Chapter 86
The monitoring room outside the isolation ward.
Green marks suddenly appeared on the metal bulkhead that should have been cold and flawless.
What started as fine, hair-like stripes quickly meandered into tiny vines in the lens, clinging to the wall's array of symbols, as if trying to "cover" the patterns that symbolized restraint little by little.
"enlarge!"
The monitoring officer gave a stern order, and the projection instantly switched to a high-definition image.
The high-ranking officials in the hall stared intently, and the air suddenly froze.
That's not the normal growth pattern of plants.
Within those green veins, there flickered a pulsating frequency similar to that of the mother tree's afterimage—yet deeper, like roots penetrating unknown soil, drawing in a power beyond reason.
"This is pollution!" someone exclaimed.
“This is resonance,” another voice said in a low voice.
"Don't you understand yet?" A white-haired elder spoke slowly, his fingers tapping heavily on the table. "This is not a simple mutation. The Third Force is using 237 as a medium to extend its 'roots' into our world."
Someone immediately retorted: "No! If it were truly a shell company, he would have completely lost control long ago! But now, look—that force is still protectively surrounding him, not eroding him, but nurturing him!"
The hall was instantly split apart.
One faction advocates immediately implementing "incineration isolation" to completely annihilate the unknown energy inside the cabin, in order to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
Another faction advocates for a wait-and-see approach, with some even suggesting that "perhaps this is the true echo of the Mother Tree. Perhaps the third force we fear is the very high order we once lost."
"Are you all crazy?! You're betting the future on the unknown?!"
"You're insane! You still think you can save us with those outdated, broken rules!"
The shouting tore through the conference hall, sounding even sharper than the storm of the previous night.
At the same time, the surveillance video suddenly started showing static.
When the footage returned, the scene inside the cabin sent a chill down everyone's spine—
237 is sitting quietly in the center, eyes closed as if asleep.
Behind him, on the wall of the isolation pod, the outline of a slender "Sapling of Light" appeared.
At that moment, the hall fell completely silent.
Everyone realized—
Whether it originated from the Mother Tree or was a projection of a third force, 237 is no longer just a passive host, but the origin of some kind of "new root".
Inside the isolation chamber.
In the frigid air, the illusory image of the "sapling" was slowly unfurling.
The slender branches and leaves appear translucent, emitting a soft glow, yet deep black veins spread from the roots—like light and darkness coexisting in the same trunk.
Sprout 12 stared at it with a complicated expression.
He could sense that it wasn't a hallucination, but something that was truly rooted within 237's body and projected onto the cabin walls in some inexplicable way.
"...Did you feel it?" Sprout12 asked in a low voice.
237 slowly opened his eyes, a strange light flashing in them for a moment, like stardust and ashes intertwined.
“It’s breathing,” he said in a low, hoarse voice. “It’s not just mine, but… the echo of the whole world, continuing through me.”
Sprout 12 remained silent. As a free species, he could best sense the pulse of the mother tree within that power—yet at the same time, that pulse was mixed with another unfamiliar and ancient aura.
"If this is the remnant of the mother tree, then we should rejoice."
But what if… this is a shadow borrowed from the 'Other Shore'? The leaves of Sprout 12 trembled slightly. "Are you willing to gamble on it?"
237 did not answer immediately.
He simply raised his hand and gently pressed it against the phantom roots of the "sapling" on the bulkhead.
The veins of light and darkness immediately surged through his palm, as if responding to him.
"It does not demand that I submit."
237 spoke slowly, his eyes hardening.
"It's just waiting for me to choose—whether I use it as a weapon or let it consume everything."
Sprout 12 choked on his breath.
He suddenly realized that the real key was not whether the "third force" was using a shell, but that 237 himself had become the crossroads between order and destruction.
The suppression array outside the bulkhead shimmered with a cold light, like a cage.
But within this confined space, the two "plants" understood:
The real shackles lie not in the rune array, but in their choices.
Sprout 12 suddenly laughed, her voice hoarse: "Then you shall decide. Since the mother tree left embers, someone should dare to ignite them."
And I will always be by your side.
237 looked at him, her gaze deep.
"So, from now on, we will not only fight side by side."
"We are the guardians of the new roots."
The monitoring hall of the quarantine center.
Layers of rune arrays and energy probes intertwine, and all the data converges on the main screen.
Since 237 entered the medical pod, the monitoring curve had remained at a stable inhibition level until just now—
A sudden increase.
A previously gentle ripple suddenly arose, like a sharp blade piercing stagnant water.
The pulse curve broke through the upper limit in just a few seconds, revealing a spectrum of light and dark intertwined.
"What... is going on?"
The operator's voice trembled as he stared at the silhouette of the sapling on the monitor screen, which was actually taking shape inside the isolation chamber.
The expressions of the high-ranking officials at the parliamentary table all changed.
"This is an internal projection? Impossible! Our rune array has already cut off any energy leakage—"
“It wasn’t leaked,” another military representative said coldly. “It was internal. That thing manifested itself actively from within his body.”
The hall fell into a moment of deathly silence.
The same thought flashed through everyone's mind:
This is no longer the body of a warrior, but an "unknown tree" that may take root in the world again.
"Activate the second layer of blockade immediately," the most radical official ordered abruptly. "Strengthen the rune array, deploy suppression fog, and if necessary—cut off life support."
"Sever it?" a trembling voice questioned. "Do you know what it is? It's the only way to fight back—"
"He is also the biggest threat!"
The high-ranking official roared, "Do you want this unknown tree to grow? Do you want it to blossom and bear fruit at the foot of the parliament?!"
The hall erupted in chaos, with voices of support and opposition clashing.
But the order was ultimately executed.
--at the same time.
Inside the medical pod, Sprout 12 suddenly looked up.
New runic marks appeared on the isolation barrier, the air was compressed to the point of almost solidification, and the energy flow was as if it were being choked.
237's eyelashes trembled, his chest heaved rapidly, and the phantom of the "sapling" in his palm was shrouded in a cold, chain-like light.
Sprout 12's face darkened: "They've made their move."
237 slowly opened his eyes, but a cold light ignited deep within his gaze.
"Very well...if they intend to use me as a seed in a cage—"
"Then let's break free from the cage."
As the last sealing array fell, the light in the isolation chamber suddenly dimmed.
The entire space seemed to be encased in a layer of hard amber, with air, energy, and even the flow of time being forcibly suppressed.
Members of parliament outside the city breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sealed."
"Maintain stability and observe for 48 hours."
"If necessary, initiate a permanent freeze."
—But in this deathly silent prison of light.
Sprout12 suddenly grabbed 237's hand.
The spiritual connection between the two instantly lengthened and intertwined, like two tiny roots desperately breaking through the soil.
“They want to bury us here,” Sprout12 whispered, with a hint of sneer. “But don’t forget, you were born from the soil.”
237 closed his eyes, and the crack-like pattern on his chest suddenly lit up.
It was as if some deeper being was responding.
The translucent "sapling" inside him trembled slightly, its branches and leaves stretching out as if hearing the wind.
—The rune array began to distort.
The blocked light chains remained motionless for the first few seconds, but as the shadows of the trees spread, they gradually developed cracks, as if seeped in by invisible water.
The runes flickered erratically, as if driven into them by roots.
Sprout 12 held her breath, feeling the energy within her body being forcibly drawn in, transforming into a massive tide that surged into 237's body.
"You...are you trying to make me grow along with you?"
237's voice was deep: "It wasn't me, it was it."
The next moment—
Inside the isolation chamber, the light of the rune array suddenly shattered, collapsing like shards of glass.
With a roar, countless cracks appeared on the bulkhead, as if it had been torn apart by countless roots.
The alarm in the external monitoring hall immediately went off:
"Abnormal energy outburst! Lockdown failed! Lockdown failed!"
On the screen, everyone saw that the "sapling" that was originally faintly visible was now breaking through the energy barrier, its branches and leaves swaying inside the cabin, like the only green in the eye of the storm.
Deep within the foliage, 237 opened its eyes.
His gaze was colder and clearer than any surveillance camera.
"chain?"
He spoke softly, as if addressing a higher-up outside.
"Do you really... deserve it?"
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