Chapter 4: The Hive
Within the Tiger Hornet Zone, inside a tree hollow.
It may have been struck by lightning; the several-meter-thick breadfruit tree looked like it had gotten an explosive perm, its upper half completely blasted apart.
Inside the lower tree hollow, Su Xiao was sketching a map. Based on Baha’s reconnaissance, the terrain of the surrounding area was now generally understood.
The current location was temporarily named the Tiger Hornet Zone by Su Xiao. This area was not small, and because it was inhabited by a large number of Tiger Eye Hornets, no other supernatural creatures lived here.
Connected to the Tiger Hornet Zone was a vast lake. That place was very dangerous; all nearby supernatural creatures went there to drink water. Su Xiao called this area the Water Source Zone.
The ‘Tiger Hornet Zone’ and the ‘Water Source Zone’ were connected. To the west of these two areas was a swampy wetland, which was extremely dangerous. There were numerous types of supernatural venomous insects, and some of them, when flying, released trace amounts of venomous powder that were highly lethal.
The characteristic of the wetland swamp area was that the bodies of the venomous insects and snakes there were very fragile, but once bitten, even if one didn't die, they would be severely injured.
That area was the fastest place to gain benefits but also the riskiest. Contractors wouldn't easily enter here, so Su Xiao ruled out this area.
Compared to the Tiger Hornet Zone, Su Xiao felt there would be more contractors in the Water Source Zone. The reason was that it was relatively safer and much larger, covering an area eight times the size of the Tiger Hornet Zone, equivalent to the territory of a small to medium-sized country.
According to Baha’s investigation, there seemed to be a primitive tribe living there. Baha had seen the totem marks left by that primitive tribe. The pattern was light green, a skull covered in spikes. Just looking at this totem mark gave an ominous feeling.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang returned, jumping into the tree hollow, signaling that no contractors were found in the surrounding area, only a giant hive at least five stories high and a large number of bones nearby.
Undoubtedly, clearing out that giant hive would yield a considerable amount of benefits. The various products of the Tiger Eye Hornets would be very valuable.
Unfortunately, this Tiger Hornet hive was not to be trifled with. Being stung by a Tiger Eye Hornet would cause about 12 to 18 points of true poison damage. The damage intensity seemed low, but once surrounded, it was a different story. The Tiger Eye Hornets' strength was indeed weak, but their speed, especially their flight speed, was very fast.
One Apollo bomb could solve the problem, but all the gains would be burned to charcoal. The valuable items were inside the hive, not from killing the Tiger Eye Hornets.
Su Xiao had already realized that sending Bubu Wang and Baha to scout was not wise. It involved taking more risks, and the chance of finding other contractors was not high.
The real opportunity to engage enemies should be during the daily supply drops. Su Xiao didn't think other contractors would be cowards. Even survivalists wouldn't be cowards.
Contractors who could make it into the top 10,000 of the Tree Arena rarely entered a world and immediately hid. If they didn't dare to explore, the resources they obtained would be very limited, and their strength would be greatly diminished.
Therefore, the daily supply drops were the key. The first day's supply drop time was unknown; it was currently 10:30 AM.
Su Xiao didn't plan to just wait for the supply drop. Going to the Tiger Hornet hive to reap some benefits was also a very good choice.
With this in mind, Su Xiao leaped out of the tree hollow, ready to go and collect some benefits.
Half an hour later, one kilometer from the giant hive, on a towering tree several dozen meters high, Su Xiao was sitting on a branch, his expression not very pleasant. His right hand was slightly swollen, clearly stung.
As for Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha, the three of them were almost swollen like pigs. Especially Bubu Wang, whose cheeks were like two steamed buns stuffed in, his face full of despair.
"Careless, shit. How are they all elite individuals inside?!"
Baha stomped a claw in anger. Having been responsible for drawing aggro, it was almost stung into a severe injury.
Buzz~
A terrifying sound of wings vibrating came from afar. A figure was running wildly through the bushes, chased by a swarm of elite Tiger Eye Hornets.
It was truly a case of equality under the Tiger Eye Hornets. Not only were these supernatural creatures ridiculously numerous, but they were also several times larger than ordinary Tiger Eye Hornets, all elite individuals.
The person being chased by the Tiger Eye Hornets was the Gourmet. This guy had also probably come to reap some benefits.
Unfortunately, the Gourmet, who had just been exuding an overwhelming aura and killed three Hunters in a short time, could now only run for his life. Being caught by tens of thousands of Tiger Eye Hornets was no joke.
Don't think that number is too many. Inside the super-giant hive, which was five stories high, there were at least several million Tiger Eye Hornets, possibly even more.
After a while, the Gourmet disappeared into the dense forest, clearly not intending to fight these elite Tiger Eye Hornets to the death. If millions of Tiger Eye Hornets swarmed out, the joke would be on them.
Looking at the absurdly large hive below, Su Xiao felt that the Tiger Eye Hornet group was abnormally strong. This was no longer the strength of ordinary supernatural creatures.
"Boss, I have a plan."
"..."
"Woof, howl, woof!"
Bubu Wang was almost speaking human language, meaning: "This dog can't stand this injustice. We can't just let it go."
"Woof."
"I'm counting on you, Bubu."
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang, in its environmental stealth, jumped down from the towering tree and began to crawl forward through the grass, gradually approaching the hive.
On the towering tree, Su Xiao took out a signal receiver terminal. After connecting to the monitoring device carried by Bubu Wang at a specific frequency, the image was transmitted to the terminal's screen.
Originally, Su Xiao planned to have Amu freeze the hive. Unfortunately, as soon as they approached within 700 meters, a large group of elite Tiger Eye Hornets rushed out, as accurate as satellite positioning.
Now, having Bubu Wang infiltrate the hive would yield limited gains, but Su Xiao wanted to know what was inside the hive.
According to the image on the signal receiver terminal, Su Xiao saw that Bubu Wang entered through an entrance on the upper right side of the hive. This hive was so huge that it had seven exits in total.
Strangely enough, given Bubu Wang's size, entering the hive entrance was not difficult. It just needed to crawl forward and wouldn't block the Tiger Eye Hornets flying overhead.
The passages inside the hive were intricate and complex. They seemed to be made of piled mud, but this hive had a strength exceeding concrete.
After wandering around the dim hive for a few rounds, Bubu Wang successfully... got lost. Its dog face showed nothing but confusion.
The sound of wings vibrating appeared. Bubu Wang flinched in surprise. The wing vibration was so loud it was almost deafening.
A worker bee, at least over a meter long with a golden-black carapace, flew past Bubu Wang. Bubu now knew why the hive's passages were so wide.
With a target to follow, Bubu Wang began tracking the giant worker bee. After going around in circles many times within the hive, Bubu reached the very center of the hive.
This place was like a cavern, at least seven meters high and several hundred square meters in area. The hive walls were embedded with gems emitting white light, making the place no longer dim.
A three-meter-high pupa was at the center, guarded by over a dozen worker bees with powerful auras. They surrounded the pupa, constantly alert.
A worker bee returning from hunting landed. It stopped before the pupa, presenting fresh meat in a submissive posture. This was the flesh and blood of a supernatural creature.
A hand wrapped in a golden-black carapace pierced out from the pupa. This pupa seemed to be made of some semi-fluid substance, breathable and self-healing.
This carapace-wrapped hand was not large, with slender fingers. It grabbed the piece of supernatural creature's flesh and slowly retracted into the pupa. After a while, low chewing sounds came from inside the pupa.
Through the image fed back by Bubu Wang, Su Xiao saw all of this. He now finally knew why this hive was so absurdly strong. There was a Lord-level creature inside the hive. The entire Tiger Hornet Zone was its territory.