Chapter 184
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Expanding the Hive
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The fear of death, experienced for the first time.
A normal person would be terrified or hide in a corner. But not Seong-hyeok.
“He's always an impressive young man, but he seems to be working even harder today, doesn't he?”
“Well, he's always overflowing with energy, that one.”
Seong-hyeok, who always worked tirelessly at beekeeping, was focusing on his work with even greater intensity today.
It went without saying what the driving force was.
*Bzzzz~*
*Buzzzzzzz~*
To Seong-hyeok, the bees were like his own children.
Was the Karma of the Honeybee Guardian just any ordinary thing?
Unlike other Karmas like the Mad Inquirer, which were shared among several individuals, Seong-hyeok was the sole possessor of his on Earth.
Just like the saying that the head of a household is great.
Having something to protect made all the difference.
*'I will protect them, no matter what.'*
A will to prevent his bees from suffering the same ordeal of death he had experienced.
Through his experience with the status of a Transcendent Being, he realized his current power was insignificant, but that wasn't all he learned.
The power of a Transcendent, which seemed capable of toying with even a dragon like a plaything if one so wished.
But ironically, that immense power became a shackle that bound them.
*'When you look at it this way, it's quite reassuring.'*
The mechanism of the 'World' that, while having given Seong-hyeok the experience of death, faithfully suppressed the power of the Transcendents.
Is this what they call a necessary evil?
A being that had killed him, yet was indispensable.
Well, in any case, now that he understood direct intervention from Transcendents was impossible due to the 'World' and the 'Temporary Transcendent' title, the breakthroughs available to Seong-hyeok were endless.
Even now, the residents were growing rapidly thanks to the monsters strengthened by the World Tree and wild beehives.
But Seong-hyeok could now add a new method to the mix.
※ Eye of Truth (Permanent): Determines if a target is speaking the truth or a lie, and reveals hidden elements in items or special objects.
※ Archangel's Blessing (Permanent): Grants a buff equal to 30% of the owner's total stats to one designated target for 1 hour. (Cooldown: 24 hours)
※ Fruit of Patience (Permanent): Accumulates damage when attacked. Returns the accumulated damage in a subsequent attack. This effect is maximized the higher the durability stat.
...
The mighty Authorities inherited from numerous Transcendents.
As they came with conditions that couldn't be met unless one was at the level of a Transcendent, the effects he obtained were beyond imagination.
The many figures from various worlds he would meet on his future journey.
The Eye of Truth would be a great help in sorting out who to ally with and who to avoid, and the Archangel's Blessing needed no further explanation.
*'Is it because I received it directly? Looking at it again, it's really no joke.'*
The owner of the Authority.
In other words, a buff granted based on Seong-hyeok's stats.
He couldn't use it on just anyone with its one-day cooldown, but he could be sure of one thing.
With this effect applied, even the weakest target could easily handle a field boss. And for the farm's ace fighters, Cha Hye-rin or Go Dal-su.
And if applied to Disaster-class boss monsters, it could create a massive variable even in a fight against a being like a dragon.
Besides those, other Authorities with gem-like effects such as Mad Inquiry or Fruit of Patience stood out, but the most valuable of them all was undoubtedly from Prepion, the goddess of abundance.
※ Body of Abundance (Permanent): Increases all production and growth rates by 500% within a 200km radius of the Authority's owner. Note: This includes monster respawn rates and growth.
Production, which could be considered the most important aspect of the bee farm.
In that regard, the 'Body of Abundance' gifted by Prepion was a supreme effect that satisfied every requirement.
An effect that didn't fall short even when compared to the third-stage World Tree.
No, it was a broken effect that boasted even greater results.
Of course, that didn't mean it was superior to the World Tree in every way.
“The range is a bit disappointing, though.”
The 200km effective range was certainly not small, but it was a bit awkward.
However, the merit that completely overshadowed this drawback was that Seong-hyeok himself was the medium.
Unlike the World Tree, which was fixed in one place, Seong-hyeok could move at any time.
The implication of this was clear.
“I can expand the territory in any direction I want.”
No longer limited to just Korea and Africa.
A great wind of growth would blow wherever Seong-hyeok went.
In fact, this was incredibly important in the current situation.
The power of nature was indispensable for increasing humanity's survival rate.
Moreover, depending on how it was used, it was possible to create a third or even fourth multi-base by bringing the farm's bees along, just like in Africa.
Furthermore, didn't Seong-hyeok recently bring in a lucky charm?
“Jjiru! Jjirururururu!”
*Chirrrrr~*
Jjiru and its bats were now fully adapted to living in Korea.
Perhaps because of their one bad experience drooling over the bees, the carnivorous bats had since shown no appetite for them and were now coexisting peacefully.
As befitting the familiars of Jjiru, a diamond that was already cut and polished.
They were making a great contribution to increasing the survival rate of both the bees and the residents, but the important thing was something else.
*Chirrrrr!*
A white-bodied bat, hanging upside down from a branch of the World Tree, greedily devouring a fruit full of juice.
The World Tree's effect harbored by this creature, which boasted a rather cute appearance for a bat with its small body.
When that met with Seong-hyeok's Body of Abundance, the synergy would be beyond description.
“Jjiru. Let's get ready to go out.”
“Jjiruru!”
The first of the many breakthroughs he decided on.
It was the growth of humanity.
And...
*Buzzzzz~*
*Buzzzzzzzz!!!*
The expansion of the bees' territory, which would increase at a speed incomparable to before.
* * * * *
As the number of queens and princesses increased, the birth of new bees inevitably followed the laws of nature.
And in that regard, the system of nine queens and seven princesses was truly sprouting a rich history of bees.
Their vigorous egg-laying activities alone would bring nearly 400,000 bees into the world each day, but the queens' potential didn't end there.
Along with Seong-hyeok's skill, Resonance with the Queen Bee, and various nutritional foods that helped the queens lay eggs,
* Guardian's Reassurance: Doubles the egg-laying, hatching, and emergence speed of all affiliated queen bees, regardless of their location.
Guardian's Reassurance, which had made a huge contribution to the bee farm from the early days of this chaotic world until now.
Seong-hyeok's bees were bound to boast more than double the efficiency of other beekeepers like Greendale or the Poison Elves.
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[Egg-Laying Acceleration (Lv.6)]
* Classification: Skill
* Mana Cost: 1,000
* Effect (Active): Egg-laying speed is accelerated by 5 times for 20 minutes. (Cooldown: 90 minutes)
* Effect - Queen Bee's Heart (Passive): When activated, grants the same effect to queen bees within a 1km radius.
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In addition to the Egg-Laying Acceleration from the recently joined Rose Quartz Queen, Seong-hyeok had gained one more thing to further aid in egg-laying.
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[Guardian's Growth Promoter (???)]
※ This item contains the energy of a Transcendent. (Usage is restricted to the owner.)
* Classification: Consumable
* When consumed by a Queen Bee or Princess Bee, egg-laying speed is doubled for 24 hours, along with the 'Power of the Elite' and 'Dignity of the Legion Commander' effects.
※ Power of the Elite: Increases the birth rate of superior species bees by 3%.
※ Dignity of the Legion Commander: Increases the birth rate of elite bees by 0.1%.
* Description: A gradeless growth promoter engraved with the 'Guardian' keyword. Crafted using a Transcendent's secret method, it synergizes with the Karma of the Honeybee Guardian to become the ultimate promoter for Queen and Princess Bees.
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Insect Queen Ninetito.
Who loved bees just like Seong-hyeok.
A relatively trustworthy figure among the Transcendents.
The one he would have most likely formed an Incarnation Contract with, had he not contracted with the server administrator, Riggle.
Perhaps because of that, she wore a slightly disappointed expression when they first met, but she still gave him everything she had prepared.
And the result of her power meeting Seong-hyeok's Karma was this very promoter, a symbol of fertility.
It wasn't the type to drastically increase the percentage like Egg-Laying Acceleration, but in the long run, its 24-hour duration and the ability to produce more superior species and elite bees—the core strength of the bees—could not be ignored.
*'This means they'll become even stronger from now on.'*
Of course, this included Teunteun-i and Ssing-ssing-i, who were a great help in battle.
And Geonchug-i and Deombur-i, who had a huge impact on construction and production.
And the countless superior species bees and worker bees.
For bees, where numbers directly translated to power, there was no better news. But as they say, too much of a good thing can be bad.
The Korean Peninsula, already absurdly small compared to other countries.
No matter how abundantly the flowers bloomed due to the World Tree and other influences, the physical area was a limiting factor.
In such a situation, it was obvious what would happen if well over a million bees were born every day.
“Just leasing out bees won't be enough anymore.”
The bee-leasing business, which had at least given them some breathing room.
The immediate problem was solved thanks to Africa, the second bee farm secured with the Authority of 1, but even Africa was not enough to accommodate the ever-increasing number of bees being born each day.
A third multi-base.
No, going further, they would need to look beyond double digits and aim for triple digits of bee multi-bases.
“No one could have imagined a unification by bees.”
The first candidate chosen for this was North Korea.
North Korea was close, being on the same peninsula as South Korea, and the problematic ranker there had already been sent on an express train to the afterlife long ago.
Moreover, thanks to the purification efforts, the image of the bees wasn't bad, so there shouldn't be any major problems establishing a multi-base there.
Well, even so, North Korea's land area was only slightly larger than South Korea's.
It would be a temporary fix at best for the current problem, but Seong-hyeok had no intention of building his third bee farm only in North Korea.
“I don't know if I should be thankful for this.”
Russia, the country that *had been* the largest in terms of land area on Earth.
That place, destroyed by the merciless attacks of the Red Dragon Porleirn, was precisely the fourth multi-base Seong-hyeok had been eagerly searching for.
A new paradise for the bees.