Chapter 72: The Empress of the Hive
Next, Kevin kept luring human-faced wasps into the "Deepsea Mist" one batch after another, until he had made a total of fourteen human-faced wasp spies. Only then did Lilith believe what Kevin had just said.
"You really are a freak." Lilith shot Kevin a look, the corner of her mouth curling up all the way to her ear.
She grabbed a chair and plopped herself right down.
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You’re not leaving?"
Lilith rolled her eyes at him. "You’re a VIP in the Eldritch Business hub. I’m supposed to give you round-the-clock service."
"So, how about it? Interested in trying some cross-species sex? A Succubus’s muscles are way more toughness and flexibility than a human’s."
Kevin looked at the two horns on top of Lilith’s head and just rolled his eyes.
[Affection +3]
Wait? What? Lilith’s Affection could go up too?
[Name: Lilith]
[Age: 321 years old]
[Job: Eldritch merchant]
[Affection: 3]
[Purity: Body 100, Mind -1000]
Kevin stared at the Affection info above Lilith’s head, completely dumbfounded.
And what was up with Lilith having a body purity score of 100?
She was a Succubus. Her body’s purity was a perfect 100!
That meant this Succubus, over three hundred years old, was still a virgin?
Thinking about it, Kevin rolled his eyes again.
But he didn’t call her out on it. With Lilith’s current strength, if she lost it, he really wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Lilith noticed the look on Kevin’s face and raised an eyebrow. "What? Need my help with something?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, it’s fine. If you want to stay, just relax."
Lilith chuckled. Sure enough, she pulled out a fishing rod, flicked the hook into the sea with a quick motion.
Kevin twitched the corner of his mouth.
This woman was really going to do some deep-sea fishing on his boat.
After that, Kevin stopped paying attention to Lilith.
Here’s the English translation in a natural, simple style:
He sat cross-legged with his eyes shut, completely focused on the fourteen human-faced wasp spies.
Two hours passed.
The human-faced wasp Empress had sent down her will over ten times. Every time, she ordered the swarm to stay close to Kevin’s Two-Masted Sloop and wait for a chance to catch the humans on board.
But the human-faced wasps naturally resisted the "Deepsea Mist."
Especially after Kevin had Luna and Amelia drink two more bottles of Fish Fiend Holy Spring. Thanks to the reward system, he got another 2,200 cubic meters of control over the "Deepsea Mist."
By now, Kevin’s Two-Masted Sloop had turned into a moving cloud of "Deepsea Mist."
The swarm of human-faced wasps kept circling the mist, but they couldn’t find a way in.
At this point, the human-faced wasp Empress had lost her patience.
She started sending out group after group of human-faced wasps as suicide squads, charging straight into the "Deepsea Mist."
Lilith was fishing when suddenly the sea surface burst into splashes — it was the human-faced wasps diving into the water.
Lilith laughed. "Kevin, looks like your plan isn’t going so well. The human-faced wasp Empress won’t let the swarm go home until she catches you."
Kevin slowly opened his eyes, looking completely confident. "Lilith, you’re wrong. My plan has been moving forward smoothly from the start."
Lilith looked surprised. "Your human-faced wasp spies are still flying around out there. Have you been doing something else?"
Kevin grinned. "Just wait and see."
Dozens of nautical miles away, near the island where the human-faced wasp nest was.
An Elite Fish Fiend and four Normal Fish Fiends slowly surfaced from the sea.
Then the four Normal Fish Fiends each pulled out a Glock Pistol from their mouths.
They quickly crawled onto the shore and headed straight for the entrance of the human-faced wasp nest.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of gunshots rang out in a row. The four Normal Fish Fiends quickly emptied their pistol magazines, and dozens of bullets enchanted with Great Fireballs shot into the nest.
In an instant, the ground shook like a landslide had hit. Thick smoke burst everywhere, and the whole island trembled.
Right after that, a terrifying wave of mental energy spread out.
A huge number of human-faced wasps came charging out of the cave entrance, furious.
But they were all covered in flames and smoke. The explosion had clearly done some damage to them.
But just when the swarm was ready to fight back, there was nothing around the island — not a single thing.
The four Fish Fiends that had fired the shots had already turned around and dived back into the sea, disappearing without a trace.
The human-faced wasp swarm quickly reported what had happened outside the nest to the Empress.
When the human-faced wasp Empress found out she had been tricked, she got completely furious.
She summoned a large group of wasps to guard the nest island. At the same time, she gave new orders to the swarm that had been chasing Kevin.
Kevin’s fourteen human-faced wasp spies also received the command.
The Human-Faced Wasp Empress ordered them to retreat at once and form a net — one wasp every hundred meters — sealing off the ocean within 20 miles of the mother nest island.
If they spotted anything suspicious, they were to capture it alive immediately. The Empress wanted to personally deal with the ones who had just attacked the nest entrance.
The fourteen human-faced wasp spies followed the main swarm as they quickly retreated. It was quite a sight.
Lilith sat on her stool, watching the swarm disappear into the distance. Her eyes flickered. "What exactly did you do behind my back, you sneaky guy?"
Kevin shrugged. "Secret."
Lilith shot him a glare and pursed her lips. "Stingy human."
The human-faced wasp swarm worked fast. Soon after the Empress gave her orders, they pulled back quickly and formed a huge blockade network.
Kevin’s fourteen spies, which he had planted in the swarm, were now split into three groups, each watching a different area.
Another hour went by, and night had fully taken over the terrifying sea.
Kevin slowly opened his eyes. He was about to get up and deal with the Eldritch Entities that usually attacked at night, but Lilith stopped him: "Relax. No other Eldritch Entities will bother you tonight."
Seeing the doubt on Kevin’s face, Lilith smiled and explained: "Don’t forget, you’re a VIP cardholder of the Eldritch Mall. While I’m serving you, no Eldritch Entity will dare to offend you or your companions. Consider it a little perk I’m giving you."
Then her eyes turned cold, and she warned: "Of course, if you can’t bring back the human-faced wasp Empress’s egg within 24 hours, that perk might turn into a huge loss instead."
Kevin looked at Lilith, his brows furrowed. "You’re different from other Eldritch merchants."
Lilith stared at the sea and sighed. "Don’t think too highly of me. I’m the same as them — I’m an Eldritch Entity too. It’s just that I need a lot of merit points to achieve my goals. For that, I don’t mind working with humans."
Kevin nodded and said softly, "Don’t worry. I won’t let you down."
Next, Kevin had the Normal Fish Fiends slowly swim toward the area where the human-faced wasp spies were.
Under Kevin’s careful control, these Fish Fiends surfaced one by one, each about half an hour apart, to breathe. They pretended not to notice the swarm of wasps above. Instead, they let the dozen or so human-faced wasp spies Kevin controlled dive down and snatch them out of the water.
After the three Normal Fish Fiends were caught by the spies, they even put up a little fight, like they were really struggling.
One of the spies even broke a wing in the process.
But soon, other human-faced wasps came over to help.
They split the work. Two wasps grabbed the Fish Fiend’s arms, two held its legs, and two locked onto its head and waist. Together, they had the Fish Fiend completely pinned down.
Like that, the three Normal Fish Fiends were brought back to the nest by the swarm.
Using the eyes of his human-faced wasp spies, Kevin quickly built a map of the nest’s inner tunnels in his mind.
Deep inside the nest, the fourteen spies led the three Fish Fiends to the human-faced wasp Empress.
Unlike normal human-faced wasps, the Empress looked much more like a human woman.
She was completely naked. Her chest was firm, and her skin was so pale it was almost see-through. If you ignored the hair on her head — which looked like a bunch of earthworms — her body was just as good as any supermodel’s.
Kevin had lived two lifetimes, but this was the first time he’d seen the human-faced wasp Empress up close.
She really was a beauty.
The human-faced wasp Empress looked at the three Fish Fiends in front of her. A look of disgust appeared on her face. "Ugly things."
She raised her hand slightly. A golden light flickered in her eyes.
The three Fish Fiends froze on the spot. An invisible force wrapped around them and pulled them out of the spies’ claws.
Under that invisible power, the three Fish Fiends floated in the air and flew toward a fleshy lump behind the Empress.
That fleshy lump opened up a gap, revealing an inside that looked like a giant bloody mouth.
After the three Fish Fiends were swallowed by the lump, tentacles grew out from the inner walls and stabbed into their bodies. The mating ritual began.
Watching this through his spy’s eyes, Kevin’s forehead popped with veins.
That fleshy lump squirmed wildly.
Soon, green eggs rolled out from the bottom of the lump.
The human-faced wasp Empress kicked the eggs away from her feet with disgust.
Not long after, a human-faced wasp with the face of a mermaid crawled out of one of the eggs.
Seeing this, Kevin’s whole body tensed up.
So it turned out that inside the swarm, it was that fleshy lump that did all the actual mating and produced the warriors. The human-faced wasp Empress herself didn’t seem to take part in the mating ritual at all.
So now the question was — where did the human-faced wasp Empress hide her own eggs?
...