Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire - Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Development level 7 arrives on a train
Three hours later, I stood on the roof of the First Train next to my statue. Behind me was a retinue of my bodyguards and Advisers. Even Ambrosia was still here, although only for a short while.

Several steps away was an assortment of several lucky bees that I randomly picked and invited over.

There wasn’t much space left on this roof.

In front of the train stood twenty rows of twenty bees in thick leather shoes. Each of the bees had ropes going over their shoulders, the other end of which went to the train. Side by side with them stood two bees with drums to set the marching rhythm.

That’s right.

Since the Bee Empire didn’t have draft animals or engine technology, this train was powered by muscle alone. As always, when there was a technological problem, the solution was to throw more workers at it and resolve it with crude force!

Many more bees were standing or hovering in the surroundings. All were silent but for the buzzing of their wings.

A tremendous moment that I felt in my bones.

I raised my hand.

“Set off… MARCH!”

The drummers set off the rhythm, and thousands of bees echoed:

“MARCH!”

Ever so slowly, shaking and creaking, the massive train with a dozen carts full of supplies for Hive Rich set off.

It looked unbelievable, but only four hundred bees were able to pull its colossal weight of several dozen tons down the railroad.

This was the power of wheels and rails!

My daughters, with their 30 strength, could pull around 10-20 kilograms of weight behind them over uneven ground.

But the friction resistance of wheels was 10 times lower, allowing each bee to pull 10 times more weight.

Smooth rails, even with wooden wheels, decreased the resistance even more, until each bee could pull 100-200 kilograms!

400 bees could pull the train for a long time, and their sisters were resting inside the train, ready to switch the tired ones. There were so many bees eager to volunteer to work on the First Train, even as just its pullers, that Workharder had to threaten some overeager bees with her hammer.

The sight of all these girls working together to achieve something so monumental was even more awe-inspiring than the train itself.

The spectators waved their hands, shouting goodbyes and wishing us luck. The sounds of their voices drowned everything I could’ve wanted to say myself, so I just silently grinned at my Advisers.

The system’s voice magically drowned out even the noise outside.

<Congratulations! You’ve implemented a ‘Muscle-Powered Railway’ technology in your empire. You gain 400 development points.>

〔Muscle-Powered Railway〕

Brainpower requirement: 25000

Logistics: +200 per 1 thousand affected populace.

〔〕〔〕〔〕

<Congratulations, for reaching 100 thousand in an empire attribute you got a new achievement: “Many Zeroes”! Your reward: 100 development points.>

<Congratulations! Your empire has reached Development Level 7. You gain 5 attribute points and a new Empire Council position.>

I gasped, forgot to hold on to something, and almost fell when the train hit another bump.

I knew the train was going to give me lots and lots of stats, but already? So much?!

It had to have given me over 600 points by itself. Then, there were points from the recent expansion into new settlements…

Instead of watching the train go (ever so slowly), I opened the Empire status.

〔Bee Empire〕

〔Wellness〕: 93 %

〔Population〕: 2397 th.

〔Territory〕: 141300 sq. kilometers

〔Settlement count〕: 52

〔Development level〕: 7

〔Development points〕: 51 / 2500

〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee

〔Attributes〕

> Workpower: 67 th.

> Military: 15 th.

> Brainpower: 32 th.

> Logistics: 164 th.

> Resilience: 10 th.

> Espionage: 7 th.

> Culture: 6 th.

〔Resources〕:

> Food: 45641 units

> Building materials: 20593 units

> Crafting materials: 51136 units

〔Empire Council〕

〔Military Adviser〕: increases total military by 10%. (Bloodhero)

〔Science Adviser〕: adds 10% of total workpower to brainpower. (Researchina)

〔Industry Adviser〕: increases total workpower by 10%. (Things-Things)

〔Economics Adviser〕: adds 10% of total workpower to military. (Workharder)

〔Culture Adviser〕: increases all total attributes and wellness by 3%. (Ambrosia)

〔Health Adviser〕: increases wellness by 0,05% of brainpower. (Tabletina)

> Empty position

〔Technologies〕

Dance Communication, Hive Building, Food Preservation, Scientific Method, Feudal Government, Job Orientation, Primitive Flying Transport, Technologies of Early Bronze Age, Improved Metal Smelting, Muscle-Powered Railway

〔〕〔〕〔〕

Incredible. The numbers were so big that the system now was rounding them up to thousands!

And our resources were bigger than ever, despite everything that went into the creation of the railroad and building of the new hives.

Thanks to the loot from dead giants, the Bee Empire was truly rich! The meat we had time to preserve was worth several dozen units of food; the crafting materials from their items were still not done; and their bones could be sawed into seemingly endless amounts of bricks and boards.

I closed the status—the new genetic upgrades could wait—and clapped all four hands.

“We are on top of the world!” I shouted over the surrounding clamor. “This is the best day in… months! I swear! Let’s celebrate. Bring me the finest nectar and a table… No, bring those for everybody! We are having a picnic on top of the train. And before you ask, this means we are having a *cool* lunch!”

“Food! That’s just the thing this moment needs, Father!” Workharder jumped in excitement, stumbled from the train’s wobbling, and would’ve fallen on her butt if Things-Things didn’t catch her by the shoulder.

“Ouch, thanks, Thingie!”

“It’s Things-Things, hey-hey!”

“Then we must give food to others, too. They would be unhappy watching us eat otherwise,” Worriesgone said—the guest of honor among the Council.

Workharder waved her hands dismissively.

“They have their own food. And anyway, most of them are way past the time when they should return to their duties! The Empire stands not because its workers get distracted and spend hours watching a train!”

I laughed and patted Workharder’s shoulder.

“They have their own food—this is true. Nobody in our empire goes hungry! But as for work—they can keep watching for now. A couple of hours won’t do much harm!”

Twenty minutes later, a picnic setup with several tables and dozens chairs was put on the roof of the train, where everybody could eat and watch views of the plains and forests pass by us.

‘What a great way to spend time,’ I thought, gleefully feeding Ambrosia pieces of honeyed pollen bread from my fingers. ‘The weather is good, there isn’t anybody brave enough to attack us this close to Hive Supremo. Nothing can ruin this moment, nothing at all…’