Chapter 16: The Straightforward Bee Queen
Inside the beehive, which was five stories tall, the light wasn't too dim when first entering the entrance, but the deeper one went, the darker the surroundings became.
Countless elite Tiger Eye Bees blocked Su Xiao's path, moving as he moved, their wings buzzing in a constant drone.
Su Xiao dared to enter the beehive alone because he had a trump card. The strength of the Tiger Eye Bees lay in their numbers, and Apollo perfectly solved that problem.
With just one Apollo thrown down, even if the Bee Queen didn't die, the Tiger Eye Bees she controlled would be burned to ashes. At that point, the Bee Queen would become the weakest seventh-rank overlord creature, and even Amu could deal with her.
Conversely, the Bee Queen, who could command so many Tiger Eye Bees, was someone no one in this wild forest would actively provoke, because regardless of victory or defeat, the cost was too heavy.
The routes inside the beehive were very complex. The surrounding walls were gray-white, containing a rare metal that could somewhat block perception.
If it were just one or two layers of this gray-white nest wall, the impact on perception would be limited, but with dozens of layers stacked, it was impossible to sense the Bee Queen's presence from outside the beehive.
Guided by a large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees, Su Xiao circled around inside the beehive more than a dozen times before finally reaching the center, a place resembling a cave. Bubu had once sneaked in here.
Gems embedded in the nest walls emitted white light, keeping the area from being too dark. The bee cocoons seen earlier were gone, and a large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees had gathered into a sphere.
The Tiger Eye Bees forming the sphere scattered, revealing a giant Tiger Eye Bee with a massive abdomen and long antennae.
"Human, welcome to the hive."
The giant Tiger Eye Bee emitted a strange mental wave that converted into sound in the air.
"Thank you for bringing the ape heart. However, you are not friendly."
The giant Tiger Eye Bee looked at the Apollo in Su Xiao's hand. As it turned out, Apollo had a "calming and soothing" effect. Every time Su Xiao held this thing, the people he negotiated with were very polite.
"..."
Su Xiao ignored the giant Tiger Eye Bee and instead surveyed the surroundings. This place was relatively sturdy. If he detonated Apollo here, its explosion range wouldn't reach three kilometers. After blowing up the entire hive, the solar flames would only spread about half a kilometer outward.
This wasn't because Apollo's power was weakened. In such a sealed terrain, Apollo's power would only be stronger. This meant Su Xiao would need to release all the Cyan Steel Shadow energy in his body, converting it into a crystal layer covering his entire body, to prevent his limbs and head from being charred by the solar flames. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to stay in this world any longer.
"Human, you should understand what I'm saying. What are you... observing?"
The giant Tiger Eye Bee sensed something wrong. The elite Tiger Eye Bees near it became agitated, flying around wildly.
"Observing the terrain."
"Why? Leave the ape heart, and I'll give you what you want."
"If you don't show up within one minute, I'll blow this place flat."
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the ground, took out a timer, set it to one minute, and placed it on the floor.
Click, click, click...
The hands on the timer were rapidly ticking. Su Xiao did this for two reasons: first, the number of Tiger Eye Bees in the hive had decreased, by over 95% compared to last time; second, the Bee Queen hadn't shown herself at all. The giant Tiger Eye Bee in front was just a queen bee responsible for laying eggs, not the Bee Queen of the hive.
The Bee Queen was hiding, and she had also withdrawn over 95% of the Tiger Eye Bees from the hive.
Such caution was understandable, but Su Xiao wanted to test how desperately the Bee Queen wanted the ape heart. Of course, he wouldn't blow up this hive that had so few Tiger Eye Bees left—that would be pointless. He needed to know if the Bee Queen was willing to risk her life to appear before him for the ape heart.
"This is meaningless. I won't risk my life for the ape heart. It's not worth it."
"Then forget it."
Su Xiao stood up to leave, but a large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees blocked his path.
"You humans are cunning, untrustworthy, and like to ambush."
Clearly, the Bee Queen's impression of humans came mostly from the Rain Throat Tribe.
"Twelve seconds left."
"Killing you would also get me the ape heart." A voice came from a passage over a dozen meters away.
"You brought the ape heart. If I bared my claws and stingers at you, how would I be any different from the Rain Throat Tribe? My world isn't as complicated as yours."
Surrounded by a large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees, over a dozen male bees, each nearly a meter long, carried a cocoon as they flew in. The cocoon was semi-transparent and about three meters tall.
The cocoon was placed steadily on the ground. A hand wrapped in gold-black carapace reached out from inside the cocoon, followed by a shoulder and a slender torso.
The Bee Queen emerged from the cocoon. She was about one meter sixty tall, with most of her body covered in gold-black carapace. Her overall form wasn't too different from a human's.
The Bee Queen's mouth opened slightly as she leaned back. Hundreds of Tiger Eye Bees flew behind her to keep her from falling. She let out a somewhat pained gasp, pausing for a moment to adapt to the outside air. Her golden pupils were especially striking.
"Human, please tell me your name. In the elven... in the human world, directly calling someone 'human' seems very impolite."
The Bee Queen sat back against the large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees. After emerging from the cocoon, her aura weakened significantly. Su Xiao even wondered if this Bee Queen could beat Bubu Wang.
"Bai Ye."
"I am Afra. In the elven language, this pronunciation means 'watcher.' I watch over the swarm, and the swarm watches over me."
The Bee Queen wasn't as arrogant and sharp as imagined. On the contrary, she was so fragile that she needed a moment to adapt to breathing normal air. Moreover, she wasn't an overlord creature as previously guessed; she merely had the potential to become one.
"You brought the heart of that black ape. If I eat it, I might become 'complete.'"
"Complete?"
Su Xiao turned off the timer in front of him. The Bee Queen was easier to negotiate with than expected, of course, thanks to Apollo's negotiation bonus.
"By eating the ape heart, touching the black scales, and obtaining the third carapace leg, then I won't have to stay in the cocoon anymore. Though I'm already used to being in it."
The Bee Queen was surprisingly straightforward. As for what the black scales and third carapace leg were, Su Xiao didn't know yet.
"I want the ape heart. What do I have to give? Is this called... a trade?"
"Specialty Tiger Eye Bee honey, royal jelly, propolis, and other products."
"..."
The Bee Queen, Afra, fell silent. She looked at Su Xiao, seeming to want to say something but holding back. Finally, dozens of Tiger Eye Bees beside her flew off and returned in less than two minutes.
A large bundle wrapped in banana leaves was placed in front of Su Xiao. He touched the bundle with his finger.
[You have obtained Natural Propolis (Holy Spirit Rank · 72 pieces).]
[You have obtained Tiger Bee Royal Jelly (Holy Spirit Rank Recovery Item · 517 grams).]
[You have obtained Stinger Bee Venom (Holy Spirit Rank · 62 grams · Naturally Purified).]
[You have obtained Nature's Blessing (Holy Spirit Rank · 2231 grams).]