The Bee Dungeon

Chapter 79: The Bee-sired Outcome

Chapter 79: The Bee-sired Outcome

Belissar fell into the rhythm for the next few days. He made potions with Juosiutik, received wood from the karnuq gatherers, watched his bees swarm over the new mana flowers, and continued monitoring purifications. No new names were added to the memorial, and several new perks and features were added to the Tower’s status, and all was well.

He had received a Monster Bee Sprayer Speed Boost, a Monster Bee Soldier Mana Boost, and a Worker Bee Vitality Boost, all minimum+. He didn't get any new features, but he didn’t need any right this moment so that was fine.

He also had started work on the Orchard beehouse. At first, he tried to create a beehive up in the trees to see if he could, but the transparent image remained red, so he guessed he couldn’t stick it among the branches. He could have just built one on the ground, or even built a new Bee Barracks since the two queens shared a joint hive, but that would somewhat defeat the purpose of the grove he made for them.

So, he was currently working on something else. He found he could adjust individual branches on the trees, albeit slightly, so he did his best to flatten them out and join them together. Then, he started building a flat platform out of sawed logs up in the branches, hoping if he made something flat and stable he’d be able to put a beehive feature up there.

He requested some assistance from the Flower Meadow soldier bees once again, since there was little chance he could lift these planks up into the grove’s canopy. However, he refused to let the entire army help him, both since the Flower Meadow queens were helping their children get set up, and because he was planning an expansion purification soon and did not want the army to neglect their training. They did not agree at first, but Belissar eventually ordered them to continue training, taking only a small group, the minimum number of soldier bees that could lift the planks. It was slow going since they had to rest after each plank but Belissar didn’t mind. He absolutely preferred to take his time on this than to leave the army unprepared for the coming fight.

But now, it was time for something new. Because, now that the karnuq had finished their gathering and hunting, his DP finally crossed the limit.

DP: 3110

He could finally afford a new room. He opened up the DP shop and selected new room choice.

Extra room choice purchased. One room choice now available.

- Swamp (Rarity: Common, Type: Nature, Water, Field)

- Farm (Rarity: Common, Type: Resource, Settlement)

- Dirt Tunnels (Rarity: Common, Type: Ground, Labyrinth)

Belissar smiled, and only hesitated for a brief moment. Swamps didn’t sound particularly appealing, but that was only if he considered it as a human. As a dungeon master, on the other hand? Wet mud and surprisingly deep water to drag down a shade and prevent it from moving quickly? Novel and aquatic plants that could offer new flowers for his bees? That could offer significant potential for his Tower’s defenses. A farm, on the other hand, needed little explanation. More food would be great for the karnuq, who had already provided him with grain plants to grow in it, and new crops could mean new flowers for the bees.

But his choice was already made.

Dirt Tunnels are now available.

It just made sense right now. He had subterranean plant types from the karnuq, and they even had some more they hadn’t offered since he had nowhere to put them. He had Ground mana flowers, which would hopefully be cheaper in an underground room and that would hopefully result in new bee types that could make use of the new area and the new flowers. And, while the bees could certainly handle flying shades at this point, an underground area would make it all the more difficult for those types of opponents…provided his bees could actually operate in such a place. Farms, while helpful to the karnuq, just couldn’t provide much for his bees that he didn’t already have with Flower Meadows and Orchards. A swamp could, but it was an option he didn’t have anything prepared for. It was not appealing enough to delay taking Dirt Tunnels any longer.

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Plus, he had learned his lesson with the digger bees. Dirt Tunnels may have showed up every time so far, but if he didn’t take them now there was no guarantee they’d continue to appear.

And then, his smile dropped. Because now that he had a new room came the hard part: deciding where to actually put it. For the sake of the defense, it would make the most sense to put it first, forcing the shades to pass through it before they could reach the Bee Barracks or any other hives. And if it were still just him and his bees, that’s probably what he would have done. However, he now had to consider the karnuq…and all those resource nodes he had created for them at the front of the Flower Meadow. They’d all be much harder to reach if Belissar put an entire additional room between hem and the entrance. The karnuq still hadn’t made a trip to the Orchard, after all.

So then, put it somewhere behind the Flower Meadow? Putting in between the Flower Meadow and the Orchard…was not a good idea. The Orchard bees made regular trips to the Flower Meadow, and were even sending scouts outside of the Tower…which reminded Belissar he probably should check out the newly purified area at some point. Maybe he could ask the karnuq for help with that? Or, he could just wait for his bees’ scouts since they were already searching…

Belissar shook his head as he was getting distracted. The point was that adding a room’s worth of distance to the Orchard bees’ trips would disrupt their current efforts. The same would apply to putting it behind the Orchard, as the Orchard bees also regularly travelled to the Apiary.

So, maybe he should put it after the Apiary, or even off to the side of one room? But if he did that, then the room wouldn’t contribute to defense at all. If it were behind the Apiary, then a shade that reached it would have already passed through all the bees and their hives, at which point Belissar would already have lost. A room that was off to the side might just be ignored entirely.

Belissar groaned. If only there was a way to keep it out of his bees and the karnuq’s ways while also having it in the way of any shades…

Belissar paused and his eyes widened. Maybe…there was a way to do just that? He switched over to his Tower sight, not viewing a single room but sending his sight higher until he could see all three rooms, like when he tried to place a new one. And then, just to see if he could, he thought about moving the Orchard. The Orchard turned transparent and he could move it around. He tried moving it in front of the Flower Meadow…and it moved just find, with the Flower Meadow moving back to take its former position. He didn’t confirm anything and let the Orchard move back.

But, he had succeeded. It was, in fact, possible to move the rooms after he had placed them. In other words…it would be possible to place the Dirt Tunnels conveniently off to the side during normal times, but then move it in front of the entrance before purifications. Or, at least during big purifications, since it might be disruptive to rearrange the Tower twice every day.

With that knowledge, Belissar moved to place a new Dirt Tunnels room, relieved in the knowledge that the decision wouldn’t be permanent. Since he didn’t want to move the Orchard up a floor, he decided to place it off to the side of the Apiary. When he moved to place the Dirt Tunnels’ entrance, however, he had a surprise.

In addition to the usual entrances on the side of the walls, he found he could place an entrance directly on the Apiary’s floor, in which case the Dirt Tunnels appeared stacked underneath the Apiary. But still counted as on floor 2, somehow? He decided not to question it and experimented more with the door instead. He wondered if he could make a tunnel to the Dirt Tunnels that would then pop elsewhere in the Apiary? He found that he could as a second entrance appeared. He could make several entrances and exits, even.

Well, that was interesting, but Belissar wasn’t entirely sure how to use it, so he just made one entrance near the door to the first floor and left it at that. Now, he had to adjust the room itself. He found a twisting maze of different tunnels, splitting off into both dead ends, circular turns, or connecting back to other paths. Some even sloped up or down instead of turning side to side, making multiple floors within the room itself. Belissar could now adjust those tunnels as he saw fit.

But, well, Belissar hadn’t exactly designed an underground maze before, and so left it as it came and confirmed the placement of the room. He felt the mana of the Tower surge as a brand new room came into being. He returned to his normal sight, then turned to Niobee with a smile.

“Shall we go check it out?”

“Ok!”