Chapter 383. Liu Shu Awakens. Four Years.

Once Liu Shu’s <World Tree Eye> spread, information flooded her mind as the massive changes that took place formed in her mind. Her incredibly powerful mind processed all the information, and after around 30 minutes, she was back to normal, able to sense and see everything within her domain. 

After the image of the world around her became clear, Liu Shu’s eyes in her World Tree body opened slightly, showing surprise. “Huh? How long have I been asleep?”

The city around her was enormous, with thousands of <Lignified Tree Houses> creating twisting streets. The number of people in the city was also numerous enough to leave her speechless. Of course, due to the limits in population created due to how many people usually die, the population couldn’t fill the city.

[Wisdom: Tianlian Liu Shu has been asleep for four years, three months, two weeks, and three days.]

Liu Shu read that message and frowned. Looking at the city that surrounded her, there was a sense of alienation. For our World Tree, not much time had actually passed. After all, during her Level Ups, Liu Shu was asleep. It was similar to going to take a nap, and the town you lived in had suddenly become a bustling city. “Four years… Then, I am already 22 years old? How many years of that time have I spent sleeping? It must be over 13 years…”

She started to check the surroundings. “Hm… The Explorer Association has created branches within the city due to how big it is. There is also a place dedicated to the Celestial Lotus Empire… Hm? Who are those people?”

Other than Galia and the other nine delegation people, Thalgryn’s 300 cavalry units and a few other workers had arrived and settled down in a single area. In total, the Celestial Lotus Empire had sent a group of around 20,000 workers and their families. This happened shortly after the war against Marlius’ army. 

Galia, noticing how truly important Liu Shu was, returned with the delegation and begged the higher-ups for new reinforcements. At first, they were met with swift denials. However, Cestia used her influence as a direct child of the <Celestial Lotus> to put pressure on those blocking her way and have an audience with her mother. 

Nobody knew what they talked about, but a week later, almost 20,000 crafters and over 140,000 family members started a mass migration. The other higher-ups, noticing that there were no military units, didn’t bother much and allowed it.

It was quite a sight when those people arrived. After all, their standards were that of the main continent. The weakest people were around D- rank, while the grand majority averaged between D+ and C- Tiers. For reference, Liu Shu herself was C Tier! 

Long gone were the times when she oppressed everyone with her Tier. Now, Liu Shu could be considered a relatively talented but common individual… Well, only if we talked about <Tier> and nothing else.

With the extra attributes her <Five Essence Branches> gave her, her strength was much higher than what she appeared to be. 

“Hm… So many people. There are also plenty of strong people. Look, a Level 54 over there, a Level 61 over there… Woah, who is that? A Level 71!”

Her attention focused on the armored man who looked like a knight. Once she did so, the man seemed to notice and turned his head toward her. “Lady World Tree?”

When she heard his low voice, Liu Shu realized that he was a man. After all, with such a thorough armor, it was difficult to distinguish at first glance. “Um… Hello! What is your name? You are so strong!” 

The man was slightly taken aback when he heard the World Tree’s actual voice. Until now, the only thing he heard in the past was a robotic voice that reached him through the <System>. Suddenly listening to the gentle, pure, and nature-like innocent voice of the World Tree, he didn’t know how to react. All his intentions of acting strong and trying to make a deal disappeared like a puff of smoke. “Ahem. Lady World Tree can call this one by his name, which is Hua Edharen. I am a knight that the Nexus enslaved. However, I was liberated and recently joined your offensive army.”

“Nexus…” Liu Shu’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Hua Edharen, who thought of himself as a very powerful creature, suddenly felt a mountain-like pressure falling on his shoulders. “Did you have anything to do with Amapola’s death?”

Hua Edharen’s face paled slightly under his helmet. ‘I’ve been arrogant.’ He looked at the gargantuan World Tree and realized that the head on top of the trunk was actually turned and looking straight at him with narrowed eyes. A smile of disbelief and slight fear appeared on his face as his pupils trembled. ‘I thought I could fight her… Delusional. How could an individual face such a creature who encompasses the World with their roots?’

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down his fiercely beating heart. “I had nothing to do with Lady Amapola’s death, Lady World Tree.”

Liu Shu glanced at him for a few seconds, and then her aura relaxed, dispersing the pressure around him. Hua Edharen gasped for air like a person who had been underwater for a long time. She hummed softly. “Sorry for that. I am still getting accustomed to my new strength.”

Hua Edharen laughed mirthlessly. “Don’t worry, Lady World Tree.”

Liu Shu giggled. “Well! Since you are part of the city, have fun!… Oh! Before I go, is Flor still the head of the city? Well, never mind, I found her. I’ll ask her myself. Bye!”

Hua Edharen blinked twice and took off his helmet, cleaning the sweat off his forehead. ‘Perhaps serving Lady Tianlian Liu Shu will be faster than my previous strategy if I want to take revenge. I should change my plans.’

Meanwhile, Flor was in the Ant Incubation room playing with a few children when a familiar presence surrounded her. The Flower Fairy’s eyes widened as the voice of her big baby spread in the room.

“Floooooor! I am awake! How have you been doing?”

The Flower Fairy felt a surge of emotions inside of her, and her eyes stung. “Liu Shu…” Tears fell down her cheeks, making Liu Shu panic. 

A few roots poked from the ground, coiling around the Flower Fairy. “F-Flor!? What happened? Who bullied you!? Tell me, and I’ll make them suffer!”

Hearing this familiar sentence, Flor laughed through her tears, “No one bullied me, love. I just… I missed you so much.” The Flower Fairy smiled beautifully as she spoke. “Thankfully, you are recovered… Thankfully, you are well.”

Hearing those words made Liu Shu feel a pang of pain in her core. She knew that Flor, due to her much longer lifespan and other situations, had lost almost everyone close to her. Caressing her face with her roots, Liu Shu spoke softly. “I am well, Flor. Don’t worry about me anymore, okay?”

Flor rubbed her face with the soft and smooth root and chuckled. “I won’t, baby.” She then spoke with a happy tone. “Oh! Liu Shu, your mother has evolved quite a lot during the time you were asleep! You might want to go and check on her.”

Liu Shu asked, confused. “Which mother?”

A surge of warmth spread in Flor’s body. The fact that Liu Shu didn’t link Tree with the word Mother meant that in the World Tree’s mind, Ignatia, Tree, and herself were on the same level. “It’s Tree who evolved.”

“Oh! Really!?” 

Hearing Liu Shu’s excitement made Flor chuckle. “Indeed. She has transformed into… Well, it’s a surprise. Ask her yourself.”

Liu Shu then proceeded to go from person to person to get the news of what happened during the last four years and the aftermath of the <Dark Aether Swamp>. Thankfully, Mariane seemed to have written down the events, which made it easy for Liu Shu to digest.

Speaking of books, Liu Shu was forced to digest a bunch of Super-City management books as Flor had requested in the past. She was somewhat dizzy after eating so many books at once.  

After she learned about everything, Liu Shu was baffled. ‘Woah… So much has changed. Hm… Let’s change the city’s layout a little bit first. Slowly so that no one notices. In about a year, I should be able to create a proper expansion layout. Also, to think that the <Dark Aether Swamp> is changing and being cleansed by the aftermath… Hehe, my sacrifice wasn’t in vain!’

Although attacking the <Dark Aether Swamp> back then was really stupid, the results ended up being good, even if she had to almost sacrifice quite a lot. Hence, the stone that was pressing on Liu Shu’s conscience finally dropped, making her feel liberated. ‘Hm… Since that little World Tree is still growing up, I should take over the Dark Aether Swamp so that it can grow without many complications.’  

She didn’t plan on protecting the little World Tree too much. However, if an unsolvable situation occurred, Liu Shu would be willing to block the major threats silently. She wouldn’t let her grow to become a greenhouse flower but also control her growth’s wildness to make it easy to swallow her later into her domain. 

“Welp.” Liu Shu’s eyes flashed with power as her core began mobilizing the hundreds of <Essence Cores> rotating inside of her. “Let’s expand.”

That day, the continent felt a slight tremor as Liu Shu’s aura flowed through her roots and struck the edges of her domain. A few people walking around couldn’t help but notice. 

“Huh? Earthquake?”

“Tsk, what are you scared about? A small little tremor like this is nothing.”

“What do you know? Some big earthquakes have a precedent before the big tremor arrives! We should be careful.”

“Well, with Lady World Tree keeping the land firm, I doubt any earthquake can damage things much.”

“You are underestimating the forces of nature!”

“World Trees are the forces of Nature!”

At the same time, Prarya couldn’t help but look around her. During the last four years, she had noticed the increasingly powerful aura emitted from the neighboring World Tree. To be honest, she had no plans of going against Liu Shu from a long time ago. Now that she noticed that Liu Shu had woken up, she sent a message. “Lady Liu Shu, I surrender.”

“Hm? Oh! Big Sister Prarya! Hehe, what surrendering? It is more like welcoming you into our growing family!” 

Hearing that Liu Shu’s personality hadn’t changed much even after gaining so much power, Prarya felt relieved and a surge of happiness. “Yes. I’ll become your big sister, then~.”

“Hehehe. Okaaay!” Liu Shu’s roots then started advancing at a terrifying pace toward Prarya’s body. Instinctively, such an action triggered some flight or fight responses from Prarya, making her use her roots to coil around Liu Shu’s and stop her. “W-Wait! L-Let me prepare my heart.”

Liu Shu didn’t mind and gently coaxed. “Don’t worry, Big Sister Prarya. Just let me in. I’ll be gentle, I promise~. You’ll only feel good when I am done with you, hehehe.”

Prarya’s feelings became complex. “Why… Are you wording it like that?”

Liu Shu giggled mischievously. “Hehehehehe. Here I come~.”

“O-Oy! Liu Shu! Stop it. You are tickling me. Ah! Liu Shuuuu!”

The people in Prarya’s City couldn’t help but turn and look at their shyly writhing World Tree. 

“… What’s wrong with Lady Prarya?”

“… Who knows? But I feel as if she is enjoying it. So strange.”

Thalgryn looked through the window and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is little Liu Shu awake?”

Prarya answered her with a strange voice. “She is so powerful and biggg! So much energy is flowing into meeee! Aahhhn~!”

Thalgryn’s lips spasmed. ‘What the hell is going on?’ 

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