Chapter 4
Seven days after the battle, a fresh and moist scent filled the air of the Light Wasteland. The aroma of heavy earth and new green leaves mingled together, as if the entire plain was celebrating the victory of the Light Domain.
Just then, a rare "rain of flowers" fell from the sky—thousands of pale golden pollen grains floated on the wind, enveloping the area of light like a thin mist. Each pollen grain shimmered under the sunlight, like tiny stars falling from the sky.
This is a call to action from the plains: multiple ecological forces will send representatives to discuss new boundaries and resource allocation.
Before the formal meeting began, a nimble green figure darted through the rain of flowers. Its branches and leaves were long and slender, its pods had a warm, bluish-green shell, and several mature seed pods hung on its back, shimmering with a faint light—they did not contain offspring, but rather the seeds of intelligence it had collected along the way.
He is—Sprout12, a "free plant" that does not belong to any force.
Sprouts are naturally able to move freely between different ecosystems, unbound by any domain or defense mechanism. This trait makes them natural intelligence agents and messengers, and also makes Sprout 12 the most trustworthy partner of Seed 237.
When Seed 237 saw him, its leaves trembled slightly, revealing a rare sense of ease.
Sprout 12 floated lightly at the edge of the light field, whispering:
“I have already scouted the routes and escorts of the three groups of visitors in advance—the Tide Lotus Alliance brought three water vein masters, the shell beasts of Shattered Shell Ridge had two bags of mineral shell powder hidden on their backs, and the Shadow Vine's vine flowers... her roots are mixed with mycelium that does not belong to her.”
237 slowly stretches its leaves, responding to the bean sprout 12.
On this plain, no force's movements can be completely hidden from Sprout 12's perception.
The first to arrive was the envoy of the "Shionuma Lotus Alliance".
They come from the southeastern wetlands, relying on the tides and lotus leaves to build their shelter. The lotus leaves float like flat, floating islands in the air currents, each leaf surface shimmering with the silvery light of water droplets.
Chief Flower Spirit spoke, her tone calm yet inquiring:
“We are willing to regulate the water flow to help you resist the underground invasion of the Shadow Vine, but on the condition that you reserve a pool of water in the southwest corner of the Light Domain that will never dry up.”
Sprout 12 quietly shook the pod, using the shadow of the pod to catch the speed and pauses of Flower Spirit's speech—he judged that this was a test, not an urgent request.
The second is the representative of "Broken Shell Ridge".
The force of the hard-shelled shrubs and the shelled beasts, who coexisted, entered the meeting circle, causing the ground to tremble slightly as the shells stomped on it.
They set a condition: "Allow the crustaceans to forage three times a year at the outer edge of the light domain."
The roots of sprout 12, close to those of 237, whisper a reminder:
“What they really want is not the outer leaves, but the iron-shell sand in the outer soil layer—that can double the hardness of the shelled beast’s shell.”
Finally, the "uninvited guests" arrived—the wisteria messengers from the Shadow Vine Alliance.
Her slender vines swayed gently in the wind, their leaves shimmering with a ghostly purple light. Her voice was soft, yet carried a hidden threat:
"Interconnected root systems, each not blocking the light, otherwise the next vine surge..."
Sprout 12 has quietly circled around to her roots, collected a mycelial sample using a leaf pod, and safely stored it in a leaf cavity bag for future analysis of whether the other party has implanted parasitic spores in the root network.
Secret meeting at night
The meeting ended, and the plain returned to silence. In the night, the light field emitted a faint glow, illuminating the texture of the soil and the faintly moving roots.
Ya Ling couldn't help but whisper, "These foreigners are all untrustworthy!"
Sprout 12 gently placed the collected information pods next to the roots of 237:
"Belief or disbelief is not the most important thing; the key is that we must first know what they are plotting in secret."
Seed237 understands that the Shadow Vine's feigned cooperation, the hidden control of the water veins, the hidden price of the shell ore... can all be figured out one by one by Sprout12 as he travels back and forth between the various factions.
So, he gently conveyed the leaf's message to Sprout 12:
"From today onwards, you are my 'yougen'."
Sprout 12 simply smiled, the pod trembling slightly in the night—that was his only response.
As the night wind blows, petals fall like rain, and the leaves in the center of the light field shimmer with green light, as if foreshadowing the complex and turbulent ecological pattern of the plain in the future.
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