A Beekeeper in a Magical World

Chapter 28: The Ring-Cut Bees

Hua Mi woke up and started processing a few orders. As he watched his decreasing stock, he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. Knowing that a new honey source was right in front of him but inaccessible made him even more anxious.

"If I sell all 500 bottles of Moon Slumber Flower honey, that's 150,000! After taxes and costs, I can still make tens of thousands. In today's environment, that's pretty good," Hua Mi thought as he tried to boost his morale. He had a simple meal and then transported himself to the otherworldly cottage.

His biological clock had completely adjusted to this world, and he didn't need to keep track of time consciously. He arrived in the early morning.

Opening the front window, he welcomed the fresh air, taking a deep breath that cleared his mind and improved his mood instantly. The environment here was far better than on Earth. If it weren't for safety concerns, he'd consider spending the night.

Hua Mi checked on his bee colonies. The Ironclad Swift Bees and the second-generation hybrid queen were still in their pupal stage, but it looked like they would emerge soon, probably today.

Hua Mi opened the magic box and carried the beehives outside. He didn't want the bee colonies to stay cooped up in the hives all the time, as it could lead to issues.

While the Moon Slumber Flowers had stopped producing nectar, it didn't prevent the bees from taking short flights. After their last nectar collection, the bees stored the remaining nectar in their honey sacs to start the fermentation process. Once all the fermentation was complete, there would be around a dozen jars of honey, which wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

If Hua Mi couldn't find a new honey source in time, he intended to keep this honey as a reserve for the bees.

After setting up the hives, Hua Mi sat at a wooden table, basking in the morning sunlight streaming through the window, and began to peruse his alchemical notes.

After a while, Xiao Zi arrived, as expected, with some bad news. The tree nymph hadn't left yet. But her sisters saw through her attempts to slack off and had sent Xiao Huang to supervise her.

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"We've found another large area with nectar-producing flowers, but it's too far from here. Given your speed, it might take you a day to reach there," Xiao Huang stated bluntly.

Hua Mi had no plans to set up camp at the honey source, especially since he felt uneasy staying in the forest at night. He didn't want to risk a surprise attack from some magical creature while sleeping.

"We have to go…" Xiao Huang said, but she turned around to find her companion had disappeared. She looked back to see that Xiao Zi had made her way to the honey jar and was enjoying a feast.

"You little rascal!" Xiao Huang scolded, then flew over to her. "How can you—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Xiao Zi swiftly shoved a honey-covered stick into Xiao Huang's mouth, rendering her speechless.

In the end, both of them decided to stay. For Hua Mi, it made no difference whether one or both of them remained.

Hua Mi continued reading, with both nymphs watching. One perched on his shoulder while the other fluttered around restlessly. Hua Mi didn't mind, and when he encountered some confusing parts in his notes, he could always ask for their opinions.

Even though the pseudo-flower spirits couldn't leave the Dark Forest, they had lived for a long time and had gathered a lot of information from outsiders. They knew more than Hua Mi, who was a newcomer from another world.

By mid-morning, the bee colony that had been infused with the Ironclad Swift Bee template emerged from its cocoon. Hua Mi conducted a training session. With a sharp buzzing sound, the new bee colony's wings flapped at a much higher frequency than ordinary honey bees. They could cover a short distance almost instantly. Then, a magical force field enveloped them, hardening their bodies.

The bees stacked up neatly in front of Hua Mi, forming a one-meter square, crystalline shield when illuminated by sunlight. It was like a magical shield that could be summoned and dismissed at will, changing its shape and orientation.

Much more versatile than the Ironclad Bees, which, even though they were tough, became significantly slower when their entire bodies were hardened. The Ironclad Swift Bees didn't have this issue. They could maintain a speed over twice that of regular honey bees, even when their entire bodies were hardened, maintaining their defensive capabilities and agility.

"Although they can't collect nectar, they are undoubtedly an elite fighting force," Hua Mi concluded. He could completely replace the Ironclad Bees with the Ironclad Swift Bees. With 30 Forest Swift Bees at his disposal, their nectar collection rate was more than sufficient, and the Ironclad Bees' contribution could be ignored.

The two pseudo-flower spirits marveled at the well-trained swarm of insects they witnessed in the small cottage. It was like a group of intelligent creatures that obeyed Hua Mi's every command.

"Amazing! Is this magic?" one of them asked.

"It doesn't seem like ordinary magic. The swarm emits a clear magical aura, but Hua Mi himself doesn't have any," the other one observed. "It's like he's manipulating the magic on these flying insects directly with his mind and then using it as magic. But does that make sense? A person's mental power can only manipulate their personal magic. That's common knowledge."

The two little spirits thought more and more but couldn't make sense of it. They furrowed their brows, puzzled. Hua Mi couldn't explain it either, but to him, it was as natural as breathing. Currently, he could control two swarms simultaneously, as effortlessly as using his two hands, making the phrase "as if it were second nature" an apt description.

By noon, Hua Mi brought some canned food and biscuits for lunch, which he usually had in this cottage.

Not long after lunch, the second-generation hybrid queen emerged from her chamber.

Hua Mi had spent the morning reading, and he had just finished eating, so he felt a bit drowsy. However, seeing a new bee about to hatch made him instantly alert.

He approached the hive, eagerly anticipating the birth of a new bee. Xiao Huang and Xiao Zi had grown more curious about the bees and stood on his shoulder, all six of their eyes fixed on the bee that had just emerged.

"It looks just like the Ironclad Swift Bees on the outside…" Hua Mi suspected that the hybrid had not shown any new traits because it looked identical to the Ironclad Swift Bees at first glance.

However, as the bee fully emerged, he noticed the differences. It inherited the specialized feature of the Painful Sting Bee, but strictly speaking, it was larger and its stinger had evolved further. The stinger was not only larger but also had a flattened shape, with symmetrical rows of serrated edges on both sides—clearly derived from the barbed trait. When the stinger was fully extended, it resembled a sword being drawn from its sheath.

It looked strange at first, but upon closer inspection, it still looked strange. This was the bee's external transformation.

As for its internal structure, it deviated from what Hua Mi had anticipated.

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