Mars stared at the screen, his eyes wide.
In the footage, an enormous tree towered over the wasteland.
Its trunk was as thick as a mountain, its surface patterned like coiled dragons and giving off a faint green glow.
Its branches and leaves spread out, blotting out the sky, its canopy spanning more than several hundred meters.
Even more absurdly, specks of fluorescent light drifted down between its leaves, dazzling against the gray sky.
"Measure its height!" Mars roared hoarsely.
The technician operated the controls with trembling fingers. A few seconds later, the data appeared.
"Five hundred... five hundred and sixty meters!"
The command center fell utterly silent.
Everyone froze in place, their minds blank.
Five hundred and sixty meters!
What did that mean?
It was considerably taller than Eagle Country's tallest skyscraper!
"How is that possible..." the technical adviser muttered.
"It's only been a little over a week since the nuclear war broke out!"
"No plant could survive the force of a nuclear explosion..."
"And..." His voice trembled.
"This tree didn't even exist before!"
Mars's head buzzed.
Before the nuclear war broke out, Eagle Country had never found any tree taller than a hundred meters in the territory of Great Xia's Antarctica Underground City.
In other words.
This tree had grown after the nuclear war!
It had grown over five hundred meters tall in a little over a week?
Was this even a fucking tree?
Mars's throat tightened, his lips trembling.
"Great Xia... just what technology have they mastered..."
Then he barked:
"I don't care what it is! Destroy it immediately!!"
"Understood!"
Just then, the drone's camera suddenly captured something in the distance beneath the tree.
Dozens of military vehicles were speeding toward the giant tree.
Some had laser emitters mounted on their roofs, while others towed missile launch