〔Increased Fertility I->II: +20% to fertility (adds to the previous tier).〕
〔Increased Pain Threshold greatly improves pain tolerance.〕
〔Faster Regeneration I: +20% to health recovery speed.〕
I stared at the spread of genes before me. They were pretty cool, but… still no lifespan!
"Well, Ambrosia… Better pain tolerance, faster regeneration, or more children?"
She tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"What do *you* think, Nectus?"
The question felt like a test.
"Let me guess… More children?"
"I'm glad that you see the sense in this it, too."
So I chose 'Increased Fertility II' and prepared my next attribute point.
'This is a casino, I swear… No, this is worse than a casino. At least in a casino, I have an option to go home!'
The next spread of genes…
〔Deeper Breathing: increases stamina recovery and amount of time the owner can spend without breathing by 20%.〕
〔Faster Regeneration I: +20% to health recovery speed.〕
Had no lifespan upgrades, either! (I picked the regeneration gene, but wasn't thrilled about it.)
〔Reduced Sleep I: reduces the amount of sleep needed daily by 1 hour.〕
〔Improved Metabolism I: reduces need for food by 5%.〕
〔Faster Regeneration I->II: +20% to health recovery speed (adds to the previous tier).〕
Neither did the fourth one! Even if the genes were really good.
I chose regeneration again. Bees couldn't work without the light of day yet, anyway.
When I was preparing to put my last remaining attribute point into endurance *again*, my hands were shaking so hard that Ambrosia noticed.
She reached out and put two of my hands in hers.
"You are shaking. Are you cold, Nectus?"
I felt my eyes tearing up from her gentleness and caring.
"Yes, Amby. I'm so cold… Only your chest can warm me up. Me and my poor soul… that's going to fall right into the afterlife the way this goes…"
"You feel warm enough, though…"
Despite her words, Ambrosia still pulled me closer and let me rest my head on her generous bosom. This never failed to cheer me up.
'The final attribute point… Next attribute points only if I get lucky with achievements or 200 development points ahead. It might take weeks. Months.'
I pressed the confirmation button.
〔Photosynthesis I: allows filling up to 10% of daily energy needs via sunlight.〕
〔Faster Regeneration II->III: +20% to health recovery speed (adds to the previous tier).〕
〔Faster Youth Development I: reduces time until full maturity by 20%.〕
I held Ambrosia tighter.
"I'm so doomed… Fucking gacha. I knew I was right not playing any of these Chinese gacha games and sticking to strategy games instead… Gachas only stab you in the back."
"When is the autumn? I'm so *not* living until then. 66 days… I spent three months reaching Development Level 3! *Three* months!"
"Nectus, when you speak into my chest, it tickles a little." Ambrosia poked my shoulder. "Also, you didn't say what genes you got this time."
Ambrosia ruffled my hair.
"It's strange. What you say now is so true and reasonable, but I still don't like hearing it. As if you made me dependent on all the nonsense you say, like 'living for 80 years' and 'showing it to the bitch goddess'. Can you explain this, Nectus?"
I perked up and met Ambrosia's eyes. My face felt hot.
"It means… You *really* care!" I was ready to cry again. "Please, kiss!"
She kissed me indulgently. This gave me enough strength to sit on my own and think optimistically again.
"Alright! So there's a *neat* photosynthesis gene—this means eating sunlight, at least partially—the next tier of faster regeneration and a gene that will make our daughters emerge from cocoons faster. We need faster growth right now, so I pick the last one!"
"A good choice. The faster our daughters mature, the sooner all those new genes will fill our colony."
"Yes… Too bad our little princess won't have all the best genes, though. But I'm not aborting her! Her genes would only become more and more obsolete as ours improve."
And my genes were pretty cool, admittedly. Their list was growing and growing… I liked it.
〔Name〕: Nectus Stingprince
〔Active title〕: Drone-Consort
〔Attribute points〕: 0
〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 61 d
Flight, Horizontal Gene Transfer
Drone-Consort, Homeland Protector
Enhanced Intelligence X, Technology: Primitive Containers, Increased Lifespan II, Fast Learner I, Enhanced Endurance II, Danger-Averse Reflexes, Venom Resistance I, Heat Resistance I, Enhanced Strength II, Enhanced Defense II, Meat Digestion, Increased Fertility II, Faster Regeneration II, Faster Youth Development I
"Of course, our colony will stay superior. Even if she's our daughter, she will compete with us for resources."
"Noooo! Amby, it's not like that *at all*!" I waved my arms agitatedly. "She will still be our *family*. Her colony and ours will be like… one larger colony. Like some ants have it—they have more than one Queen in a colony, and they live just fine."
"This is… Hm. Yes, I understand. It makes sense. But then, there's a solution to the gene problem."
"Really? What did you come up with, Amby?"
"It's bad for a Drone to mate with his mother or his daughter. And I don't like the idea of sharing your incredible mating skills and seed quality. But if this will make our grand colony stronger, then you can mate with our daughter Queen occasionally."
I slammed my palms in my face.
Why was I even shocked? I should've expected Ambrosia to say something like that!
"Yes, of course I thought about this solution, too! Who, do you think, spent over 800 hours in CK 2 and 3?1 But I'm not, you hear that, I'm *not* bringing the 'wincest' memes to life! They are *NOT* for the real world! Oh, Amby…"
I was just going to deal with this all by other means.
But at least in the company of Ambrosia and math lessons, time passed swiftly.
In four more days, the squad of Commando Bees (not fully equipped yet, but my Craftsmen Bees were busy) ventured forth in search of anthills to steal secrets of agriculture from.
On the fifth day, I got the first results.
This is, of course, a reference to Crusader Kings 2 and 3. I'm 80% sure that their abbreviations aren't copyrighted...