Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

The closest to ours were fields near Krisha village. Because this region was close to our lands, the population of insects there was relatively small, but still worthy of some crusading.

It was going to be the first place to be cleansed, and I went with the soldiers to take charge of the crusade and to cheer the fighters up.

The 100 thousand soldiers—and that was just the first company!—under the leadership of the Grand Commander Malevolence traveled to the Krisha village on a train, while I took an express route of flying on a dragon.

Now, all of us were standing at the edge of a plain of dark ground and rare sprouts of low grass and bushes. The searing sun was beaming down on us with no cloud in sight and no mountain for kilometers away.

The humans had just finished planting crops on this field, and the large tree seeds scattered in the soil were terribly vulnerable. And there were plenty of insects visible in the distance that could feed on them or on the growing trees.

Gnats buzzed in the air, and caterpillars prowled the ground. A few dragons were eating them in the distance; or perhaps they were eating the seeds, too.

The dark soil stretched as far as I could see—or for around 30 kilometers farther, according to the map of the region. This wasn't the only field—there was another of slightly larger size on the other side of the village.

With the speed of the unmodified soldiers in this army, they could cross this field in half an hour. I was hoping to finish the preliminary purge before lunch.

I flew in front of the waiting army, rising higher so everybody could see me, and I—them. The endless Warrior Bees looked at me with wide, bright eyes and stood to attention.

Their thoughts were open to me. Nobody was afraid or worried: most of them thought only about killing as many enemies as possible to show off trophies and make a tasty meal out of the killed creatures.

Thanks to their good martial education, they were prepared to spend their entire life guarding this land! All these girls were sorted into the military by the job orientation in their school or at least fit for it, as well as for several others. This was their idea of a fulfilling life.

There was only one thing I noticed that made me concerned—the soldiers were split into thousands based on their sub-hive of origin, and they didn't look like they were meshing very well.

If I listened closer, I could hear thoughts of the bees standing closer to those from other sub-hives, and they weren't exactly friendly.

'I hope I don't have to cover this bee's back… Is she side-eying me? She does! She DOES!'

'Will Father say that we must split up to cover more ground? Please, do. Fighting side to side with one of these bees… Wasn't it enough that I spent an entire train ride next to them?'

And so on. It looked like my girls picked up some bigotry even so early in their life!

Actually, that was probably the reason. Their youth made them faster to pick ideas, and bees were already instinctively predisposed for inter-hive competition. This instinct festered and…

We had what I had.

But this couldn't continue. An army without good cohesion will suffer.

"My soldiers, my daughters and granddaughters!" I announced loudly.

Of course, only the front rows of soldiers could hear me, so I doubled my words with telepathy to those girls who stood farther away.

"Even if some of you are only cousins to each other, in all the ways that matter you are sisters and a part of the Empire. And this field, too, is a part of the Bee Empire. We conquered this land together with the entire human kingdom, and now we must protect it from these disgusting creatures. This is the hour when our crusade starts! Kill every insect you see! If a dragon comes closer, kill him too! Cook them with your fires—just don't burn the seeds! This is the thing that only *you* can do for the Bee Empire!"

Forgetting about all their spiteful thoughts, the bees cheered as one, raising their spears and hammers.

"FOR THE EMPIRE!" they shouted so loudly that several insects in the distance darted from where they rested and flew away.

This didn't matter—their turn would come, eventually!

I flew back into the body of the army and landed on the ground next to Malevolence.

She was more bright-eyed than ever—barely able to believe that she of all people got the position of a Grand Commander when she was just a Lieutenant recently.

But she showed good organizational skills when we were saving dodos, and plenty of tenacity in the past. I had a feeling that tenacity will be the thing crusaders will need the most (also, Bloodimina was far away and busy).

The other things can be learned. Malevolence finished a study course on a military organization from Bloodhero personally.

"Give us the order to move out, Father! We will do the rest—you will only need to watch our successes!" Malevolence said.

I nodded.

"Then move out when ready. Kill everything!"

"Yes, Father!"

Malevolence grinned and turned to her subordinates, sending telepathic messages all over—she was a Beemarine, after all. She even had a recent blood donation from me, so her genes were at their best.

With a buzzing of 100 thousand wings, the army took off. The noise so many bees created when moving at once was like that of a helicopter… No, a hundred helicopters!

I covered my ears and wished that I've taken the quieter flight gene.

But the Warriors didn't show any discomfort. Following telepathic commands from Malevolence, they split into smaller squads and began spreading over the edge of the field. The Beehounds scattered among common Warriors waved their antennae, searching for even the most sneaky enemies.

And soon, the first fires burned!