Normalcy and Distortion

The Overmind did not dwell on wild speculations for long.

Once the King Worm's shell had fully hardened and its air sacs were filled with helium, it began controlling the King Worm's ascent into the sky.

The King Worm's speed was relatively slow, but that was only compared to the various high-speed fighters and agile flying units of the interstellar age. The fact that it could fly from the ground into space on its own was enough to show that, no matter how slow it was, it could not be that slow.

Before long, the King Worm passed through the clouds and continued flying upward.

As its altitude steadily increased, the atmosphere around the King Worm gradually began to change. Through the King Worm's senses, it could clearly perceive that the air here contained a kind of energy vastly different from psionic energy, and as it climbed higher, the density of that energy continued to increase.

Once the King Worm reached a certain altitude, it seemed to enter an energy storm. Violent gales made it extremely difficult for the King Worm to maintain its balance, while the wind seemed filled with blades that left scar after scar across its shell.

Relentless lightning accompanied it as well. Arcs of electricity connecting the clouds in every direction nearly turned the King Worm into a glowing object.

And as the King Worm continued rising, these phenomena only grew stronger along with the increasing energy density.

The King Worm finally stopped.

Any higher, and its shell would begin to crack.

By then, the King Worm was already several hundred kilometers above the ground. On most rocky planets, even if it had not reached space, it would at least have entered the upper atmosphere. Yet the air pressure around it had not dropped at all—in fact, it was even slightly higher than at ground level—and the sky remained a brilliant blue.

Looking down at the land below.

A flat, dark-green continent stretched endlessly in every direction, without the slightest curvature. It could even vaguely make out the "edge of the world."

After giving the King Worm the command to return, the Overmind's consciousness left its body.

Leaning back on its throne, the Overmind could not help but mutter, A flat earth beneath a dome of heaven...

At the edge of the creep.

The pointy-eared, hooded man stopped at the boundary of the creep-covered region.

Before his leather boots, uneven fungal filaments were spreading outward at a visible pace. Wherever they passed, grass and trees withered away.

He removed his hood, revealing long green hair lush as fresh jade, and carefully examined the filaments.

Is this a fungus? No, it seems capable of consuming sunlight and carbon dioxide, yet it does not release oxygen. Its microscopic structure bears the characteristics of fungal hyphae, but it can also expand and contract like muscle fibers... A very peculiar life-form, but without a doubt—

The hooded man bent down, releasing a faint green glow from his hand.

This is an organism with extraordinarily vigorous vitality, and it shows no signs of corruption. To grow into something like this without corruption... it must be an epic species that escaped from the Great Labyrinth.

So this powerful mushroom was what frightened the forest.

During his previous distant patrols, he had seen several mushroom forests dense as woodland, but none as exaggerated as this one.

But they were not fanatics like the high elves, obsessed with preserving a "pure ecosystem" in its original state. They would not place themselves above nature and sit in judgment over it.

So long as there was no distortion or corruption, and it did not endanger the Mother Tree, then everything was simply nature's best arrangement.

Speaking of the Mother Tree...

The hooded man removed the waterskin from his waist. It was made from specially treated leaves.

After taking two sips and emptying it, he used an obsidian dagger hanging at his waist to pick up some creep tissue and seal it inside the waterskin, maintaining its vitality with the green glow.

This life-form, so full of vitality and capable of adapting to environments under sunlight, may be able to help the Mother Tree.

Hm?

Just as he sealed the waterskin shut, the hooded man seemed to sense something. He reached into the soil and pinched out a beetle whose body was entangled in several thin fungal filaments.

He could feel that the beetle's body was undergoing drastic changes. Its behavior was being controlled, and its body was beginning to be enslaved by the creep through some unknown means.

Yet his expression did not change much.

Powerful fungi are always linked to infection. He alone knew more than a dozen kinds of fungi capable of controlling insect behavior. He had even seen moo mushrooms in mushroom forests before—a breed of cattle covered in mushrooms.

It was said that in the human world, there was also a fungus that lay dormant inside insects during winter and grew a rod-like fruiting body in summer, which was used as a miracle medicine.

So long as it is not corruption, not a fall of the soul, then it is no different from what happens every day in nature—merely the strong devouring the weak.

Securing the waterskin back at his waist, the hooded man stepped into the creep-covered area and began running across the creep.

But the creep neither supported his steps nor slowed him down. It did not even do the most basic thing of sticking to his feet.

The hooded man's figure was like a passing breeze, provoking no reaction from the creep whatsoever.

This was one reason he was not particularly concerned about the anomaly here. Whether it was the creep's displayed ability to consume or infect, neither could do anything to him—or to the true apex predators of this forest, those powerful epic beasts.

As the hooded man walked through the creep-covered region, he observed it.

This fungus-like life-form appears capable of altering its flexibility at will. Its internal honeycomb structure allows it to be both hard and soft. Some structures extending from the creep even give me the sensation of being watched, as though they possess sensory functions.

Infected organisms develop large numbers of tumors and grow arthropod-like limbs. This fungus likely has a highly symbiotic relationship with some insectoid creature, or perhaps insectoid creatures are its ultimate hosts.

The infected gain greatly increased strength and display signs of extreme aggression, photophobia, and sluggishness. The fungus seems to provide them with nutrients; the infected no longer feed, and animals with different diets coexist peacefully...

Hm? What is this?

For the first time, emotion stirred on the hooded man's otherwise calm face.

Heart Tree! It's a Heart Tree! And an incomparably powerful Heart Tree!

This plant, which only appeared in regions overflowing with life and evolved from the trees with the greatest vitality, was a natural node of nature's power within an area.

Because each region differed in hydrology, terrain, ecology, and species, every Heart Tree was unique.

Through a Heart Tree, one could further refine their path of nature, even easily enter the state of "Soul Pact with All Spirits"!

What incredible luck that he had acted on a whim and undertaken this long expedition.

Racing along at high speed, it did not take him long to enter the fungal carpet's core region—the area shrouded in the strange trees' green radiance...