Slurping Until My Belly Burst! (Part 4)

◈ Overview: When sprayed on a Devil-Bee, it turns the target gentle. ◈ Cool time: None. ◈ Skill points: Currently 0 Level 2: Sprayed on Devil-Bee turns target into friend. Level 3: Sprayed on Devil-Bee turns 100 targets into subordinates. Level 4: Sprayed on Devil-Bee allows simple communication with target. Level 5: Sprayed on Devil-Bee turns 200 additional targets into subordinates. Level 6: Sprayed on Devil-Bee allows naming a new queen. Good. I've been stacking new skill points for a few hours with my recent exploits. I immediately invested 2 points in Queen Pheromone and started spraying the pheromone everywhere. After the queen died, the Devil-Bees that had charged in desperation threw away their aggressive nature and began flying high. I ordered the rest of my army not to attack Devil-Bees anymore. Next, I activated Queen Antidote with one skill point and injected the needle into the double-armed fellow and three ogre ladies, neutralizing them from paralysis. The double-armed guy had been stabbed deep in the belly by the queen's attack earlier, but recovery was already progressing well. As expected, he inherited his father's insane recovery. Damn. My thigh still hurt like hell... I had to make money fast and raise my vitality. After neutralizing the sergeant rotters, I handed the queen's needle to him and ordered the others to continue. When I was lying on the floor taking a breather, Kkwakwaaang~ A loud sound reverberated through the 3rd basement level. My loyal army and I naturally turned our heads toward the sound. Kwoong~ The sound came from the area where the honeycomb had collapsed due to mana leak. I ran over and saw that everything except the center had collapsed, and something was pounding on the floor from beneath the donut-shaped sinkhole. What is this? Even though I hadn't given orders, the double-armed guy, ogre ladies, and rotters all watched with tense expressions. Kkukung~ Whatever it was, something huge was trying to break through from the 4th basement level into the 3rd. At that moment, Kooohaaaang~ Wajjgeureum~ A loud noise, and something suddenly shot up. My brain processed in one second that it was a monstrous head. But determining what kind of monster took a few more seconds. Dense fur covering the face... Excessively round eyes... Black pupils and yellow irises... And a black beak shaped like a demon's claw. At that moment, The head turned, looked around, and spotted a miraculously surviving island— the remaining honeycomb that had fallen into the mayonnaise and lived on. The whole area was still burning from mana leakage, but the honeycomb had been protected by the dripping mayonnaise. The bird was staring greedily at that remaining honeycomb. It was clearly aiming for it as prey. Only then did I realize what it was. A falcon! A predatory bird specialized in eating honeycomb. In the human world, they're only 50 to 60 centimeters tall. But this one lifting its head was no joke. Estimating the size from the head... Height at least 4 to 5 meters, Wingspan easily over 10 meters. Of course, to survive against the Devil-Bee queen, it needed that size. At that moment, I saw the falcon struggling to climb upward, twisting its body. But it was difficult. The mana leak—the burning fires still spitting from the collapsed honeycomb. For a furry falcon to break through those flames was a huge challenge. I sensed this was some kind of time trial. Inside that huge mayonnaise honeycomb, there was still an enormous amount of royal jelly left. I'd already filled the 100 vitality allowance allowed for F-class. Right now, jumping in and eating it meant nothing. I had to recover it. Before that monstrous falcon came, before the mana leak dried up, I had to get every last drop, no matter what. Of course. How much was that worth? An elixir that raised intelligence by 1 was over 300 million won... Royal jelly that raised vitality by 1 had to be at least that much. So I couldn't let it go. I had to scrape it all up. I ordered all my soldiers to open fire. They, as if waiting for the order, picked up floor rocks and prepared to throw at the bird's head. Puck! Puck! Puck! It was a very simple, childish attack. But it was working. The heavy stones thrown by the ogres had low accuracy, but they carried enough force to be taken seriously. The rotters' stones couldn't be ignored either, with over 100 flying at once. But what really annoyed the falcon the most was probably the double-armed guy's crazy rock-throwing, spinning and hurling three times. Ppeoeok~ - Kwoeek~ The falcon took the hit properly and let out a weird sound, then pulled its head back and fled. The moment the falcon pulled its head out, bright sunlight burst from below and hit the ceiling of the 3rd basement level. Even the ogres and rotters couldn't help but squint. Was the 4th basement level a bright space? It wasn't surprising. Even high floors of the tower had levels illuminated this early by mana. Usually in areas with plants and jungle monsters. Anyway, right now I didn't have time to worry about the 4th basement level. I had to claim that huge jelly container. The falcon wouldn't give up. It would attack again in waves. I gathered the rotter soldiers and assigned perimeter duty. I ordered the ogres to gather nearby rocks as much as possible to prepare for the bird's return. The rest were told ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to rest near the donut sinkhole until mission change, and when the falcon appeared again, they were to focus fire like before. Then I pulled out the luck compass and found the waypoint for the 3rd basement level.