Good times never last.
Zhang Yang's little cheating spree didn't continue for long. After three days of farming lifespan, the number of bees suddenly plummeted.
"Are they almost all dead?" Zhang Yang wondered.
"Well then, it's time to finish the task."
Clearly sensing the sharp drop in bee numbers, Zhang Yang flew straight toward the hive.
"Surely no idiot bee is going to attack me now, right?"
Looking at the now-empty surroundings of the hive, Zhang Yang felt extremely pleased. This was the fruit of several days of hard work.
When he reached the top of the hive, he swung both of his large blades. With one sharp stroke, he severed the hive's base.
The half-meter-wide beehive fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
It didn't shatter, but quite a bit of honey spilled out. Along with the honey came more than a dozen larger bees.
Zhang Yang recognized one type—he had killed plenty of them over the past few days: drones.
The even bigger one was clearly the queen.
The queen was furious. In just the last couple of days, almost all the offspring she had nurtured had died. And now her very home had been destroyed. This was absolutely intolerable.
Without needing any command from the queen, the drones guarding her charged straight at Zhang Yang, intent on tearing him apart.
Unfortunately for them, their numbers were simply too few.
If they had come in a massive black cloud, Zhang Yang might have been intimidated. But fewer than twenty? Who were they trying to scare?
No exaggeration—Zhang Yang's blades were razor-sharp. One came, one died. Two came, and he took them both out in a single swing.
With clean, decisive cuts, every drone's body was sliced apart miserably.
Once all the drones were dead, the queen could hold back no longer. She had to defend her home. Without even considering whether she was a match for him, she charged straight at Zhang Yang.
"This Young Master really admires your courageous willingness to die. So, I'll do you the favor and make sure your death is painless."
One swift stroke.
The charging queen had no chance whatsoever. She met the same fate as her drones—sliced clean in two by Zhang Yang's blade.
"Ding, killed Queen Bee. Evolution points +50, Queen Bee Stinger +1."
"Ding, task completed: Destroy beehive. Task reward: Lifespan +5 days."
Queen Bee Stinger?
What's that?
Zhang Yang opened his inventory and saw the item.
It was the stinger from the queen bee's tail—a fairly small needle.
But that wasn't the point. The real point was: so killing monsters could drop items?
Zhang Yang had previously thought that kills only gave evolution points and fragments—and only special, talent-gifted creatures (like that super-strong little ant) could drop anything extra.
Bees clearly didn't have any special abilities.
"System, what does this Queen Bee Stinger do?"
"Ding, please check it yourself, Host."
Huh?
I can just look at it?
Zhang Yang focused on the Queen Bee Stinger.
Queen Bee Stinger: Possesses a certain level of toxicity with a strong paralyzing effect. Can be recycled.
Recyclable?
"How many evolution points can the Queen Bee Stinger be recycled for?"
"Ding, Queen Bee Stinger can be recycled for 500 evolution points. Proceed with recycling?"
Zhang Yang firmly chose "No."
Are you kidding? This thing looked pretty useful. 500 evolution points to take it back? Dream on. No way.
He'd just let it sit in his inventory for now.
With that, the battle to exterminate the beehive was officially over.
Zhang Yang was very satisfied with the results.
Not only had he maxed out his evolution points again, he gained another five days of lifespan. Most importantly—he could finally taste the otherworldly version of honey!
Plenty of honey had spilled out from the bottom of the hive. Just the smell was sweet.
But before Zhang Yang could descend to enjoy it, the ground began to shake with rhythmic tremors.
Even while flying in the air, Zhang Yang could clearly feel it.
Something massive was charging this way.
From the frequency of the vibrations, Zhang Yang could tell it was a heavyweight creature.
The surrounding vegetation was trembling.
Now Zhang Yang didn't dare land. He flew even higher.
A few seconds later, a massive brown figure appeared—a brown bear.
"Holy crap, this guy is even bigger than that little tiger."
Zhang Yang watched as the brown bear barreled straight to the hive. Its sheer size made him envious.
That little tiger had already seemed huge to him, but this brown bear was noticeably larger. Although it had no intention of targeting Zhang Yang, he still felt an overwhelming aura of slaughter.
With Zhang Yang's tiny frame, he wouldn't even be enough to fill the gap between the bear's toes.
"Fine, you're big, you're boss. You eat first. This Young Master will wait."
Proudly perching on a tree branch, Zhang Yang settled in to watch.
The honey was something he had earned. If he didn't at least taste it, wouldn't that be letting himself down?
Besides, he was curious about this brown bear too. Maybe one day it would become an opponent—who knows?
As he watched, Zhang Yang started fantasizing.
If he could evolve into a brown bear someday, wouldn't he be able to pin that little tiger to the ground and rub its face in the dirt?
Just as he was lost in his daydream, the brown bear that had already torn the hive to pieces suddenly stood upright on its hind legs.
The sudden change startled Zhang Yang so much he nearly jumped out of his skin.
What the—? Got too excited eating and felt like reciting poetry?
Poetry was obviously impossible, but a roar certainly came—a deafening one.
Zhang Yang almost wanted to compliment the bear's impressive lung capacity.
But before he could finish marveling, he understood why the bear had stood up.
Danger had arrived.
From the surrounding jungle, countless pairs of green-glowing eyes had appeared at some point.
When Zhang Yang clearly saw who those eyes belonged to, he flew even higher.
These weren't pushovers—they were jungle wolves. Bluish-gray fur, bodies two-and-a-half to three meters long, each one sleek and well-fed.
That gaze, those fangs—pure ferocity.
And right now, their target was clearly the big brown bear.
"Since when do wolves dare to gang up on a brown bear?"
Okay, Zhang Yang admitted he was a bit ignorant. Wolves are savage creatures. Once they form a pack, there's almost nothing they won't attack.
The brown bear was undoubtedly the strongest individual, but the wolves had numbers—and they weren't small either. If surrounded, the bear was in serious trouble.
Zhang Yang perched on the tree, thoroughly enjoying the show.
He had originally thought the two sides would at least posture and roar at each other for a while before fighting.
But no—the wolf pack was ruthless. They charged straight in without giving the bear any chance to show off or roar.
"So dumb. Bite the legs first! Why are you jumping at it?"
The spectator Zhang Yang immediately appointed himself as the special guest commentator—without asking either side if they agreed.
He watched two jungle wolves leap through the air and instantly gave them both a thumbs-down.
"See? I told you not to jump."
The two airborne wolves each received special "care" from the brown bear.
A massive bear paw didn't hold back at all—it delivered a harsh lesson to the two wolves.
They had to learn: not everything can be tackled head-on. Women, sure—but brown bears too.
The bear paw was merciless.
It sent both wolves flying mid-leap.
But the bear's wide swing left it open. The other wolves seized the chance and closed in. Two of them managed to sink their teeth into the bear's body.
The brown bear didn't dare stay. It turned and bolted, crashing through everything in its path.
It had to break out of the wolf encirclement—otherwise the ending would be anything but pretty.
"It just ran away?"
Zhang Yang was stunned. He hadn't seen enough yet!
Just as he was about to chase after them for a better view, his body suddenly froze—as if hit by a immobilization spell.
His gaze was locked on one of the wolves that had been swatted flying by the bear.