abcnovels
Chapter 128 - 123 Cultivating the Queen Bee t
Chapter 128 - 123 Cultivating the Queen Bee t
Chapter 128: Chapter 123 Cultivating the Queen Bee t
Translator: 549690339
The bee species are relatively uniform, and strictly speaking, can be divided into three categories.
Worker bees, drone bees, Queen Bee.
From this, one can see that the worker bee is almost a jack-of-all-trades bee species. They take on all the dirty work, exhausting work, and dangerous work of the entire hive.
Gathering pollen, making honey, feeding the Queen Bee and the young, providing for the drone bees, defending the hive, the worker bee does it all.
The eight Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bees that Qin Niu bred have fairly balanced special ability evolutions.
Both their pollen-gathering and defense capabilities have been enhanced.
However, their gnawing ability seems to be weaker than that of termites.
Grade Two Lightning Worker Ants and Grade Two Striped Tiger Ants all have incredibly strong gnawing or biting abilities.
This batch of Grade Two bees has some ability to break through lower-level
armor.
One might say that to bite through lower-level armor depends on luck. Only if the position of the bite is right, can they possibly break the opponent’s armor or skin.
Fourth, take control of that bumblebee for now!
Qin Niu gave an order to Fourth.
Fourth was perched on Qin Niu’s shoulder, its antennae aiming at the Golden Ring Bumblebee locked in the cage.
As its antennae trembled at a high frequency, the bumblebee that was scurrying around inside the cage, trying to escape, suddenly became docile.
It was controlled by Fourth.
The Puppet Ant’s ability was incredibly powerful.
Qin Niu released the bumblebee.
Fourth, make it attack the hive!
Under Fourth’s control, the Golden Ring Bumblebee immediately flew towards the hive like a bomber.
The eight Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bees sensed the threat to the colony and quickly took flight, confronting the invading bumblebee.
Their flying speed was astonishingly stunning.
In the insect world, the dragonfly is acknowledged as the king of flight, without
peer.
Dragonflies can hover in mid-air, fly backward, make rapid turns, dive, and other advanced flying maneuvers. Insects targeted by them in the air have a hard time escaping.
At this moment, the flying speed of these eight Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bees could probably surpass that of dragonflies.
As for flying skills, they definitely couldn’t compare.
The structure of the dragonfly’s body, especially the structure of their two pairs of wings and the muscles at the base of the wings, grants them extraordinary flying capabilities. Bees do not have such innate ‘hardware.’
Therefore, they couldn’t match dragonflies when it came to flying skills.
But their current flying speed was so fast that it fully compensated for their lack of flying skills.
In martial arts, nothing is invincible except speed.
Just look at how domineering eagles and hawks are in aerial combat to understand.
The eight Grade Two Worker Bees arrived after their departure, and as the leading one streaked past the bumblebee, one could see its powerful mandibles viciously biting into the rear leg of the bumblebee.
Although its body size was still a bit smaller than that of the bumblebee, the difference was not that much.
It was just not as long.
With that bite,
Crack!
One of the bumblebee’s rear legs was bitten off in a surprise attack.
The bumblebee, suddenly injured, immediately turned to fight back, but the bee had already flown away.
It was greeted by the next seven Grade Two Worker Bees.
Each of them aimed for the bumblebee’s legs, wings, or antennae, biting ferociously.
They all employed the same tactic, not fighting to the death, but biting and then fleeing.
It seems that after evolving to Grade Two, the bees had also increased their intelligence quite a bit.
This kind of aerial raid tactic was something Qin Niu had never seen before.
The majestic Golden Ring Bumblebee was somewhat tragic, as it hadn’t even had a clear look at its opponents before all its six legs and an antenna were bitten off.
One of its wings was also punctured.
It plummeted straight from the sky.
This Golden Ring Bumblebee became the most pitiful bumblebee to ever be savagely beaten by bees in history.
Usually, bees were like a walk in the park in their eyes.
A single Golden Ring Bumblebee was confident it could kill more than forty bees in under a minute.
For a Grade Two creature to fight a Grade One creature, it was somewhat bullying.
It was like a commoner of Twofold strength bullying a commoner of Onefold strength, simply overpowering the opponent.
Fantastic! With these eight Grade Two Worker Bees, we no longer have to worry about the hive being targeted by bumblebees,” Qin Niu said after watching the battle, his expectations for Green Demon’s Green Demon Bee increased even more.
At the Insect Master Association, he had personally seen the specimen of an original Green Demon Bee.
Far more powerful than his Grade Two Worker Bees.
But then again, his goal in breeding bees was not for combat purposes. It was to have them produce special honey, as well as to use them as sentries and scouts.
If one were to breed bees for formidable combat ability, the bumblebee would definitely be the top choice.
They were called the bandits among bees, inherently aggressive and warlike.
A frenzied bumblebee, in a one-on-one situation, could sometimes even kill a praying mantis, known as the swordsman among insects.
Continue to breed another ten new Worker Bees!
Impressed by the power of Grade Two Worker Bees, Qin Niu decided to expand the number of his special bee colony.
Nearly half an hour later, ten new Worker Bees were all fed Banyan Tree Blood, and incredibly, just like yesterday, all ten survived without a single one bursting and dying.
This gave Qin Niu an overwhelming impulse he could hardly suppress.
Queen Bee, I once promised to make you stronger and to extend your lifespan, now is the time to fulfill that wish for you. If you are unlucky enough to burst and die, then you can only blame your own fate,” he said.
He called out the Queen Bee.
After several days of absence, the Queen Bee seemed much more modest compared to the first time they met.
When it had just become the Queen Bee, it ruthlessly and ostentatiously slaughtered several other backup queen bees, leaving Qin Niu with a profound impression.
This was a monarch with an iron will.
Bloody, brutal, strong.
As the Queen Bee flew out of the nest, the entire swarm became restless, feeling
uneasy.
I am willing to try!
The Queen Bee’s answer was firm and powerful; the pursuit of longevity seemed to be the instinct of all life forms.
Qin Niu did not rush to have the Worker Bees feed it the Banyan Tree Blood; instead, he conducted an extremely careful assessment of the Queen Bee first.
He repeatedly confirmed its constitution, physical strength, and endurance.
Then, based on his experience with cultivating those thirty Worker Bees, he calculated a relatively safe dosage of Banyan Tree Blood for the Queen Bee to consume.
To prevent any deviations, he only allowed one Worker Bee to feed the Queen Bee.
Watching the Queen Bee being fed, he felt somewhat uneasy as he stood by.
In his heart, he was prepared for the worst.
Although cultivating the Queen Bee was a spur-of-the-moment idea, it stemmed from multiple considerations.
As the Termite colony continued to grow stronger, the cultivation of the Ant Queen became more urgent.
Although the Ant Queen had never actively made this request to him, Qin Niu could feel its desire to grow stronger.
Whether it be the Queen Bee or the Ant Queen, their status within their respective colonies was very special. If a colony deems its queen to be unqualified, it will eliminate her.
The Termite Ant Queen was a tragic example of this.
Most Termite Ant Queens lived to about twenty-five or twenty-six years. When their breeding abilities weakened, the colony might choose a new Breeder Ant to replace the old Ant Queen.
In the end, the old Ant Queen would starve to death.
No Termite would feed it any longer.
Artificially raised colonies were somewhat unique. If Qin Niu, as the master, did not order the execution of the Ant Queen, the Worker Ants had no choice but to loyally take care of her indefinitely.
But the Ant Queen herself felt a strong sense of crisis.
If it felt that the entire colony had become much more powerful than itself, it would fear being abandoned.
Recently, Qin Niu had sensed that the Ant Queen was becoming increasingly ‘silent’ and naturally understood its worries.
Additionally, he now had an ample supply of Contractual Talismans, no longer having to skimp as he did in the past.
If this Queen Bee died, the loss would be entirely within his capacity to bear.
Lastly, if the cultivation of the Queen Bee was successful, the next step would be cultivating the Ant Queen.
After being fed a sufficient amount of Banyan Tree Blood, the Queen Bee lay there, trembling continuously, its body gradually swelling.
This was the inevitable process of evolution.
It’s probably going to take a while, so why not take another Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bee for a second round of cultivation?”
Qin Niu took out a small bottle of ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood he carried with him and chose a Worker Bee to feed.
It touched the substance with its antennae but refused to eat.
Qin Niu had no choice but to mix the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood into some honey.
Eat up!”
This time, it finally ate a little.
But after just a taste, it refused to eat anymore.
According to Qin Niu’s experience, feeding ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood to the Termites was very safe.
Worker Ants would evolve into Puppet Ants, and Soldier Ants into Ghost Ants after consumption. Why then was this Worker Bee reluctant to eat it?
Was the taste of ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood repugnant to them?
Bees are rather picky about their food, unlike the omnivorous Termites.
After eating a bit of the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood, the Grade Two Worker Bee’s head began to enlarge rapidly.
It then fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
Bang!
Its head split into several pieces.
Watching a Grade Two Worker Bee die in such a manner caused Qin Niu heartache.
Such a pity.
Still unconvinced, he grabbed a normal Worker Bee and forced a bit of the ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood into its mouth.
It desperately tried to spit it out.
Its stinger thrashed wildly, but it did not sting Qin Niu.
Although these older Worker Bees were not under Qin Niu’s control, they would not attack him.
After bloating up like inflating a balloon – expanding twofold – the normal Worker Bee stopped swelling. Just when Qin Niu was beginning to feel hopeful, thinking that this cultivation might be successful, its head suddenly burst open.
With no warning whatsoever.
It died instantly on the spot.
It seemed that ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood had a potent toxicity to bees, capable of killing them easily rather than assisting their evolution and strengthening them.
The loss of a Grade Two Worker Bee was a bitter regret for him.
Yet, on the road to cultivating insects or beast pets, death was unavoidable.
Some Insect Masters nurtured bugs that had already become very powerful, but the risk of experimentation could lead to the bugs’ death, or cause them to become crippled or weaker.
For example, the local cripple’s Treasure-Hunting Mouse had an exceptionally sensitive sense of smell.
If the cripple was not content with being just a certified Beast Tamer and wanted to go further,
and he tried to enhance that Treasure-Hunting Mouse, only to result in the loss of its keen sense of smell, then the cripple might be reduced back to his original state.
Whether you’re an Insect Master or a Beast Tamer, one must continually take risks to grow stronger.
Qin Niu could mass-cultivate Grade Two Worker Bees. The death of one was really insignificant in the grand scheme.
At the very least, he learned from this failure and knew that bees could not be fed ‘Thousand Eyes Tree’ Blood.
His gaze returned to the Queen Bee, which was still swelling, albeit much more slowly now.