats she has had to wear so she can focus on the production of new honeys so that new bee types can be made.
phantom
Though since she refused a class specifically for raising new queens even as a joke that falls a bit flat..
phantom
Huh I didn't consider better honey would make a faster evolution. Also of course she is fine with passing over power. It is her daughter which means she shares some credit. Why it is a tactic I even heard of. Send daughters away to slowly take over.
fanfan8000
typo's? An evolution that would allow (her) to produce types of honey never before seen “Did, First Daughter came(come?) too?” ---- think come makes more sense than came here. up to your choice First Daughter intentionally when she had made her request, but the First Daughter had heard and come (came) all the same. ---- think came makes more sense since this seems to be past tense and the First Daughter’s passion to take (care) of other queens was far greater than her own.
LilyOnlyJam
Amazing! Incredible! Thank you for the chapter!
