On the deserted plain to the west of Solinburg, a plant of unprecedented scale covered the sky on the scorched earth. Its scale was beyond human imagination, even... beyond Gawain's imagination.
Rather than saying that it is a tree, it is better to say that it is a small forest centered on a trunk and supported by countless pillars that look like aerial roots.
Thick dark brown tree trunks grow out of the cracks in the ground, entwined with vines, moss, and a large number of unnamed flowers. A tree canopy that is almost the same size as the nearby Solinburg is supported at a height of 100 meters, layered upon layer Two-thirds of the stacked green leaves cover the plain area, and one-third has covered the sky above Solinburg. Many "pillars" with two or three people embracing each other hang down from the canopy, supporting the canopy in an orderly manner. , connected to the earth, on those pillars, there are also a variety of symbiotic plants growing, lush and vibrant.
And under the entire giant "giant tree", the originally scorched earth western plain of Solimbo has been covered by large expanses of flowers, grasses, and shrubs. The source of clusters of disaster outbreaks, I dare not imagine that it was once burned to a piece of scorched earth by artillery fire and burners...
Amber's exclamation was completely justified, because even Gao Wen's eyes widened in surprise.
"This... is a bit beyond my expectation," Gao Wen blinked, "No wonder the previous report said that this thing is indescribable... Even if you take a photo, it is difficult to show its scale."
"I feel that this thing is bigger than the tree of origin in the legends of the elves," Amber muttered to herself, "And this thing still... grows like this in a few days?"
"That's what the report said," Gao Wen frowned, "the soldiers won't lie about this... What's going on?"
The convoy continued to drive towards the temporary camp at the foot of the giant tree. Gawain poked his head out of the car window and looked further away. He saw some collapsed sentry towers and tent-like buildings in the lush vegetation area at the foot of the giant tree. Those destroyed camp facilities have been integrated with the aerial roots or bushes spreading from giant trees, and the surface is covered with lush vegetation, as mentioned in the report:
When the giant tree suddenly emerged from the ground, the soldiers monitoring the camp only had time to evacuate personnel and some supplies, and the rest were swallowed up by the plants within 24 hours.
Therefore, the urgently transferred monitoring force established a temporary camp outside the radiation range of this giant tree, and there are still soldiers who keep an eye on the movement of the giant tree day and night, in order to prevent this thing from suddenly expanding again, and give the temporary camp to "Eat in".
The closer you get, the stronger the feeling of shock brought by the giant tree, it stands tall in sight like a castle piled up with plants (in fact, its scale is larger than the castle), but apart from the huge In addition to the oppressive force, it has an incredible holiness and magnificence. Gawain vaguely felt that this area was shrouded in a magical environment. It was very weak and almost hidden in the normal natural magical background, and... Seemingly harmless.
The vehicle stopped at the gate of the camp, and as soon as it stopped, a heroic young female knight came to the vehicle: "Your Majesty! I salute you!"
Gawain got out of the car and nodded to the female knight: "Margarita, it seems that you have taken over here."
This female knight is Margarita, who was born in Kant. She is one of Walder Peric's subordinates, but because of her outstanding ability, Walder often sends her to perform tasks outside the Rock Fortress. This is to increase her strength. Qualifications and experience can be regarded as the special care that the old knight gave to his outstanding subordinates.
After the establishment of the empire, Margarita's main task was to assist Byron to clean up the remaining crystal cluster monsters on the Holy Spirit Plain, and to establish a series of emergency magic network hubs in the process to form a temporary communication network in the eastern and central regions of the empire. When the situation happened in Sorinburg, she happened to be leading the troops to sweep up the crystal clusters near the crossing of the inclined forest. As the highest-ranking commander in this area, she quickly took over this "emergency mission". The temporary name given to this giant tree in the book) is the person in charge of the surrounding camps.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Margarita nodded with a serious expression, "We have established new monitoring posts on the south and east of this 'plant'. The original monitoring camps have been swallowed by the plants that popped up suddenly. The surveillance post looks safe now."
"How is the current situation?" Gawain raised his head and asked while looking up at the canopy that blocked the sky, "Is it still growing? I heard that it swallowed the first layer of trees within forty-eight hours. Surveillance camp, the canopy stretches over the walls of Thorinburg... ”
"It's still growing slowly, but it has slowed down to almost negligible level since twelve hours ago. The druids at the camp preliminarily judged that its 'explosive growth period' should have ended, within 24 hours at most. , its expansion will stop and enter the equilibrium stage, as for what will happen after that, it is still unclear.”
"What about casualties?" Gao Wen asked immediately.
"No soldier was killed, everyone evacuated in time, only three soldiers were slightly injured while carrying supplies, and..."
Margarita frowned at this point, as if what she was going to say was too strange, and she needed to organize her words. She pondered for a while before continuing: "And I don't know if it is the influence of this giant tree, the wounded soldier The healing speed of the three people is much faster than normal. Without the use of alchemy potions, the wounds of the three people healed within an hour. I did some tests and confirmed that there is a strange environment around the giant tree that can warm and nourish vitality. Everyone's physical strength and energy can be restored quickly, and minor injuries can also be healed quickly."
"Oh?" Gao Wen couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and suddenly remembered the subtle magical environment he felt just now... It didn't seem to be an illusion.
"It feels as if the entire area is shrouded in a continuous healing technique, but neither the druids nor the magic observers have found any formed magic fluctuations. This giant tree is using a method that we can't understand. Unleashing power... This is beyond the existing magic theory," Margarita continued, "We are currently conducting further observations and calculations on the magic field around Solinburg, but its scale is too large, and it has exceeded the current For any kind of observation eyepiece or measurement of the perception limit of spells, conventional methods may be difficult to describe its spell model... "
"It's okay, take your time, I'm afraid this thing is enough for us to study for a long time..." Gawain breathed out, and walked into the camp, "Let's talk as we walk."
The entourage immediately followed, including Bud Wendell, who is still in the "half escort" state, and Pittman, who is a senior consultant.
When walking towards the giant tree, Bud couldn't help raising his head, and glanced at this miraculous plant with undisguised astonishment, while Pittman next to him asked casually: "Do you know this thing?" How did it come here?"
"...This is beyond my cognition," Bud said honestly, "To be honest, although I have lived in the end of all things for many years, I am only a middle-level priest. In the secret plans I have come into contact with... There is nothing related to this tree."
Pittman curled his lips: "I was expecting you to know more than me... But after so many years, you are only a middle class..."
Bud smiled awkwardly, but soon vaguely felt that Pittman's words seemed to have some extra content, but before he had time to speak, Pittman had already walked forward.
In front of the team, Margarita was still reporting to Gao Wen the information gathered by the monitoring camp:
"... It is already certain that this plant grew out of the lair of the End of All Things Society. Its root system is rooted in the crack of an astonishing scale, and its underground part should have a more complicated and larger structure...
"At the suggestion of the druids, we dug up part of the land in the east of Solinburg and the south of the inclined forest crossing, and indeed found a large-scale root system of unknown origin...
"These plants that grow along with the giant trees have also been inspected, and the preliminary results found no abnormalities. Many plants are common species, and some that are difficult to identify should also be subspecies that grow in remote areas...
"We tested the non-toxic ones on animals and found they could even be eaten...
"There is a root structure with gaps in the trunk of the giant tree. A large number of roots, underground rocks and building walls together form a complex underground passage. We suspect that the passage can enter the depths of the lair of the Death Society, but inside There is a very complex magical reaction, according to your instructions, we have not yet explored it...
"We set up a post and some lighting equipment near the main trunk. Its canopy is too large, and the light in the central area is very poor. It is difficult to see even at noon, and additional lighting is necessary.
"We haven't explored its canopy yet, also because it's too dangerous, and the deep layer of the canopy seems to be growing and changing slowly, and it's not stable yet..."
"That's right." After Margarita's report was over, Gawain nodded with satisfaction, "The information is timely and detailed."
Margarita lowered her head: "This is what I should do."
Gao Wen hummed, and looked at the huge tree trunk in the distance, which was as huge as a giant tower, and seemed to be made of countless vines intertwined with each other: "Let's go directly to the 'trunk' area."
Margarita subconsciously said: "This may be a little dangerous, your status is honorable..."
"First, I came here to check the situation for myself, otherwise staying in the command post of the camp is no different from staying in the palace; second, I am a legend anyway, how can I be so fragile, let alone where we are going It is a relatively safe surface area that has already been explored; the third..." Gawain glanced at the female knight in front of him, and patted the latter on the shoulder, "Don't always pay attention to the issue of 'nobility', Cecil pays attention to It’s about doing your duty.”
Margarita was stunned for a moment, and while she was briefly stunned, Gawain had already taken big strides, walking along a path cleared by the soldiers towards the giant tree trunk in the distance.
The female knight quickly followed.
The shadows caused by the huge treetops became thicker and darker as they moved towards the main trunk. The soldiers in the camp carved out a path among the grass and bushes that grew wildly that night. The magic spar lamp became the only light source to dispel the darkness. Gawain walked along this temporary road, and from time to time he would hear soft rustling sounds nearby, which were the swaying sounds of vegetation.
Although the growth of the giant tree itself has stopped, the abnormal vitality brought by the giant tree still continues to play a role. Until now, there are still new plants emerging from the scorched earth, filling this land full of vitality that suddenly fell.
After advancing for a while, Gawain came to the root of the giant tree.
The tower-like trunk and the huge intertwined root system that drilled out of the soil under the trunk appeared before his eyes.
Large and small temporary brackets were fixed between the nearby roots and rocks, and high-power magic spar lamps were hung on the brackets and the surface of the tree trunk above. The artificial lights dispelled the darkness here and allowed Gawain to see clearly. The "entrance" between those disc-shaped roots.
As Margarita said, there is indeed an entrance there, as if it was a specially grown gate. The two herringbone-shaped roots formed a triangular gap in the lower part of the trunk. The gap is so wide that it can even be seen visually. A "Warhammer-i" tank was driven in, and there was some faint light inside, which seemed to be the shimmer brought by some kind of glowing moss.
Amber stood in front of the entrance, poked her head to take a look inside, and came back two seconds later: "Oh my god, it's a little scary inside..."
Gawain looked at the shame of all things with strange eyes: "You were born in the Shadow Fortress anyway, and I didn't see you cowardly when I stole the grave, so why are you afraid of such darkness?"
Amber immediately opened her eyes and put her hands on her hips: "Am I afraid of the dark? I have five senses! I don't know what's going on here, but I always feel that the entire underground space and a large area around it are 'alive' ... Hey, how about creepy!"
Gao Wen didn't pay attention to Amber's explanation and boasting in the first half, but after listening to the second half, he raised his head and glanced at the dark and deep canopy above.
"There's no doubt about it... Of course it's alive..."
He turned his head and glanced at Bud Wendell behind him.
"Are you ready?"