Shen Yi quickly processed the series of notifications he had just received, discerning their implications. Excited, almost trembling, he tentatively asked, “Good Deeds Bring Good Rewards System Bro, are you still there?”

“I am here. What else does the host require?”

In that moment, Shen Yi’s mind was in turmoil. He couldn’t recall any truly remarkable good deeds he had done—regular donations to Alipay’s charity campaigns? But the amounts were negligible. Diligently planting trees in “Ant Forest”? Occasionally feeding stray cats? Fearlessly helping an elderly lady who had fallen, like a newborn calf? Or perhaps a decade of commitment to using legitimate software?

Finally, he wondered if his accumulated good deeds were insufficient, leading to a rebirth balance only enough to transform into an insect.

If only time could be rewound…

His chaotic thoughts vanished in an instant. The mere phrase “good deeds bring good rewards” was enough to warm the dead. So, Shen Yi solemnly began, “First of all, thank you for existing.”

Seemingly taken aback by his words, the system paused.

Then, it watched as the soft, tiny larva suddenly straightened up and pleaded, “Can I change my wish? Can I change it to becoming human again? I don’t need to be a ruler of any kind, just an ordinary human would be fine…”

If he had known that a casual thought could activate a wish-fulfillment system, why would he have bothered with bees? A queen bee was still just a bee, after all. Nothing compared to the experience of being human.

The system’s voice was detached and businesslike: “The wish is bound and cannot be changed.”

Shen Yi was stunned. If he couldn’t even be human, he didn’t know what other wishes he could possibly have.

Instead, after a brief pause, the system proactively stated, “It was a pleasure meeting you. I’ve secured an extra starter pack for you. Open it when the time is right, and you might be surprised.”

“Wishing you all the best and may your wish come true.”

After delivering its message, the system completely disengaged. Shen Yi called out a few times but received no response. He felt a profound emptiness inside, only regaining his composure after a long while.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had squandered a monumental opportunity.

But then again…

—Well, even before the Good Deeds System appeared, he had already resigned himself to becoming a bee. Now, with the system’s assistance, why complain?

Shen Yi quickly reined in his restless mind.

As for the so-called Queen Bee Support Program, all he saw was an interface displaying a single main quest.

【Main Quest: Become a New Queen Bee Candidate】

【Quest Reward: Queen Bee Royal Spirit Core】

Though he didn’t know what this “Queen Bee Royal Spirit Core” was, anything with “queen” and “royal” in its name sounded impressive. With such a reward dangling before him, Shen Yi felt even more determined to succeed.

He tried conversing with the interface a few more times but received no response. Shen Yi realized it was merely an intelligent program, and not a very sophisticated one at that, lacking independent consciousness. Only when he hit the right keywords would the interface react accordingly.

Still, something was better than nothing. He was now a bee with a cheat code.

Besides the system quest, a gift pack icon was blinking in the upper right corner of the interface. When Shen Yi clicked on it, a dialogue immediately popped up.

【Beginner’s Gift Pack. Would you like to claim it?】

【Yes】【No】

Just as Shen Yi was about to open it, the words of the Good Deeds System flashed through his mind—*open it when the time is right, and you might be surprised.*

—*The right time.*

Shen Yi pondered these words, recalling how his sudden whim to become a queen bee had consumed his precious wish. He decided to save it for later.

＞

Bee larvae do not leave their narrow cells from birth until pupation. Based on this biological habit, larvae are typically not very active. Theoretically, Shen Yi should not have been able to crawl so far.

But at this moment, the tenacity and resentment of a worker burned like a fierce fire within him, filling Shen Yi with strength.

After careful comparison, he chose the royal cell with the shortest straight-line distance and resolutely crawled out of his cell.

Do or die.

Along the way, Shen Yi crawled past one cell after another. In the unsealed cells, worker larvae curled up, their bodies barely fitting into the cramped space with no room to spare.

Like meticulously designed projectiles, produced solely to be launched.

Expendable items naturally require no intricate craftsmanship.

After pupating, they would toil tirelessly, dedicating their lives to the colony until death.

His tender skin scraped against the cell walls, causing a sharp, stinging pain, but Shen Yi’s movements showed no hesitation.

Finally, the royal cell grew closer and closer.

Self-awareness is the catalyst for biological evolution and the beginning of miracles.

Using the last of his strength, Shen Yi climbed onto the royal cell. Struggling, he dragged his three-day-old larval body, first stuffing his tail into the cell. After much effort, only half of it fit.

His head drooped against the cell wall, like a miniature, sprouted peanut.

The sticky fluid from the cell had long dried during his crawl, adhering to him like a layer of cracked scab, unbearably itchy.

If no nurse bee discovered him, he might soon die. The Queen Bee Support Program offered no contingency plans for this.

But he had no regrets.

Battling fate—it sounded rather cool, he thought.

He had done all he could; the rest was up to fate. This was the limit of his efforts.

Even now, he had the presence of mind to whimsically think—*I hope a not-so-smart nurse bee finds me.*

Fortunately, the nurse bees were more diligent than Shen Yi had expected. Soon, one discovered the larva protruding from the royal cell.

Its antennae probed Shen Yi’s head, and the entire bee paused for a few seconds.

It then flew to check other royal cells and soon returned, circling the royal cell where Shen Yi was, seemingly puzzled about when such a large larva had appeared there.

Before long, several plump bumblebees gathered around.

They lay on the comb, their wings tucked against their backs, only a small section visible. Most of their bodies, covered in fuzz, were exposed, making their plump hindquarters appear even fuller. They seemed to be exchanging information, their rear ends wiggling as if equipped with electric motors, incredibly agile.

It was hard to imagine how such fluffy, round creatures could shimmy so mesmerizingly. Shen Yi couldn’t even find their waists.

One little cutie had its back to him, its yellow, black, and silver striped, fuzzy rear end perfectly blocking his view. Its two tiny feet dangled off the honeycomb, swinging back and forth like a bored cub, exuding innate charm.

If he were to transform into such an adorable creature, it didn’t seem so hard to accept.

Shen Yi thought the bumblebees had gathered because they noticed his abnormality and were holding a small meeting to decide how to deal with him. To his surprise, after the fluffy fliers arrived next to him, they promptly and efficiently spat out beeswax, initiating construction mode on the cell base.

The worker bees judged that this larva was growing too quickly and needed the royal cell to be extended further.

The plump little workers were extremely efficient. Soon, the royal cell base was lengthened, completely enclosing Shen Yi and forming a cylindrical royal cell lying horizontally on the honeycomb.

Shen Yi no longer had to curl up. He stretched out freely, lying horizontally inside the royal cell.

Soon, the diligent nurse bees began secreting royal jelly into the royal cell.

He had won the bet.

Exhausted, Shen Yi was enveloped by the long-missed sweet aroma. He desperately absorbed the nutrients and the elements that catalyzed his evolution.

Inside his body, profound changes were occurring every moment.

After absorbing enough energy, Shen Yi fell into a deep slumber, allowing his body to reach optimal conditions for evolution and development.

While he slept, he had no idea that the queen bee had come to a nearby cell.

With the colony growing larger day by day and nearby flower sources limited, further expansion would lead to saturation, hindering the colony’s development. Driven by instinct, the queen bee decided to swarm, and raising a new queen was imperative.

So, as soon as the worker bees finished building the cell base, she immediately came to lay eggs. When she reached Shen Yi’s cell, the queen bee hesitated noticeably, her antennae swaying in the air twice. Then, her left antenna probed inside the royal cell, touching it a few times. Detecting nothing unusual, she eventually turned and moved to other cells.

Before the new queen bee emerged, she would lead part of the colony away from the hive to establish a new one.

＞

Shen Yi had no idea how a worm was supposed to grow into a bumblebee, a completely different life form. The only thing he could do was eat voraciously and leave the rest to life’s instincts.

Thus, the nurse bees responsible for the larvae on this level noticed that one of the royal larvae seemed exceptionally voracious. A dozen nurse bees took turns secreting royal jelly, barely keeping up with the rate at which the royal jelly disappeared from the royal cell—almost twice as fast as the other royal larvae.

However, the diligent nurse bees did not investigate why this royal larva ate so much. From start to finish, they dutifully performed their tasks, always replenishing the royal jelly in the royal cell in a timely manner.

By the time the royal larva had accumulated sufficient energy, on the sixth day of Shen Yi’s larval life, the worker bees fully sealed his royal cell with beeswax, awaiting the new queen’s emergence.

＞

【Main Quest: New Queen Bee Candidate completed. Reward generation in progress.】

In a dazed state, Shen Yi lost all sense of time.

It was as if he had entered a surreal and fantastical new world.

This place was boundless, with many golden motes of light floating around him.

Tiny particles of light gathered together, forming a brilliant starry sky.

It felt like being in a dream.

After watching for a while, Shen Yi gradually realized that here, he himself was also such a speck of light.

But in his field of vision, these specks were extremely tiny. Did that mean his own size was larger?

In a flash, his consciousness suddenly detached, adopting a complete bird’s-eye view. He saw a golden, almond-sized rhomboid crystal floating in the center of the space, radiant and shimmering.

—Is this the so-called Spirit Core of the Queen Bee Royal Family?

—What’s its use?

In the vast space, faint motes of light were densely packed, twinkling like fireflies on a summer night. Shen Yi instinctively reached out to grab them, and as the thought arose, a golden thread of light extended from his Spirit Core.

This thread was so fine it was almost invisible, but Shen Yi could clearly perceive it. It darted lightly toward the nearest speck of light.

As soon as it touched, it bound the speck.

The change was so sudden that Shen Yi was stunned for a moment. He tentatively manipulated the golden thread, and the bound speck trembled in response.

In that instant, Shen Yi seemed to sense something, but it was too faint to grasp. He tried a few more times. At first, he could still feel some slight vibrations, but after poking it a few times, there was no further reaction, as if it had fallen asleep.

Shen Yi had no choice but to give up his probing and let his thoughts run wild.

This golden thread felt as natural to him as moving his own fingers. To put it simply, it was like suddenly gaining a new sense—just as he could freely curl his fingers, he could also shape this fine thread into any form. Shen Yi thought of the psionic energy often described in fantasy novels.

So—is this his Mental Sea?

Shen Yi looked at the tiny specks of light floating in the void. What were these?

Clusters of chaotic psionic energy in the Mental Sea? Or untapped potential of psionic power waiting to be explored?

Shen Yi called up the Queen Bee Assistant System. Besides the Main Quest, a side quest had appeared on the interface.

【Side Quest: Explore Psionic Power】

【Quest Reward: Opportunity for Psionic Mutation】

—So it really is psionic power.

At the same time, the Main Quest had also undergone some changes.

【Main Quest: Become the Queen Bee】

【Quest Reward: System Update】

It only required exploring psionic power but offered no hints. How was he supposed to explore it?

Shen Yi tugged at the speck of light bound to the golden thread. He felt no discomfort. On the contrary, binding this tiny speck gave him a slight sense of satisfaction, or perhaps security?

If it was bound by him, then it belonged to him. Binding more couldn’t hurt.

So, adhering to the principle of “you’d be a fool not to take advantage,” he began continuously extending psionic threads to bind the nearby specks of light.

After binding them, he pulled them over and arranged them neatly. Soon, he had two rows lined up behind him.

Immersed in the joy of collecting gains, Shen Yi didn’t notice the system interface flashing messages like “Colony Expansion: +1, +2, +3…”

The myriad specks of light dazzled his perception. After binding ten small specks in one go, he suddenly spotted an exceptionally bright star amidst the dense starry lights.

If the other stars were like tiny sesame seeds of light, this one was the size of a firefly.

Rare things are precious. Shen Yi’s attention was immediately captured.

He extended a thread toward it as before, but this time, the light sphere flickered and broke free.

This fully captured Shen Yi’s curiosity.

After several failed attempts, Shen Yi tried forming another psionic thread. Once he mastered dual threads, he didn’t act rashly against the light sphere. Instead, he continued to generate additional psionic threads, experimenting with new ideas along the way, such as amplifying psionic output to make the golden threads more solid.

Through repeated experiments, Shen Yi became increasingly adept at wielding his mental power.

Discreetly, he directed three thicker strands of mental force to converge on the glowing sphere from three different directions.

A direct hit.

Once captured, the sphere began to thrash and struggle wildly. Shen Yi even sensed a distinct emotion from it—indignation and rage.

As these signals reached him, an inexplicable and intense desire to dominate surged within him, as if this were a life-or-death struggle. It felt like a challenge to his authority as a ruler, demanding a crushing rebuttal to assert dominance as a warning. Instinctively, Shen Yi tightened his mental grip.

By the time he regained his awareness, the sphere had ceased its struggles.

Shen Yi felt like an overinflated balloon on the verge of bursting. An indistinct pain throbbed within him, as if he might explode at any moment. His vision swayed, and he was abruptly thrust outward.

When Shen Yi awoke, everything was pitch black. A dull, rhythmic throbbing pulsed incessantly in his head.

His thoughts lingered in that wondrous, almost surreal world he had just experienced.

He now realized that it wasn’t his Mental Sea but more like a public channel.

He had sensed the emotions of the glowing sphere, so those points of light must have been the mental entities of other living beings.

—Could there be consequences for tethering so many of those light points?

Especially that bean-sized sphere—his current headache was clearly linked to it.

Shen Yi regretted his greed; greed bites back, and excess is just as bad as deficiency.

What if, like in the novels, mental overload led to a mental collapse?

His thoughts were interrupted by a mounting suffocating sensation, and he suddenly realized—it was time to emerge from the cell.

Shen Yi gnawed a hole in the wax cap, and the nurse bee waiting outside helped him open it fully. Long-absent light flooded into his eyes.

An unfamiliar, wondrous new world unfolded within his perceptual system.