The second visit to the Treasure Bee hive was received with considerably more enthusiasm than Shen Cong would have preferred.

Every bee in the colony that could fly launched itself at him the moment he came into range. The fist-sized Treasure Bees layered around him, stacked thick, biting and stinging with complete commitment.

They were simply too weak to matter. Even a moderately equipped evolved person with decent coverage would have been fine. Shen Cong, wearing the Half-Activated Armor, felt it as ambient noise.

He brushed the bees off his visor, left the ones on his body where they were, and walked directly to the hive.

The sections he'd cut out on his previous visit had been repaired. The bees had been diligent — the Bee Treasure reserves were fully replenished. He tore open a new section, confirmed what he was looking at, and pulled out the carrying satchel he'd made from Golden Jiao hide.

The faint trace of Golden Jiao scent hit the colony like a command. Every bee peeled away and scattered in seconds.

Silence.

"Should have brought this out immediately." He watched the last few bees retreat. "The Golden Jiao has reach even in death."

He cut away half of the Bee Treasure-filled comb sections as before and packed them into the satchel. But this visit had a second objective — he wanted Treasure Bees and larvae to bring back for research.

"Pupae should be at the top sections — yes, there they are." White bee pupae, densely packed, many of them. He cut away a section of comb with the pupae intact and packaged it carefully.

The third item on his list was Royal Treasure Jelly — the Treasure Bee equivalent of royal jelly.

In ordinary bee colonies, worker bees produce royal jelly from their hypopharyngeal glands. Any larva fed exclusively on royal jelly develops into a queen; larvae switched to honey and pollen after three days become workers. The queen eats royal jelly for life.

"Royal jelly is stored in the queen cells — the queen cells are where the current queen lives. Cut some…