Chapter 60

Chapter 60

The scorching sun blazed like fire, its intense rays blocked by the lush canopy of towering trees, yet unable to prevent the steam from rising from the forest's moisture.

Shen Yi and Xi Ye, accompanied by their followers, rode on A Fu's private transport, flying straight toward the beehive.

Along the way, Shen Yi curiously pressed the little ones for details about the players' town construction. The little bees chirped excitedly, crowding around to report that the players had built a brilliantly lit town that reflected rainbow-colored light under the sun—exceptionally beautiful. They mentioned that they, too, could eventually build their hive in such a manner.

They also said the players were increasingly fond of using Crystal Stone Plums, eagerly exchanging Phantom Insect Elixir at the Experience Shop without needing any guidance.

Number Six could now cultivate large patches of stone plums, and it seemed only a matter of time before she replaced the elves as the primary cultivator for their swarm.

Xi Ye stood quietly behind him, listening.

Shen Yi’s antennae, half-hidden in his hair, swayed cheerfully. His fingers unconsciously fiddled with the fur on his belly, giving off the vibe of someone returning home in glory with their family. He felt both anticipation and the smug certainty that he would astonish the fellow players with his grand entrance.

A Fu was swift. As they entered the territory, Shen Yi suddenly sniffed the air. "What’s that smell?"

Xi Ye also caught a faint whiff of something burnt and acrid. Frowning, he instructed A Fu to ascend higher. In the distance, amid the lush green forest, thin trails of white smoke rose. The smoke drifted leisurely in the wind, creating an illusion of rustic tranquility.

Little Seven exclaimed in surprise, "That’s where the hive is! The crystal town the players built is right there."

—What?

Shen Yi’s smiling eyes widened abruptly, an ominous guess forming in his mind.

The next moment, the system’s notification shattered any remaining hope.

"Forest fire detected. Current spread rate: 0.5 km/h to 1 km/h. Based on wind direction, vegetation coverage, and available firefighting measures, there is a 97% probability the fire will engulf the entire forest."

The disaster Shen Yi had long feared had finally arrived. Without even time to consider the consequences, he immediately ordered the system to issue a forest firefighting quest to the players.

He then instructed the little bees to retreat into the Queen Bee’s Nest. A Fu abandoned its leisurely sightseeing pace and teleported directly near the hive.

By then, the flames had already spread across the entire hive territory. The players were in a panic, screaming as they organized those with water and earth attributes to try and extinguish the fire.

Player A: "What the hell? How did this happen? How did it catch fire? Aren’t there no fire skills?"

Player B: "Dammit! It’s those crystals! Aaaaaah!"

Player C: "Does this game have to be so realistic? My house! I was just about to finish the roof!"

Player D: "Is this part of the storyline? Are we in a cutscene, or is the game preventing us from building a city?"

…

In Shen Yi’s mind, he had always imagined a forest fire starting quietly in some unnoticed corner, gradually building momentum until it was too late to control by the time it was discovered.

But reality was different.

Shen Yi watched as the flames surged with the wind, devouring everything in their path. The interconnected tree canopies, once a shelter, now acted as bridges fueling the fire. The crystal treehouses embedded among the trunks, resembling fairy-tale castles glittering with starlight, were swallowed by the inferno.

The leaping, roaring flames didn’t spread slowly—they raced like a starved beast, consuming everything around them in an instant.

The blistering heat waves were even more terrifying than the flames themselves. Under the fire’s glow, the players seemed minuscule. Unable to even approach the fire, they had to fly with all their might to escape being caught.

Countless players were swept into the flames by the heat. But the resurrection point was precisely in the hive at the heart of the fire. They could only watch helplessly as their stored Resurrection Puppets were consumed, reviving them repeatedly in the blaze, cursing in frustration with each death until their puppets were entirely depleted.

Shen Yi ordered the system to temporarily move the resurrection point to A Fu. At the same time, he extended his psychic energy, forming countless tendrils to pull any visible players out of the fire.

Players who thought they were doomed suddenly found themselves safe on the green blanket, collapsing weakly. Once they recovered, they screamed in relief at their narrow escape.

[Thousand Miles a Day]: "Aaaaah! I had 12 Substitute Puppets saved up, and that was the last one! I guess it just wasn’t my time to die."

[Piao Xue]: "Aaaaaah, Your Majesty! From now on, you’re my god! Wuwuwu... Huh?"

Piao Xue jumped up in shock, staring incredulously at the exquisitely fair and delicate young boy before her. If not for the title [Queen Bee] displayed above his head, who would believe this was their majesty?

The other players also noticed the emperor’s new appearance. Forgetting the peril they had just faced, they crowded around, chattering excitedly.

[Pure Love Warrior]: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what happened to you?"

[Piao Xue]: "Where’s Your Majesty’s little crown?"

[Chen Zhuqi]: "Is this a new look? Will the game release new skins in the future?"

…

Just as the players were discussing animatedly, a chilling aura swept through them, evoking an uncontrollable sense of fear and reverence. Silence fell instantly on A Fu’s back.

Shen Yi didn’t turn around, but his stern, cold voice echoed in every player’s mind.

"If the fire destroys the forest, we will have nowhere to go. Those of you with abilities, go fight the fire. Those who can’t help, stay quiet, tend to the wounded, and don’t cause trouble."

To prevent players from harassing him, Shen Yi used his psychic energy to create a barrier between them.

The players, jolted back to reality by the emperor’s severe tone, refocused on the blazing forest.

Due to the game’s high realism, many players had gradually stopped seeing the forest as just a game.

The town they had built from scratch had vanished in the blink of an eye, consumed by the flames. Only then did the players belatedly realize what this fire meant.

Birds and beasts throughout the forest panicked. Countless familiar ordinary animals or fantastical spirit beasts fled madly from the flames, those too slow swallowed by the fire.

Amid the chaos, a passing peregrine falcon flew calmly by, a gray snake as thick as three fingers dangling from its talons, leaving the fleeing creatures far behind.

Cries of agony and roars of fury were drowned out by the crackling flames and the crash of falling trees.

The fire spread further. The players’ skills were now useless against the raging inferno. Shen Yi led the survivors back several kilometers, watching helplessly as the boundless green sea was gradually overtaken by leaping flames.

In the face of such a disaster, individual strength seemed insignificant.

Even with their ability to summon wind and rain, they were powerless.

Shen Yi stared blankly, murmuring, "Perhaps I was wrong from the start. I shouldn’t have forbidden players from activating fire attribute Talents."

Sometimes destruction and protection go hand in hand.

Allowing players to activate fire attributes might carry the risk of arson, but it also meant they could gain the ability to control fire—perhaps even control the blaze.

Shen Yi suddenly realized that suppression might backfire. Sometimes, doing nothing is the best course of action.

As he pondered, the little bees, with their leader’s permission, emerged from the Queen Bee’s Nest. Shocked by the unprecedented scale of the fire, they retreated a few steps but soon adapted, gazing worriedly at the endless flames.

Second Sister: "How long will this fire burn? The hive is gone—what do we do now?"

The hive, along with the worker bees that sustained it, had perished in the fire. The swarm’s prosperity index plummeted to rock bottom.

Fortunately, the Queen Bee’s Nest wouldn’t downgrade after being upgraded, but it would take a long time to rebuild the prosperity for the next level.

Shen Yi instinctively glanced at Xi Ye, only to unexpectedly find him pale, staring blankly into the flames as if trapped in a nightmare. He reached out and grabbed Xi Ye’s hand at his side, his fingers firmly and unyieldingly slipping into Xi Ye’s tightly clenched palm.

"You okay?" Shen Yi leaned in closer. "Scared of the fire?"

Xi Ye tightened his grip, enveloping Shen Yi’s hand firmly.

He averted his gaze, looking down at the ground, his expression unreadable. Just as Shen Yi thought he wouldn’t speak, he finally did.

His eyes remained lowered, not meeting Shen Yi’s gaze.

"The day I was born, a great fire also swept through the Flower Spirit Valley," Xi Ye said with a faint smile, not sounding particularly upset, as if merely recounting an insignificant event. "Most of the valley was burned to the ground, waking the legendary spirits from their slumber. It took their combined efforts to extinguish the flames."

In an instant, Shen Yi connected the dots from the subtle clues Xi Ye had revealed during their long time together.

Leaving the safe and spiritually rich Flower Spirit Valley, risking harm to his life-flower, just to live alone in this remote forest.

His aversion to any flowers that aren't green, his dislike of the noisy chirping of insects, not allowing a single flower to bloom or a single insect to remain in his territory.

And his earlier explanation of his name—Xi as in "attack," Ye as in "wilderness."

……

All of it led Shen Yi to imagine a pitiful picture: a rare green flower born just before the great fire, labeled a jinx by the other flower spirits in the valley, subjected to bullying, until he could bear it no longer and ran away from home.

He moved closer to Xi Ye, wrapping his arms around him, ready with open arms and comforting words: "And then? Did they say you brought the fire?"

Xi Ye nodded. Shen Yi frowned, tugging at his hand to make him look over. "And you believed them?"

"No," Xi Ye shot him a look as if to say, "What are you talking about?" "I don’t know if I brought the fire, but I did nothing wrong. Even if it was because of me, it wasn’t my fault. I ignored them."

"Exactly, that’s the way to go!"

Shen Yi excitedly flew up and patted Xi Ye’s shoulder vigorously, both relieved and sharing a sense of righteous indignation. "They were gaslighting you. If you’d engaged with them, you’d have fallen into the self-defense trap. The burden of proof lies with the accuser."

He always knew Xi Ye wasn’t the type to be manipulated by others.

The pitiful image he’d just imagined shattered into pieces. Shen Yi couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Then why did you leave the Flower Spirit Valley later?"

"They wouldn't stop chirping and threw insects at my flower buds. It annoyed me—every single day. I found them irritating just by the sight of them," Xi Ye said, furrowing his brows as if even the memory was bothersome. "Since staying there was annoying, I decided to find a place where I could be happy. Just then, a Magical Torreya seed passed through the valley, so I left."

Shen Yi was momentarily at a loss for words. Truly a stubborn, free-spirited kid at heart.

He patted Xi Ye’s shoulder repeatedly, praising him: "At such a young age, you already knew not to internalize negativity. That’s really impressive, absolutely amazing. But—" he changed his tone, "wasn’t running away from home so recklessly too risky? What if something had happened? Maybe you should have gotten stronger on the down-low, and when you were strong enough to take them on, beaten them one by one until they submitted…"

Xi Ye paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Okay."

"Next time I get the chance, I’ll try that."

"But if I hadn’t left the Spirit Valley, I wouldn’t have met you. I might still be stuck at two stars."

"Eh? You’re right about that," Shen Yi mused, following Xi Ye’s train of thought, but then offered a different perspective. "But not necessarily. If you hadn’t left the Spirit Valley, you would’ve surely reached four stars through other opportunities. And if you hadn’t come to the Firefly Forest, I would’ve eventually led the players to clear the Spirit Valley map. We might have met in another way."

Shen Yi said, "Ah, never mind. What matters is that we’ve met now. Guess it was meant to be."

Finally, he leaned into Xi Ye’s embrace, leaning close to his ear to whisper: "So, what were you afraid of earlier?"

He felt Xi Ye, who was holding him, suddenly freeze. After a long while, Xi Ye looked at him and said something entirely unrelated: "The hive was something you worked hard to build. Now it’s destroyed by the fire. Will you be sad? Will you be angry?"

Fortunately, Shen Yi miraculously got on Xi Ye’s wavelength at this moment—otherwise, who could have detected the hundreds of layers of hidden anxiety wrapped beneath his calm exterior?

After all, Xi Ye still believed the wildfire was related to him and feared that Shen Yi would blame him once he found out.

Understanding Xi Ye’s thoughts, Shen Yi suddenly asked, "Are there also many Crystal Stone Plums in the Elf Valley? Did the Flower Elves like to use them to decorate the valley?"

Xi Ye nodded. "These seeds were brought from the Elf Valley."

Well, it all came down to the Flower Elves in the valley being a bunch of illiterate flower-folk.

Shen Yi opened the forum, where the top post was players speculating about the cause of the fire: high heat generated by crystal focus had triggered the blaze.

Shen Yi shared the post with Xi Ye, muttering, "Learn your math and science, and you can go anywhere without fear. I’ll post a quest for the players later to help you catch up on science and explore the mysteries of nature."

"When we go to the Elf Valley someday, you can laugh at them for being illiterate."

Xi Ye had once again discovered a whole new world.

The faint layer of dust that had settled over his past—something he never paid much mind to but that had always been there—was gently brushed away by Shen Yi today, leaving everything clear and bright.

Suddenly, Xi Ye raised his hand, and a mass of emerald liquid emerged in his palm—Elf blood, something Shen Yi knew all too well. Shocked, he exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"

They were having a perfectly good conversation—why was he suddenly shedding blood?

Xi Ye smiled and tapped Shen Yi’s head. "Your crown is gone."

"Ah," Shen Yi belatedly touched his empty head, then glanced into the Queen Bee’s nest. His shed eggshell didn’t contain his little crown. "Did it disappear along with my Evolution?"

"Probably dissolved into spiritual energy, fueling your Evolution process."

Shen Yi grabbed his own antennae, distressed—he had adored his little crown.

While they spoke, a crown, now larger than before, took shape in Xi Ye’s hand. Intertwining branches grew into a crown shape, dotted with clusters of pale green flowers—just like those on Xi Ye’s head—where the branches met.

Delicate, mystical patterns gave it a profound natural aura, likely because Xi Ye had reached four stars. The crown, formed from his blood essence, was now even more exquisite and mysterious than before.

He placed the new crown on Shen Yi’s head, adjusted its angle, and tidied Shen Yi’s hair. Golden strands intertwined with green vines, creating an unexpectedly harmonious look.

"Host receives the Flower Elf’s blessing. Self-healing ability increased by 15%."

After Xi Ye’s star upgrade, the crown’s bonus effect had also increased by 5%. Delighted, Shen Yi smiled with crinkled eyes and rubbed his antennae against Xi Ye’s neck out of habit. "And my little bud-pouch!"

Even though he had the Queen Bee’s nest now, he still loved his little flower bud.

So Xi Ye plucked another flower bud, adjusted it to the right size, and tied it to Shen Yi’s waist using a Thousand-Thread Vine.

The Bee King’s gear was all set again.

>>

The forest fire not only sounded the alarm for players in the game but also spread to Earth’s internet after related videos were shared by official fire safety accounts as educational content, urging everyone to pay attention to the importance of forest fire prevention. It quickly went viral as major influencers reposted it, sparking a nationwide fire safety campaign.

"Bug World" once again caught public attention, though most people couldn’t even find the game’s official website, let alone secure a spot in the game. They could only follow veteran players online, searching for videos to live vicariously as cloud players.

The fire burned for three days. Perhaps the world truly has a spirit—on the evening of the third day, a sudden downpour arrived and didn’t let up until the mountain fire was completely extinguished.

The wildfire had mainly affected the southwest corner of their territory, including the small valley. The surrounding forest had been scorched by flames, and everywhere you looked, it was a mess.

The once lush green forest was now reduced to blackened scorched earth, sharply separated from the surviving vegetation.

From destruction often comes rebirth.

After the rain stopped, Shen Yi issued new quests.

"Preventing forest fires is every bee's duty. We hope players learn their lesson and think carefully before they act."

"Rebuilding the Forest—The fire shows no mercy, but bees have heart. The forest is the home we rely on for survival. Please help restore the forest to its former vitality and rectify past mistakes."

For this forest reconstruction quest, Shen Yi introduced a new redemption system—NPC Favor Exchange Points.

Unlike previous favorability systems, these NPC Favor Exchange Points are simply a new type of currency. Earning these points does not necessarily increase an NPC's actual favorability.

At the same time, a Favor Shop was added. Shen Yi added [Starlight Points] to the shop, and he actually plans to add [Evolution Points] there in the future as well.

Shen Yi's evolution path is also the players' evolution path. Once players meet the level 30 requirement, unlocking their second form ultimately rests on Shen Yi's whim.

But since this is a game, it shouldn’t be given away too easily. So Shen Yi came up with the idea of introducing [Evolution Points]. Similar to [Starlight Points], players can unlock their second form on their own after reaching level 30 and claiming their [Evolution Points].

Rebuilding the forest is not a mandatory task, but Shen Yi naturally prefers players who voluntarily contribute to the reconstruction. It’s only fair that hardworking players receive some luck in return.

So, with mischievous glee, he plans to add [Evolution Points] to the Favor Shop later.

By the time players who didn’t participate in the task realize it, it’ll be too late for regrets—they’ll have to wait for the next opportunity to earn Favor Exchange Points.

But that’s a story for another time.

The inclusion of [Starlight Points] in the shop means players no longer need to grind favorability with the elders to unlock skill quests—they can simply exchange for them in the Favor Shop.

This, to some extent, alleviates the pressure on Number Two and the others.

Shen Yi is already planning to gradually let players manage players, taking the load off his followers.

At the same time, Shen Yi unlocked the entire map of the Firefly Forest. Some veteran players who have already activated their talents showed little interest in the tedious forest rebuilding quests and began exploring the new map.

But most players, especially those who participated in settlement building, joined the forest reconstruction with feelings of guilt and atonement.

If they hadn’t been careless and overlooked the hazard of the crystal focusing direct sunlight, this fire would never have happened. After playing for so long, they should have known how realistic this game is.

Shen Yi had long planned to build a beginner village centered around the valley. Now, this fire effectively moved up his timeline.

He temporarily locked the small valley on the map and, along with his followers, began planning the layout of the beginner village.

Shen Yi directed, while Xi Ye and Number Six were responsible for accelerating plant growth. The remaining metal-attributed followers had no choice but to follow behind them, trailing golden glows and serving as the atmosphere group.

Several bumblebees even began to regret not choosing the Wood Element back then.

Xi Ye flitted gracefully through the valley. Wherever he passed, the soil burst open, and grass shoots rapidly swelled and grew wildly. The wildfire had burned away the surface vegetation, but some grass seeds hidden beneath the soil survived.

Even without Xi Ye’s acceleration, they would eventually break through the soil and thrive, nourished by the ashes of the fire.

In addition, they planted many Spirit-Absorbing Grasses found earlier in the Moon Spirit Butterfly’s cave, which have the effect of gathering spiritual energy.

Number Six was busy promoting the growth of all kinds of brightly colored flowers in the valley.

Finally, Xi Ye took out a lantern flower seed and planted it at the base of the cliff. In the blink of an eye, vines grew and climbed along the rock face, slowly producing clusters of fiery red "little lanterns" dangling among the leaves, swaying gently in the wind.

This lantern flower is a Tier 2 spirit plant. Its flowers contain small spaces that can fully serve as hives—they only need to build honeycombs inside to raise larvae.

This saves the trouble of constructing external shells and looks more beautiful, full of fantastical, exotic flair.

The first batch of larvae needed to be nurtured personally by Number Two and the others. Once this group matures into adult bees, the hive can gradually operate independently as before.

With the players’ efforts, the forest slowly began to take on its former shape amidst the ashes. Even the wood and earth attribute players, who were working hard to channel their spiritual energy, found their control becoming more and more effortless.

No effort is ever wasted. Fate rewards you in ways you might not notice, taking effect when you least expect it.

Ting Yu finally completed her last daily task.

"Congratulations, player! Your Scouting Proficiency has reached 100/100. You have earned the title: Scouting Master."

"As a member of the hive, nesting, nurturing, animal husbandry, and scouting are essential skills for every bumblebee. Congratulations on collecting the (Nesting, Nurturing, Gathering, Animal Husbandry, Scouting) Master titles. You have earned the title: Five-Virtue Bumblebee."

"Player has obtained the Five-Virtue Bumblebee title and activated the Queen Bee Trial Quest. Please accept the Queen Bee’s challenge."

"Queen Bee Trial One: Find a suitable nesting site."