Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire - Chapter 91

Chapter 91: The first Physicians
I looked at the egg, then at the writhing gnomite in my hands.

The egg was smooth, white, squishy, and a *quarter* of the mite in size.

“You know, I think this thing just *might* lay only one egg. At least one egg at a time. There’s no space for more eggs inside of it, unless its ass has extra-dimensional storage! Besides, my special eyesight saw no other mites or eggs in there.”

That egg has been lying out in the open—I saw it around the same time Tabletina did. Its floating status window made it nigh-impossible to miss.

Tabletina looked at the mite again, then back at the egg.

“Hm. I will cut the varroa mite open later and see. Writingdown, do you have everything on the wax?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. Ready to be archived or copied.”

“Then, Father… This was a success! Now, I propose we open several more cells to practice our technique.”

I nodded and stuffed the mite in my mite jar.

“Brilliant plan—we need to be faster and more careful next time. Put the egg aside and get ready.”

Out of the next nine cells we opened, only one more was infected. It was older than the first we opened. Although there also was only one mite, it had time to lay three eggs.

“Two mites and four eggs… Maybe it’s time to invent *revenge omelet*,” I grimaced. “No, I’m not eating these things, even for revenge.”

“I will cut them open. For *science*,” Tabletina said.

I snapped my fingers.

“Yes, science! Speaking of—congratulations, Tabletina, Writingdown! I hereby declare you the first Physician Bees! You will be Chief Physicians in no time!”

This time, the system had no objections—their titles changed immediately.

〔Forager Bee〕 〔Ally〕 〔Progeny〕

〔Name〕: Tabletina

〔Active title〕: Physician Bee

〔Health〕: 22 / 22

〔Stamina〕: 21 / 21

〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee

〔Age〕: 101 d

〔Remaining lifespan〕: 184 d

〔Attributes〕

> Strength: 20

> Agility: 44

> Endurance: 20

> Defense: 20

> Intelligence: 110

> Perception: 43

〔Special abilities〕

Flight, Stinger, Wax Production

〔Genes〕

Enhanced Intelligence X, Technology: Primitive Containers, Enhanced Endurance II, Danger-Averse Reflexes, Venom Resistance I, Heat Resistance I, Enhanced Strength II, Enhanced Defense II, Meat Digestion, Increased Fertility II, Faster Regeneration II, Faster Youth Development I, Increased Lifespan III, Technology: Scientific Method, Flying Carriers, Throwing Wrists, Thick Skin II, Fast Learner III

〔〕〔〕〔〕

“What? But… I’m a Researcher already, Father, I can’t just change jobs! What’s a ‘Physician’, anyway?”

“I’m glad to explain! It won’t be a *major* job change, Tabletina—don’t worry! Basically, you will have to do the same thing you already do. Research illnesses, apply cures, operate on patients and cut open corpses for medical science. Especially corpses of our enemies.”

“Aaaah! Well then, of course, Father.” Tabletina took off her Researcher’s pendant and began scratching out the “R” off it with a knife. “By the way, Father, is there a special meaning in those ‘titles’? I don’t see the point of changing them if we still do the same thing.”

“Don’t you notice? They make you better. Better, faster, stronger… But yours mostly makes you smarter.”

“I thought it was just a result of our *training* and *education*, Father,” Writingdown said.

“No, titles *definitely* make you smarter. You can’t see it, but I can. With my special eyes, girls!” I pointed at my face.

Tabletina raised her eyes to stare at me intently.

“Fascinating! But your eyes look exactly like every other bee eye. Father… Is there someone who has those eyes, too, whom I could cut open? I want to know what makes your eyes different.”

I staggered away from her.

‘Shit! Maybe teaching her about autopsies was a mistake!’

“No-no-no… You won’t see the difference even if you do this, Tabletina! Just, just, focus on the mites, alright?”

“As you say, Father. We need to teach other Researchers how to open the brood cells properly. They must be fast and thorough, since you won’t be with them to tell them when to back off.”

I nodded, turning serious again.

“Yes. Spread the instructions. I want all hands on it—this will take a while.”

We took around an hour to check the cells—half of a candle had burned. By my estimate, there were around 12000 pupae to check. 1200-bee-hours. If 100 teams of bees did this…

“If you can finish in a single day, it will be amazing. Put all your subordinates to this, Tabletina.”

“Yes, Father. Will they be Physician Bees, too?”

“Of course! Pass to Researchina that she needs to fill the emptied Researcher Bee vacancies. You will still answer to her, by the way.”

“Obviously. We are doing the same thing we were doing before, Father.”

***

The rest of the pupae cleansing didn’t happen that day, though. Tabletina spent it giving a crash course on operating the pupae cells. I gave all her subordinates the title of Physician Bees beforehand, although it wouldn’t activate until they finished their “internships”.

But while this was going on, purging began in earnest with all the other bees.

For the first time in a long time, not a single bee flew out to gather food or supplies—they all were queued for a mite search. Those who were deemed clean learned how to search for mites so they could help with the searches themselves. Foremen Bees instructed the Chiefs to make a mite search part of the daily routine of counting your subordinates.

But since nobody was gathering food outside, our only source of food became aphids from Hive Hornet’s Nest.

Of which, how fast aphids could procreate, there was not even close to enough to feed us all! After all, the honeydew production couldn’t increase faster than local workers dug new tunnels—and the deeper they dug, the more complicated and dangerous it became.

By the last reports, we had around 15 thousand aphids, which produced around 15 units of food daily. Meanwhile, just in Hive Hornet’s Nest alone lived 24 thousand bees!

If the purging didn’t finish quickly, our Empire will be threatened by hunger again.

I looked at the Empire’s status screen and estimated how much time we had…