Chương 516: A Natural Disaster.

Dain, the man ruling the Abyssal Void Nexus in Ceperet, looked at the information on his desk with an ugly expression.

"How did we allow another Fourth Energy Cycle World Tree to be born?" The information in the document he was reading explained almost everything that happened during the battle between the five <Fourth Energy Cycles> and the serpents. The existence of those 10 serpents was clearly abnormal, so after using resources to look across the ocean and into the Wild Continent, they finally managed to see Liu Shu's main body.

This method was expensive, and they only used it when it became too difficult to approach a World Tree. Moreover, the information it gave was limited. It would show a few images and also give an estimate in terms of power. The results were something that Dain didn't want to believe.

"Tianlian Liu Shu… over 5, 500 meters tall, with an aura that doesn't lose out to Verdant Skyflower, and a city full of powerful trees." That was the summary he received. He read it again, and he just couldn't believe it.

"How? How did a World Tree grow this much right under our noses?" Forget about underestimating; Dain felt that there was a conspiracy of some sort going on in his power.

"Are there World Tree supporters secretly hiding in our ranks?" It wouldn't be the first time this has happened. As a power that rejected the natural order, it was more than normal for people who changed sides or sympathized with the other side, even after the indoctrination and propaganda. However, he denied it very quickly. There had been checks not too long ago, so it was not possible for spies to infiltrate that deep.

Wanting to crack this mystery, Dain asked his secretaries to take out all the information they recorded on Tianlian Liu Shu in chronological order and give it to him. And so, for the following two days, Dain understood what happened. He smiled, incredulous.

"We got played… No. It was different. The other party didn't purposely stop the spread of information. She was just too strong, and the people who had information on her seemed to have mistaken her for a weak World Tree. Overconfident, all armies that went to take her down became her nourishment." Dain sighed deeply.

"She didn't grow this fast out of nowhere… We actually created her through millions of sacrifices." If they had left her alone, forget reaching her current heights. Dain knew that this World Tree would've fallen when they decided to take everything over. He wanted to blame someone, but curiously, everyone who was to blame was dead. Killed by that World Tree. This gave him a stifling feeling, as if he was trying to breathe deeply but unable to fill his lungs.

"How do we even deal with her?" Dain muttered, confused.

"She is a <Fourth Energy Cycle>, her strength comparable to Verdant Skyflower. She should have… Let's be generous. 100 <Fourth Energy Cycle> subordinates. Moreover, the city she lives in is made out of powerful trees, so attacking her is a nightmare. The army would need to fight its way in after pushing through the continent's terrain."

"... It's impossible." He was stunned when he reached this conclusion.

"We actually don't have enough military power to take her down. On the contrary, attacking her would just feed her even more. Plus, the other three superpowers will not stay still after we attack the Wild Continent." Dain's head started to hurt. All his plans, all his careful maneuvers, crushed by a single World Tree that appeared out of nowhere.

"What is this? Is there a divine creature making fun of me or something? Toying with me for its amusement?" While he was thinking deeply, someone knocked with urgency at his door.

"Come in." A woman entered with a solemn expression.

"Lord Dain, we've been besieged in our southern Dark Water City." Dain asked calmly.

"By whom?" The woman shook her head.

"We don't know. But it is a World Tree. We just can't identify this World Tree's roots." Dain's eyes flashed for a moment, and he moved down to the documents.

"Perhaps…" He moved his gaze back to the woman.

"What color are the roots?" The woman was confused, but she answered either way.

"They are large roots, colored mostly a light brown. They have blue glowing veins running across their length, pulsing with powerful vitality and power." Dain's lips arched in a wry smile.

"She is here…" He sighed and spoke aloud after standing up.

"Call all the available <Fourth Energy Cycles>. Dark Water City is our main naval military city. Still, prepare the long-range Artillery, and at my command, bombard the area. We are being besieged by a <Fourth Energy Cycle> World Tree." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The woman was confused about the orders until the last sentence left Dain's mouth.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly ran out, mobilizing everyone she could to send the messages out as fast as possible. A few hours ago, Liu Shu was spreading her roots around the coastline of the Abyssal Void Nexus Continent. In Ceperet, the seven main continents were all separated by oceans, so they could be considered seven big islands instead. While Liu Shu expanded, she noticed a city on the coast. The place had a large bay area, with fleets of ships occupying most of the free space.

The ships were metallic, with large bodies and runic weapons mounted on them.

'Hm… metallic ships. Did they use the buoyancy principle to keep them afloat? Science says that as long as the ship displaces as much water mass as it weighs, it will be kept afloat, regardless of the material it is made of.' Her roots poked out of the ground and caressed the hull of the ships, feeling the craftsmanship that went into them.

"This… It is quite interesting. While I hate to admit it, the Abyssal Void Nexus' craftsmanship is superb." Even then, with her Temple of Craft and the other buffs and buildings focused on helping them, Liu Shu believed that her country's crafters would reach this level quickly. It was just a matter of time. On the shore, children were playing with their family members, watching them jump into the water and climb back up the stairs.

These zones for playing in the water were walled off so no ship could enter and cause accidents. One of the children was about to jump when he saw something moving underwater. Multiple slithering shadows, faintly glowing in blue.

"What is that?" Another boy in the water shouted.

"Hey, hey! Have you gotten a fear of heights? Hahaha. Jump already, coward!" The boy frowned and spoke aloud.

"As if! You wouldn't have ever jumped if I hadn't pushed you off that one time!" The other boy shouted, his tone clearly joking.

"Yeah. What a good memory, the day I was a victim of attempted murder!" The one on the edge kept looking at the shadows below the water, his heart strangely anxious.

"Hey. You should come out of the water. There is something underwater."

"Huh?" The boy and the other children frowned and looked down. Of course, being so close to the surface, the waves didn't allow them to see anything. A few of them lowered their heads underwater and opened their eyes. What they saw made them scream and choke on the water. Below the water, Liu Shu's roots were covering the place, advancing like giant underwater serpents. Moreover, many of those roots would sprout upward, slowly covering the hulls of the ships.

The children who managed not to choke on water began screaming.

"G-Giant roots! There are giant roots underwater!" The parents who had been taking beverages nearby heard the screams and quickly stood up, going over, "What's wrong!"

"There is something—" But, before he could finish his words, deafening sounds burst all around. Everyone covered their ears and looked at the origin. The giant combat ships were crumbling, their solid metal hulls splitting like old wood as Liu Shu's roots coiled around them. The World Tree didn't care if there were people inside the ships or not; she dragged them underwater, creating large waves and powerful currents.

"DIANAA!" One mother shouted, horrified, as those currents dragged her daughter away. Liu Shu looked at them only for a second before turning away. Before coming here, she had already been thinking about what to do with the "innocent" population. But what could she do, assimilate them? Most of these people will probably lose their parents, mothers, sons, and daughters to her.

As she fought the armies of the nexus, probably over 70% of the population would be either directly or indirectly affected by her destruction.

'In the end, for the Void Nexus People, I am the great evil. I am the one who will break their normalcy. There is no convincing, as these people will always hate me. Even after using my titles, there might appear a great evil amongst them that will want revenge for what I am about to do.' Liu Shu knew that by being forgiving and taking these casualties into account, she would be doing harm to herself. She understood that she needed to embody who she was for the Nexus. A natural disaster.

'When attacking their continent, I must not see anything other than seeking their destruction. Because… I am their retribution. All the lives they've taken, all the corruption they've spread. I have become the one who purges this place.' Taking a deep breath, Liu Shu cut off her voice receptors so as not to hear the horrid cries full of pain and tragedy. Her energy pulsed, traveling hundreds of kilometers in just a few instants, and then it enveloped her roots, giving them strength.

Then, the roots lifted the warships above the sea and threw them upward towards the city. Everyone in the city opened their eyes wide as giant metal ships took flight, their shadows casting over the city. Their terrifying humming of their metal bodies collapsing was the only warning before gravity did its work and brought everything down. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All the ships collapsed and created chaos, explosions occurring as the fuel ignited and caused chemical chain reactions.

System messages of the death of people filled her gaze. [You've killed a <Ceperet Human Level 0>.] [You'll lose 89, 800 Experience Points…] [Analyzing situation.] [Experience Point penalty waived due to the War situation.]'Level 0…' The meaning of those words filled Liu Shu's heart with complexity. The images of Sylvia, Pyara, Dewna, Eluan, and her other children flashed in her mind for a moment. Still, she couldn't stop.

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Shu steeled her nerves and continued throwing the ships all over the city. The damage was indiscriminate, and death surrounded the area as the shattered remains of the buildings and ships killed tens of thousands. Then, Liu Shu's roots rose into the air from the sea, and began flattening everything in her wake. Nothing could stop the power of the <Fourth Energy Cycle> World Tree.

"Nexus… Let's start our final battle in Ceperet."