Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

WHILE NECTUS DIGESTED ALL THE EXPOSITION, 3 DAYS HAVE PASSED ON EARTH-OMEGA-0048, AND EVERYBODY WERE AT THE END OF THEIR WITS. BUT AMBROSIA WAS HIDING IT BETTER THAN MOST.

Even after yet another scout reported they found no sight, scent, or other trace of Nectus, Ambrosia kept her face impassive.

A part of her was wistful for the days when things were simpler. *She* was simpler. Then, a disappearance of a Drone wouldn't have been a reason for the colony's production output to drop by 20% (a rough estimate by Workharder, who did her best to bring this number up).

Ambrosia dismissed this part as useless and irrational, and then dismissed the scout who delivered bad news from the Royal Chambers.

Three days with no trace of Nectus, no matter how hard everybody searched. Three days—enough for Ambrosia's body to start missing him, just like she missed him with her mind.

It wanted to lay more eggs full of beautiful, strong daughters. Instead, it was forced to sift through wax tablets of reports and wait.

"Call Oracle Undecided here, please," Ambrosia ordered her Attendants.

"Yes, Mother-Queen," Chief Attendant said, gesturing to one of her subordinates.

Ambrosia let out a softest sigh. Even this title was something Nectus came up with. He originally suggested "Mother", but Ambrosia felt like this was too soft. All that softness and pain was already eating her like ants gnawing on a beast's carcass.

Soon, Undecided entered the chamber and stood in front of Ambrosia's table, shaking like a leaf.

"I'm sorry, I still can't see anything for certain, Mother!" Undecided spoke before Ambrosia could even ask. "There are dreams in which Father returns, dreams where he doesn't. Dreams where humans attack us, and dreams where they don't. I can't make sense out of them all! My sisters help with what they can, but…"

Ambrosia stood up and approached her daughter. After a moment of hesitation, she put a hand on Undecided's head and thoroughly messed up her hair.

"Foolish girl. This amount of head-worms is something I rarely ever see," Ambrosia chided. "Stop blaming yourself for Nectus' disappearance. I wasn't about to ask about him—I know you'd tell me if you found something. Tell me instead—are you doing well?"

"Oh. W-well… Not too bad? It would've been better if Father returned." Undecided paused suddenly and smiled. "Ah! But I think there are more dreams in which he returns than dreams in which he doesn't. So… he will probably return! I just don't know how. But maybe soon. Or… I'm unsure."

Ambrosia nodded and tried to hope. Hoping was hard—acting was much easier and more useful.

Conveniently, she had a lot of things to do.

***

"Our Beehounds in the human village report that the second repeat of the attack on the humans was a success. A smaller success than the last time, but still a success!" Bloodhero proudly declared before the gathered Empire Council.

Smiles appeared on the faces of the bees present—perhaps for the first time since Nectus disappeared. Revenge was raising spirits like nothing else.

"Finally, what they all deserve! How many did our sisters blind, Bloodhero?" Workharder asked.

"Six this time. Humans were more prepared for a new attack, but they still had to sleep. We also suffered losses—four Beemarines whom we will remember as heroes. The rest have returned to the research camp, where they rest currently."

Ambrosia nodded, happy to have a solid success at last.

The Bee Empire would thrive no matter what, but Ambrosia wasn't cunning enough to use tricks like "diplomacy". Simple, indiscriminate violence would have to do.

"How did humans react?"

"They are shaking and shouting in fear, Mother-Queen," Bloodhero assured. "Some went as far as fleeing the village entirely. They went opposite of the Empire's direction, and the dragon riders saw not a hint of them since."

"They shouted in fear and anger," Researchina corrected. "Explanatory's team sent first reports as well—they got a lot of material recently. Their camp is safely hidden for now, but she suspects with a 95% chance that humans are plotting something."

Ambrosia frowned.

"Could those fleeing humans have run to call for help?"

Despite Nectus' explanation, she didn't fully understand humans' social structure, but he told her they had *something* like an empire of their own. It wasn't exactly like the Bee Empire, though.

If someone attacked a hive in the Bee Empire, the hive would have called for help immediately and it would have come within hours.

"It's a reasonable guess," Researchina said.

"Our scouts are watching out for any extra humans. We will be ready for them, just like we were ready the last time," Bloodhero said.

Ambrosia nodded.

"Are our border patrols ready for sudden attacks?"

Bloodhero puffed her chest proudly.

"Yes, Mother-Queen! The training of new Warriors is going fast in all colonies—we now should have almost 100 thousand! That was enough to have garrisons in every hive and work camp *and* place heavy patrols on the borders closest to the human village. Each of them has 500 bees—they scare off even wild beasts and roaming dragons."

"Not all of these soldiers are armored, though…" Things-Things added regretfully. "Producing armor is harder than weapons, and even with new trainees, we don't have enough hands to fit everyone immediately. Since armor doesn't help against humans anyway, I suggest we instead build more ballistas. Or even their small, hand-held versions! Researchina, tell them!"

"Those are just prototypes," Researchina said. "You can see them yourself later, Mother-Queen, and decide if they are worth mass manufacturing."

Ambrosia nodded.

"I will, thank you. So by numbers, we definitely can defeat all the humans, Bloodhero?"

"Yes. Bringing the army to their village will take a long time and a lot of resources, but it's possible—just give the order, Mother-Queen. Everybody is eager to kill every human, even if they will have to walk on foot for two dozen days to reach one!"

Ambrosia shook her head.

"No. We will act more cautiously. First, we will blind them—as many at once as we can. Keep attacking them every night until they all become helpless!" She clenched her jaw. "Afterward, we will bring an army—and we won't stop fighting until the last human is dead, and their village becomes our biggest hive."

Bloodhero saluted with a grim but determined expression. One by one, all the other bees, even Worriesgone, repeated Bloodhero's gesture.

"Yes, Mother-Queen. All for the Empire—and for Father!"