For the rest of the day, my squad and I watched humans from afar. Our position on the roofs of their houses was safe from their eyes (so safe that I changed into my Forever Greatest armor instead of a camouflage suit), although quite a distance from the research camp.


    Not so far that I couldn''t work from here. B568-114 successfully sent some orders to Bloodimina, and I knew she would comply despite hearing them in her head.


    Anad, as far as I could tell, followed my order. Whatever he said to other villagers and to the law-makers, but they took all the warriors we blinded earlier—eight of them.


    After all the time that passed, these people have recovered from most of the damage bees'' stings dealt to them. Their eyes, though, were still reddish and covered by visible scarring. When the law-makers came upon them with heavy clubs, they could barely resist.


    Beaten into submission, the blind men were tied by their hands into one long procession, guarded by law-makers on each side. After that, the entire group left without delay.


    By then, two squads of Commandos reached my squad. They came on my orders all the way from the research camp, carrying on their back some supplies for us—food, first of all.


    "Commander Bloodimina is ready for the rest of your orders, too," the Sergeant Commando told me.


    A few hours went in relative peace. Relative, because humans weren''t anything *but* peaceful, even though most of them were still doing their regular work. Clearly, not everybody was happy with Anad''s problem-solving, but he had plenty of sympathizers as well.


    There was no way for B568-114 to listen to their conversation without being spotted, but I hoped Anad was telling everybody how cool my Spirit Emperor persona was.


    This lasted all the way until late evening. I began wondering if we should fly to the research camp to get a night''s rest, or find some nook for us to sleep in tonight. I was getting weary and bored.


    Then, from my rooftop observation point, I heard loud voices from the side of the village. With my perfect memory, I could even recognize some of them—they belonged to the beaten and defeated humans that entered the village!


    All my weariness disappeared in an instant. This was the moment I was waiting in the village for! S~ea??h the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    These humans, who fought bees just recently, were most likely to want to attack us again out of revenge. Even if it was stupid for them and would only lead to more dead men.


    They also still had their protective gear, which could be problematic.


    "Squad, prepare to move out. We must make sure that our guy Anad convinces the newcomers to put down their weapons," I ordered. "If there''s an opportunity, I want B568-114 to cling to someone and translate me their thoughts. But only if there''s an absolutely safe opportunity! Take no risks."


    "What about you, Father?" B568-114 asked.


    "I will prepare to make a grand appearance." I tapped the breastplate of my armor. "Destroyer, spare B568-114 half your squad to guard her."


    "Yes, Father!"


    After this, we flew out. The human village really was small, but distances that took a human minute to traverse were lengthy journeys for bees.


    It was late enough that we could fly without fear of attracting attention—still, by the time we reached the source of human shouts, the conflict had grown heated.


    On one side was Anad with a dozen of his sympathizers, on the other were the returned humans together with a few warmongers. They stood so close together that two crowds almost mixed into one, right near one of the village entrances.


    I led my squad to land on a low-hanging "branch" of a pillar mountain standing near a dirt road. It was a good observation position.


    Who knew what could happen if we just left them be? A brawl, possibly—or even an uprising.


    "B568-114, tell Bloodimina where we are and that she should send us a messenger with a report of her current status."


    A few minutes after she did that, a Commando Bee flew up to my position and saluted.


    "Commander Bloodimina says that ''her army is ready and eager for action''. She''s awaiting orders. I can pass them."


    I smiled and shook her head.


    "No need. B568-114, since Bloodimina is ready, tell her to begin."


    B568-114 gasped.


    "Now?… Ah, I shouldn''t think about your orders. Thinking only makes my head hurt, and I already talked with my thoughts so much today…" She shook her head and went silent. "I did it, Father."


    I gently patted her head.


    "One last push, my girl—possibly the hardest one we had, but just one. Can you do it? It''s very important for us all."


    B568-114 clenched her fists.


    "I can. I spent a lot of time resting today! And practicing helps to do things better. But where will we go?"


    I smiled and turned to the Commando Bee, who still loitered around, unsure about her orders.


    "Lead me to Bloodimina, girl."


    We flew high enough that even if humans noticed us, they wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. At the same time, I saw perfectly how the dynamic of the crowd shifted.


    Anad was surrounded by more and more unhappy people. The way it looked, they blamed him for all their problems. The man was sweating bullets.


    Someone grabbed his arm, then another person shoved the handsy man with a shoulder. More shoving followed, threatening to become a full-out brawl.


    But then, Anad froze in place, as if struck by lightning. Then he spun his head wildly around and gasped, pointing in the distance.


    A moment later, everybody else had similar reactions! Then they all froze in fright.


    At this moment, Anad fell to his knees, muttering under his breath.


    Now, the eyes of all humans were turned toward the neat rows of 20-thousand-strong army of bees that were flying toward them, led by Commander Bloodimina—and me!