Reincarnated To Evolve My Bee Empire

"A 'volcano'?" Bloodhero asked in confusion. She, of course, had no idea what this word meant.

Humans certainly had the concept of a volcano in their culture, but it was a niche one, and probably only some Researchers and Agents who purposefully studied human culture knew it.

I rubbed my chin, torn between wondering how to even explain this phenomenon and whether this underwater mountain really was one.

"I need more detailed reports of what this mountain looks like. Together with a map of the heights of the entire region of the seabed, if possible. Can you make it happen, Bloodhero?" I said instead of answering her question.

"Yes, Father! If this needs to be done as soon as possible… It will be done in half an hour!"

I raised my eyebrows. This was really fast for a detailed map like that, especially considering that it was done using only the scouts' own senses, not any radar technologies!

Still, I nodded.

"As soon as possible, Bloodhero."

My Military Adviser saluted and left; after that, I sent a telepathic message, telling her to gather an emergency Empire Council in an hour.

Although the time was very late in the day and everybody was going to be sleepy (except me), this was something that, possibly, couldn't wait even this much.

***

Surprisingly, Bloodhero didn't overestimate her and her scouts' abilities.

I didn't know how exactly she achieved this, but half an hour later, an Attendant Bee brought a hastily sketched map and a scout to my office.

The map was not as detailed or well-drawn as the map on my office wall or most maps used by me in general, but I could understand where there were mountains and chasms on the seabed, thanks to the careful charcoal shading on it.

The scout was one of those who found the potential volcano herself and was ready to share her firsthand experiences.

From her words and the map, I reached a definite, foolproof conclusion.

This area of the ocean had an underwater mountain ridge coming through it, but only one area was full of noxious geysers—the suspicious mountain. In its middle was a crater covered by soil… But I was sure it would erupt.

Even the scouts reported that they heard strange sounds coming underneath from outside.

"One of us even tried to go inside the mountain itself and listen from there, but it was too noisy. And bright, for some reason. Underground is usually dark," the scout mentioned.

This had to be actual magma that was about to erupt. The underwater mountain was definitely a volcano!

Most of the underwater creatures must've heard the vibrations with their evolved senses and left. But the range from which they were leaving made me extremely alarmed.

This volcano was very far from our shores. My first thought was that it was too far to be actually dangerous to us, but when I thought about the migration wave, I began doubting.

To allay or confirm my doubts, I looked at the map again.

Although it was hard for bees to even fathom distances like the heights of mountains, the peaks of which could be hundreds of kilometres away from their foothills, they have learnt even that.

From far enough, even large distances became small. The same went if you could fly with the speed of thought, like the scouts who explored the seabed.

From the maps they made, I could tell that the underwater volcano and its neighbours were really massive mountains! They probably were taller than any mountain on both continents!

Just what kind of eruption could happen from a volcano of this size?

Did size even matter for volcanoes? The amount of magma inside had to be more important, right?

But we definitely couldn't measure that…

***

By the time the Empire Council gathered, I had found words to explain to the gathered sleepy girls what the volcanoes were and why they were so dangerous.

"For us, who are so far from the volcano itself, the eruption will mean nothing. But it will create a massive wave—called a tsunami—that might travel all the way to our shores and pour on them! I originally thought that this wave would start far enough to dissolve before it reaches us. But if this underwater volcano is going to erupt really spectacularly, then it might not."

Workharder rubbed her eyes blearily.

"We must make sure that our coastal areas are ready to evacuate within a week. The Oracles will give us a warning a week ahead, anyway," she said.

"This is important and alarming, but I still don't think that gathering a Council right now was a good idea, Necty," Ambrosia said quietly. "What can we do right now, in any case? Any large-scale works will have to happen tomorrow."

My shoulders dropped. I looked at the girls gathered at the table… They were half-asleep!

And it was just an hour past their bedtime. Only I, thanks to my personal morphotype, was fully awake! And outside, mostly Hardbees were still working, or bees that slept during the day to take on night shifts now.

Bees really were way worse than humans in pulling all-nighters…

"Alright, fine. I will put my focus on this while you are asleep," I said. "Then gather information you find relevant in the morning and return here after breakfast. I feel that the attacks of ocean beasts might continue, and some of them might even evolve to thrive on the land—and this BEFORE the eruption even happens."

And like that, the Council session was put off for tomorrow. But as I promised, I continued to think about the volcano eruption.

If it was truly colossal… Could it create clouds of ash? Could wind carry them my way?

Could other natural catastrophes besides a tsunami happen because of this eruption?

The next morning, the Empire Council began to prepare for any of these eventualities. We didn't know how much time we had. More than a week, but less than… some.

Not enough time even to build good wave-breakers…