Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 173: Division (3)

Parthenogenesis, also known as asexual reproduction or agamogenesis, refers to the process in which an embryo develops and matures without fertilization by sperm.

In other words, the genetic material of the female alone divides to create a fertilized egg. This meant that the queen bee of the Golden-Furred Wasp King, the worker bees, and the new queen all shared the exact same genetic makeup.

Put another way, the society of the Golden-Furred Wasp King was essentially a massive colony of clones—an entire community of genetically identical, monozygotic twins. Their relationships were simultaneously those of mother and daughter, sisters, and, in a sense, themselves.

A society of hundreds of identical female wasps—it was almost surreal.

For a brief moment, I was caught off guard by the sight of the identical queen bees, but I quickly collected myself and asked the queens of the Golden-Furred Wasp King:

"You can reproduce without males?"

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

In perfect synchronization, the two wasps hovering in the air nodded at the exact same moment.

I hadn’t noticed until now, but when I took a closer look inside the hive, I realized that all the worker bees were essentially miniature versions of the queen. They were just slightly smaller and lacked fully developed abdomens since they didn’t lay eggs.

‘A society with no males at all... That’s ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ fascinating.’

While it was an unusual reproductive structure, parthenogenesis itself wasn’t all that rare.

In the natural world, many creatures reproduce this way. Termites, for instance—one of the species I had worked with—are well-known for it. Parthenogenesis is also common in fish like crucian carp, certain lizards, scorpions, some cartilaginous fish, and even ants.

However, I had never seen a species that completely lacked males.

After all, societies with a single gene pool were inherently vulnerable to genetic diseases or outbreaks. That’s why even the creatures that were capable of parthenogenesis typically only resorted to it in times of emergency, when rapid population expansion was necessary. Otherwise, they reproduced through conventional sexual reproduction.

From an evolutionary standpoint, diverse gene inheritance increased the chances of species differentiation over generations.

‘Why rely on parthenogenesis?’

I didn’t understand why the Golden-Furred Wasp King had opted for such a reproductive strategy, which made them genetically vulnerable. However, considering that even lower-ranked individuals of the species were intelligent enough to understand human speech, they clearly couldn’t be classified as mere ordinary creatures.

Whenever I encountered something in this world that didn’t make biological or genetic sense, there was one universal explanation that always seemed to work:

‘Because it’s a spirit beast, that’s why.’

Yeah. If something didn’t make sense, just slap the term “spirit beast” on it, and suddenly, it all made sense.

Having settled that thought, I moved on to the next issue and asked the queen bees of the Golden-Furred Wasp King:

"Alright, now that I’ve greeted the new queen, I’ll find you a new home. You’re not planning on moving somewhere else, right? Also, which one of you is the old queen?"

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

At my question, the two queens suddenly quivered as if laughing before they began darting around each other mid-air, weaving in and out at dizzying speed, like a street game of three-card monte.

After a brief, chaotic display, the two queens came to a sudden stop and stared at me expectantly.

It felt like they wanted me to guess which one was the original queen.

"You want me to figure it out?"

Bzzzz!

Bzzzz!

I asked just in case, but sure enough, they both bobbed their heads in unison.

Even identical human twins were difficult to distinguish. Now, I was expected to tell apart a pair of identical wasp queens?

This was supposed to be the moment for the swarm to prepare for division, yet here I was, stuck in some ridiculous game.

But then again, it did seem like fun.

‘It’s been a while since I had a problem spicy Fabre could sink his teeth into. Alright, bring it on.’

"Fine. Let’s see..."

The reason I accepted their challenge without hesitation, despite how identical they seemed, was simple.

Even when two creatures looked completely alike at first glance, insects often showed minor physical differences based on their age and diet.

Details like body color or the texture of their fine hairs could vary slightly.

For example, rhinoceros beetles start off with a bright exoskeleton when they first emerge, but over time, they darken and lose their fuzzy hairs.

The same principle applied to wasps—newly emerged queens should have fluffier, more delicate hairs.

With that logic in mind, I scrutinized the two wasps as carefully as I could. But no matter how long I stared, they were too identical.

‘Seriously? They look exactly the same?’

As I hesitated in confusion, the two queens, as if growing impatient, buzzed their wings faster, urging me to hurry.

Bzzz!

Bzzz!

I was starting to get the feeling that I might just have to make a wild guess.

Well, there wasn’t a penalty for being wrong, so I steeled myself, pointed at one, and declared:

"It’s you!"

Bzzzz!?

Bzzzz!?

Both queens flinched in surprise.

That reaction confirmed it.

‘Nice.’

As expected, my spicy Fabre instincts were razor-sharp.

I may have been terrible at guessing answers on exams, but when it came to identifying animals—like telling males and females apart at pet shops—I never missed.

In Korea, where imported pets were often juvenile or subadult, it was notoriously difficult to distinguish their sexes. Yet, even if I only bought two individuals at random, I almost always ended up with a proper male-female pair.

People who got it wrong sometimes ended up with total disasters.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Just like that one time in my past life, when I ambitiously launched my new content series, "Can They Have Babies?"

"Welcome, everyone, to Spicy Fabre’s brand-new series: ‘Can They Have Babies?’!"

"Huh? What kind of content is this, you ask?"

"Well, I visit subscribers’ homes who are struggling with breeding their beloved venomous creatures or pets, analyze the reason why, and help them successfully produce adorable offspring!"

"Today’s very first case comes from a subscriber’s request, and I’m visiting their home!"

"And the star of today’s episode is... a land tortoise!"

For my first episode, I had carefully chosen this case. On top of that, the subscriber was an absolute beauty.

It had all the makings of a viral hit.

Even before I started addressing the issue at hand, the livestream chat was already exploding with comments praising her looks.

-----------------------------

Mighty Toad: I-Is she a goddess?

Little Turtle: Noona, I'm a turtle too! Please take care of me!

Centipedes Are Love: Goddess, beware of Fabre! That bastard is a well-known pervert in this field!

Supreme Hornet: That scumbag Fabre didn't go there to help the turtles breed—he went there to...

(Supreme Hornet has been banned for 24 hours.)

-----------------------------

The subscriber’s concern was that despite raising two turtles for five years—long enough for them to reach adulthood—and even observing them mating, no eggs had been laid.

Even on the day of my visit, the two turtles were enthusiastically engaging in their mating rituals.

But then, disaster struck.

"It's strange. I've had them for five years, and I’ve even set up a proper nesting area, but they’re still not laying eggs. They mate when they go into heat, too!"

"I-I see. Well then, let’s check things out. Hmm... The setup is perfect—even better than what I could’ve arranged myself..."

"Right? The temperature and humidity are just right. There's no reason they shouldn't be laying eggs!"

"That’s what I’m saying! It’s so frustrating. I really want to see baby turtles."

"Something’s off... I’ll have to check the turtles directly."

With that, I examined the two enthusiastic little guys hard at work. But as soon as I got a good look, I was hit with a shocking revelation.

"...Huh!?"

"W-What is it?"

"Uh... Subscriber, listen carefully and don’t be alarmed. Hah... How do I even put this...?"

"Are they sick!? What’s wrong with my babies!?"

"No, they’re not sick, it’s just..."

There was no avoiding it—I had to break the news to her.

"They’re both male."

"WHAT!?"

-----------------------------

Mighty Toad: Holy...

Little Turtle: What the hell...!?

Centipedes Are Love: Both turtles are male. This proves Supreme Hornet was right all along.

(Centipedes Are Love has been banned for 24 hours.)

-----------------------------

In my past life, there had been a famous case of a Galápagos tortoise—the world's longest-living tortoise—mating with another male for 26 years before anyone figured it out. And now, in the very first episode of my new content series, the same situation had happened.

This wasn’t something that should occur in the wild, but in indoor enclosures, sometimes an animal might mistake a human, or even another of its kind, for a potential mate. This seemed to be one of those cases.

In the end, the beautiful subscriber from that fateful episode had begged me to delete the broadcast file out of sheer embarrassment.

And so, my ambitious new series, "Can They Have Babies?" became an accidental comedy show. I never dared to film another episode again.

That was a complete disaster...

Lost in nostalgic horror, I snapped back to reality, only to find the two wasp queens now comfortably perched on both of my shoulders.

"Alright then, let’s go. The new queen stays here."

But instead of flying off, the queen moved closer to my face.

"...?"

I was about to ask what she was doing when I suddenly noticed something.

Her tongue.

The moment I saw it flick out, it felt like I had been struck by lightning.

No, no, no, no, no!

I had nearly forgotten—among bees, trophallaxis (the exchange of nutrients through mouth-to-mouth feeding) was the most intimate expression of trust and bond.

With the birth of a new queen, she was instinctively initiating a ritual to exchange nutrients with me.

Even I had my limits. This was not happening.

"W-Wait!"

I quickly blocked her with my hand while frantically searching for an alternative.

Think, Fabre, think! How do I get out of this!? I need a different kind of bonding ritual! Something else... Anything!

Bzzzz...

The new queen gently pushed my hand down, as if to say, What’s wrong?

In a desperate flash of inspiration, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"N-Name!"

Bzzz?

Bzzz?

*"H-Humans don’t exchange nutrients to get close! We... we give each other names instead! Let’s do that instead! How about I give you a name, huh?

I just had breakfast, so I’m really full right now! Also, I can’t just keep calling you ‘queen’ forever, right?"*

Holding my breath, I waited for their response.

To my immense relief, the two queens bobbed their heads in approval.

I-I survived...

I had successfully dodged the trophallaxis, and on top of that, I could finally give them proper names instead of just calling them queen all the time.

Two birds, one stone.

Sitting down, I started brainstorming.

"Hold on a second. I’ll think of a great name for you both."

Technically, they were mother and daughter, but also sisters at the same time.

And since they were essentially twins, their names had to reflect that.

Up until now, I had always named my venomous creatures based on their unique traits. So I tried to think of something that best represented them.

"Hmm... Should I go with ‘bee’? No, that’s too generic. I need something that captures the essence of the Golden-Furred Wasp King specifically..."

I crossed my arms and focused, but since they were a lower-ranked species, they didn’t seem to have any particularly distinguishing features.

The only truly unique trait they had was their parthenogenetic reproduction.

So I figured their names should reflect that.

"They’re both sisters, yet also mother and daughter to each other... Oh, wait—"

An idea struck me.

The perfect word.

‘Nangnang’.

A single term, but one that could be pronounced in two distinct ways: Nang and Rang.

In Chinese, it could mean both young lady and mother at the same time.

By combining it with queen, I could name them Nanghu and Ranghu.

The names embodied their paradoxical nature—young queens who were both daughters and mothers.

"Damn... Fabre, you’re a naming genius."

Feeling deeply impressed with myself, I turned to the two Golden-Furred Wasp Queens.

"The newly born queen will be Nanghu. The previous queen will be Ranghu. How’s that? The names hold both the meaning of ‘young lady’ and ‘mother’—perfect for you two."

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

Both queens flapped their wings in clear approval.

Acting quickly, I tore a strip of cloth from my sleeve and fashioned two small markers, tying one around each of their forelegs.

Rip.

"The one with the marker on the right leg is Nanghu. The one with the marker on the left leg is Ranghu. Nanghu stays here, and Ranghu, you’re coming with me. Time to find a new home."

While they would rarely meet again, I had ensured that I wouldn’t mix them up in the future.

With that, Nanghu took off into the air, while Ranghu landed on my shoulder.

"Alright, let’s go! Time to expand the hive."

It was time to set up a second beehive.