Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

These words have stuck in my head long after that day.

After the first few creatures seemingly designed to kill me, the Bee Empire hasn't been a target for attacks—just another player in an extremely competitive field of rapidly evolving insects and germs.

But I felt like it'd be a mistake to think that we won't ever become specific targets again. Our enemies were just biding their time and gathering strength. Often while parasitizing on humans.

This was why, on the next Empire Council, not only I've given more resources to building mechas and training mecha pilots, but also on developing more advanced firearms like revolvers and back-loaded rifles and shotguns for bees.

Not against humans, but against smaller beasts.

Our gun development was already past smooth-barreled muskets, but at the moment, making something more advanced required too much effort per gun to arm an army.

However, Engine-See's advancements in creation and operation of large manufactures were going to speed production immensely in this field and many others!

"We've already had conveyor belts and simple machinery in furniture, cloth, paper and other types of factories, Father, but addition of large machinery will let us work with way more materials at once, yes-yes!" Things-Things said excitedly. "Some of the smaller iron-arms that I've got blueprints for can lift entire trees with ease! Or massive blocks of living stone! Or trucks worth of coal!"

"And the mecha project was a good place to test my improved floor plan for manufactures. The next ones will be even better, of course," Workharder added smugly.

Those were all great news, but they weren't all that I got to hear. The development of radio was being slowed down by research complications—the thing was not, in fact, as simple as it seemed. And the telegraph was not much better.

"We can send messages over a copper cable, but to be used outside of hives, those need good protection. The fabric we used for this is not enough. Field tests show that they get soaked, and the wetness compromises the messages that we send," Researchina explained. "Fabric isn't the best material for protecting cables in general. Father, we must put people and resources into researching something better, or we won't be able to develop our electric technologies further."

After hearing this, I could only shake my head sadly.

Because Researchina was absolutely right, but I saw no quick solutions to this problem!

Natural rubber was produced from a sap of a specific tree that grew (in *my* world!) in Amazon rainforests. It could exist in this world, but it could not produce the rubber sap.

If it existed here, I saw no signs that the rubber tree was native to the Bee Empire or its surroundings. Nobody here, even people from the Vardish Empire, was using rubber.

This meant that our only other option was synthetic rubber. It existed and was widely used, but I had no idea how it was made and from what.

I never ever in my life thought to wonder about it, and now I deeply regretted it!

However, not all was lost—I remembered something else, and it made me cheer up again.

"Researchina, I know of a material that will be immensely helpful for cable isolation, and actually in many other things. Sadly, I have no idea how to make it… But I know of something else that I *know* at least from *what* to make."

"But it's not simple. If it was simple, then since it was relevant, you'd mention it earlier, Father…" Researchina muttered.

"That's right. It's made from oil—not the usual oil but *crude* oil. It must be dug from underground, though it seeps aboveground sometimes. But…" I shook my head. "I don't know if there is much of it anywhere. Humans don't know what to do with it except setting it on fire."

"Fire? Like coal?" Workharder asked, now sounding much more curious.

"Yes. It's a great fuel that can serve us in combustion engines better than ethanol. And also a lot of incredible materials can be made from it—starting with plastic that can isolate electric cables. But making plastic requires advanced chemical procedures that I don't know."

At the words "advanced chemical procedures" Researchina's expression became more and more eager with each word that left my mouth, while everybody else in the room became equally more bored.

"Oh, does this mean we have to build a hundred more laboratories for Researchina to blow up?" Workharder asked.

"Hey, they didn't blow up, no-no! Some burned, but it's different, sister!" Things-Things protested. "We must sacrifice materials and work for progress, anyway. It's for the Empire!"

Researchina sent them both a narrow-eyed look.

"It's logical. No materials and no work equals no research being done." She turned to me again. "But I can't start research without discovering the crude oil first. Whenever this happens, we can revisit this. I hope our scouts discover it quickly, because I'd like to start as soon as possible."

"I hope you can make radio in the meantime, at least. It doesn't need rubber or plastic, right? I hope it doesn't. Since the telegraph is put on hold for now, as well as other things, you can focus on that," I told her.

As for the discovery of crude oil, although I gave orders to look out for it, there was no saying if we will find it nearby at all.

There was nothing worse than to spawn on the other side of the world from a vital resource, but this absolutely could happen to us.

But at least, the war in Eastern Expanse Reach was going well for us and badly for the Vardish Empire. After taking Castle Soneraht, our forces had almost full control of the entire region, which they used to take several important, but badly defended, locations.

Now they were on their way to the coast. If they took the main harbor where the Vardish ships moored, they will be able to block any future reinforcements from reaching this continent—and the Eastern Empire Reach will become truly ours!