Free Web NovelIn the Southwest corner of Han Shan Territory, rows of neatly arranged beehives stood scattered under the sunlight.
“The terrain here is quite good, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, and close to the stream.” Louis Calvin narrowed his eyes, surveying his surroundings with a hint of satisfaction.
Beside him, a knight in a deep red cloak respectfully accompanied him, occasionally flipping through his portable record board.
He was the commander in charge of the experimental bee colony rearing this time.
“The beehives are made of Red-Patterned Fir as you instructed,” the beekeeping knight reported, “The inner layer is coated with Ice-Patterned Stone powder, which can appropriately insulate against the cold.”
Louis Calvin nodded slightly, walked to one of the beehives, squatted down, and ran his finger across the wooden surface, carefully feeling the temperature of the wood grain.
“Very good. What about the fragrant mist device?”
“It has been installed.” The beekeeping knight paused, walked over, and pressed the switch on the back of the beehive.
With a soft click, a small bottle popped out, and mist slowly gushed forth.
The mist was as fine as silk threads, shimmering slightly in the sunlight, carrying a faint, ethereal plant fragrance.
This was a specially formulated calming mist agent.
The fragrance was extracted from Frostleaf Vine, Night Snow Moss, and a small amount of Dark Silver Leaf.
It was specifically designed to suppress the Azure Pattern Bee’s almost self-destructing instinct for frenzy.
“The atomization frequency is set to once every four hours,” the beekeeping knight pointed to the group of rotating wheels at the top of the beehive, “At night, the interval is shortened to three hours, and according to your previous suggestion, an automatic sensing magic array has been added.”
Louis Calvin smiled approvingly.
Walking a few more steps forward, he looked up at the slightly unusual “lids” above those beehives.
They were not ordinary wooden boards, but transparent animal hides treated from cold-region beast skins, flexible and slightly elastic.
The knights used them to form dome-shaped covers, making the beehives appear to be enveloped in a warm, miniature greenhouse.
Sunlight filtered through the translucent hide, spilling onto the beehives, and even the mist on the ground took on a warm, gentle hue.
“This way, they won’t be too agitated at night, right?” Louis Calvin said lightly.
Of course, it wasn't smooth sailing from the beginning.
The first batch of Azure Pattern Bees that moved in showed agitation, not adaptation, in the new environment.
On the first night, as darkness fell, the buzzing sound inside one beehive suddenly intensified, as if something was struggling frantically on the verge of breaking free.
The nest walls were violently struck, the hive lid bulged several times, and some bees even crashed through the ventilation holes, buzzing as they rushed into the cold night.
“The bee colony is escaping!” a patrolling knight shouted, his battle qi instantly flaring, a cold light cutting through the darkness, sealing the beehive opening. Louis Calvin arrived upon hearing the news, only to see several faint blue lights faintly visible in the air—the residual flames left by the Azure Pattern Bees’ self-destruction.
“The self-destruction rate is higher than expected.” He frowned, looking at the scorched beehive.
He was as calm as if he were dissecting a complex puzzle, not observing a group of dangerous creatures on the verge of losing control.
“Seal the hive, record it. Increase the fragrant mist spray.” He ordered, “Tell the alchemy apprentices to deepen the proportion of ‘Frostleaf Vine’ and ‘Night Snow Moss’ by another percentage point, and increase ‘Dark Silver Leaf’ to its stable limit.”
“Yes!”
The spray frequency of the atomization bottles was also forced to adjust from every three hours to every two hours.
The fragrant mist, dense enough to almost condense into droplets, spread around the beehives, impervious to the night wind, and even visible as a faint, silvery shroud under the moonlight.
However, the core of the bee colony’s agitation was not limited to environmental discomfort.
It was the queen bee.
“The queen bee refuses to build a nest—” the beekeeping knight reported in a low voice, “They still seem to have a strong attachment to the pheromone scent of the old nest.”
Once the queen bee refused to settle, the entire bee colony would fall into chaos.
Disorder in the group, self-destruction, it was only a matter of time.
Louis Calvin stood at the edge of the slope, silently watching a lone bee fall in the night, feeling a pang of heartache, as it was all money, after all. freēwebnovel.com
Early the next morning, he personally drew diagrams and rearranged the beehive array.
“Cancel the original flat arrangement and change them all to a stepped arrangement, from Southeast low to Northwest high, with the distance between each hive mimicking the hanging height of natural beehives in the secluded valley.”
He explained while sketching on the blueprint, “The internal structure should be hollowed out, mimicking rock wall groove-style nest chambers, and residual queen bee pheromone liquid should be added.”
This was a brand new attempt to simulate the natural hanging nest layout of the Southern Forest Secluded Valley.
The beehives were no longer cold, rigid rows of tools, but became “homes” constructed to mimic nature.
The alchemy apprentices who came to observe had bloodshot eyes from staying up late.
The knights, in groups of three, took turns on night watch, recording three times daily:
bee colony quantity, queen bee activity, nectar collection frequency, and nocturnal /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ activity.
Several days later, the wind on Mist Pine Slope finally could not disperse the soft humming sound around the beehives.
Three hives of Azure Pattern Bees had successfully built their nests.
The atomization devices still sprayed fragrant mist on time, and the knights rotated on night watch.
But the initial sense of pressure that kept nerves taut had slowly receded.
The queen bee’s activity range was marked, her status recorded, and her behavior was now predictable.
The biggest uncertain factor, which was originally present, was now brought under control.
There were occasional small disturbances, but the self-destruction phenomenon never reappeared.
“They really have settled down.” A knight murmured with emotion, looking at the Azure Pattern Bees slowly crawling among the beehives, somewhat disbelieving the tranquility before his eyes.
During the daytime, the bee colony could already fly out independently and begin nectar collection.
After some time, inside a special beehive.
The specially designed honey extractor slowly opened, and a faint, warm aura accompanied by a light mist escaped.
This was the first collection of Battle Qi Honey.
Its color was a soft, pale gold, and when poured onto a silver spoon, it shimmered slightly, gently swaying with the airflow as if it possessed sentience.
“It smells good.” Louis Calvin personally took the honey spoon, dipping a drop with his fingertip.
Louis Calvin put the honey into his mouth; it was sweet with a hint of bitterness, bitter with a coolness, and after the coolness, a warmth spread through his body.
It was a very slight, but real, acceleration of battle qi flow, like a gentle breeze brushing over the battle qi core, bringing a sense of invigoration.
“It’s not concentrated enough.” Louis Calvin opened his eyes, calmly evaluating, “But it’s already acceptable.”
After confirming that the experimental rearing base at the edge of Han Shan Territory could successfully domesticate Azure Pattern Bee colonies, Louis Calvin felt a little happy, but it was not yet time to relax.
“Important resources must be transferred back to Red Tide Territory; only there can there be sufficient protection and resource assurance.”
Red Tide Territory was not only his territorial foundation but also the core of his military strength.
For important assets like the Azure Pattern Bee colonies, Louis Calvin could only feel at ease in Red Tide Territory.
To ensure the safety of the bee colony, Louis Calvin personally supervised the preparation of a specialized transportation plan.
The transport carriages were converted into “Mist-Locked Boxes,” which were sealed beehives capable of controlling temperature and humidity.
They had built-in magic distillation devices that could slowly release a fragrant mist, formulated from Frostleaf Vine, at low temperatures, continuously and stably suppressing the bee colony’s agitation. Now, affairs in Han Shan Territory were gradually getting on track.
The Cold Berry processing workshop had been established and was preparing to begin trial production of the first batch of fruit pulp, and mountain plum seeds were rooting and sprouting on the mountainside.
The small pickled Frozen Scale Fish workshop emitted a savory aroma daily.
Cold Gravel and Red-Patterned Fir were continuously loaded onto transport vehicles and sent to various locations.
And those three experimental hives of Azure Pattern Bees were loaded onto carriages, ready to depart for Red Tide Territory.
Everything bore fruit as planned.
“It’s time to go back.”
Behind him, a reinforced, sealed carriage was parked in a dark alley, its exterior covered with multiple battle qi barriers, and inside were those three precious Azure Pattern Bee colonies.
In another carriage, Leixier lay quietly on a stretcher padded with soft beast hide and herb sachets, his face still pale, and faint dark black marks still lingering around his wound.
He had not yet awakened, but Louis Calvin did not hesitate: “Take him with us, back to Red Tide Territory.”
After all, he was the main objective of this trip; how could he be left in Han Shan Territory?
But to avoid causing unnecessary commotion and gratitude among the Han Shan Territory residents, Louis Calvin chose to leave quietly.
So, in the dead of night, an inconspicuous convoy quietly set off, following the mountain road.
After traveling for three full days, the earthen castle of Red Tide Territory finally appeared at the edge of their vision, as if welcoming its long-absent master.
At that moment, Louis Calvin lifted the curtain from inside the carriage, gazing at the familiar city gate slowly opening, like an old friend who had waited for many days, quietly welcoming his return.
“—Finally, I’m back.”
He leaned back on the soft cushion of the carriage, still holding an open notebook in his hand, but his gaze had long since drifted from the pages, sinking deep into his thoughts.
There were still too many things waiting for him, each capable of robbing a lord of his sleep.
Just then, a hurried hoofbeat approached.
“Report—my Lord!” The young knight’s figure appeared by the carriage window, breathless but unable to suppress his excitement: “The injured man you rescued from the cave, he just woke up!”
Louis Calvin’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately scrambled to his feet.
At the rear of the convoy, a small medical carriage was moving slowly, its interior padded with clean beast hides.
Louis Calvin lifted the curtain and immediately saw the mage.
Leixier lay there quietly, his face pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his lips slightly purple.
His eyes were half-open, but his gaze still appeared somewhat dazed.
“This is—”
He looked at the decorations hanging from the carriage ceiling, opening his mouth hesitantly, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
“You’re awake.” Louis Calvin squatted down, meeting his gaze, his voice low and gentle, “I am Louis Calvin, a Viscount, and I happened to rescue you in a cave.”
Leixier’s eyes trembled slightly, as if he remembered something. freewebnøvel.com
“Thank you, Lord Louis.” He said softly, with gratitude.
“My name is—Leixier.” He paused for a moment, as if sifting through fragmented memories in his mind, “I apologize, my mind is a bit muddled right now.”
Then Leixier suddenly clenched his teeth, a complex emotion appearing on his face.
It was as if he remembered something, yet also as if he was trying hard not to recall it.
“Thank you.” Leixier said in a low voice, his voice trembling but clear, “No matter who you are, no matter what, I owe you my life.”
The wind outside the window stirred the curtain, and dappled sunlight fell between the two.
Louis Calvin slowly spoke: “Can you tell me what exactly happened?”
