Right now, military and resilience were my lowest colony stats. But resilience, which represented my colony's ability to withstand problems like illnesses and hunger, would jump up later thanks to the 'Enhanced Endurance II' gene.
Then I will probably be able to unlock 'Enhanced Endurance III'… If it was anything like with 'Enhanced Intelligence', this line of genes was OP as fuck.
I put a point into my strength.
〔For improving strength, you have a choice of next genes: 'Enhanced Strength I', 'Flying Carriers', and 'Death Grip'.〕
〔Enhanced Strength I: increases base strength to 10.〕
〔Flying Carriers: increases maximum carry weight during flight to 60% from the base carry weight.〕
〔Death Grip: the muscles will spasm after the owner's death with great force, preventing them from releasing their grip.〕
Hm, the third one could've been good if it wasn't so suicidal.
The choice between the first and the second was a tough one. The 'Enhanced Strength I' would only give the bees a couple of flat points of strength.
'Flying Carriers' would really improve logistics, though. As of now, bees could carry over air about 40% of what they could carry over the ground.
Then again, what was the point if the bees didn't know *how* to carry large volumes yet? I was getting distracted.
I took the 'Enhanced Strength I'. Next, agility.
〔Danger-Averse Reflexes: greatly reduces reaction time to sudden threats.〕
〔Perfect Swarm Coordination: further improves instinctive swarm coordination in the air, allowing swarm members to fly even in tight formations without interfering with each other.〕
〔Runner Legs: increases running speed by 10%.〕
This was much easier.
'I'm already *so* danger-averse, this gene is a perfect fit!'
And the last point went to the defense stat.
〔Venom Resistance I: reduces damage from venoms and poisons by 20%.〕
〔Chitin Carapace II: grows a carapace that improves base defense by 20%, but reduces base agility by 10%.〕
〔Dense Bones: increases base health by 20%, but reduces flight speed by 10%.〕
'Damn, are all genes in this pool such garbage? Two out of three come with downsides! No… 'Venom Resistance' it is. Besides, a ton of insects use venom to attack, it will be useful. Probably won't work against these wood ants…'
Finally, with all the upgrades done, I looked lovingly at my status panel.
〔Drone Bee〕
〔Name〕: Nectus Stingprince
〔Active title〕: Drone-Consort
〔Health〕: 21 / 21
〔Stamina〕: 22 / 22
〔Attribute points〕: 0
〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee
〔Age〕: 68 d
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 123 d
〔Attributes〕
> Strength: 11
> Agility: 41
> Endurance: 24
> Defense: 11
> Intelligence: 100
> Perception: 43
〔Special abilities〕
Flight, Horizontal Gene Transfer
〔Titles〕
Drone-Consort
〔Genes〕
Enhanced Intelligence X, Increased Lifespan I, Technology: Primitive Containers, Fast Learner I, Increased Lifespan II, Enhanced Endurance II, Enhanced Strength I, Danger-Averse Reflexes, Venom Resistance I
〔〕〔〕〔〕
Ah, what a beautiful list of genes! I couldn't wait to pass them on to my future children.
***
Another week passed.
I was busy trying to implement some organization. The chaotic "everybody just does their job and we all pray it will work out in the end" only worked out until more positions were implemented.
For example, how many Foremen Bees do we need? Well, how would I know until I knew how many Forager Bees we had? And the only way to find it was to count! By hand!
And I was smart, but all this stuff made my head buzz. Maybe things would've been different if I wasn't forced to drop out from economics college after only a year.
Instead of doing things myself, I was yet again trying to put it on someone else's shoulders by teaching Ambrosia how to read and count.
After a week, she could spell out her own name and do simple additions. Great success!
And finally, the first bees with instinctive access to primitive containers technology have emerged.
The food production was going to skyrocket!
There was only one problem…
So far, it increased to around 30 units per day (on top of what was eaten daily), only to drop again to around 15 units.
The colony was growing, but the economic growth was slowing down again.
〔Your colony〕
〔Wellness〕: 83 %
〔Population〕: 28 thousand
〔Development level〕: 2
〔Development points〕: 19 / 100
〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee
〔Attributes〕
> Workpower: 26
> Military: 18
> Brainpower: 22
> Logistics: 25
> Resilience: 11
〔Resources〕:
> Food: 278 units
> Building materials: 13 units
〔Technologies〕
Dance Communication
Hive Building
Food Preservation
Stone Hammers
Forager Posts
〔〕〔〕〔〕
And the reason…
"Father, Father, the sprayers—the ants—they are stealing our food again! There are more and more of them appearing every day! Please, tell us what to do—you know all the things!"
B54 came out of her way to find me in my room and cry for help personally.
Admirable initiative. And she thought I was smart…
I patted her between the antennae and tried not to tear up.
"Calm down, calm down. How can ants steal food from you? You, Foremen Bees, are so much faster, and you have the hammers to not die in one sting."
"There's never a single ant, Father! There are at least several, and they crawl all over the place! While we attack one, another will grab our food and get away!"
Well, damn.
I recalled what I knew about ants. They lived in anthills, some of them had agriculture, and others were really, really dangerous. Also, if one ant found food, it would create a pheromone trail that will bring a dozen of its sisters to it.
'All these ants in the area must've come because of the foraging posts… Damn.'
"Alright, B54, bring more Foremen Bees to forager posts next time. Say, a dozen guards in the overall area, and three more stand near the food stash at all times. So even if one ant distracts you all, these three will fight any other ant that approaches."
The bee nodded.
"I get it, Father! You are the best. I will teach other Foremen Bees what to do, so you can keep thinking smart thoughts."
She flew off without a goodbye.
I wiped a tear from my eye and sniffed.
'We really need a military. These ants are only the first opponents this world throws at us out of way too many. But it's already hard to send my daughters off toward danger…'