Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

…Because with how stealthy the metal-eaters were, it wasn't shocking that they easily got past all border patrols! They could even travel underground.

The only thing that prevented them from spreading too wide, I realized, was their land speed.

I saw it clearly when the metal-eater released into a forest clearing began slowly crawling away from me and the small team that came to observe and test my new method of searching.

If I wanted to, I could catch up with the metal-eater at a relaxed walking pace. And it wasn't just because of its wounds or exhaustion! It just had a very low agility.

This made me wonder how long was the life cycle of the Spotted Mountainboring Beetle, and how dangerous the adult beetles were compared to larva. With how radical metamorphoses of insects could be, there was no way to tell.

However, I suspected that the metal-eaters used the beetle stage to travel quickly over long distances and lay eggs from which would hatch the larvae.

Meanwhile, the larva we watched began digging through the ground. Its short limbs were surprisingly swift with this, and the creature used its saliva to soften the ground before burrowing.

Within a minute, only its short tail was visible aboveground. Since I never turned my eyes away from the larva all this time, I had no trouble seeing it. Neither had the rest of the bees present.

Those bees consisted of my bodyguards, a couple Physicians (not Tabletina, because she reluctantly said that she had other duties to deal with), and a squad of Commando Beehounds led by Beehound Muchlook.

Muchlook's team wasn't just any team—they were certified instructors, which meant that they were going to teach other future Commandos (and not only in Hive Supremo, but in sub-hives too!) how to be a Commando.

More importantly, they were also Beehounds with "Telepathy V" each, because they were older than "Telepathy X" on Beehounds.

All of Muchlook's girls had a lot of experience in the field, and even now it was visible. They kept their eyes on the metal-eater while their antennae were twitching and catching even the weakest scents on the wind.

This area of the Bee Empire was deep within our borders and very safe. Even wild dragons stayed away from this place for the most part, because the attack squads of bees would raid the nests of dragons dangerous to them and attack them in their sleep.

Still, Muchlook and her team acted like they could be attacked at any moment. Same as my bodyguards.

So my next order went against their instincts.

"Look away from the larva, girls," I ordered. "Let it hide properly. You too, Destroyer. Not you, Physicians."

With visible reluctance, Muchlook turned away. Her Commandos followed. Destroyer had even more reluctance, but perhaps seeing that there was someone else staring at the larva, she looked to the side too. Her subordinates were the last one to do the same.

Soon, the larva fully hid underground. I grinned and clapped my hand.

"Now you will search for it! But not with your antennae or eyes. Not even with your ears… Although it's probably possible to detect the metal-eaters by their burrowing vibrations." I hummed thoughtfully. "No, they have distinct thoughts. I've described them to you already on the way here…"

Muchlook nodded and made a vague gesture near her head.

I looked at her with a slight frown of confusion.

"You said it, Father. Thoughts that are like quiet buzzing. They are easy to hear, but if I didn't know, I would think they are something stupid and unimportant."

I nodded.

The "white noise" that I felt when I first tried to get into the creature's thoughts never stopped or changed. I even tried to touch the metal-eater to peer into its deeper thoughts, but it just made the noise louder.

Whatever was the reason for it, all other bees present heard it the same way.

Usually, it was almost impossible to locate a creature based on its thoughts alone. They weren't audible like sounds—they were just *there*.

However, Muchlook and her girls could only hear thoughts at a distance of up to 10 meters. This meant that they could just triangulate the creature's position using the limited range of their thoughts!

"Stand in a triangular formation!" I ordered, waving my hands. "Make sure that the thought-buzzing you hear is in the center of this formation!"

The bees moved swiftly. They understood my idea quickly, although it was very new to them—my girls were smart like that!

Soon, Muchlook's Commandos spread around the area, trying to hear buzzing of any other metal-eaters. But three bee—one of them being Muchlook herself—stayed only a few meters from the larva's burrow.

As the larva was traveling underground, these three bees were slowly walking over the ground above it. They were constantly keeping it in the range of their thought-hearing.

The sight was strange, but it brought a smile to my face.

"Great job, girls! This is a massive win for us. I can already tell that the thought-buzzing is something these creatures share. They can hide their presence, but I bet that it's their 'Empathic Hiding' that makes the thoughts of metal-eaters sound so distinct. You will find the rest of them easily with telepathy! Then just dig them out—they are weak and slow."

"Does this mean we can dig out this one?" Muchlook asked, pointing at the ground below her.

"Father, you are already so sure that all metal-eaters have these strange thoughts?" Destroyer asked me with a frown. "This isn't cautious. What if you are wrong? I mean—I didn't want to—"

I shook my head, and my smile went away.

"Yes. I know, Destroyer," I said with absolute certainty. "The larva ones, at least."

Destroyer blinked, but then nodded. She believed me even without asking extra questions… so I told her, anyway.

"While we were watching for the larva to hide, I reached out for thoughts of creatures within my own telepathic range. And what I found there…"