Release

"Could they have discovered us?"

One individual voiced its guess. Whatever reason the speaker had for making a sound, it would not consciously keep its distance from the roots spreading from the Collectors. Only after discovering those roots creeping along the corners of the walls, blending into them with camouflage, could the speaker deliberately stay away.

"Impossible... We hid ourselves perfectly. There was no reason the planet's natives' visual systems could see us. Even the hearing-sensitive Serins wouldn't notice us by sound, let alone the residents inside this building."

"That's the only explanation. What else could it be?"

The individual who had raised the possibility asked in return. It could not think of any other reason why the speaker would still keep its distance without knowing anything about them. Organisms were merely more advanced machines; only after obtaining information from the outside world would they take targeted action.

If an organism could not obtain any information about the outside world, it naturally would not take targeted action.

After considering it from every angle, the Collectors could only conclude that the speaker had discovered the roots creeping along the wall corners by some method the Collectors did not yet understand.

"We've been discovered. How should we deal with this?"

This was the first time they had been found. Since the Rhizome began expanding across Planet Two, no native, no matter what kind, had ever been capable of discovering the Rhizome hidden in the corners, watching them.

Precisely because it was the first time, some Collectors could not help showing panic.

That panic was swiftly quelled by the Collectors who remained calm.

"Proceed according to the plan. Erase them. We cannot let the individual inside the building reveal information about us. That would widen the scope of the impact, making it troublesome