Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

I spent several days setting plans into motion, too busy arranging things to leave Hive Supremo.

First, I sketched more ideas for furniture so Researchina could set her people to make prototypes.

Golden nails were so soft, that if you tried to drive them into harder wood, the nail bent before penetrating!

Either the furniture had to be made from mushroom wood (which was much softer than normal wood, but made for flimsy furniture), or the bees had to drill holes for nails with stone knives before hammering.

But it was possible, and soon, all the remaining gold was put on prototypes of tables, cupboards and storage chests. But not shelves—these just didn't work with the wax hive walls.

If you tried to put something heavy on a shelf on a wax wall, the wax would bend and the entire shelf would fall, no matter what! And non-wax buildings were still rarer than the wax ones, even in the most developed Hive Supremo.

The furniture was boxy, and full of splinters, but it worked. Polishing was a matter of time.

Researchina also quickly figured out how to smelt basic ore. By using a coal and a clay kiln, she easily achieved a hot enough temperature.

Ore melted in the clay pot, and gold settled on the bottom. When it cooled off enough, Researchers broke the upper crust of solid slag and revealed shining gold underneath!

Next time, they made massive wooden tongs to pour melted gold from one clay cast form to another, and cast an entire bunch of golden nails at once.

The result was immediate.

<Congratulations! You've unlocked 'Primitive Metal Smelting' technology!>

〔Primitive Metal Smelting〕

Brainpower requirement: 6000

Allows to inefficiently extract metals from raw ore.

Allows unlocking more advanced metal smelting technologies.

〔〕〔〕〔〕

<Congratulations! You've unlocked 'Primitive Metalsmithing' technology! It will replace the previously unlocked 'Cold Metalsmithing' technology.>

〔Primitive Metalsmithing〕

Brainpower requirement: 6000

Allows smithing and casting simple items out of metals based on available smelting technology.

Allows unlocking more advanced metalsmithing technologies.

〔〕〔〕〔〕

Next day, another small shipment of gold nuggets and ore was delivered from Camp Rich, as I officially named the goldmine.

With it, my Researchers soon taught smelting and smithing to the Craftsmen Bees, who began making golden nails and furniture on an industrial scale.

<Congratulations! You've implemented a 'Primitive Metal Smelting' technology in your empire. You gain 50 development points.>

<Congratulations! You've implemented a 'Primitive Metalsmithing' technology in your empire. You gain 50 development points.>

There wasn't enough metal mined out yet to implement the furniture technology, but it was only a matter of time.

In the meantime, I sent Commando and Warrior Bees on targeted operations to secure wood groves, herb meadows, and flower forests.

With more furniture being built, the Empire needed more wood than ever!

A large part of this competition was neighboring beehives, but the scouts reported that most of them were on the verge of dying off within the next months from their infections.

As sad as it was, there was little I could do to help those bees. We were already out of the sleeping plant.

Eventually, they would die off, and the remaining healthy beehives would stay around, providing drones for my endlessly horny daughter Queens.

By this point, their previous Drones have long ago grown old and went to enjoy their last days in undeserved retirement. My little princesses would've just kicked them out, but I was kind even to those dickheads.

My kindness was so immeasurable, sometimes it surprised even me!

Meanwhile, healthy, powerful, and genetically superior bees of the Bee Empire worked like a united, coherent machine that was oiled at least once in this century—thanks to literacy and tireless efforts of Archivists, who were storing and sorting the ever-growing amount of information that traveled through the hive.

Just to organize the mining operation in Camp Rich (future Hive Rich), an archive had to be built there, and an extra one in Hive Supremo.

Archives were growing more and more, reaching 222 Archivists—and yet, our logistics stat was flagging behind every other stat.

If not for literacy, the Bee Empire would have crumbled into pieces long ago.

As it was, I felt like the next expansion push will be the last before I will have to invent the dreaded bureaucracy.

But for now, the Empire was thriving!

〔Bee Empire〕

〔Wellness〕: 92 %

〔Population〕: 1575 thousand

〔Territory〕: 56520 sq. kilometers

〔Settlement count〕: 22

〔Development level〕: 5

〔Development points〕: 978 / 1500

〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee

〔Attributes〕

> Workpower: 26617

> Military: 4398

> Brainpower: 9772

> Logistics: 4372

> Resilience: 6610

〔Resources〕:

> Food: 9957 units

> Building materials: 414 units

> Crafting materials: 748 units

〔Empire Council〕

〔Military Adviser〕: increases total military by 10%. (Bloodhero)

〔Science Adviser〕: adds 10% of total workpower to brainpower. (Researchina)

〔Industry Adviser〕: increases total workpower by 10%. (Things-Things)

〔Economics Adviser〕: adds 10% of total workpower to military. (Workharder) Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

〔Culture Adviser〕: increases all total attributes and wellness by 3%. (Ambrosia)

〔Health Adviser〕: increases wellness by 0,05% of brainpower. (Tabletina)

〔Technologies〕

Dance Communication, Hive Building, Food Preservation, Forager Posts, Rank-Based Hierarchy, Border Patrols, Candles, Primitive Spiked Armor, Work Camps, Literacy, Scientific Method, Basic Hygiene, Technology of Stone Age, Archives, Medicinal Plants, Feudal Government, Dedicated Medicine, Job Orientation, Sundials, Soap, Primitive Flying Transport, Improved Underground Architecture, Advanced Army Tactics, Primitive Metal Smelting, Primitive Metalsmithing

〔〕〔〕〔〕

Not only we had the insane workpower that moved the industry forward but also sizable other stats.

Although they were much smaller, this was simply because the amount of bees producing food and utility items was so big compared to the amount of our soldiers.

We had plenty of soldiers.

I felt assured enough that I'd wage war on every bee-hunting dragon if they weren't so fast!

On the fifth day of my prolonged stay in Hive Supremo, I sat near the hive entrance, watching the blue sky and the red-blue-green pillar mountain forest above.

From below me, where they trained at the base of our pillar mountain, I heard shouts of 1000 Beemarines doing their daily drills. More bees were flying in and out, doing their daily tasks.

In my mind were visions of dragon traps.

'If they have bird brains, then bird traps should work on them! We just have to make them big enough. Perhaps we can attack their nests, too. They have to be somewhere up there, in the mountains. Bees have lived in fear for too long! We should raise our arms against aerial oppression!'

As if on cue, I heard shocked and alarmed shouts of bees outside, a beating of dragon wings, and a loud, "GRAAAAAW!"