"I would rather prefer that enemies don't spill a single drop of my family's blood! It's way too precious, Bloodhero."
"You are right as always, Father! That's why we avenge every drop spilled tenfold! When we grow stronger, even the dragons and other giant beasts will fear us. Only those that are useful to the Empire will be allowed to live."
Bloodhero's eyes shone with barely held back the desire for vengeance, and my other Advisers echoed it.
"But they better be *very* useful if they want Father's mercy," Workharder added, sneering.
And I couldn't help but agree!
There were way too many creatures that brought us way too much trouble! Or had the resources we needed.
"That's right. This world will be shaped in our design, and we will be its masters, thanks to the supreme intelligence and genes we carry! Then, nobody will have to worry whether they and their loved ones will live to see tomorrow. But that won't happen today or tomorrow, my girls. No, we still have current threats to face."
Grim but determined nods were my response.
After some more thoughts, I picked the 'Electrical Charge I' gene, after all.
It wasn't better or worse than 'Paralyzing Venom I', and wasn't I allowed to get something cool for myself once in a while?
'Oh, I have a choice now? Can I pick any place?'
This required some thought.
I could place the new organ somewhere convenient, like my palm. It would be easy to slap an enemy and shock them, but the power of this attack will be small.
Alternatively, I could place it in my tail or torso, which were full of space. However, then it will be much harder to shock anyone this way.
'Or would it?' I narrowed my eyes. 'We have gold, which is highly conductive. We can make gold wire, attach one end to the charge organ, another to a spear, and hit people with it!'
Even with all the potential inconveniences, it seemed like a fool-proof plan. Not to mention, more charge meant a higher potential for bee-powered electrical stations in the future.
Immediately after these words, I felt itching below my solar plexus. It was as something shifted in my innards—a nauseating feeling, but it passed quickly.
"Hm, I thought it would feel more differently," I muttered, rubbing my chest through the leather tunic.
Then I glanced at my status and paused.
〔Electrical charge〕: 1%
"Do you have it, Nectus?" Ambrosia asked, looking at my chest curiously. "Are you feeling well?"
"I think it will take some time for it to charge. But…" I frowned and felt like I could maybe…
It felt like I stung my chest with static electricity.
〔Electrical charge〕: 0%
"Yep, it definitely works," I said, rubbing my chest again. "Should try using this ability at full charge. Hey, is there an Attendant around? Can someone fly out and check the sundial? I want to see how long it will take to charge."
A Queen Attendant responded to me from the outside of the Council Chamber.
"This instant, Father!"
She returned a minute later, reporting that it was an hour past noon.
Meanwhile, I examined my stats and realized that after all the upgrades, endurance was my second-lowest attribute after defense!
"I definitely need to upgrade this," I said, not even waiting for my Advisers' opinions. "I feel like I'm going to bleed myself a lot very soon to transfer the new genes to as many bees as possible."
After I upgraded my Beemarine morphotype with new genes, the fastest way to get new Beemarines would be to use 'Vertical Gene Transfer' on ones I already had.
Suddenly, Tabletina stepped forward.
"A great sacrifice you make for the Empire, Father. But! Please, let a trusted Physician be at your side next time you gather blood and cut your skin open with the sharpest brass scalpel we have. I would like to have the honor, if you don't mind. Your blood is the most precious treasure the Empire has after your seed, and I can't stand to watch you treat it so casually any longer!"
I flinched back a little.
"Hey, I treat it *very* not-casually—and could you *please* don't talk about my seed? You are my daughter, you aren't supposed to talk about your father's… Ugh!"
"I don't see how my relation to you is connected to anything, Father."
"Stop complaining about irrelevant things, Nectus. Tabletina is right—you spent too long just cutting yourself open with stone knives," Ambrosia said, frowning. "You have more scars than Warriors, when your skin should be smooth like melted wax instead. Tabletina is the most experienced Physician, let her do her job."
Tabletina nodded enthusiastically.
"Indeed, Mother-Queen!"
I was pinned in a pincer maneuver. Captured by reverence of Tabletina on one side, and Ambrosia's genuine concern on the other!
I turned to Ambrosia.
"But you will be near while she does bloodletting like a medieval doctor she is? Will you hold my hand, Amby, and kiss my booboos away?"
Ambrosia smiled at me.
"Easily done, Nectus. I can share as many kisses as you need—they cost nothing."
With my peripheral vision, I saw Workharder make a grimace of disgust.
Being Worker Bees, my daughters didn't care about anything sex-related, but they acted like total children when exposed to affection between their parents.
I shook my head and went back to upgrades. Two attribute points were left, and I put the first one into endurance.
〔For improving endurance, you have a choice of next genes: 'Slow-Twitch Muscles', 'Increased Fertility II->III', and 'Efficient Flight I'.〕
〔Slow-Twitch Muscles: increases maximum stamina by 20%.〕
〔Increased Fertility II->III: +60% to fertility.〕
〔Efficient Flight I: reduces stamina cost of flying by 10%.〕