The Girl Who Surfaced

The girl's face on the Wisdom Tree revealed a self-mocking smile.

The monsters within the translucent projection had originally been crystalline and transparent, like glass crafts, visible at a single glance.

But as human memories, emotions, and thoughts were continuously poured into them, it was as though vast quantities of used paint had been injected into clear water. Gradually, they became kaleidoscopic and unfathomable.

"Some monsters learned to pay lip service while acting against orders, to preserve their strength. Faced with the Steel Defense Line armed to the teeth, they no longer charged in and fought head-on. Instead, they secretly curled up in the rear, coldly watching other monsters go forward to die before stepping in to reap the gains.

The Wisdom Tree said helplessly, "Some monsters learned to hoard crystals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, even slaughtering their own kind to obtain crystal nuclei and Nerve Balls of the same nature as themselves, accelerating their cultivation and evolution.

"You know, most monsters were not naturally inclined to turn their claws on their own kind. But after human minds were injected into them, they became less and less hesitant or softhearted when devouring their own kind. They could even derive intense pleasure from devouring one another.

"Still other monster tribes grew ever larger, and their brain domains became increasingly complex, as bottomless as swamps. They often broke away from my Neural Network. Whenever my tendrils reached out to explore them, the only thing I could sense was writhing mist.

"On several occasions, my true body was even attacked by monsters!

"When I had first been born, I had also suffered many monster attacks. But those attacks had merely been ordinary foraging. The monsters simply wanted to fill their stomachs and survive. The attackers harbored no malice toward me at