A Million Army Lights Up the Devil Bee Hive (Part 2)
Ganeungi wore a shocked expression and replied, “Eek, this… why me?”
“You’re perfect for the high-altitude reconnaissance team.”
[High-altitude reconnaissance team… Ganeungi… but why the queen’s stinger?]
“When the full moon rises and the moonlight begins to guide us, the million-strong army will launch a devastating bombing run. But first we have to mark the exact location of the devil-bee hive before that moonlight can shine straight down.”
[Queen-nim’s stinger… I can’t… absorb it and still do high-altitude reconnaissance.]
“It’s impossible. You must absorb the stinger.”
The moment I finished speaking, one of the queens from the Empire of Stone Gaps suddenly butted in.
[Absolutely not. How dare a lowly drone swallow the queen’s sacred stinger!]
Instantly every other queen jumped in, voices overlapping in a chorus of outrage.
[I reject it! We reject it with our lives!]
[Correct! Why a drone, of all things?]
[The queen’s stinger is holy relic! A drone must never absorb it!]
[Never! We reject it absolutely!]
Bzzzzzzz~
Following them, tens of thousands of special task forces soared up from the third basement level, their wings humming in solidarity with their queen.
I couldn’t help but grin. These queens were so frustrating.
Facing an all-out war, they were still stuck on such petty formal logic.
Was it purely because of power hunger?
If so, the solution was simple.
“Fine. We’ll take volunteers! Anyone who can fly at night—come forward!”
The queens who could fly at night immediately erupted in cheers.
[I’ll go!]
[Me too!]
[I’m in!]
Everyone looked ready to become empress for the night.
I continued, “But think carefully. This mission is life or death.”
With that, I pulled out a tube of neon-paint and lined it up.
Ganeugi spoke as representative.
[What is this?]
“Look down.”
Beneath the open sky, the fourth basement level was already pitch dark.
“Even if a brave volunteer flies straight over the devil-bee hive, how can we see exactly where he is from here?”
Ganeugi thought for a moment.
[Paint it on my body?]
“Exactly. When a volunteer absorbs the queen’s stinger, he instantly grows to three meters. I’ll coat that entire body with this glowing paint. In the pitch-black darkness, he’ll shine like a star.”
[……]
“The moment the devil-bee assault begins, the volunteer will dart around and direct pinpoint bombing runs. He’ll be swarmed by the monsters’ insane attacks. Shining like a star—those eyes will see him instantly. A hundred devil-bees will try to surround him, but the odds are stacked against them. Meaning the volunteer… might not survive.”
[……]
“Are you sure you want to risk your life in this war?”
[……]
“Even if the stinger-absorbing bee flees the battlefield, it won’t survive either. If we fail to achieve results, we’ll be forced to retrieve the queen’s stingers to uphold her legacy. The queen’s stinger planted in a deserter must be pulled out and implanted in a true warrior who earns the honor.”
The instant my words fell, every queen stared at one another in silence, buzzing quietly.
Honeybees die the moment their stinger is pulled. Absorbing the queen’s stinger was no different. Absorption was free, but separation required paying with one’s life.
“Now, let’s take volunteers again. Only bees who are willing to fight to the death until this war ends—step forward!”
[……]
“……”
“……”
“……”
My prediction was spot-on. The mention of possible death had them all shutting their mouths and eyeing each other nervously. No one stepping up to risk death for the empress title was completely expected.
At that moment, a tiny bee bravely stepped forward.
[Your Majesty! Even a drone can volunteer?]
I looked at the bee and smiled. “Of course!”
Who else could it be?
None other than Ganeugi herself.
[Then… I’ll volunteer.]
Not a single one of those thousands of queens could voice opposition anymore. They all knew the counterattack waiting for them: “If you’re so anxious, go ahead and absorb it yourself!”
I asked once more. “You’re okay with dying in this war?”
[I’m okay with it.]
Ganeugi’s resolve was ironclad.
In the end, Ganeugi absorbed Ye Li Za Bei Ta’s stinger. The reaction was immediate.
Her body, which had barely reached thirty centimeters, began to swell as if about to burst.
The first thing that swelled was a pair of antennae.
Then her single and compound eyes grew larger, followed by her chest and belly, and finally three pairs of legs that stretched grotesquely.
Last came a pair of huge wings.
Because of the sudden mass, Ganeugi’s downward flight was violently reversed, and she shot back into the air with all her strength.
Bzzzzzz~
“Yejin, please assist.”
“Of course.”
Han Yejin and I immediately approached the three-meter-tall Ganeugi and began evenly coating her face, chest, and belly with yellow neon paint.
A moment later, Ganeugi had become a glowing yellow shape.
“From a distance, your form will be clearly visible, even if small.”
[Accurate… flight pattern… eight-figure… in the sky above…]
“Perfect.”
The high-altitude reconnaissance team was ready.
I lined up the team.
At the front stood Ganeugi.
A hundred devil-bees capable of night flight surrounded her in front, rear, left, right, up, and down—twenty-six directions.
“Ganeugi! Remember this—you must survive. Without you, we can’t mark the bombing location.”
[Understood… must… accurate… eight-figure… dance…]
Those were Ganeugi’s last words before she took flight.
Immediately the hundred devil-bees followed.
The million-strong army’s high-altitude reconnaissance team had launched.
I climbed onto my hornet and descended to the fourth basement level, then watched them through dawn goggles.
I was frustrated I couldn’t fly with the reconnaissance team, but I couldn’t afford recklessness. Directing the entire operation from here was at least as important as the mission itself.
A short while later, even at maximum zoom, the devil-bees had vanished from the scope.
Yet the three-meter Ganeugi still glowed brightly against the darkness.
At that moment, one of the million-strong army clinging to the ceiling of the fourth basement level swayed its body unconsciously.
[There… the firefly queen.]
The army erupted in excitement.
[The firefly queen!]
[Yes! The firefly queen!]
[The firefly queen! Legend realized!]
[Victory!]
[We… win!]
I hadn’t meant anything by it, but it was a genuine morale boost.
In war, morale is one of the most important factors.
I shouted upward. “Yejin! Drop the searchlight now!”
Finally, four circular light plates attached to lightweight cranes began to descend through the sky.
These searchlights were nothing like the real moon. The real moon floats in the air and illuminates the entire surface, but this artificial moon only glowed round—it only shone in one direction.
Yet that exact feature made it far more effective for the honeybees’ nighttime bombing runs. They simply had to follow the beam.
The catch was that the angle had to be adjusted with extreme precision.
I climbed onto the light plate facing downward at a forty-five-degree angle, fixed the dawn goggles to match, and began tracking the glow Ganeugi was emitting through the scope.
“Up! Pull! Down! Release!”
Han Yejin, Queen Daebi, and Queen Daebin manning the four manual cranes moved them instantly.
The massive light plate slowly rose at the top and lowered at the bottom, shifting to a steeper angle than forty-five degrees.
“Just a little more!”
The plate kept moving.
“A little more! Stop! Now a little left!”
The crane rotated horizontally to adjust the light plate’s horizontal angle.
“Too far! Slightly left again! Stop! Stop!”
The lightweight cranes had limits; wild swings were impossible. But since we already knew the approximate direction of the hive, this level of fine adjustment was more than enough for accurate illumination.
Ganeugi was now barely visible—a tiny glowing point.
Then she finally appeared.
The eight-figure dance.
Exactly as promised, Ganeugi began her dance.
The eight-figure is the dance honeybees perform when they discover a flower.
But this time the target wasn’t a flower.
It was the main base of their mortal enemy—the giant hornet!
I quickly checked the scope and light-plate alignment, then made the final fine adjustment to lock the searchlight’s angle.
I could feel the moment of victory or defeat for this operation had arrived.
I climbed down from the light plate and mounted my hornet.
Then I shouted toward the sky. “Researcher-nim, please make sure the special task forces carry out the orders I gave!”
A voice answered from above. “Don’t worry!”
“Now turn on the lights!”
Thunk—
Thunk-thunk—
Thunk-thunk-thunk—
Thunk—
Thunk-thunk-thunk— In an instant, hundreds of searchlights lit up everywhere.
A beam of light sliced across the fourth basement level, growing thicker and brighter as it advanced.
The million-strong army stirred again.
[Full moon!]
[The full moon! For real!]
[Your Majesty kept his promise!]
[The full moon has risen!]
I flew a full circuit under the nearby ceiling on my hornet, then called out loudly. “Million-strong army! Are you ready to fly?”
Bzzzzzz~
Bzzzzzz~
“Are you ready to forever change the fate of the honeybees?”
Bzzzzzz~
Bzzzzzz~
The million honeybees answered with powerful wingbeats.
Thud—
Chiiiiiick—
I pulled a flare and shouted, “Frontline squadron, load up!”
Under the command of the queen at the head, thirty thousand frontline bees began orderly movement into the sky.
“Second squadron, load up!”
Starting with the first squadron, the second, third, and fourth followed in sequence, disappearing into the sky. A moment later they returned without exception, each carrying a small air balloon in its mouth.
“Frontline squadron, second squadron—follow the beam of light and fly!”
They began to fly along the straight line of light.
“Third squadron, load up! Fourth squadron, load up!”
Huge swarms began to stretch out like earthworms behind the spotlight.
The operation seemed to be almost over…
I handed command over to the eldest queen, then mounted my hornet and joined the flying formation.
Honeybees outside normally fly twenty to twenty-four kilometers per hour.
On top of that, this was their first night flight and they were carrying heavy mana bombs in their mouths, so their speed would only drop further.
But my hornet could reach over three hundred kilometers per hour in an instant, and the twelve-bitter had received a 125 percent agility buff.
Even accounting for the massive size debuff, it was natural that the hornet quickly caught up to the frontline.
As I reached the front, the beam of light was clearly growing fainter.
Stragglers might start appearing.
At that moment, the Ganeugi who had been dancing the eight-figure far away activated Second Navigation.
The queen’s pheromones!
“Yes!”
She was releasing the pheromones wildly to guide her sisters.
I stood up on my hornet.
“The firefly queen! The firefly queen is calling us!”
Bzzzzzz~
The million honeybees beat their wings and danced in succession.
A wave of cheering like a rolling ocean stretched all the way until my vision blurred.