Chapter 27: Taming the Tree Hole Bee Swarm

Despite the modest portion, James's meal was still far better than what most survivors had in a day. In fact, over 95% of the survivors had never tasted meat.

After breakfast, James followed his routine with about an hour of exercise, waiting for the day to brighten fully.

Today's Weather:

The weather is cold today, please dress warmly when going out! 

Daylight duration: 6 hours 

Weather: Overcast 

Temperature: -1 to 3°C 

Climate trend: A cold wave is very near, remember the three essentials: Food! Warmth! Beasts! 

Today marks the only overcast day in six days! The highest temperature is just 3°C, a clear sign of winter's arrival.

James prepared his equipment, including 7 beast traps, a good-quality axe, a good-quality machete, and the black tiger bee swarm.

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded in the forest: a young man armed with weapons followed by a swarm of giant black bees, which did not attack but closely trailed behind him.

If this had happened in the civilized world, James would never have believed it. But here in the Fog World, and he was that young man!

Feeling the buzzing sound from behind, although a bit noisy, James felt an overwhelming sense of security.

After leaving his shelter, he placed the 7 beast traps in suitable locations, hoping for good luck in capturing prey, as he did yesterday.

Unfortunately, the two remaining traps from the previous day hadn't been triggered, lying untouched in the grass. This reaffirmed the low success rate of the beast traps, but James was not discouraged. With more traps set up, the likelihood of catching prey would increase.

After setting the traps, James, under the guidance of the black tiger bee queen, hurried to the white fir forest. The queen had recovered significantly overnight, especially with the healing properties of the spring water, although it seemed a bit spiritless.

"I wonder if this will work..." James mused as he walked.

After taming the black tiger bee queen, he thought about taming the bee nest he encountered yesterday.

The black tiger bee swarm had suffered heavy losses, leaving less than a hundred bees. It would take an unknown amount of time for them to naturally replenish their numbers.

Absorbing another bee swarm could quickly increase their numbers. However, James was unsure if there would be communication barriers between different bee species.

Returning to the tree hole where he found the bees, he could hear the buzzing from afar.

After his large-scale hunt yesterday, the number of bees in this swarm had also significantly decreased. In terms of numbers, they were almost equal to the black tiger bees. But the black tiger bees were much larger and stronger.

After giving instructions to the black tiger bee queen, it led its followers towards the tree hole.

From the queen's simple feedback, it seemed unafraid and quite relaxed, indicating that the individual strength of black tiger bees was much stronger than the tree hole bees.

The ensuing battle was as one-sided as James had anticipated. The black tiger bees, much larger than the tree hole bees, overpowered them easily.

Dozens of tree hole bees attacking one black tiger bee could hardly defeat it.

James watched from a hiding spot in the bushes, pleased yet concerned about the ongoing losses. The battle would end quickly if the black tiger bee queen could control the tree hole bee queen. However, lacking intelligence, the black tiger bee queen was bent on annihilating the tree hole bee queen.

Realizing this, James tried to communicate with the black tiger bee queen, instructing it to adopt effective tactics. After much effort, the queen finally understood and charged into the tree hole, searching for its counterpart.

Despite its lack of cunning, the black tiger bee queen's strength was sufficient to withstand the assault, even alone. Following James's remote guidance, the queen, along with a few powerful black tiger bees, formed a strike team and penetrated the tree hole.

Success! James watched eagerly as the black tiger bee queen emerged from the tree hole, carrying a yellow bee.

This yellow bee, similar in size to ordinary black tiger bees and lacking a hard shell and sting, appeared to be a regular bee. However, its information revealed it as a good-quality tree bee queen.

This proved that even among good-quality beasts, there were significant differences in strength. James directed the black tiger bee queen to bring the tree hole bee queen back to the shelter.

Without a beast taming scroll, direct taming was impossible, so he had to rely on the animal pen.

The animal pen, a facility included with a level 3 shelter requiring 200 units of good-quality wood, was designed for taming wild beasts.

Checking his stock, James realized he was short by 30 units of wood. He quickly chopped down two trees in the white fir forest to gather the necessary materials and then returned to his shelter.

A white light enveloped the shelter's yard, and within a few seconds, a wooden pen appeared.

"So this is the animal pen," James curiously observed the simple structure. A circle of two-meter-high white wooden stakes enclosed a five-square-meter space, topped with a wooden rain shelter.

It looked like a very ordinary wooden shed, making James wonder how it could possibly contain wild animals.

Nonetheless, James placed the tree hole bee nest on one of the wooden stakes and arranged for the tree hole bee swarm to move in.

The animal pen was effective for taming beasts of good quality or lower, so it was unlikely to tame the tree hole bee queen.

However, James wasn't worried. Once the ordinary tree bees were tamed, he planned to eliminate the old bee queen, expecting the swarm to naturally produce a new queen.

After moving into the animal pen, the tree bee swarm became noticeably calmer. The pen seemed to have a special effect, keeping the bees confined to its vicinity.

Relieved, James felt confident in the system's effectiveness. Now, all he had to do was wait for the tree bees to be tamed.

James also decided to put the wild chicken he had captured into the animal pen, hoping it would adapt soon.