Chapter 1102 Colossal Hive
Bzzt!
The golden bees buzzed around the giant sunflower for some time before seemingly deciding on an order.
Shortly after, they started taking turns filling up their honey sac and pollen baskets with nectars and pollens from the giant sunflower before flying off into one of the caves leading back to their colony.
Each time a new golden bee approached the giant sunflower to collect nectar and pollen, they produced reactions similar to a person's pupils dilating from sniffing some white powdery goods – or so Leon felt.
Leon didn't understand the golden bee's language, but he vaguely sensed their ecstatic moods after they filled up their honey sacs and pollen baskets.
Considering the golden bees were a mutant branch of honey bees, whose diet primarily consists of honey produced from nectar and pollen, Leon didn't doubt that they've collected nectar and pollen from other plants in the subterranean world before.
'For these golden bees to produce such joyous reactions… I see… The nectar and pollen from the sunflower I grew is the good sh*t compared to what they usually have,' Leon mused.
The higher quality nectar and pollen from his sunflower were like an addictive drug for the golden bees.
'But for them to be so happy over something I made casually… I can't imagine how the golden bees would react to higher-tier spirit plants with nectar and pollen. Either way, bringing the golden bees back to the empire for honey production might proceed more smoothly than I initially anticipated,' Leon thought.
Nevertheless, the nectar and pollen in the sunflower quickly ran dry before the golden bees suddenly felt at a loss.
Afterward, they buzzed around the huge sunflower at a lower frequency for some time, seemingly feeling down due to no more nectar.
Eventually, the golden bees shifted their attention to Leon.
Although Leon could pump more wood and life energy into the sunflower, allowing it to produce more nectar and pollen, he refrained from doing so. He wanted to see what the golden bees would do.
Sure enough, without any more nectar and pollen from the sunflower, the golden bees wanted to bring it back to their hive and him along with it.
Leon willingly followed the golden bees under their lead.
However, the huge sunflower had grown too big to fit through the cave tunnel leading to their colony.
Upon realizing this, the golden bees seemingly understood the situation and fell into another dilemma, baffled by what to do regarding the situation.
At the same time, Leon didn't want to keep holding the giant sunflower by the roots. Thus, he planted it into the rocky wall and left it behind.
Without sunlight, water, or even fertile soil, the sunflower would eventually die, and the golden bees would be sad.
Nevertheless, they wouldn't be sad if Leon could get the golden bees to follow him back to the fertile land near the World Tree in the empire, where they could grow as various types of nectar-producing plants, let alone sunflowers.
However, the problem was getting all of them to follow him back willingly. To do that, he must first meet with their queen and gain her cooperation.
Of course, if Leon couldn't tempt the golden queen bee to follow him back, he intended to just kidnap her and run. The entire hive would chase after him if he had their queen.
"Nightingale, Goldenstride. The both of you return to the surface and watch over the humans. I will be back after visiting the golden bee's hive first," Leon instructed the two Divine Beasts.
"Yes, my Lord," Nightingale and Goldenstride reluctantly complied as it was their lord's order.
Shortly after Nightingale and Goldenstride left, Leon followed the golden bee, albeit fewer in numbers. A good portion of the golden bees had gathered around the sunflower he had left behind.
However, Leon picked out a new sunflower seed and started nurturing it in his hand again.
Before long, the sunflower seed sprouted into a new fully-grown sunflower, albeit smaller in size, not too big, but big enough to attract the golden bees.
Sometime later, Leon followed the golden bees to the end of the long cave tunnel and entered a large open space filled with the freshness of air and spirit plants.
The ground was filled with fertile soil, grass, and spirit plants, while the walls were filled with overgrown vines and trees, among other exotic plants and flowers tended by golden bees.
There was even a large lake with fresh water in the center.
Nevertheless, Leon's attention was quickly drawn to the colossal hive hanging from the ceiling in the vast open space with countless golden bees flying in and out.
Its sheer size surprised him.
More surprisingly, the vast space was strangely illuminated before Leon's eyes.
Just as he was curious where the light source came from or how the plants prospered without sunlight, Leon's gaze fell on an artificial spirit energy conversion tower by the lake—one that hasn't seemed to be infested by a fleshly abomination leeching off of it.
Upon further observation, Leon realized the artificial spirit energy conversion tower wasn't working as it should. It didn't produce any artificial spirit energy despite its working function to collect solar energy from the surface through its cable.
'It seems like a specific part of the conversion tower was damaged, causing it to stop producing artificial spirit energy. As a result, the conversion tower only continues to gather solar energy and act like an artificial sun in this place, huh?' Leon studied.
'However… I can only sense solar energy from this conversion tower. There doesn't seem to be any Wrathful Demon Energy gathered along with it…'
Leon rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look upon noticing this particular point—all while the golden bees buzzed around him, urging him to go elsewhere.
Nevertheless, Leon temporarily ignored them to continue thinking.
'Given how deep this place is, I doubt the conversion tower's cables are long enough to reach the surface… If it can collect solar energy without Wrathful Demon Energy… Then, it must have been filtered out somehow along the way,' Leon speculated.
He was intrigued enough to investigate, but it seemed like the golden bees were becoming impatient.