Chapter 827: Chapter 827. Danlier’s Trouble.
Danlier glanced at the reports of the de-escalation with a frown. "We couldn’t pierce through even with that accident in the flank?"
She was confused. The Nexus had always been slightly stronger than the Covenant, but thanks to Lady Balaya, their powerful True World Tree, they were never truly defeated. Moreover, since a stance in favor of True World Trees was better accepted than one against them, they had more allies and connections.
Standing up and looking out of the window, Danlier glanced at the vast empire in front of her. A knock on the door cut off her wandering thoughts. "Enter."
"Yes, Lady Danlier, Lord Verdant Elder, envoy of the Golden Sap Empire, has sent a new report."
"Again?"
Danlier blurted before she held back her tongue. The person entering paused and smiled awkwardly. "Um... should we tell Lord Verdant Elder not to inform this often?"
"No need to. Return."
After that person left, Danlier released a small sigh. ’Why is that envoy so eager? Isn’t the standard to send one report every year?’
At first, the envoy sent a report twice a year; now, the number was closer to three times a year. If there was only one such envoy, she wouldn’t say much. However, Danlier’s responsibilities as the leader of the Covenant were far too many to attend such things so often.
Reading through it, Danlier frowned. "...Odd. There is something too strange."
It had been a few years, but the way these reports were written was as if over two decades had already gone by. There weren’t really many signals, but the occasional mentioning of some structured buildings and such gave a very strange vibe.
"... Time manipulation?" As she muttered these words, Danlier’s face stiffened, and then she laughed. "Am I getting too stressed out? Time is a force that’s impossible to manipulate..."
All clues pointed in that direction, but from Danlier’s perspective, this was like telling her that a human was lifting cars single-handedly with Level 0 strength. At Level 0, any creature’s strength, especially a human’s, was as basic as it could be. Even lifting another person was hard at such Levels, not to mention a car that weighed as much as 20 people.
In short, it was an impossible matter, so out of the question that Danlier preferred to think these were typos or mistakes.
"...But what if?"
Of course, consistent typos and mistakes were just too out of the ordinary to wave your hand and ignore. Her forehead pulsed for a moment, a headache incoming.
’...It can’t be, right?’
But reading the report again, Danlier felt an urge to sigh loudly and hold her face. "Why did this one Solar System become so out of the ordinary? They should’ve just been conquered by Rhazor..."
Those words were half serious. After all, on paper, they belonged to the Covenant. However, Danlier knew perfectly well that those feelings were not shared within the Golden Sap Empire.
"Also... <Second Ascension> True World Tree? Already? Were our intelligence reports wrong in the past as well?"
Too fast. Tianlian Liu Shu was growing far too quickly. For Danlier, who was used to seeing things in at least decades, Liu Shu’s growth felt like a child suddenly becoming an adult after not seeing them for a week.
Danlier gathered the Verdant Elder reports and read through them slowly. "At first... only one <Second Ascension> powerhouse. Strong, but just at the level of Rhazor. This continued for a bit, and suddenly, the numbers became speculative. At first, the reports sighted around 20 of them, then around 30. Now, after less than a decade, the numbers are already over 100... most importantly, they are speculative, so there could be over 200 without us knowing."
There were not too many, but the problem was Tianlian Liu Shu’s blessings. Her eyes scanned the few pages reporting the effects, and her heart thumped wrongly.
"Branches above... Lady Balaya, I think we are in danger."
A vast, gentle, but faintly indifferent voice reached her. "Danger? What happened?"
Danlier commented and spoke. "Do you remember that Solar System we discarded for this war?"
"Did we? Which one?"
Danlier was not surprised. For Balaya, what she had in mind was expansion. Anything related to the Covenant empire was, for her, completely irrelevant. "It was during the start of the current war. A Solar System that was being ambushed, but we decided to use it as bait."
After being silent for a few moments, Lady Balaya spoke. "I do recall. Have we reoccupied that area? My roots are not extending that way, so I can’t see."
"It was never breached," Danlier said, then spent the next few minutes explaining to Balaya what was happening.
Balaya, who had thought it would be another useless report, suddenly started paying more attention. She sent more and more of her consciousness, listening attentively. By the end of Danlier’s explanation, Balaya was shaken. The over Level 300 super True World Tree, for some reason, felt a strange chill of unease. Something she had not felt even when facing other equally strong or even stronger True World trees.
"Is what you said the truth?"
For Balaya, who was always the one pulling ahead once she overcame others, the existence of a True World Tree that was basically sprinting behind her and about to catch up was incomprehensible.
Moreover, this True World Tree didn’t kill other World Trees, and instead, she befriended them? Balaya, a being several tens of thousands of years old, felt her knowledge and common sense being challenged.
A voice reached her from the edge of her vast domain. "Heh. Are you finally giving way, Balaya? Let me take over then!"
Balaya frowned and glanced at the edge of her domain. "Is sneak attacking fun, Dandel?"
The void between them rippled, countless roots extending to clash with each other. The void rippled, sub-dimensions where they fought shaking under their power. "Tsk. I thought you had given up when you stopped moving for a while. I’ll come again."
Balaya snorted. ’Just because she is from a Globular Star Cluster Empire, she thinks she can challenge me? Ridiculous.’
As a bona fide S Tier World Tree, Balaya’s power was hard to overcome by most True World Trees. Her innate powers were what allowed Balaya to forcefully carve out a territory in the hostile interstellar environment.
Glancing around her domain, Balaya noticed three other True World Trees who were working with her. Of course, all of them were very weak compared to herself. However, they were strong enough to use to expand the Covenant toward the unimportant sections.
’Or so I thought. Now, in one of those non-important regions, an oddity has bloomed.’
If she were to start extending her roots in that direction, it would take far too long. Moreover, she would have to kill one of the True World Trees in the way, someone she was currently using. "Hm... that one is Level 250, right? What was her name? Deadly Petal? Yeah, she was that one with the strange name. If it is her, she should be able to halt the advance of that recently Ascended newbie..."
Having been ignoring much of what Danlier was saying, she spoke firmly. "Tell Deadly Petal to attack in her direction."
Danlier, who had been speaking of ways to bring the Golden Sap Empire into their midst again, paused and frowned. "Lady Balaya, have you heard what I was saying?"
Balaya looked at her daughter and sighed. "Alright, tell me again."
Danlier noticed that Balaya had probably stopped listening at some point, and her anger almost flared up for a second. ’It is because she is so aloof to all empire matters that the Nexus can still walk all over us! What is territory worth when the internal corruption is steadily escalating?’
Danlier held her temper and spoke with a cold and analytical voice. "That True World Tree is not hostile to other World Trees. As long as we don’t antagonize her, won’t we be able to reinforce the almost broken trust between us?"
"Impossible." Balaya denied it outright. "She must’ve brainwashed or taken over those World Trees like parasites. There is no way a World Tree can accept other World Trees living nearby."
Danlier challenged her words. "Just because you can’t, that doesn’t mean others can’t!"
Balaya’s pressure descended on the office room. Danlier grunted, her body feeling as if a whole world was pressing on her shoulders. "Danlier, don’t let her schemes get to you. Such an odd being is one to be exterminated, not one to test the waters with."
"W-What... about... her... blessings...!" Danlier spoke through gritted teeth. Even though she herself was also a <Third Ascension> powerhouse, a World Tree was superior at the same level!
"Blessings?" Balaya stopped the pressuring and frowned. "What about them? Don’t you have my blessings as well?"
She could globally give around 16% total stats, affinity with a few elements, and could also accelerate Leveling Speed by around 5%. She also was able to give a few more miscellaneous boosts, making her blessings quite comprehensive.
Danlier, free from the pressure, almost showed a sneer. ’Yours are blessings? I thought so in the past, but compared to Tianlian Liu Shu’s... heh.’
"Check them."
Balaya sighed and moved her gaze toward the papers Danlier showed her. Her reddish colored roots flipped through them, her gaze reading the contents slowly.
"...What is this? A list of possible buffs?"
Balaya asked, confused. Danlier spoke flatly. "That’s a list of active blessings."
Balaya, for a second, failed to understand Danlier’s words. "Active blessings...?" Balaya’s core flickered in shock, but then, her mood relaxed. "So, this is the reason why that World Tree has taken over other World Trees..."
Danlier frowned. "What do you mean?"
Balaya snorted. "You don’t believe that this... list of blessings can be given out by a single entity, right? This is most likely a cumulative blessing of all those World Trees she has absorbed."
Danlier pondered, finding her explanation plausible. Still, she pushed. "Regardless of the source, it is true that our envoys have been fully affected by all these buffs simultaneously. I’ve even heard that a few Level 199 envoys reached Level 200 thanks to them."
"So what?"
Danlier pursed her lips. This was exactly the reason she didn’t communicate with Balaya for Empire-related opinions. For Balaya, Level 200 creatures were ants. So, even if there were ten thousand of them, she would just swat them away. One or two more made no difference for Balaya. So, she disregarded such things.
For someone with their sights on Level 400, Level 200 creatures were non-influential.
Here is where Liu Shu and other World Trees differed greatly. Take Etheria, for example. That priest was a Level 99, but Liu Shu didn’t dismiss her. She gave her attention, discovered incredible potential, and made sure to nourish and guide her. Etheria was also just an example among many.
After all, according to Liu Shu’s education system, detecting raw gems like her was easy. Liu Shu believed that she should give everyone equal opportunities, but talent and effort were what distinguished ordinary individuals from those who became generals, leaders, and economic powerhouses.
In the end, Balaya glanced at Danlier’s expression and spoke. "That Heavenly Willow must go. She is a threat. If you don’t deal with her now that she is weak, she will be able to swallow everything around her and become a true problem."
Danlier nodded non-committally. "I understand. Sorry for bothering you, Lady Balaya."
Balaya looked at her and spoke one last thing. "I told Deadly Petal to invade her way." Then, she left.
Danlier, who was about to start her plans, felt her body stiffen and her face crumple. ’Why would she rile up that crazy World Tree?’
Don’t let her name distract you from the fact that Deadly Petal was named as such because her way of expanding was more brutal than the average World Tree. Kill everything that challenges you and replace it with your own. That was Deadly Petal’s way of expansion.
