The milky white root hairs swayed for a while, sensing something, and suddenly pierced downward into the gray panel, breaking through to contact the transparent liquid.
The moment they made contact, the milky white root hairs twitched as if electrified, then began to grow wildly.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Visibly, root hairs after root hairs grew from the Tree Heart, penetrating through the substrate board into the flowing Nutrient Liquid.
A sound akin to humans drinking water rang out, numerous Nutrient Liquids being absorbed by the milky white root hairs, causing the height of the liquid in the glass pool to visibly decrease. Affected by this, a nearby float connected to the valve of the input pipeline also dropped, instantly causing the valve to open larger, resulting in a greater flow of Nutrient Liquid being injected. The liquid level in the glass pool began to rise again little by little, ultimately reaching a dynamic Balance.
The number of root hairs continued to increase, their length also expanding, with their ends rapidly extending outward to explore further.
In merely a few minutes, half of the glass pool was filled densely with root hairs.
A few more minutes passed, and root hairs occupied a large portion of the glass pool’s area.
Another few minutes later, the root hairs nearly filled the entire glass pool and tried to leave it.
However, as these roots began to cling to the glass panel, the engraved patterns on its surface quickly lit up, flashing with bright red light.
The Spell Flames flashed and vanished, producing a smell of scorching, burning every root hair that touched the glass panel, turning a large nearby cluster of root hairs to ashy black.
Magic Rune... The Witch Demon Elder glanced, eyelids twitching.
After the attack, the remaining root hairs shrunk back as if possessing Wisdom, maintaining a distance of more than twenty centimeters from the glass panel, no longer recklessly probing, focusing solely on absorbing the Nutrient Liquid.
This continued for over ten minutes, whereupon the top of the Tree Heart cracked open, and a slender light green sapling sprang forth, growing taller continuously.
When the sapling reached over twenty centimeters in height, its growth slightly halted, and dense branches sprouted from its sides, which extended and twisted, finally weaving into a somewhat abstract human face shape. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
The branches pressed and rubbed against each other, making strange noises, gradually transforming into a somewhat aged human voice, marking the successful Resurrection of the Giant Tree Tin Wood.
The human figure woven from branches turned towards Richard, the voice of the Giant Tree Tin Wood emerged, not waiting for Richard to explain anything, it had already inferred quite a bit using its own Wisdom.
"Intruder, is it you? Hmm, quite unexpected indeed, never thought after my Resurrection, we could meet again. Let me see, this seems like a rather special isolated space; those two intruders with you earlier aren’t here. Could it be you alone took my Tree Heart and revived me?
In that case, it is indeed peculiar, because, in my view, earlier the three of you seemed very eager to destroy me; why the sudden change of mind? Could it be you were feigning all along, deliberately deceiving those two, and then secretly saving me?
But what is your reason for saving me? Kindness? Haha, definitely not kindness, so-called kindness is nothing but beautiful lies invented by you humans. You saved me for a definite purpose, one that you couldn’t achieve by killing me, which is why you worked tirelessly for my Resurrection. What could that be?"
As it reached the end, Tin Wood asked aloud, its face crafted from branches showing a rather profound expression.
Richard glanced at Tin Wood without beating around the bush, directly saying: "Indeed, I have designs on you, and my aim is simple, it’s the Energy you bring. You’ve mentioned having the title of ’Forest Source,’ and during battle, you created a powerful Energy Storm, if I’m not mistaken, you can harness and utilize Energy, correct?"
"Correct," Tin Wood readily admitted, "Intruder, you’re not wrong at all, I indeed can gather and utilize Energy—regardless of space and any environmental impact, I can directly absorb numerous Energies from the void, for self-growth or to aid other Life Forms in evolving.
Truth is, apart from needing some external Energy and material supplement for my Tree Heart’s initial Resurrection, now I can sustain myself to some degree."
As it spoke, Tin Wood extended a branch, from its tip flashed a dazzling purple arc, persisting for ten seconds before dissipating, thus proving it wasn’t lying.
After the demonstration, Tin Wood looked at Richard and asked, "Well then, Intruder, you’ve seen my ability and know your designs can be realized, so what’s next that you wish to do?"
"Cooperate," Richard replied, "How about cooperation?"
"Cooperation, eh?" Tin Wood chuckled lightly, "May I boldly speculate, if I refuse to cooperate with you, would you threaten me with death?"
"No," Richard shook his head, gazing at Tin Wood, "It’s not a threat, but action will be taken. If you refuse cooperation, then you become a useless yet highly dangerous enemy to me, I cannot continue to let you survive. The most rational action is to remove you completely from this world."
"..." Tin Wood fell silent for a moment before speaking out, "I have to admit, I acknowledge your capability—previously, you could defeat me in my complete form, now erasing my traces would be easier. But I think you wouldn’t do so unless absolutely necessary."
"Then, perhaps I can turn it around, use death to negotiate with you? "
"Look, you desire my Energy, while I too have other desires aside from Life. I won’t surrender to you merely for Life, allowing you to manipulate me at will. Such a future holds no Hope for me, and I’d rather choose death. If I truly die, you will gain nothing. Though my loss is substantial, it’s equally a loss for you." Tin Wood spoke, pausing at the end, "What do you think?"
Richard’s eyebrows slightly raised, he observed Tin Wood for a moment and then said, "Besides Life, what is it that you desire? I hope it’s not too excessive, or I’d rather take the loss than bear excessive risk."
"No, no, no, you’re overthinking," Tin Wood’s tone softened considerably, "What I want is not excessive at all, and won’t impose any risk on you."
"Then what is it exactly?"
"Freedom," Tin Wood uttered, "What I desire is Freedom. If you promise me that, we can cooperate.
You want Energy, right? Just allow me to grow for another week, and I’ll have the capability to draw infinite Energy from the void, ninety percent of which I need for myself to undergo life transformation. The remaining ten percent can be specially provided for your use. Don’t dismiss it as little; even ten percent is enough to support the growth of tens of thousands of trees, fully satisfying all your needs.
I can maintain this cooperation for ten years, by which time I should be able to evolve into a completely different state of Life Form, breaking free from numerous constraints, gaining potential to evolve towards ultimate Life. At that moment, you’ll have to return my Freedom, letting me leave you."