Chapter 217: Don't Bee Alarmed!
In the end, the slime queen, swimming queen, and a newly evolved toxic queen wanted to move to the bog. The slime queen and swimming queen both loved the terrain itself, while the toxic queen grew interested once they began testing the vaporous hemlock. Belissar moved the swimming and slime beehouses to the bog and built a new one for the toxic queen near the hemlock, making the legs extra long to keep the structure dry.
Belissar smiled as he watched swimming bees dive in and out of the water while slime bees crawled along the bottom. His cooperation with the Circle was paying off after all, and this was only the beginning. With all the new bees, flowers, and rooms on the horizon, his Tower’s growth was about to explode. And with the karnuq receiving blessings, the Circle promising aid, and Chief Rohsuak negotiating an alliance with the sigmaka, his bees would soon have all the help they needed. He was feeling better and better about his chances when the Tower Lords finally returned. Yes, it was all going…
Warning! Corruption levels surging! Emergency purification required!
Belissar had no time to act shocked, however, so he shouted across the Tower.
“Everyone, the Hunger is incoming! Get ready to fight!”
Belissar himself rushed to the mustering point by the Orchard’s wall of shortcuts. He clenched his teeth as he ran. This purification came at the worst possible time. Captains and Assassins were on the horizon but the bees hadn’t raised any just yet. There was all of one wax golem ready. He had only just made the bog and the bees hadn’t had the chance to spread the vaporous hemlock beyond the single node he placed. The Death room had barely been started.
And, worst of all…Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti weren’t in the Tower.
Because Belissar had wanted to limit the scope of the alliance, Chief Rohsuak and Second Queen Berbiya had to spread out their negotiations over several days. They each needed time to report the others’ proposals to Belissar and King Ratuatapi before they could continue the discussion, so it couldn’t be helped. And, unfortunately, Chief Rohsuak was in one of those talks at this very moment, with Metsaitti as her escort.
So, there would be no big fireball this time if the incoming shade was more than the bee army could handle. Belissar would just have to hope that the preparations they had made would be enough.