The intelligence director adjusted his glasses, his tone grave.
"According to our intelligence, this tree appeared in the Ecological Park inside Great Xia's New Kyoto Underground City."
"A month ago, it didn't look like this. The park was just an ordinary ecological park."
"But now, there is only this one tree, and they have modified the Underground City for it."
"Great Xia seems to intend to use this tree to replace the original ecological recycling system."
He paused, his voice growing more certain.
"Sir, setting aside how Great Xia transplanted a tree this enormous."
"You must understand that the tallest trees on Blue Star are only a little over a hundred meters tall."
"A plant of this size could not possibly grow naturally, especially underground without sunlight!"
"It could only have come from..."
He raised a hand and pointed at the photograph.
"An underground world."
Mars stared fixedly at the photograph, veins bulging at his temples.
"Are you sure this isn't photoshopped?"
"You're not taking taxpayers' money to fool me?"
The intelligence director shook his head.
"Sir, I stake my career on it. This photograph is absolutely genuine, with no signs of Photoshop manipulation."
"Our technical team has repeatedly verified its authenticity."
"This tree really exists."
"And its appearance and leaves belong to a species that simply doesn't exist on Blue Star!"
"This further confirms that there is very likely a connection to an underground world beneath that Great Xia military base."
At this, Mars continued studying the photograph.
Wait, something's wrong!
Was this tree actually glowing faintly?
He seemed to see glimmering green starlight drifting down in the photograph.
Mars's pupils abruptly contracted.
He brought the photograph close to his eyes and examined it carefully.
Those green specks of light were indeed drifting down from the canopy!
Like fireflies,