New Overlord

On the swamp's shore, a dense swarm of Stinger Bees emerged from their collapsed hive, their agitated wings buzzing furiously, clearly at the peak of their rage.

They searched everywhere for the culprit who destroyed their hive.

After circling the tree once, their gazes finally fell upon the group of Beetles that had just groggily awoken at the base of the roots.

What else could have attacked their nest if not these Beetles!

"Buzzz!"

The enraged swarm of Stinger Bees seemed to lose all reason, swarming around the Oak Tree and spraying venomous stingers towards the base of the tree.

Digger Beetles:?

Before they could even figure out why their neighbors were angry, the venomous stingers rained down upon them.

This immediately angered the Beetles, who had a bad case of morning grumpiness. They stretched their six limbs and tremblingly crawled out of the ground to meet the stingers.

The scene was like a dark knightly order charging fearlessly at invading dragons. The dense thudding sounds of their charge scared the Mud Swamp Worms and Moss Monsters into scattering.

A battle was about to break out.

"Boom!"

The deafening sound was like a raging storm at sea. Knights and dragons collided, then retreated like a tide, only to regroup and charge again. The two forces repeatedly clashed and fought, turning the battlefield into a boiling cauldron.

Of course, the battle beneath the tree was nowhere near that dramatic; Chen Yu had merely imagined it.

If anything, the fight between the Stinger Bees and the Beetles was more like a brawl at the village entrance, one punch after another. It looked terrifying, but in reality, neither side sustained even a scratch.

Seja, however, was watching such a large-scale monster war for the first time. She was far more invested than he was, her eyes wide open, unwilling to blink.

Only when Stinger Bees flew overhead would she shrink her head back into the swamp.

Just as Chen Yu thought the battle would reach a stalemate like before, and both sides would pretend nothing had happened...

The situation on the battlefield changed in an instant, and the Stinger Bees suddenly gained the upper hand.

It was a new tactic!

The Stinger Bees employed a new strategy.

They stopped focusing on using their stingers and instead used their numerical advantage to pin the Beetles down, then flapped their wings rapidly, intending to suffocate their opponents with their body heat.

The temperature within each ball of bees rose rapidly. The Beetles wanted to escape, but their movements were too slow, and they couldn't shake off the Stinger Bees surrounding them.

And if a Beetle tried to flap its carapace wings to flee, a Stinger Bee would plunge its stinger deep into its breathing hole.

This caused the Beetles to writhe in agony from the poison before finally falling still.

The war finally saw casualties.

The Beetles were routed, ultimately unable to defeat the established overlords of this territory.

"Seja, prepare to act."

Chen Yu wouldn't let the Stinger Bees win so easily. He silently recited the Lesser Arrow Technique.

"Oh, okay!"

Seja gripped her Oak Staff, her stance less like someone casting a spell and more like someone about to smash any enemy that came near.

"That's good momentum."

Chen Yu slowly surfaced, aiming at one of the bee balls, the Lesser Arrow Technique ready to be unleashed.

Seja was still warily watching the Stinger Bees flying around, then her attention was drawn to the movement in front of Chen Yu.

She saw a water arrow slowly condense and stretch, like a drawn bowstring, then shoot out with a "whoosh."

"Bang!"

A thunderclap erupted from nowhere.

The bee ball exploded, scattering torn limbs and ichor of the Stinger Bees everywhere. The Beetle inside was blasted several meters away, shakily getting to its feet and standing dazed in place, as if stunned by the blast.

"Ah?"

By the Ancestral Spirits, what was this now?

Not only was Seja bewildered, but even the Stinger Bees and Beetles on the battlefield were stunned by the commotion. Then, they saw a Slime, covered in dark carapace, crawl ashore.

The aura of a warrior threatened the surrounding monsters. Some Beetles even silently retreated in fear, wanting to hide back under the tree.

"Buzz buzz!!"

A roar came from a giant bee hidden in the collapsed hive. All the Stinger Bees instantly abandoned their attack on the Beetles and turned to surround Chen Yu.

"Swamp Stealth!"

Seja, worried he would be attacked, couldn't help but raise her staff to cast a spell.

The Oak Staff flowed with natural light, then dissolved into light spots that merged into Chen Yu's body.

He felt as if swamp water was surging from beneath his feet, lifting him up. With just a thought, he quickly moved away from his original position, escaping the Stinger Bees' encirclement.

"Whoosh--!"

Several stingers shot out from the gel, instantly hitting the Stinger Bees closest to him.

"Take this! Myriad Swords Return to Origin!"

He continued to collect the scattered stingers around him, which were shot out wildly as if they were free.

Dark corpses rained down from the sky; the Stinger Bees suffered heavy losses.

However, his target wasn't these scattered Stinger Bees, but the Queen Bee in the hive!

He relentlessly crawled towards the hive. With the enhancement of "Swamp Stealth," his speed was astonishing. Clearly, this had also terrified the occupant of the hive, who frantically organized the bee swarm to launch suicide attacks.

"I'm coming!"

Seja summoned her courage and appeared. For some reason, she felt an urge to swing the cherished Oak Staff she held.

And in fact, she did just that.

Yes, she swung it like a club.

She knocked down a large patch of Stinger Bees.

This Oak Staff ultimately couldn't maintain its elegance and became a melee weapon.

The moment she saw the swarms of Stinger Bees fall, something seemed to flip a switch within Seja. She felt an immense sense of exhilaration.

It was as if the staff was meant to be used this way.

She didn't even feel as heartbroken seeing the new staff stained with monster ichor.

Did she have the blood of a warrior, like her sister?

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she saw swarms of Stinger Bees lunging at her, so she quickly retreated into the swamp, admitting defeat.

Meanwhile, the bee swarm had been swept away by the club, creating an opportunity for Chen Yu. He had already reached the Carrion Beehive, his Lesser Arrow Technique poised and aimed at it, the threat unmistakable.

"Come out, stop hiding."

The hive remained silent for a few seconds before a Queen Bee with a massive tail was carried out by the Stinger Bees.

Before Chen Yu could even use his Sound Transmission Technique, the Queen Bee tremblingly held a piece of carrion above its head, as if indicating submission.

Huh?

These monsters were smarter than he thought; they could even surrender voluntarily.

Still, it would be a shame to just annihilate them.

It wasn't often he found such diligent workers as the Stinger Bees. If he eliminated them, who would prepare his breakfast in the future?

Besides, with the Stinger Bees guarding the Oak Tree, even wild beasts or demi-humans wouldn't dare approach if they strayed too close. They were truly excellent guards.

He raised his soft, gelatinous form and accepted the carrion consecration, then pressed it onto the Queen Bee's head.

"From now on, I'm the boss, understand?"

The Queen Bee nodded, prostrating itself on the ground, using its limbs to help clean the debris clinging to the gel.

"You, repair the hive."

The Queen Bee paused for a moment, seemingly understanding. It directed the bee swarm to lower their guard and begin collecting the scattered debris from the hive.

Seja climbed ashore.

"Is it over?"

The excitement from the recent monster battle hadn't completely faded from her face.

Looking at the messy clearing, she never imagined that a war between monsters could be so brutal. But thankfully, they had defeated the overlords of this place.

If someone had told her before that a Slime could defeat a swarm of Stinger Bees, even as a follower of Puto, she would have thought they were joking.

But after witnessing it with her own eyes, she accepted it as a matter of course.

Perhaps it was because she had seen so many strange things since arriving here that she had grown accustomed to them.

"There's another neighbor here."

Chen Yu hopped and turned, looking towards the base of the tree.

The Beetles hiding within, sensing his gaze, began to tremble, as if they had seen some great demon king.