Rustle.

“Ah. Refreshing.”

Sejun, who had bathed Theo while taking a bath together, was shaking the water off his hair with a refreshing expression when,

“How dare you put me in water?! I’m so mad, meow!”

Theo was furiously pouting about having been bathed.

However,

Slurp.

Even though he was pouting, Theo didn’t move an inch from Sejun’s lap, and was busily grooming his body with his tongue.

“Come on, Vice Chairman Theo, why are you like that?”

Pat pat.

Sejun stroked Theo’s belly and body, trying to soothe his anger.

“Meow~ Purr-rr! You think I’ll be swayed by that, meow?!!! I’m still really mad, meow! Rub my belly some more, meow!”

Theo, startled by the pleasant purring sound he inadvertently made, hurriedly feigned anger again, trying to get more petting from Sejun.

“Here?”

“Yes, meow! Rub it harder, meow! I’m still angry, meow!”

“Alright, Vice Chairman Theo, calm down.”

“I’ll decide whether to calm down based on how you do, meow!”

Sejun pretended to be deceived, even though he could tell Theo had already calmed down.

After petting Theo for over an hour,

“Seeing Chairman Park’s sincerity, I’ll forgive you, especially, meow! And this is the item I got from a draw, meow!”

Theo, with a satisfied expression, proudly put his front paw into his bag as if doing a favor.

“Oh! Really? As expected of Vice Chairman Theo, you’re the best!”

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, keep the praises coming, meow!”

Theo, with an attitude that he wouldn’t remove his paw from the bag unless he received more praise, waited for Sejun’s compliments. Go on, praise me more, meow!

“Draw!ing! Ge!nius! Theo Park! Draw!ing! Ge!nius! Theo Park!”

Sejun clapped and made up a chant praising Theo,

“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! I am the drawing genius, Theo Park, meow!”

Theo, satisfied with Sejun’s praise, took out his paw from his bag with a smug expression.

“Here! This is it, meow!”

Theo took out a small black stone piece.

“What’s this?”

Sejun inadvertently showed a disappointed expression.

Then,

“Are you doubting me, the drawing genius, meow?!”

Theo, enraged, tried to put the stone fragment back into his bag.

“No… no! How could I doubt Vice Chairman Theo! So, what kind of stone is this?”

“I don’t know, meow! But surely something amazing will come out when Aileen appraises it, meow!”

Theo, although he didn’t know himself, was very confident.

“Really?”

It seemed like just an ordinary stone, but it was something Theo had picked up. Sejun took the black stone piece and examined it.

[Black Stone Fragment]

???

Grade: C

The grade was C, even though it was just a stone fragment. This was the highest grade among the items Theo had brought for appraisal. Expectations naturally rose.

“Aileen, can you appraise this, please?

[The Tower’s Administrator asks you to wait for a moment.]

With Aileen’s response, the black stone piece in Sejun’s hand disappeared.

A moment later,

[The Tower’s Administrator says that she must use this herself and is asking for it.]

“Huh? Aileen will use it? What does that mean?”

[The Tower’s Administrator says the black stone Theo brought is a fragment of a Great Black Dragon’s Dragonheart.]

“What?! Dragonheart?!”

Surprised by Aileen’s words, Sejun looked at Theo. Theo was sitting on Sejun’s lap with a ‘I don’t know anything, meow!’ expression. In other words, he was just spacing out.

‘Theo, you amazing cat! Where on earth do you find these things?!’

Sejun didn’t know why there was a Black Dragon’s Dragonheart in the Tower, but Theo was bringing more and more amazing items as time went on.

“Puhuhut. Am I amazing or not, meow?”

Reading Sejun’s expression, Theo, who had seized the opportunity, spoke in a haughty tone and laid down on Sejun’s lap. His eyes were filled with anticipation, as if saying, Pet me more, meow!

Pat pat.

“If Aileen eats this, will it help heal your Dragonheart?”

As Sejun petted Theo’s body, he asked Aileen.

[The Tower’s Administrator says that just having the Dragonheart fragment near her resonates and stimulates her Dragonheart, so there is no need to eat it.]

“Really?”

Sejun was glad that she didn’t have to eat the Dragonheart fragment, even though he didn’t mind giving it to her.

[The Tower’s Administrator says that even if she doesn’t eat it, you having the Dragonheart fragment right now is dangerous.]

[The Tower’s Administrator says that its magic power might go berserk.]

“I understand. Please keep it safe, Aileen.”

[The Tower’s Administrator says she will start training to grow her Dragonheart talent to the next level using the Dragonheart fragment.]

[The Tower’s Administrator says she may not be able to respond for a few days.]

“Okay.”

[The Tower’s Administrator says she will definitely finish before your birthday.]

“Alright, just don’t overexert yourself.”

***

Inside the administrator’s area of the Black Tower.

“Hehehe. With this, I can grow my Dragonheart.”

Aileen was excited as she looked at the Dragonheart fragment in her hand that emitted a dark blue glow.

Aileen had been strengthening her talent, Slightly Soft Dragonheart, with the honey jelly given by Sejun, but recently hit a limit.

She hadn’t told Sejun anything because she was worried Sejun might get concerned, but currently, she was only maintaining the condition of the Dragonheart with honey jelly.

Then, fortunately, Theo brought a fragment of the Dragonheart. With this Dragonheart fragment, she could stimulate her Dragonheart using its resonating power, potentially advancing her talent to the next level.

“Hehehe. Good job, Theo!”

Aileen decided to reward Theo separately later on and cast,

“Polymorph Release.”

And she returned to her original form. From now on, she had to focus all her attention on the Dragonheart, so it was more easier in her original form.

“This time, for sure, I will appear in front of Sejun with a bang!”

Aileen imagined herself appearing in front of Sejun in a polymorphed state at the birthday party, and smiled happily.

And then,

“Huuuuu.”

She took a deep breath and focused on the magic power of the Dragonheart.

Wooong.

The Dragonheart fragment in her hand and Aileen’s magic power began to resonate.

***

The next day after Sejun returned from the 83rd floor of the tower.

Sejun immediately started making roasted chestnuts and chestnut makgeolli for the birthday party. He needed to hurry to have them ready by the birthday party.

And while Sejun was preparing for the birthday party,

Wiiing!

A poisonous honeybee came looking for Sejun, carrying a honey jelly.

“Did you come to give me honey jelly? Thank you.”

As Sejun opened his palm,

Wiiing.

Thud.

The poisonous honey bee placed the honey jelly on Sejun’s palm.

[You have acquired 1 Poisonous Honey Bee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]

[Your Beekeeping Lv. 7 proficiency slightly increases.]

[Beekeeping Lv. 7 proficiency has been filled, and the level has increased.]

“Oh!”

It had been a while since his Beekeeping skill level had increased.

[Special Job Skill – Beekeeping Lv. 8]

– Able to keep bees when you own a beehive.

– The activity area of owned beehive bees significantly increases.

– The speed at which the queen bee lays eggs significantly increases.

– The honey collecting speed of the bees significantly increases.

– The honey collecting amount of the bees significantly increases.

– The probability of pollination significantly increases.

– You can produce honey jelly with special effects.

– The affinity with bees greatly increases. (Bees that you do not raise also feel friendly towards you.)

– Current owned beehives (7/8): 7 Poisonous Honey Bee Hives

When the beekeeping skill rose to level 8, information about a significant increase in affinity with bees was added.

“Even Bees that I didn’t raise also feel friendly towards me?”

Sejun hurriedly finished the remaining work and called Cuengi.

Krueng?

[Did Daddy call me?]

Cuengi, who was rolling around on the stone bed, ran over in response to Sejun’s call.

“Yes. Let’s go east to meet poisonous honeybee friends.”

Krueng?!

[Poisonous honeybee friends?!]

“Yes.”

He needed to secure one more beehive, and if the skill description was correct, poisonous honey bees that were not affiliated with Sejun’s beehive would not be hostile to Sejun, so it seemed that he could also ask those poisonous honey bees to collect honey.

Krueng!

[Daddy, let’s go!]

So, Sejun rode on the enlarged Cuengi and moved east. Of course, Theo hanging on Sejun’s knee and the golden bat hanging on Sejun’s back, naturally followed.

Thud. Thud.

As Cuengi ran at full speed for about 30 minutes,

Krueng!

[We have arrived!]

They quickly entered deep into the eastern region.

Wiiing!

Wiiing!

Two poisonous bees patrolling the area approached to attack Sejun and the animals that entered their territory.

However,

Rub, rub.

When they got close to Sejun, the poisonous bees showed friendliness by rubbing their bodies against Sejun. As expected, they weren’t hostile toward Sejun.

“Hey kids, do you want to try this?”

Sejun started promoting his honey to the poisonous bees.

Krueng!

[Cuengi also wants honey too!]

As Sejun gave honey to the poisonous bees, Cuengi asked for honey as well.

“Alright. Cuengi, let’s eat honey too.”

Sejun took out a glass bottle and gave it to Cuengi.

“Chairman Park, I want Churu too, meow!”

When Sejun took care of Cuengi, Theo asked for a Churu. Everyone seemed to be hungry.

“Let’s just eat here and go.”

Sejun decided to have a meal here and move on since it was already like this. The outing to capture poisonous bees turned into a picnic in the blink of an eye.

“Here, golden bat, eat this watermelon.”

(Yes! Thank you!)

Sejun handed a piece of watermelon to the golden bat sitting on his shoulder.

And then,

Crunch crunch.

He ate a sweet potato with his left hand,

Chew chew chew.

and with his free right hand, he fed Theo some churu.

Meanwhile,

Wiiing.

Wiiing.

Over a thousand poisonous bees gathered and were eating honey. The bees that initially ate the honey brought their friends along.

“Hey kids, how about sucking some honey from our farm?”

Wiiing!

At Sejun’s question, the poisonous bees buzzed in agreement, drawing circles in the air.

“Then lead me to your hive.”

While the poisonous bees agreed, they still needed the queen’s approval.

Wiiing!

The poisonous bees led Sejun to their hive.

But…

“Huh? You guys aren’t from the same family?”

The poisonous bees started to scatter in different directions.

Wiiing!

Wiiing!

The poisonous bees began to argue, each trying to lead Sejun to their own hive.

“Whoa. Whoa. Kids, calm down. I will visit all, so relax.”

For Sejun, it was fortunate that he did not have to do the work multiple times.

Then,

Krueng!

[Dad, let’s start from over there!]

Cuengi pointed to the dark eastern end.

“Why there?”

Sejun instinctively felt averse. It looked dangerous at a glance.

Krueng!

[I feel like we can eat a lot of delicious honey if we go there!]

Wiiing!

One of the poisonous bee was very happy with Cuengi’s idea. It was the poisonous bee that had a hive at the eastern end.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

It looked dangerous, but there was no risk of being attacked by the poisonous bees, and even if they were attacked, he had Theo, Cuengi, and the golden bat with him. Plus, he had the bone armor, so there was no need to be afraid.

“Let’s go to your hive first. You guys wait here and enjoy the honey.”

Sejun placed several plates filled with honey on the ground so that the other poisonous bees wouldn’t leave and followed the poisonous bee with the hive at the eastern end.

***

In the southeastern outskirts of Brasília, the capital of Brazil.

“Hurry up and plant the green onions!”

“Yes!”

Hunters moved quickly at Han Tae-jun’s command.

“Plant them more densely there! The maximum gap is 30cm!”

“I’m sorry! We’ll correct it right away!”

The original members of the Earth Defense Force reprimanded the new recruits, who quickly apologized.

All the members of the Earth Defense Force gathered in Brasília to plant sturdy blade green onions and create a defense line to prevent the spread of the locusts.

The Earth Defense Force’s counterattack against the locusts had begun.