Chương 385: Verdantia's Delegation Goes To Hara's City.

"A delegation?" The World Tree heard Liu Shu's words and was somewhat hesitant. Of course, as a Third Energy Cycle World Tree, she was not stupid. While speaking with Liu Shu, she noticed plenty of contradicting details. Comparing what she had been told and what she was seeing, the difference was like day and night. With that in mind, the World Tree was also curious as to why the people leading the city she was in lied to her. Liu Shu commented.

"That's right~. It seems that the people in your city have a misunderstanding with me and my intentions. What I want is to expand. However, I won't uproot you but assimilate you. You can continue growing under my domain, and have your place." The World Tree was somewhat confused.

"Aren't you afraid that one of the World Trees you've assimilated will become too strong and usurp your place as the leading World Tree?" Liu Shu answered with boundless confidence.

"If a World Tree falls into my domain, they will only lag behind compared to my progress." The World Tree's core pulsed with surprise and shock. That sentence felt as if she was stating a fact, not an opinion. However, she was still not completely convinced.

"What about the growth of the World Trees under you? If two World Trees reach into another's domain, how will you solve it?" Liu Shu answered, confused.

"Huh? They can continue forward, of course. There is enough land underground for all of us, no?" The World Tree was stumped at her answer.

"... Well, you are not entirely wrong." Unless there were around a few hundred World Trees spreading in a single location, the chances of the soil being too cramped were rather small. After all, World Trees grew downwards as well, and nutrient-rich soil delved very deeply underground. Usually, that was not really the truth. After all, only the surface of a planet could house complex life.

Still, with the effects of the System on creatures of all sizes, those that had developed for underground habitats were plentiful. With that in mind, the World Tree temporarily decided to trust Liu Shu.

"Good, send your delegation then." Liu Shu commented, her tone quite light.

"If anything happens to any of them, I'll slaughter you and your entire city~. Be careful, Big Sister!"

"... I'll keep it in mind." A few kilometers away, Verdantia rode a horse-like beast while wearing elegant clothing and was accompanied by five other Sylvans. They were all people from the Liferoot family, who had assimilated quite nicely into Liu Shu's city.

"Lady Verdantia, what is your plan this time around?" Verdantia glanced at the five Sylvans lightly.

"We enter, ask them why they are defaming my cute Liu'er, and if the answer is unsatisfactory, we return and tell Liu Shu about it." The other five felt their lips twitching.

"Lady Verdantia, you just took over Lady Verena's position, so we understand that you are quite amateurish in political matters. However, you can't be so light about it." Verdantia glanced at the person who spoke, her green eyes flashing with a cold light.

"You will all be unsatisfied regardless of how I answer. What's the point of communicating properly if that's going to be the case?" That relatively old Sylvan felt the reproachful words get stuck in her throat. Verdantia snorted.

"I understand that Mother's decision might feel abrupt, and that I won my position just because I have received Liu Shu's favor. However…" Verdantia spoke imposingly.

"Receiving a World Tree's favor is a skill in itself. Not to mention, I am barely over forty years old and already at the <Third Energy Cycle>. Is any other junior in the family half as talented as I am? If so, we can carry out the cancelled tournament and fight. I'll take on that junior and everyone else by myself." Liu Shu was listening to their conversation, and she felt like screaming like a fangirl at Verdantia's attitude.

'She is so cool~!' Even her avatar was bouncing up and down in excitement on Tempestria's lap, making the poor Wind Sylvan suffer. None of them dared answer her. After all, Verdantia's strength was actually higher than theirs, and their ages were almost 10 times higher!

"Now that the stupid matters are solved, this is my actual plan. We'll go inside, and I want all of you to use Liu Shu's fruits as a way to bribe some of the higher-ups while speaking to them. Collect information and report everything back to me. Remember not to enter a conflict and give them an excuse to attack us within the city. Even if our strength is high, against an entire city, we might be unable to flee. Liu'er's auras don't reach deep into World Tree Cities, after all."

One of the Liferoot elders thought about it objectively and nodded.

"That's a good method. However, is it worth it to waste Lady Liu Shu's fruits on these people?" This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Verdantia glanced at her and spoke with a sigh.

"Don't be short-sighted like humans. How can a few fruits be as valuable as an extra allied World Tree? Even if we spent a year's stack of fruits, it would be worth it in the long run."

"Verdantia, you are approaching the edge of my domain, I won't be able to follow and protect you from here onwards." Verdantia's cold face flipped like a switch, becoming soft and loving.

"Don't worry, Liu'er. Nothing will happen to me. I am not that weak, not after the new D+ armor you made just for me!" Liu Shu answered, puzzled.

"I made it for all of you…" Verdantia ignored her words and hugged her body.

"Ahn~, I am surrounded by armor molded by your roots~. The only one in the world~!" The five Sylvans around Verdantia felt their faces spasm.

'I-Is it really okay to have Lady Verdantia as our leader? I feel as if she would sell the entire Liferoot family to Lady Liu Shu if Lady World Tree wanted it.' Thankfully, they didn't know that their "exaggerated" thoughts were the truth of how that scenario would turn out. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss. Once they crossed the border, Verdantia's group were quick to arrive at the walls. There was no one stopping them, and no extra incidents.

Once they were in front of the 20-meter-tall walls, they heard an elegant but soothing voice.

"Welcome to my Hara City." Even after hearing the World Tree's voice, Verdantia bowed while mounted on her horse-like mount without a hint of hurriedness.

"Thank you, Lady Hara. I hope our presence is not too abrupt." World Tree Hara was slightly surprised by Verdantia's indifference toward her. It was an uncommon reaction, to say the least. However, for Verdantia, who was used to dealing with Liu Shu's overwhelming aura and presence, Hara's aura was like a gentle breeze. The same couldn't be said for those accompanying Verdantia. The faces of the five Sylvans were filled with cautiousness and reverence.

After all, a World Tree's aura was all-encompassing and overwhelming for average people.

"No. It's not abrupt at all. I've been speaking with Tianlian Liu Shu, so I knew the size of your group and the strength as well beforehand. Don't worry, as long as you are in my city, I will protect you." Verdantia smiled politely while she looked at the tall World Tree that they could see towering above everything else.

"There is no problem." The doors to the city opened, and Verdantia could see a group of carriages approaching with around 500 guards surrounding them. Verdantia's eyebrows raised with suspicion.

'You are inside a World Tree City and still act so paranoid? Or is this a tactic to intimidate us?' Once the carriages and small army reached around 50 meters away from them, a group of relatively old humans and beastkin stepped down from them. They were accompanied by a few young servants who carried their luxurious togas and helped support their bodies. Verdantia jumped down from her mount as well, walking forward by herself with confidence.

Her attitude of approaching the small army without any extra support made the faces of a few of those leaders turn slightly uglier, but they quickly hid it. The reaction fell into Verdantia's eyes, though. She understood that it was probably a mix of both situations, being afraid and trying to intimidate her.

"Welcome, Delegation of the Golden Sap City. I hope our talks bloom like flowers in spring and plant seeds of future cooperation like in the windy autumn days." Verdantia didn't play by the rules, though. Talks like that were used when both sides were similar in strength. This time around, Liu Shu's strength was far greater than Hara's. Far from a talk between equals, it was a talk between the strong and the weak.

"The talks will be successful as long as your people surrender without fighting. Not only have you been deceiving your World Tree, but now you are deluded enough to bring out such an army to try to intimidate us." Verdantia saw the faces of these old people almost crack, and she smiled while raising her chin and acting like a thug.

"The faster you surrender, the better your World Tree's future. Don't hold back the immeasurable future of such a gorgeous creature only to satiate your lust for control and power."

"INSOLENT!" After the shout of one of the old leaders, sounds of weapons being drawn spread all around, the army pointing at Verdantia with cold faces. However, Verdantia didn't even flinch.

'You want to threaten me? Hehe… You still don't understand your current situation. To deal with trash like you, I don't even need to do anything. After all…'

"Lower your weapons!" The powerful presence of the World Tree spread in the surroundings, making almost everyone's face lose color.

'What are these people doing!?' Hara nearly attacked them when she saw those people threatening Verdantia. Liu Shu's threat was still vivid in her mind, and she wanted nothing bad to occur between the two sides. One of the old humans was startled by the World Tree's reaction. Usually, she was cold and distant, separated from political matters. The times that Hara had intervened during his lifetime could be counted with the fingers of both his hands!

Naturally, feeling self-important after living for such a long life on a powerful throne, the old man's face turned slightly red as he turned around and glared at World Tree Hara.

"Lady Hara! What do you mean by that!? This insolent brat is undermining our authority! We shouldn't bow down to them even if they have some strength!"

"Some strength!? Ignorant!" Hara scolded with some anger. She couldn't believe that such a doofus was in her city's government.

"My domain has long been surrounded by the World Tree that this person represents! Do you want to start a full-on war because of a few words toward you!? Selfish and ignorant! You are relegated from your position of consult from the city. Now, scram back to your residence for me!" The old man's eyes widened in disbelief. Then, he became angered and spoke aloud.

"What right do you have to do that!? It's by law that you can't be removed without voting!" Hara's voice turned a few notches colder.

"It seems that I've been too passive during the last centuries. Law? Against me? I am the law!" Verdantia laughed faintly.

'It seems that this will be easier than I expected.' After Hara's words, a few soldiers dragged that old man away, leaving the other leaders somewhat stifled. Of them, that man was one of the most influential ones. However, Hara had directly gotten rid of him with just a few words. In front of the World Tree, no one could raise their heads.