A Beekeeper in a Magical World

Chapter 9: Showdown!

Hua Mi remained composed and said, "This batch of Moon Slumber Honey will probably be ready in less than ten days. I didn't deceive you, and you'll taste it for yourself when it's done. Speaking of which, you should feel honored to be the first Pixies in the world to taste honey."

"Pixies?"

"It's a term from our hometown, you can think of it as meaning 'little spirits.'"

The red-haired Pixie bristled, "How impolite! We are the noble spirits of the Black Forest, don't use strange names to refer to us!"

"Alright, Little Red."

"You!"

Red Pixie clenched her fists in anger, and her ears seemed to be steaming.

But they had no choice but to fume quietly as the large swarm of bees on both sides glared at them, and they had already experienced how formidable these bees could be. They dared not make any reckless moves.

"Sisters, let's go!"

Red Pixie glared fiercely at Hua Mi and then flew away, with the other Pixies following her.

"Let's go, we'll find other places to collect honey!"

"Only scum and outcasts would learn alchemy!"

Uh...

Listening to their tone, it seemed like alchemists didn't have a good reputation in this world. But it didn't matter to Hua Mi; he just wanted to focus on farming and beekeeping and avoid unnecessary contact with the world. Even if he went exploring, it would only be to find new sources of nectar-bearing flowers, not to pick fights.

The Pixies left, grumbling as they flew.

The purple-haired Pixie, who had been trailing at the back, stopped after flying a distance, turned back to look, then flew a bit more before hesitating and returning to Hua Mi.

"What you said... is the honey really sweet?"

Hua Mi assured her solemnly, "It's super sweet, and the texture is much better than regular honey. It might even crystallize into sweet crystals. I guarantee you'll love it after one taste."

The little purple-haired Pixie's face instantly lit up with longing, and a glistening drop of drool appeared at the corner of her mouth.

The other Pixies were very cautious around him and not easy to befriend, but this little one might be a breakthrough.

Hua Mi enticed her, "Once the honey is ready, I'll put up a sign in the flower field, and you can come to taste it."

And help test if the Magic Honey has any special effects – Hua Mi added in his mind.

The little purple Pixie snapped out of her daydream and nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes, I will... ah!"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was grabbed by the ear by the red-haired Pixie, who had flown back to get her.

"Let's go!"

"Be gentle, my ear is about to fall off!"

Hua Mi waved to them, "Remember to come and taste the honey when it's ready!"

In the distance, a Pixie's ethereal voice echoed, "Bah, despicable alchemist!"

...

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Hua Mi returned to his wooden house, looking at the black robe hanging at the bedside, lost in thought.

This was left behind by the previous owner of the house, and he wasn't sure about the material, but it was smooth and sturdy, with no signs of wear and tear or mold despite its age, just a bit dusty.

Hua Mi cleaned it in a washing machine, and once he put it on, it felt as smooth as silk, the size fitting perfectly without hindering his movements. It seemed to have a magical temperature control feature, making it feel pleasantly cool.

"I'll wear this black robe here from now on; it will help me blend better into this world..."

Hua Mi twirled in his robe and found that the attire suited him quite well. He felt refreshed and vibrant.

"An alchemist from the Black Forest, it doesn't sound too bad."

...

The next morning, the ten bee colonies he had ordered were delivered, each consisting of approximately eight thousand bees, complete with queens and hives.

Having cooperated with the seller many times, who was an old friend of his grandfather, the quality of the bee colonies was undoubtedly reliable.

Hua Mi did a routine inspection and found no issues.

He extended his consciousness, attempting to communicate with the new arrivals. Since he could only control one group of bees at a time, it took quite a while to establish connections with each group individually.

The whole process lasted about half an hour, but he successfully integrated these ten bee colonies into his hive!

Hua Mi moved all ten beehives to the otherworld and set them to work on their mission. Eight of the bee colonies were assigned to gather nectar freely. Their primary purpose was to serve as a reserve force. When new bee breeds emerged, they would be used as templates to quickly produce new bee colonies.

The remaining two experimental bee colonies were not left idle either. Mutant experiments couldn't be halted! The more new bee breeds, the better.

So, how many bees would he invest in this batch of experiments? Of course, he'd go all in!

Two bee colonies, more than sixteen thousand bees! They were all in.

"I don't believe that out of these sixteen thousand bees, there won't be a single successful evolution."

Hua Mi poured some mutagenic solution into a basin, and he controlled the bee colonies to sip from it.

The bees lined up orderly at the edge of the basin, absorbing the mutagenic solution. After one batch finished, they immediately flew away, and the next batch took their place.

Due to group control, the process was quite fast.

However, once all the sixteen thousand bees had absorbed the mutagenic solution, more than half of it was already used up.

"What if I run out of it? Without knowing the formula, even if I have a semi-automatic alchemical boiler, it won't help... I hope I can accumulate enough mutant bee breeds before I run out, so I can conduct hybrid experiments."

The large batch of experimental bees returned to their hives to cocoon. Hua Mi put on the alchemist's black robe, gathered his equipment, and prepared for his first exploration in this world.

Exploration wasn't aimless wandering; he had already chosen his target the day before.

Objective: Featherleaf Flower.

Rating: Rare.

Bloom Season: Waterful Month to Waterless Month.

Suitable Growing Environment: Moist soil, commonly found near lakes.

He had selected this target from his alchemical notebook because it was a rare plant, but fortunately, it was relatively common in the Black Forest. Based on the notebook's content, Hua Mi believed it was likely a nectar-bearing flower.

Don't ask, it's all about experience and a beekeeper's intuition.

In addition to his compound bow and first-aid supplies, Hua Mi planned to take a group of worker bees with him. Even ordinary bees could be formidable with proper control, not to mention the Forest Swift Bees with their double speed.

As long as you were flesh and blood, you feared stings.

This had become evident during the confrontation with the seven "Pixies" yesterday.

"Let's warm up first."

Hua Mi drew his bow and shot an arrow at a tree ten meters away. Swish! The arrow successfully passed through the gap between two trees.

"Not bad. Let's go!"