Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 262. Learning about the World Superpowers and Surroundings.

Knowing Fortuna’s background was a bit of help to Liu Shu when making a decision. And after what she heard, she didn’t really have much trust in Fortuna. After all, if she was that afraid of dying, wouldn’t she betray her in the future if a sufficiently strong person interfered again? Liu Shu couldn’t really afford to have that kind of liability in her ranks.

Imagine that Ignatia was more cowardly. Or, imagine that Flor didn’t have the courage to die for her and fight until her last breath. Imagine that the Sylvans didn’t care as much and were intimidated away by Lord Stormrider.

If the people closest to her weren’t brave enough in the past, her current situation would be much different. 

Still, even when she thought as such, Delia was an example that popped into her mind when thinking of the situation. Delia was someone who had been manipulated in the past, which almost caused her to receive heavy losses. Still, she chose to trust once, and the returns were incalculable. For example, Mareful City’s presence and support were essential during the last conflict. 

Being divided in thought, the World Tree spoke aloud and asked. “Fortuna. How heavily are you restricted? They should have placed something around you to prevent you from going out of control, right? I don’t believe that they would not place some… security measures around you.”

Fortuna saw that Liu Shu hadn’t given up after hearing about her past, and she was gladly surprised. When Liu Shu answered, she understood the tone of Liu Shu’s voice and also the way that the neighboring World Tree saw her.

“Well… Their security measure around me is Eila and a few <Arrays> around me.”

Hearing her words, Liu Shu became a bit apprehensive. “Hm… Arrays. They are not <Runic Fields>?”

“No. The science behind <Arrays> is much more suitable for extensive scale coverage. <Runes> are more suitable for buildings, tools, and similar.”

Liu Shu agreed with her words. She had extensive knowledge about Runes herself. With that in mind, she asked. “So, what are they? How would they react when you betray them? If you can be killed with just a thought, then whatever I think means nothing, right?”

“Killed?” Fortuna asked, confused. “The arrays are not that barbaric, Tianlian Liu Shu. The arrays around me are all a way to tell them information about myself. There are no harmful arrays.”

“Huh? Then, how do they keep you under their control?”

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Fortuna said, amused. “If they know everything about me, including my stat page, then it’s easy to send someone that can easily subjugate me, is it not? Eila Neoflora was sent at first because of that. Her affinity with lightning and strong willpower is a perfect counter to me. She is too quick for my roots and branches to land, and her attacks are very effective. Then, her mental defense is high enough to resist attacks from me.”

“Wait…” Liu Shu was a bit confused. “Don’t these powers place World Trees under their control by force?”

“Hm…” Fortuna answered, her words a bit different from what Liu Shu would expect. “They are powers trying to expand. If they find a ruler of the land they want to conquer, they will ask them to become subjects or be eliminated. I am sure your people have done that with towns around you.” 

Liu Shu paused, and Fortuna explained. “In the Empire’s case, I am the little towns around you, and you are the Empire. Once I joined, they would just send a few ‘overseers’ to ensure I didn’t betray them. And if I do, I’ll be classified as someone who betrayed the <Azure Rose Confederation>.” 

This information came as a surprise. ‘Looking at it from the <Azure Rose Confederation>’s perspective… That’s reasonable enough…’

“And… What happens when two World Trees from the Confederation meet?”

Fortuna spoke, her tone unsure. “Well, I’ve been around for little over a century, so I can’t tell you for sure. However, from what I learned, they would either create borders or face each other. Similar to two wild World Trees, the main difference is that the <Azure Rose Confederation> would keep an eye out so that no enemies interfere, taking advantage of the winner’s weakened state.”

“Oh… That’s very… reasonable.”

Fortuna chuckled and spoke. “Did you think that the three main powers were some kind of tyrannical rulers? While they have their peculiarities, they all follow rules that everyone understands.” Fortuna paused a few moments and said. “The one that you need to be careful with is the Nexus. Those do indeed exploit World Trees. They are a power that believes in non-plant-life supremacy. Most heads of the Nexus will tell you that other than humans and beastkin, the rest are inferior creatures that are not too different from a wild animal.”

Liu Shu was confused once more. “But… I’ve seen Sylvans in their ranks before.”

“Why does that matter? There are creatures of all kinds, even those who wish for the demise of their own race.” 

Liu Shu paused and became thoughtful. After a few seconds, she remembered a piece of information and asked once more, “Okay. What about the main World Tree of the Confederation? Does she also abide by these rules and create borders with other World Trees?” 

“Indeed. If anything, she is the one who’s the most regulated of all World Trees. After all, the leaders at the top don’t really want things to escape their control.” 

“Ah… No wonder there is not one World Tree that had managed to slip ahead…”

There was always this question in the back of Liu Shu’s mind. “How come there isn’t a World Tree that has become THE World Tree?” Now, Fortuna just gave her the answer.

Fortuna asked, hearing Liu Shu’s words. “Slip ahead? What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Liu Shu muttered. “I was speaking to myself.” Then, she changed the subject. “Anyway, Fortuna, I’ll go and do my things for a bit. Speak to you later.”

Fortuna answered, her soft and ethereal voice sounding peaceful. “Sure. Go on.” 

‘Wah… I learned so many things!’ Liu Shu couldn’t help but think about everything she heard from the older World Tree. ‘Speaking of which…’ 

“Wert!”

The man was leaning back on his chair, reading a few documents. Liu Shu’s sudden intrusion made his heart jump. “Woah! Big girl, are you going to appear so suddenly every time?”

Liu Shu giggled. “Silly Wert, how else do you want me to appear? Should I knock on the door or something?”

Wert blinked twice. “That’s fair.” He smiled and asked, looking through his window toward the gorgeous and massive World Tree. “Well, what’s wrong, Liu Shu? Anything that you want to ask?”

“Yes~.” Liu Shu asked. “What other World Trees are nearby? When will I meet with the next one? What about Life Trees? I have yet to encounter one.”

Wert paused and sighed. “You finally asked, eh? However, what about Fortuna? Have you already decided when you’ll deal with her? It won’t be easy, so you need to be prepared.”

Without revealing much, Liu Shu spoke. “Don’t worry. I am already on it.”

“Sure.” Wert smiled and stood up, walking toward one of the shelves. “Let’s see… I have that information around here.” Fiddling through the large stacks of papers, Wert noticed a relatively thin notebook and smiled. “Here you are.”

He took it out and returned to his desk. “This is the information I have on nearby Life Trees and World Trees.”

Wert saw a few roots appearing from the floor and blinked. “Hey, are you going to eat it? I only have one!” 

Liu Shu snatched it and humphed. “I’ll print it out for you in the library later. Mariane will tell you when it is printed.”

Wert’s eyebrow trembled as the roots dragged the book into the floor. ‘Sigh… My hard work… Well, the printed version should be more accurate than what I’ve written. All the books Liu Shu has reprinted have ended up being much better in both accuracy and readability.’

Meanwhile, the World Tree swallowed the book, and the information Wert had gathered entered into her mind. “Oh~, so it is like this… I see.”

The surrounding provinces were <Veiled Amber Marshlands Province>, <Glimmering Stone Peaks Province>, <Ironwood Highland Province>, <Deep Prairie Merchant Province>, and <Sunbound Shores Province>, with <White Forest Province> being the one Liu Shu currently resided in.

Combining all the other provinces, there were a total of three known World Tree Cities and seven Life Tree Cities. Those in the wild were unregistered, so Wert didn’t get information about them. ‘Oho~, three World Trees and seven Life Trees! Let’s see… the World Trees are in… Veiled Amber Marshlands, Glimmering Stone Peaks, and Ironwood Highland. Meanwhile, the Life Trees reside in all the provinces, including ours!’

The <White Forest Province> had one Life Tree City further east from Sirol City. Their province was cornered in the local map because they had the <Dark Aether Swamp> below them, while to their west, they had the <Wall Forest>.

Overall, the state that most of these provinces were part of was situated in the upper right corner of the continent. ‘So, there are villages, towns, cities, provinces, and then states… I see. What’s the name of our state?’

Liu Shu didn’t give it much importance. She would probably hear it eventually as people talked about many things. ‘Okay, so the Deep Prairie land, straight above us… They only have a Life Tree…’

Liu Shu was going to continue reviewing the information, but she paused. “Well, whatever. When I extend my roots there, I will know about them… speaking of that, I wonder what Level I will need to reach to reach their provinces with my roots. They are more than a hundred kilometers away! The Glimmering Stone Peaks are more than 400 kilometers away…”

The World Tree knew that there would be two much higher challenges very close to her before she expanded in any direction. ‘The <Dark Aether Swamp> and <Wall Forest>... I hope they are not too difficult to assimilate.’ Liu Shu noticed a large group suddenly popping up in her domain range, and she looked over curiously. ‘Who are they?’

The words Fortuna said suddenly flickered in her mind, and looking at the leader of the group wearing luxurious clothes that she had never seen her inhabitants wear, she concluded that this person was the baron. 

The man Liu Shu was observing suddenly spoke, his tone doubtful. “Commander In Chief, are you sure we don’t need to circle more outward? What if we enter the World Tree’s domain?”

“Baron Lorbase, rest easy. From what I’ve received, That World Tree’s roots extend around 15 kilometers from Golden Sap City; we are currently around 22 kilometers from her. She won’t even know that we are crossing through here.”

Liu Shu, who was blankly staring at them, asked herself. ‘22 kilometers already? My roots have reached far! Moreover, I still feel a lot of ease when streeeetching~. Perhaps I’ll reach thirty kilometers! Hehehe, I am awesome~.’

If the commander had heard Liu Shu’s thoughts, he would’ve probably spat blood out of indignation. Then, Liu Shu proceeded to listen to what they were saying, and she learned that they were going to the sects she defeated in the past to gather people to attack her. 

Their gesture almost moved Liu Shu. ‘You are gathering so much fertilizer for me! If you ever attack me, I promise to make it quick when I nom you!’