Versatile: Alternate World

The Queen Bee started talking like a human...

No, it's not talking, it's communicating using its mind to us which is why we can understand what it was saying.

"Telepathy?!" Tina is baffled.

Gobu and Lina are shocked as well but it seems their attention is not on the Queen Bee but on Cotton who is just standing there, staring at the Queen Bee paying respects. Cotton is releasing an aura that someone like her should have not possessed just yet. Also, her eyes are glowing green color.

Speaking of respect, didn't the Queen Bee just say that she is greeting the Insect Queen? What was that about and why is she doing so in front of Cotton? Does that mean the Queen Bee is identifying Cotton as the Insect Queen she is speaking? It's not Tina she is talking about as she is directing her eyes on Cotton and the former is far from her to do a paying respects gesture like that.

Cotton is not saying anything which is pretty normal but her staring at the Queen Bee with her eyes glowing green is something else that I find pretty much disturbing and uncomfortable.

Then, Cotton collapsed and fell unconscious. The Queen Bee immediately grab Cotton and held her softly and turned to me.

"It seems you are the Master she is talking about. Don't worry, she is fine, she just fell asleep as she used up a lot of power that was slumbering on her body. Give her time to rest and she will be fine."

She handed me Cotton and just like what she said, Cotton is fast asleep. She is even snoring like it was the most comfortable sleep she ever had.

"Lina, can you please carry her?"

"Yes, Master. Be careful to not wake her up," Lina approached and I handed the sleeping Cotton to her arms.

Then, our attention goes to the Queen Bee.

"What's your deal? I know you are healed by Cotton but I didn't know boss monsters like you can communicate with humans," Tina was the very first to question the Queen Bee.

"Indeed I was. But I am reborn as the Insect Queen has now given me one more chance to live and also given me the ability to talk like this with all of you. I dedicate this life of mine to the Queen and she will always be a part of my new life. And since the Insect Queen is now following you, I will also follow you as well."

"Wait, wait, wait. Before you decided things by yourself, who is this Insect Queen you are talking about?" I asked the Queen Bee though I am quite sure she is talking about Cotton I needed to make sure that she is the one the Queen Bee is referring to. "Insect Queen" sounds like she is the highest order of the insects and the insect kingdom.

"Why are you asking me that? It's obvious and you know who I was referring to. The one you call "Cotton" is none other than the incarnation of the Insect Queen."

I don't understand the lore of the "Insect Queen" as this has never been brought up to my knowledge and I don't remember there being any quests related to her at all so I turned to look at Tina who is obviously more knowledgeable to things related to the Insect Kingdom and anything related to insect people and insect monsters.

"Master, don't look at me. Although I am an insect person, this is the first time I have heard about the term Insect Queen. Aside from my mother who is clearly not an insect queen but just referred to as the Queen of the Insect Kingdom, I don't have any prior knowledge regarding that matter."

Hmm, that was unexpected. I would have expected that she has an idea of what it was all about but it seems she also had no idea.

"Oh well, since we are done here, we have to leave and return to the cabin as soon as possible. With Cotton unconscious, there are no point grinding levels if she can't receive it."

As we are leaving, the Queen Bee is also following us.

"Master, the Queen Bee is also following. What are we going to do?" Gobu asked me.

I scratch my head as I turn back to the Queen Bee.

"Why are you following us? Isn't this place your home? You are not going to go back to your nest?"

"My babies are all dead due to the parasites that invaded us and when you put explosives on our nest, you obliterated the nest without leaving anything. Technically, you destroyed my home and my remaining family as well and if you think about it, I no longer have a home. So where do you think I am going?"

"I-I am sorry."

"It's fine. Even if you didn't do that, they will still die and succumb to the will of the parasite. It's much better that they all have been gone like that than to see them being controlled by some pests."

"But despite your reasoning, are you still adamant about following us?"

"I am gonna follow the Insect Queen and devote my remaining life to her as she gave me a new life."

"Follow..?" I frowned.

"I heard that people like you can recruit the likes of us if we tried to ask you if we can join forces. If I can follow the Insect Queen and serve her by using that, then perhaps I should indeed use that chance to do so, Don't get me wrong, I might be following you but I will dedicate myself to the sake of the Insect Queen alone."

It was one of the weirdest interactions with a monster that I have done so far. The Queen Bee is not joining just because she wanted to join my team but she is joining for the sake of Cotton which is a pretty new reason.

At first, I am thinking of declining. First, I have already two pets, the desert wolf boys are not included as they are classified as companions and despite that classification, they are still technically pets that I can ask and command so it didn't change much, but even then, they will be a quite a lot now. I don't even tame other monsters anymore as my two pets can serve me just fine.

However, my decision changed when I think hard about the matter. Cotton is technically still a kid and she needed a mother figure to look after her. She does not have a shortage of father figures as both Gobu and Atlas can fill in on the spot. Lina is a good candidate but she is technically still a teen so she is more of a big sis type instead of a mother figure. That also applies to Tina and Lucia.

I have no other female companions aside from the players but they don't count as they cannot be with me all the time and they also belong to the "Big Sis" category as well. Even my mom is using her game avatar just to feel young as well. And there is the Queen Bee.

Despite being an insect, she does exude a mother figure in her body language alone. She is a veteran mother and has taken care of her offspring as well since real-world bees don't apply their logic of them taking care of their children A queen bee is a very busy mother and will work hard to help her children. Clearly a good candidate in that area.

"Are you sure  you wanted to serve her for the rest of your life?"

"Yes. If not for her, I wouldn't even be reborn. This new life of mine is dedicated to her alone and I don't plan on betraying that. I deserve death if I did."

It seems she is too sincere about it. And I don't think she meant to harm either. Therefore, I decided to accept her.

"Fine. It seems you fit into the criteria very well. You will be recruited by me to serve as a mother figure and guardian of Cotton. You will be tasked with keeping her safe, acting as her mother at all times, and her protector against all kinds of dangers. Can you fulfill those basic tasks without the need of being reminded of them every time?"

"Of course, I can. I will fail as a mother if I forget that easily. It's a basic mother's conduct and I plan to keep on keeping that."

"Alright. I am recruiting you with us."

With that, she joined us without hesitation. By the way, she is treated as a companion and not as a pet. Perhaps because I didn't tame her which resulted in this? Perhaps but I don't really know. But with her around, the job of the girls will be much lower now as they can now rely on the queen bee this time around.

The expedition beyond the swamp is completed in advance and I gained a lot of stuff and even snagged one companion. It seems it is a good day after all.