At first glance, the skill"Calm" didn't seem to have much use. But when applied to animal husbandry, its remarkable potential became clear.

  When Draven took off his shirt earlier, it wasn't just for show. He wanted the calming aura emitted from his body after activating the skill to continuously influence the surrounding area.

  As long as he was nearby, any animals affected by Calm within a certain radius would become peaceful and stop panicking. It sounded very much like simulating the effect of a queen bee releasing pheromones to control the entire hive.

  If this skill worked on magical beasts too, just thinking about it was exciting.

  Under Viola's persistent questioning, Draven revealed the details of the skill. Seeing her expression shift to one of sudden understanding, she gained more confidence in her breeding work and no longer felt helpless about managing her goats.

  Draven glanced at the goats and deer that had just been calmed, then suddenly realized the problem: the lead goat in the pen was the trigger.

  The lead goat was bigger than the others, liked to find a good spot, and was more easily angered. Once it got restless, it stirred up the entire herd.

  "Tiring day today," Draven joked to Viola."Tonight, we'll feast on two lead goats' kidneys for nourishment."

  Viola blushed at the mention of kidneys and lightly patted his chest with a shy but delighted look. She immediately ordered the female slaves to take the lead goats out for slaughter.

  After resolving the breeding crisis, Draven glanced at the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent lying on the ground.

  Seeing him move, the serpent seemed to realize it was time to get up and swiftly slipped into the grass.

  Through their contract, Draven sent a message for the serpent to continue hunting more prey.

  Viola then noticed how muddy Draven and Liliana were all over and pulled them back for a proper wash. They were well taken care of by Viola.

  Once cleaned up, Draven set out again with Liliana. This time, the goal was to test whether Calm worked on magical beasts.

  They first found two short-horned magical bulls lounging idly in the grass. These bulls were bulky and the typical"eat-and-laze" type of magical beast. Draven sat cross-legged and activated Calm.

  Liliana transformed into a brown bear again, letting out a few mimic calls toward the bulls, as if trying to persuade them with bear language.

  After a brief stir, the two bulls obediently lay down, seemingly enjoying the calming effect. Liliana quickly switched back to her original form."They said it feels pretty nice!"

  Draven eyed her suspiciously."Really? Let's say it's effective for now."

  But he didn't plan to stop there. Next, they returned to the mountain area near the beehive to test the skill on the more powerful Violet Carpenter Bees.

  This time, they first used Calm on the ordinary bee swarm, and the effect was obvious: the bees' nervousness dropped significantly, and their hovering and gathering became steadier.

  However, against the magical beast-level queen bee, the skill's effect was greatly diminished. Draven's hand trembled slightly as he muttered in his heart,"So it's still useless after all!"

  Finally, they extracted two large chunks of sticky honeycomb from the hive and licked them heartily before feeling satisfied.

  On the way back to the village, Draven kept pondering how to make honey harvesting more convenient. The simple way was to squeeze honey directly from the hive, but that was a bit troublesome.

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  If so, the Violet Carpenter Bees would have to keep building new hives constantly, which definitely wasn't good for their growth.

  Maybe they should make a beehive box. Looking at the open ground, making one would require mesh, wooden boards, and tools… but with their limited resources, it wasn't easy to realize.

  He shared his thoughts with Liliana, whose eyes suddenly lit up:"Why not just have the bees move the honey into jars by themselves?"

  Draven was stunned."Is that possible?"

  But thinking about the druid's cultivated instincts, what she said always made sense. So he got to work preparing ceramic pots—taking two clean ones from the storage ring—and placed them on the open ground.

  Excited, Liliana stood before the hive and gently raised her hand.

  The hive buzzed to life, and one by one, egg-sized giant stinging bees flew toward the pots in sequence.

  After several rounds, the bottom of the pots was already layered thick with golden honey, the sweet aroma continuing to fill the air.

  Liliana hugged the honey pots and ran back to the village.

  Liliana lifted the clay jar, and immediately a group of little kids gathered around, excitedly reaching out for the honey. She generously poured half of it into their hands, letting them lick it off themselves without any hesitation.

  The wolf children sucked on the sticky honey on their hands, their eyes shining brightly. Roars and cheers intertwined, creating a small celebration on the grassland.

  Linda, standing nearby, was also drawn by the aroma and frowned as she sniffed:"This is honey." She had never tasted this flavor before but could sense a subtle magical fluctuation within it—it seemed no ordinary thing.

  Hesitating to extract more information, Linda was interrupted as Draven came over beside her, smiling warmly as he introduced,"Linda, this is honey from the Violet Carpenter Bee. You probably haven't seen it before, right?"

  "You'd better tell Selene that if she wants some, she'll have to trade for it," he said, speaking like exchanging intelligence, his gaze silently hinting at Linda.

  Draven casually bypassed Linda and headed toward the training ground, thinking to himself: There are good things in Black Flag Territory; Selene wants them for free? No way.

  He needed to quickly figure out what to trade the honey for—slaves were enough for now, so maybe supplies? Tools? Or perhaps strengthening the village's facilities?

  That evening, on the dinner table appeared a whole roasted lamb glazed with honey. After brushing on the honey, the skin turned crispy while the meat retained its original aroma with a sweet, smooth taste. Draven was highly impressed; the roast lamb tasted far better than before.

  His eyes scanned Viola and Martha sitting by the table, roaming freely over them as he licked the honey from his fingers with a sly but satisfied smile.

  It seemed that the honey glaze combined with kidney truly had a powerful flavor impact, rivaling an alchemist's poison!

  With the honey lifting the mood, Draven leaned back against the headboard, watching the exhausted Viola and the others.

  Liliana was also completely worn out, but a stubborn spark still shone in her eyes.

  Noticing the teasing glint in Draven's eyes, Liliana used her last strength to turn her head aside. Draven looked at her, put away his smile, and pulled her into his arms.

  He rubbed his chin and told her they needed to study how to help the bee colonies breed and grow rapidly, to become a living barrier for Black Flag Territory.

  In his mind, though the current strategy was immature, expanding the bee colonies was definitely the right path. After all, with a magical beast-level queen leading them, ordinary worker bees could reproduce on their own.

  If they could master the rules of hatching and transformation—like feeding or egg distribution patterns—they could truly make a swarm of Violet Carpenter Bees into a battlefield support force.

  Meanwhile, Linda's Night Raven had already flown off, heading toward Selene City.

  In the bundle of beast-hide strapped to its leg was a wealth of intelligence about the Violet Carpenter Bee.

  Selene would need to plan ahead on how to deal with Draven's honey trade.

  The next morning, after eating goat soup enhanced with honey, Draven and Liliana hurried to the training ground to watch the kids train.

  Arnold was chasing after two younger brothers, Riven and Tibbit, as they ran laps after some bigger kids, looking exhausted but deeply focused.

  Watching these kids, a smile crept onto Draven's lips. He thought to himself, this batch of kids really caught the golden age of Black Flag Territory's development.

  As long as they could drink honey-water daily to gradually improve their potential, their chances of breaking through to become true bloodline warriors would be very high.

  After breakfast, they brought more clay jars back to the hive and let the bees carry the honey in the same way.

  Draven planned to let every child in the village have a small spoonful of honey water every day to boost their potential and strengthen their physiques.

  He knew this resource wasn't something a lord in the royal capital could easily get. Violet Carpenter Bee honey was a rare high-tier resource, and controlling it long-term was like holding a secret weapon to enhance the population's combat strength.

  In fact, the value of this plan was enormous. Draven thought that when the children eventually revealed their potential as bloodline breakthrough candidates, Black Flag Territory's team strength would naturally surge.

  …

  Meanwhile, on the throne in Selene City, Selene leaned against the throne, tapping the armrest while inhaling the faint sweet scent in the air. A thoughtful smile appeared at the corner of her lips as she pondered: how to get more honey from the werewolf leader!