Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 166 Azure-Patterned Bee Swarm
Louis's fingers lightly traced the surface of the notebook, his gaze then quickly scanning line after line of resource information.

What truly caught his eye was a line of words specially circled in red pen.

The Azure-striped Bee colony, found in the secluded valley of Nanlin, produces honey annually.

Its honey has a slight stimulating effect on the concentration of fighting spirit. Although the effect is not strong, long-term consumption can stabilize the flow of fighting spirit in the body, making it suitable for knights to consume daily during training.

He blinked, and the next moment an uncontrollable smile appeared on his lips.

"This is really a good thing."

The cultivation of the Dou Qi system is most afraid of two words: instability.

Those with poor aptitude will be easily defeated; even those with high aptitude may suffer from qi deviation.

However, if there were a kind of Qi supplement that could slowly nourish and stabilize one's breathing, even if the effect was slight, it could accumulate over time and work silently.

This kind of thing can fetch an astronomical price on the market!
“Naturally, we can’t just make a move easily,” Louis murmured. “This kind of resource… must be completely under our control.”

The image of the soon-to-be-ripened Frostblood Redberry orchard in Red Tide quickly flashed into his mind.

The orchard located on the edge of the hot spring's residual heat zone is now quietly revealing its first batch of deep red fruits.

Frosty Redberry.

An extremely rare mutated berry, born in a borderland environment where extreme cold and magic coexist.

Its flesh is deep red like blood, and the concentration of magic it contains far exceeds that of ordinary spiritual fruits. This magic has an effect on the cultivation of bloodline knights that is almost like a "catalyst".

It can not only directly enhance the strength of battle aura, but also help break through bottlenecks, compressing a stage that originally required several years to complete into a few months.

If it could be extracted and blended together with mild and blended honey, it would be even better.

An image of a bottle of golden-yellow, slightly reddish-brown fighting spirit tonic instantly flashed into his mind.

The perfect knight growth potion!

“Azure honey…paired with frostblood berries…” Louis murmured.

With swift fingertips, two striking red lines were drawn on the notebook paper, encircling and connecting the two points.

This is a sustainable and scalable industrial chain.

It is also a core project that can change the future combat power structure.

A war preparation workshop belonging to the Red Tide, truly "raising knights".

"A core industry that can improve the efficiency of knights' growth... has thus taken shape."

It's not just about the money.

Rather, it's for the victory in the next battle.

A crisis is looming, and the Red Tide Territory needs more powerful young knights for the future.

And I have to prepare the best supplements for them.

Louis spent some time listing all the available resources in his notebook.

By the time I closed my notebook, the cold dawn was already breaking on the horizon.

"Resources are not afraid of being diverse, but they are afraid of being ignored."

He rubbed his slightly sore neck and yawned.

They are preparing to put on a good show of "the lord personally surveying resources and diligently governing the people".

Then he actually led his men and spent two whole days pretending to circle around the Fir Territory twice to confirm the location of the resources.

It wasn't until the morning of the third day that Louis finally produced the distribution map he had drawn himself.

A parchment scroll was spread out on the conference table. Pointing to areas marked with colored pens, the order was given crisply and decisively:

"The cold-berry bushes are harvested in batches and made into jam. Small jam-making workshops are set up so that the jam can be stored even in winter. The jam has a sweet and sour taste and is very suitable for sale to nobles."

After processing, it can be sold externally, labeled 'Snow Ridge Original Fruit,' and it's guaranteed to fetch a good price.

"Select healthy wild plum seeds and transplant them to 30 acres on the southeastern hillside for trial planting. This plant has shallow roots and strong adaptability, making it ideal for expanding the orchard."

Frozen scaled fish are caught in a unified manner once every ten days. A portion is frozen, and the rest is sent to the Red Tide Territory for pickling and air-drying.

A small processing point could be built along the nearby river, allowing local residents to earn some hard-earned money by exchanging work hours.

Needless to say, ballast and red-striped fir can be used to build roads and walls, as well as to make arrows and chariots.

First, have people mark out the mineral veins and forest areas, then cut down and mine them in batches, and transport the timber to various territories.

With each item mentioned, the mayor's eyes lit up a little more.

After Louis finished explaining all the arrangements, the entire conference table fell silent for a few moments.

Then the mayor let out a heavy sigh.

"My lord, this is no ordinary arrangement; it's creating an entire industry chain for Hanshan Territory!"

There was a kind of excitement in his eyes, like rain after a long drought: "I originally thought that our little place could only produce some wood and dig some stones, and even our food had to be supplied by the Red Tide Territory... I never imagined that it had so much potential!"

As he spoke, he gazed wistfully at Louis's figure.

This young boy, who was not very old, only circled the Fir Tree Territory twice, and it was as if he could see through the earth's veins, understanding and clearly distinguishing all the resources of the entire territory.

"No wonder she's the princess of Xuefeng County..." The town mayor felt a surge of admiration.

This is not the kind of nobleman who just sits in a chair and issues orders; this is a lord who truly understands how to turn a piece of land into a foundation and the people into a source of power.

Everyone readily accepted the orders, and every resource marked on the map was explained in detail, with all tasks assigned in an orderly manner.

The mayor and several executive officers nodded repeatedly, then left the hall with their notes and blueprints, ready to get down to work on the intense preparations.

However, just as everyone got up to say goodbye, their gazes couldn't help but fall on the area that Louis hadn't mentioned at the end.

That's the valley area at the very bottom of the map, near the southern forest line, marked with a line drawn in dark red ink.

Louis noticed this and smiled. "I'll handle this myself." ...

The shadows of the trees sway gently, and vines entwine the branches.

The moment the group stepped into the secluded valley of Nanlin, the air was filled with an unusual damp chill and oppressive atmosphere.

This place is shrouded in cold mist all year round, making it difficult for sunlight to shine directly. The ground is covered with decaying leaves, and the dense forest is like a net, resembling some kind of ancient, sleeping behemoth.

Louis walked at the head of the group, wearing a thick cloak, his gaze slowly sweeping across the woods.

The dozen or so people accompanying him were all carefully selected from the Crimson Tide Territory, possessing combat strength of at least formal knight level.

Protected by his fighting spirit, he would remain unharmed even if attacked by bees.

However, they did not come here to fight.

They came to invite the bees home.

"We've arrived," Lambert whispered a reminder.

Suddenly, the bushes in front of them broke into a gap, and an incongruous dark gold color swayed slowly within it.

That wasn't sunlight, it was a swarm of bees.

Thousands upon thousands of "blue-striped bees," with wingspans no more than a thumb, are dark blue all over with blue stripes on their wings. They live densely in a huge beehive on one side of the forest wall, like a tapestry.

They wriggle and flutter silently, yet exude an indescribable sense of oppression.

“It’s truly magnificent,” a knight murmured, but dared not approach any closer.

“Don’t underestimate them.” Louis narrowed his eyes. “If the swarm of blue-striped bees senses a threat, it will immediately send out a self-destruct signal. Even if it means destroying the nest, they will all kill the intruder.”

Lambert smiled wryly: "Sir, this thing can't be moved; there's no way to forcibly relocate it."

Louis chuckled softly, but remained calm.

He bent down and took out a small bottle of pale blue medicine from the wooden box he carried with him. As soon as he opened the bottle, a faint chill spread out.

The medicinal liquid is mixed with the dew of frost-leaf vine, the powder of frost-covered orchid, and the essential oil of night-blooming jasmine.

It was a wonderful taste.

Like the fragrance of flowers on a snowy night, or the sap of grass in frost, it carries a sense of tranquility that penetrates to the bone.

“This is…?” Lambert was stunned.

“It’s ‘Frosty Temptation’ concocted by Hilcot.” Louis revealed a meaningful smile. “It’s specially prepared for bee colonies.”

The plant pheromones released after atomization penetrate the neural pathways of the blue-striped bees, suppressing their aggressive and self-destructive instincts.

"You were prepared all along?"

"Of course, I didn't come to Fir Ridge just for a walk."

The knight pressed the mechanism, and with a click, the atomizing device sprayed out a wisp of mist that quickly dispersed in the air.

The mist carried the fragrance of several special plants and had a slightly cool feel to it.

It was a potion that Hilko had specially prepared for this occasion, which could calm down the swarm of blue-striped bees, preventing them from becoming agitated or even self-destructing.

The mist quickly seeped into the beehive, and the originally dense and rapid buzzing gradually subsided, as if it were being gently enveloped by something.

The blue-striped bees stopped flying around and instead lay quietly at the entrance of the nest, as if they were hesitant.

“Now,” Louis said softly, standing among the trees, his eyes focused.

The knights, who had been waiting, immediately sprang into action, two of them carrying a wooden box, and headed toward the beehive.

The box is lined with old honeycomb pieces and beeswax, and even the scent is taken from the original hive, making the bees feel that this is a familiar new home.

The other knight took out a small brush and applied a few drops of specially prepared potion to the edge of the wooden box.

Soon, several blue-striped bees were attracted over, flew tentatively around the wooden box, and then slowly crawled inside.

"We've got it!" someone whispered in surprise.

After a few bees went in, more blue-striped bees followed suit.

One after another, they flew out of their lair, hovered above the wooden crate, and then landed inside.

"The rhythm is good, keep leading."

"Don't rush, wait for the queen bee."

Louis stood aside, not interfering, but observing the overall situation.

They cannot forcibly move the beehive, otherwise the bee colony will get out of control.

Once the queen bee enters the new hive, the entire colony will move with her.

A dozen minutes later, finally, the slightly larger queen bee with pale blue stripes on her wings slowly flew out of the hive, circled a few times around the fragrance in the air, and then crawled into the new wooden box.

The swarm of bees suddenly burst into action, as if receiving a signal, and almost swarmed into the new hive.

"Put the lid on, quick!"

The wooden box was gently closed, leaving a small vent hole; it wasn't sealed shut.

The bees buzzed softly in the hive, but were no longer excited, as if they had already made this place their new home.

"Move it back to the southern slope of Fir Ridge," Louis instructed. "It has good sunshine and water there, making it suitable for building a temporary apiary."

"Yes!" the knights responded in unison.

They carefully lifted the wooden crate, as if they were holding a vast amount of wealth.

Louis stood in the woods, watching the first box of blue-striped bees being successfully moved, and a slight smile played on his lips.

(End of this chapter)