Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Building new on the ruins of old
In the Council Chambers, where I could have a breakfast of honey *and* work…

“The ants are still fighting, Father, and there are still… a *lot* lot of them.” The Military Adviser scrunched her face. “I wish I could count this far. Either way, it’s hard to tell who’s winning.”

I eyed her.

Before I got Vertical Gene Transfer, I thought my advisers will have to be eventually replaced by other bees, improving with each generation like the rest of the hive.

Thus, I didn’t invest in the education of these specific bees.

But now…

“Thank you for the report. And yes, this is a great idea, B1374!” I grinned, clapping my hands. “Can you do this *and* your duties? Or replace yourself with a substitute until you finish studying?”

The Military Adviser frowned.

“I think… I can work in the first half of the day and learn in the second one. Will this be alright, Father? The hive won’t be threatened by this?”

“Not at all!” I gave my Military Adviser a pat on the head. “And you know what? B1374 is a nice name, but it’s not distinguished enough for an Adviser. Why don’t you have a cooler one? Like…”

“A… new name? You can just… change names?!”

I nodded.

“Yes! Why not Wingessa? Or… Rose?”

The Military Adviser scrunched her face harder.

“Father, I don’t think these names fit me.”

I huffed.

“Yeah? I think they were pretty good. Well, the ‘Wingessa’ one. Rose was kinda boring, true. But of course you can pick your own name! Do you have any ideas?”

The Military Adviser shook her head slowly.

“I must think about this for some time, Father. Can I?”

“Sure, take your time.”

Later, I was going to give the option of changing names to every one of my advisers. No… to everyone in my hive.

Before the Military Adviser left, I fed her some of my blood. My health was still only at 〔32/36〕… But I still fed blood to all my other advisers, transferring my genes.

Afterward, I had 〔30/36〕 health and a new healing gash on my already wounded palm.

***

“That’s… way more aphids than I expected,” I said, staring at the horde of squealing ugly gremlins in front of me.

Foremen Bees had gathered them on the lower level of our work camp, keeping them inside by shoving back anyone who tried to escape.

But most aphids just gathered near the stacked jars of honey and water placed on the floor for them.

Chief Foreman B9381 counted on her fingers.

“A thousand… and two hundred… and twenty… and one. We’ve counted.”

I patted her shoulder.

“Great! Alright, we can’t leave them all here. They need pastures to produce food—or better yet, access to tree roots. Good news—I have just the suitable place in mind. Bad news—you and your subordinates have more work to do.”

B9381 raised her hammer.

“Work! We are always ready for it. What is it, Father?”

“Listen carefully…”

***

The old hornets’ nest was a depressing sight. The scent of smoke still lingered here, and the grass around was charred in many places.

Nature had reclaimed the bodies from outside, but bits and pieces remained: massive plates of hornets’ chitin, remains of bone armor of my first Commando squad…

Even the 2000 Foremen and Builder Bees that flew here with me were affected by the atmosphere. They looked around, as if expecting to see a hornet.

“Calm down, girls. There weren’t any sightings of hornets, dead or alive, for weeks! Which is to say—a lot of days. This place is safe—and it will make a great aphid pasture. Come on!”

Although I said so, I made sure to only walk with a dozen armed bees close behind.

Inside was looking much worse than the outside. Most paper walls of the nest turned into ashes and coal, but some stubbornly stood upright. On the ground were lying piles of old charred corpses.

But no one who was actually dangerous.

More importantly, this cave was massive! The sunlight outside and the lack of paper combs let me see the ceiling. This place was slightly smaller than our own nest, but more than enough to fit an entire colony!

And just like I hoped, the floor here was only partially made from stone. A lot of it was just soil—and I was sure that if my bees dug through it, they would eventually reach the roots of trees.

“Alright, girls! While your sisters are dismantling the work camp to not let the wax to waste, you are going to clean up this cave so the camp could move here! It will be a perfect and protected spot for keeping aphids!”

For now, the aphids were still gathered in the other work camp. I felt like there won’t be much space for them in our own hive… And of course there were no roots for them to feed on.

I returned to the hive after giving the orders—honestly, I only came to personally look at the hornets’ nest because it was on my way from the work camp to the hive.

All that flying around was time-consuming, exhausting, and dangerous, even with bodyguards and under the cover of leaves.

‘I’ve decided. Until someone tells me they have a problem that *really* needs my presence, I’m working from home. Remotely!’

Following this promise, I didn’t leave the hive for two days, just listening to reports.

The work camp was moving slowly but surely—there were *a lot* to clean up, demolish or fix.

The aphids weren’t dying on a nectar diet, thankfully, and there was still plenty of food for them.

“But the ants have almost stopped fighting, Father. And,” my Military Adviser added, stepping in front of the gathered Colony Council. “We want you to approve the new names me and other Advisers came up with!”

I clapped my hands eagerly. I couldn’t wait to hear how far my daughters’ creativity went.

“Alright, tell me, girls!”