Chapter 2204 Black-Moon King Visi Han Meng’er and the others finished off the remainder of the Shadow Bees effortlessly. They managed to collect a lot of xenogeneic genes through the effort, and many of them earned Shadow Bee beast souls. The beast souls were arrows that wielded a toxic fire. When Han Meng’er killed the second Duke Shadow Bee, she earned a Duke toxic arrow beast soul. When he saw the last of the Shadow Bees get destroyed, Night River King knew his plan had failed. In his rage, he smashed the screen he had been watching to pieces. After Han Sen returned to Planet Eclipse and learned of what had unfolded with the Shadow Bees, he guessed that Night River King had been behind it. Planet Eclipse did not have any Shadow Bees that were native to the place. “Thank God I left the Demon Bug Bai Sema behind. Otherwise, even though Han Meng’er and the others would probably have survived the assault, many of my other Nobles would have been killed,” Han Sen thought, relieved at how things had turned out. Han Sen knew the bee queen was still around, though. So, he assembled expeditions to go out in search of it. The Shadow Queen Bee’s nest was not difficult to find. She made her home in a large mountain, and the entrances that the bees had carved were clearly visible. Many Shadow Bees had been slain only a few days prior, and the Shadow Queen Bee didn’t produce Shadow Bee eggs fast enough to have replaced them yet. So, Han Sen entered the beehive easily to locate the ruby-looking Shadow Queen Bee. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 Han Sen perused the information he had compiled on her, and he knew exactly where she had come from. Seeing the Shadow Queen Bee now made him a happy fellow. He recognized instantly that it was a mutant Shadow Queen Bee, which was a very rare being to procure. That being said, Han Sen had already guessed that the queen would be a mutant after hearing about the Dukes that had assaulted his base. But still, seeing the mutant Shadow Queen Bee in the flesh made him super happy. Dong! Dong! Dong! The Shadow Queen Bee moved incredibly quickly. It flew around like a solidified shadow, leaving behind trailing shadows of its own. Her wings flapped so quickly, Han Sen could hardly keep track of her. Many toxic lights shone on her back, and they launched themselves at Han Sen. But each strike just landed on his Bai Sema and was rendered moot. “A Duke mutant xenogeneic. So strong! This Duke’s speed and the toxic light attacks, in combination with the crazy breeding speed... This would be very difficult to kill without the Demon Bug King shield,” Han Sen thought to himself. The Shadow Queen Bee kept flying around Han Sen, firing her toxic darts. But against the Demon Bug Bai Sema, it was nothing. Han Sen didn’t attack the creature, though. He figured it would be a shame to kill the mutant Shadow Queen Bee. Han Sen wanted to keep it alive so it could produce more Duke and Marquise offspring. That way, some of the scarcity of high-level resources offered by Planet Eclipse could be alleviated. So, Han Sen hadn’t gone there with the intent of killing the mutant Shadow Queen Bee. Instead, he wanted to take it and use it for himself. If Han Sen had been a Duke, it would have been far easier for him to claim her. But he was just a Marquise, and his speed and power weren’t as good as hers. It would take much effort to collect her. The Shadow Queen Bee launched attacks at Han Sen furiously, but they slid harmlessly off his shield. After a while, the creature exhausted itself. Her attacks became far weaker and far slower. The Shadow Queen Bee wasn’t an intelligent creature, and it was a very territorial being. Although it was exhausted, he was still in her nest, and she would never consider fleeing. She still tried to fight Han Sen. Seeing her growing frustration, Han Sen decided to put away his Demon Bug Bai Sema. The Shadow Queen Bee, upon seeing the Bai Sema disappear, flapped her wings to resume attacking Han Sen. She was much slower now, though. Han Sen brought out his white Jade Drum and hit it. A very deep boom of sonic power ripped out of the Drum. It clipped the tired Shadow Queen Bee and brought her down. The Duke Jade Drum’s sound shouldn’t have affected a mutant Duke like her very strongly, but she was too tired by this point, so she couldn’t withstand the force of that sonic shockwave. The Shadow Queen Bee dragged herself off the floor, intent on going after Han Sen. Han Sen was still holding the Jade Drum. He hit it another two times. The shockwaves made her roll and writhe around on the ground again. It looked as if she was in pain. “If you listen to my commands, I will spare your life,” Han Sen told the Shadow Queen Bee that was now on the ground. The Shadow Queen Bee lacked intelligence. When the Drum stopped, she tried to attack Han Sen again—the intruder that had invaded her space. Han Sen didn’t know what to do except continue pounding the Jade Drum, which made her roll around on the ground over and over. Some of her bee blood began to pour from her mouth. But Han Sen didn’t want to kill her. Killing her would be pointless. Seeing that the Shadow Queen Bee was about to die under his repeated torture, he decided to exit the hive. A xenogeneic without proper brains had to be broken-in by slow torture over time. Han Sen stationed people to keep an eye on that beehive. If the Queen Bee made bees, they would go and kill them. That would teach her a lesson. They hoped that after a while, she might actually listen to Han Sen and obey his commands. “We will never be safe for as long as Night River King exists,” Han Sen thought grimly. He considered how he might dispose of Night River King. With the current limits of his power, Han Sen couldn’t go after Night River King just yet. He needed to become a Duke, and he needed to own a lot more treasures. It would have been best if he could use the Blood Scorpion Jade Drum. That would be the only weapon he’d need to take down someone that was a higher level than he was. But even if he was able to kill Night River King, he wouldn’t be able to do it while he was in Narrow Moon. If they fought, the Rebate would rally behind Night River King. An outsider would never earn their favor. “It looks like I need to become a Duke quickly and find a way to take him out elsewhere.” Han Sen calmed himself down and tried to think things through rationally. Allowing his anger to make him rush wouldn’t solve anything. If anything, it would just reveal weaknesses for his enemies to exploit. He needed to be calm if he was going to do this. “Night River King, I am going to kill you.” Han Sen kept practicing. The first and fifteenth day of each month, he went to Cold Palace to absorb moon and cold powers, hastening his ascension to the rank of Duke. Han Sen dropped his blood onto the Blood Scorpion Jade Drum every day, too, slowly letting his essence sink into it. He wanted his blood to become one with the scorpion. Han Sen felt that he was slowly building a connection with the Blood Scorpion Jade Drum. Claiming it would only be a matter of time. One day, Black-Moon King dropped in on Han Sen unexpectedly. “Han Sen, the Extreme King will be hiring knights from Narrow Moon. Are you interested in going?” “Extreme King recruits elites. I don’t think they’d want a small Marquise like me,” Han Sen answered, confused. He thought they were only interested in elites like Yisha. That would require him to be at least a King. “The Extreme King will only grow and care for future elites that are showing great potential. We have a good relationship with them. When the Extreme King hire knights, they offer a few slots to us. If you would like to join them, I can get you in,” Black-Moon King said.