Zheng Jinren led Lin Mo, Fendona, and a hundred Elves through the central passage to the base's central ecological zone.
The moment the alloy gate opened, many of the Elves stopped in their tracks.
An enormous World Tree stood quietly in the central space.
Its trunk rose through their field of vision, its crown spreading beneath the dome more than two thousand meters overhead. A luminous green glow drifted from its leaves and was swept into the ecological zone by the air circulation system.
The cold, hard lines of the steel base softened considerably beneath that green light.
Zheng Jinren raised a hand toward the space above.
"The main body of this World Tree is two thousand meters tall, and its root zone is five hundred and sixty meters in diameter."
"The base has a total height of twenty-five hundred meters. The outer section is a ring-shaped, multilevel structure. Only the central area was opened up specifically to give it room to grow."
An Earth Elf could not help looking up, following the trunk all the way toward the top.
On the Terra Continent, a life-form like a World Tree was rare enough already.
Seeing one inside a steel base on a barren satellite was even more striking.
Fendona looked along the roots. Lawns and low shrubs covered the ground beneath the tree, and pebble paths wound around the roots into the distance.
Several artificial pools lay scattered beneath the shade, with transplanted shrubs along their banks.
Great Xia had clearly made this place into an ecological park.
Several engineers on their breaks were strolling slowly along the paths.
When they saw Zheng Jinren and Lin Mo enter with the Elves, they did not approach to interrupt, but merely stopped in the distance and nodded with smiles.
Fendona said softly,