Chapter 6
In the third week after the rain of flowers subsided, the plains appeared calm on the surface, but undercurrents were surging beneath.
The water pool in the southwest corner of the Light Domain was only half excavated when the water vein masters of the Tide Lotus Alliance began to fine-tune the underground water system.
The soil on the northwestern outer edge was disturbed at night by the shelled beasts, and the smell of iron-shelled sand could be faintly detected in the earth wind.
Beneath the surface of the root network, the vines of the Shadow Vine are quietly building a "dark root tunnel" with parasitic mycelium.
Sprout 12 is like a leaf that will never be stopped by the wind, moving between various forces—
Sometimes he blended into the shells of the armored beast team, sometimes he lay in the water ripples on the lotus alliance's floating leaves, and sometimes he even used the roots of the shadow vine to transmit false information.
His intelligence pods fell one after another beside the roots of 237, like a circle of "leaf outposts" encircling the mother tree.
Under the cover of night, the water vein masters of the Tide Lotus Alliance suddenly released the southwest water flow, drawing in a large amount of damp mist to cover several "Wet Vine Scouts" as they entered the outer edge of the light domain.
Sprout 12 rushed back in time and marked the location of the wet vine on a fallen leaf.
237 triggered a new awakening ability deep within the mother tree's root system—"empathy."
Instantly, the water vein structure beneath the entire light domain lit up in her perception, like seeing transparent crystal blood vessels in the dark.
She precisely releases a numbing sap along the water veins, paralyzing the roots of the vines before they take hold, causing them to lose their grip on the soil and be swept away by the wind.
In the north of Sui Ke Ling, a squad of "sand burrowers" were deployed, pretending to collect dead leaves, but actually digging for iron-shelled sand underground.
Sprout12 had overheard the elder of the mine shell's order before they even entered: "Retrieve two bags within three days."
237. The newly grown root system of the mother tree quietly wrapped the soil layer where the iron-shell sand was located, making it as hard as stone.
The Sand-Submerged Armor repeatedly struck the soil with its blade, only to discover that the soil seemed to have grown bones—this was the first time the mother tree had integrated the earth's veins with its own structure.
The Shadow Vine Alliance attempts to establish "dark root tunnels" through parasitic mycelium, and suddenly launches a "vine tide" attack at night.
Sprout 12 collected mycelial samples during the day, while 237 used the spore retroplanting ability of the mother tree to pre-implant a "root-severing spore" disguised as a common symbiotic fungus into the other party's mycelium.
As the vine tide surges in the night, the broken root spores instantly spread backward along the hyphae, causing large areas of the roots of the Shadow Vine's vanguard to break, as if cut open by an invisible blade.
The probing efforts of the three forces were quietly thwarted within just half a month, but they were unaware of the truth.
All they saw was that the Light Domain, instead of weakening after the great war, had grown denser, taller, and more resilient "light curtain walls" along its boundary.
And all of this was the first practical demonstration of the mother tree's potential:
She began to manipulate the light domain as an organic whole, weaving water veins, soil, root system, fungal network, and light curtain into an invisible defense line.
Sprout 12 stood atop the highest branch, watching the distant forces retreat amidst the aftershocks of the flower rain, each with their own agendas. She smiled and said to 237:
"They thought you were just on the defensive, but little did they know that you had already planted the first seed under their roots—the main root."
The wind gradually subsided, and the leaves at the edge of the light field were dyed golden-green by the morning light, as if everything was returning to its former tranquility.
However, dozens of feet underground, a root that does not belong to the realm of light is slowly wriggling.
They did not invade the mother tree's water veins and soil layers, but quietly circled around, recorded, and sensed—as if they were drawing a huge "map under the roots".
When Sprout 12 returned from the southwest, it brought back a strange "grayish-white root nodule".
Its surface is covered with a type of pollen that has never appeared in the light field before, and the pollen is mixed with tiny metal scales.
237. With a light touch on the root nodule, the mother tree's pulse trembled strangely for a moment.
This was not the work of the Tide Lotus Alliance, Shattered Shell Ridge, or Shadow Vine Alliance—
This is a probe of an older, more extensive root network, which may have been spreading in secret long before she sprouted.
The wind whispers on the tips of the leaves.
Sprout 12 wrinkled its veins and whispered, "If they are drawing maps, then we are just a marker leaf for them."
237 remained silent for a long time, her roots slowly extending underground. For the first time, she extended her senses beyond the boundary of the light domain—
Deep in the distant black soil, she sensed hundreds of roots vibrating in unison, as if waiting for some signal.
A deeper, covert war has already begun silently underground.
This time, the enemy wasn't after water or soil, but rather—
In order to rewrite the fundamental trajectory of the entire continent.
In order to rewrite the root system of the entire continent, Seed 237 must complete the reweaving of the root system around the light domain before the next ecological cycle.
This is not only to defend against the infiltration of the Dark Root forces, but also to allow the root network of the Light Domain to merge with the natural water veins and mineral veins of the plain, forming a growth system capable of crossing the boundary.
Sprout 12 returned with the scent of dust and grime, its pods still bearing the iron powder of Broken Shell Ridge and the damp fragrance of Tide Swamp Lotus Alliance.
“The hard-shelled shrubs in the northwest are tentatively migrating their populations, trying to cut us off from the rain veins in the north.”
“The Shadow Vine Alliance in the south is getting restless.” He paused, then added in a low voice, “With the help of the Dark Root forces, they have already laid root traps under two lowland waterways.”
237 silently unfolded her light domain root map, and a circle of golden mother tree sensation spread out like ripples, touching these altered areas.
In my perception, those dark roots were like fine black lines in the soil, slowly wriggling with the intention of devouring.
“I want them to reveal themselves.” 237’s voice was low but firm.
She concentrates root energy at the southern edge of the light field, releasing a slow and inducing pollen pulse.
This kind of pulse will cause subtle changes in the temperature and humidity of the surrounding soil layer—the latent roots of the dark root force cannot tolerate this continuous stimulation and will inevitably migrate outward, trying to find a new stable point.
Three days later, the first covert battle broke out on the southern edge of the plain.
The water vein guardians of the Tide Lotus Alliance and the entwined roots of the Shadow Vine were locked in a fierce battle in the shallow soil. On the surface, it was a dispute over the ownership of the water source, but in reality, the Dark Root forces were using the chaos to insert more fine roots to interfere with the light domain when they were forced to retreat.
Sprout 12 shuttles between battlefields and diplomatic meetings, his pod image constantly updated.
"The Northwest's Jianke Ridge is watching, wanting to see if we can withstand the Shadow Vine's attack. If we can't hold out, they will immediately take action to divide up our territory."
With just a tap of her leaf tip, 237 had quietly connected the deep roots of the Light Domain to the Northern Rain Vein—a hidden waterway undetected by any power. Once completed, her domain would receive continuous nourishment.
On the morning of the seventh day of the battle, a tremor came from the core of the Light Domain.
Golden roots of the mother tree rise from deep within the soil, as if the veins of the earth have been reshaped.
The terrain around the Light Domain rises slightly, forming a natural root wall that blocks the Shadow Vine Alliance's infiltration channels.
The fine roots of the Dark Roots were forced to retreat deep underground, and some were even directly assimilated into 237's root network—they were no longer enemies, but became her sensory tentacles.
Seeing this, Sprout12 laughed: "You're not just defending your territory, you're rewriting the battlefield."
The leaves of 237 trembled in the morning light—for the first time, she clearly felt that the mother tree's potential was not only strength, but also the right to control the laws of growth.
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