Invincible Snake Emperor-Chapter 45: Wasp King
Since subduing bees no longer provided any Energy Value, Tu Xiao’an decided it was pointless to continue. He already had around five thousand bees in his system, so adding more served no purpose.
Fortunately, the system only specified that subduing bees no longer provided Energy Value. Subduing wasps, however, still worked as before.
Wasps were Level 2 and still provided Energy Value for now. However, he suspected that once he leveled up again, wasps would probably stop providing Energy Value as well.
In that case, he might as well subdue all the wasps invading the Bee Kingdom while he had the chance, and then he could head home.
Tu Xiao’an focused his attention completely on the wasps, only to be surprised when he saw them beginning to retreat from the hillside. The wasps withdrew from the battlefield one by one in an orderly manner, though they all looked a little worse for wear.
Wasp invasions of bee nests usually didn’t last long. They would basically leave as soon as they had gathered enough food. After all, their numbers were limited; a typical wasp swarm only had three to five hundred individuals. This was no match for bees, where even a small faction would start in the tens of thousands.
Every wasp they lost was a significant blow, and their reproductive capabilities were nowhere near those of bees.
That’s why wasps would retreat after sustaining a certain number of casualties. They generally wouldn’t let too many of their ranks perish. After all, if they lost too much of their main force, who would gather food for them in the future?
Unfortunately for the wasp swarm, they must not have checked their horoscopes before invading the bee nest today. Thanks to the trouble stirred up by Tu Xiao’an, they had suffered heavy losses. In a short period, the invading wasps had already lost two-thirds of their force.
This was a devastating loss, forcing the wasp swarm to retreat. Today had been too bizarre. A huge number of their comrades had died, many had vanished without a trace, and even more terrifyingly, a new type of bee had appeared that struck fear into their hearts. This battle was impossible to win.
’Hey, don’t go!’
Tu Xiao’an was frustrated. He had just turned his full attention to the wasps, and now the little buggers were choosing to flee. ’This won’t do,’ he thought. He needed a large number of wasps. If he didn’t deal with them all at once today, he wouldn’t have time to come searching for them in the mountains later.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Tu Xiao’an’s mind.
’If these wasps are retreating, they must be returning to their nest. Why don’t I follow them and wipe them all out in one go? A clean sweep!’
Wasps were formidable fighters and also the key ingredient for evolving Killer Bees—the recipe called for a combination of ten bees and one wasp. Therefore, as far as Tu Xiao’an was concerned, the more wasps, the better.
He had more than enough bees in his Pet Box; all he needed now was a plentiful supply of wasps.
He had long planned to evolve a large number of Killer Bees. Whether for their honey or for other uses, Tu Xiao’an knew he had to do it.
Even though the wasps had been defeated and were retreating, Tu Xiao’an could see at a glance that there were still at least two hundred of them left in the departing swarm.
This meant the wasps had sent over four hundred individuals for this invasion. He himself had subdued at least a hundred, and some had died fighting the hundreds of thousands of bees. It made sense that they would choose to retreat now that their numbers had been cut in half.
As the wasps retreated, a silvery-white venomous snake silently followed in their wake.
The swarm of wasps wound its way through the mountains, flying for a full three kilometers. Tu Xiao’an followed them the entire way, until he finally saw the swarm fly toward a massive cypress tree.
It was a magnificent cypress. Its branches were like iron and its trunk like steel. Its leaves were dense and flat, like scales. Nine branches of roughly equal thickness grew side-by-side from the trunk, resembling nine dragons ready to soar into the blue sky. It was a truly spectacular sight.
The two hundred-plus wasps stopped before the cypress tree, emitting a dense BUZZZZ.
’Whoa, what a huge tree,’ Tu Xiao’an thought.
Tu Xiao’an knew in his heart that this tree must be the wasps’ nest. Otherwise, the retreating swarm would never have stopped midway.
He had to admit, though these tiny creatures were small, their intelligence was remarkable. From the burial cave the bees had chosen to this cypress tree, both were excellent habitats.
They understood their own strengths and weaknesses perfectly, allowing them to choose the optimal environment for survival.
Then, Tu Xiao’an’s Snake Pupils glinted as he observed his surroundings closely. He soon spotted a huge, round nest hanging from a thick branch on the tree’s trunk.
His Snake Pupils lit up. ’That’s it! The wasps’ nest!’
The swarm flew to the round nest and hovered before it, a constant BUZZING sound filling the air.
Tu Xiao’an hid in the shadows, observing the massive nest. The Wasp King was surely inside; every species has its own ruler.
Usually, when the wasp swarm went out to invade a bee colony, they would only send a portion of their forces. The Wasp King itself wouldn’t go personally. A king, of course, enjoys the best treatment.
Before long, Tu Xiao’an saw a giant wasp emerge from the nest with an impressive air. It looked as if it were clad in golden armor, radiating a majestic aura. It was a staggering 12 to 14 centimeters long, in a class of its own among the other wasps.
Tu Xiao’an was slightly taken aback by the appearance of such a massive Wasp King. It was even larger than the Killer Bees he had evolved.
If an ordinary person were to see this giant wasp, their legs would turn to jelly from fear.
Needless to say, Tu Xiao’an could tell with half a brain that this was the Wasp King. The moment it appeared, the retreating wasps became timid and fearful.
They seemed to be conversing, their buzzing sounds going back and forth. Tu Xiao’an, being a snake, obviously couldn’t understand wasp language, so he could only use his mischievous imagination to fill in the blanks.
"My King, we have failed! We were unable to capture the bee queen to warm your bed!"
The Wasp King roared, "A bunch of useless trash! You can’t even capture a mere bee queen? What’s the point of keeping you all around?"
"My King, this subordinate deserves a thousand deaths! A strange new kinsman suddenly appeared. It was invincible and caused our morale to plummet!"
"What? A kinsman? In this world, is there any bee-like creature stronger than my wasps? Strong enough to stop my mighty soldiers?"
...
The wasps continued to buzz back and forth, and Tu Xiao’an savored his imagined dialogue. At the same time, his gaze fell upon the giant Wasp King, and he began to covet its power.
He had just subdued the Bee King in the burial cave, and now a Wasp King had appeared. If he could subdue this one as well...
He could use the system to evolve them both and create a super-strong Killer Bee King.
His Killer Bees needed a king to lead them.
Tu Xiao’an used Conscious Insight on it and discovered that the giant Wasp King was also Level 5. He was a little surprised. ’It’s the same Level as the Bee King? That doesn’t make sense. With a body that large, is it just for show?’
After thinking it over, he figured it was probably because small, flying creatures were limited by their small size and genetic makeup, making it difficult for their Level to break past a certain bottleneck.
Plus, the old Bee King had lived for a very long time, so it was natural for its Level to be high.
Still, for a mere bee-type creature, reaching Level 5 was already incredibly strong. After all, the rare adult Tiger Snake, a unique Snake Species Tu Xiao’an had previously captured, was only Level 5.
Besides, combat power wasn’t determined by Level alone. Even though they were both kings, the Wasp King could definitely insta-kill the Bee King he had subdued into his system.
