War of the Metamorphic Trees

The Metamorphic Trees feared no death, surging toward the Lizard Creatures in waves.

When the Metamorphic Trees at the front died, those behind them immediately took their place.

Watching the way these Metamorphic Trees fought, Mo Ling finally understood why their numbers kept dwindling.

They were all running onto the battlefield to die. Of course, fewer Metamorphic Trees made it to the Great Tree Cave.

Seeing the Metamorphic Trees being slaughtered one-sidedly, Mo Ling could no longer hold back.

He aimed the Teleportation Frame at the lizards and began Flesh Stripping.

When the leader saw cube-shaped holes appear in the lizards' bodies, he shouted excitedly, "It's the Holy Object!"

The Metamorphic Trees' fighting spirit instantly surged.

"Holy Object!"

"Holy Object!"

They chanted the Holy Object's name as they continued attacking the lizards, now unable to resist.

Mo Ling looked at the chunks of lizard flesh that had been stripped away and fell into thought again.

"These aren't creatures made of Theseus Cells."

Having killed so many Theseus Cell creatures in the Sealed Area before, Mo Ling had gained some experience.

After such creatures died, the Theseus Cells would gradually lose their disguise, and their corpses would slowly become transparent.

Then, those corpses would gradually lose their support and collapse. The entire process happened quickly.

But he saw none of those familiar phenomena in these lizards.

Inside the Great Tree Cave, where the mutation was most severe, there were creatures not made of Theseus Cells?

What exactly was this place?

Before long, the Metamorphic Trees had finished clearing the battlefield. They gathered before the cube and bowed low.

"Thank you, Holy Object, for bringing us victory!"

"The Cube Tribe has suffered under the ravages of other creatures. Thank you, Holy Object, for saving us."

As they recounted the suffering their tribe had endured, the Metamorphic Trees devoutly expressed their faith in the cube.

Surrounded in the middle, Mo Ling stared blankly at the Metamorphic Trees filling his field of vision.

The leader's face was already filled with rage. He stood up and spoke painfully to his kin.

"We have waited a long time for this day. We can no longer remain weak."

"I have a Dream. I dream that one day, our Newborns will be able to walk to the Great Tree Cave without a care in the world! They will not be attacked, and they will not have to live in fear."

The leader's words instantly struck a chord with the Metamorphic Trees. They raised their arms and shouted, venting their emotions.

"Drive them out!"

The Metamorphic Trees' soaring morale shook even Mo Ling.

He had thought they were a carefree species, spending every day thinking about how to become trees, utterly detached from worldly concerns.

But he had never expected the Metamorphic Tree tribe on the other side of the Great Tree Cave to have such a story.

The Metamorphic Trees lifted the cube and headed in another direction.

Their attitude toward the cube grew increasingly devout, and more and more Metamorphic Trees helped carry it.

Not only that, a large ring of guards surrounded and protected the cube.

Mo Ling took the opportunity to observe his surroundings.

As they passed through more and more areas, Mo Ling finally understood where the familiar feeling he had been carrying came from.

This place was like a replica of the Sealed Area, with only a few minor differences.

Mo Ling also immediately understood what the change in gravity he had felt during his fall meant.

It seemed that he had passed through the Great Tree Cave and arrived in an opposite world.

Here, Metamorphic Trees were born from trees, while after passing through the Great Tree Cave, their goal became transforming themselves into trees.

A strange feeling flooded Mo Ling's mind.

Carried by the Metamorphic Trees, the cube arrived at the territories of various creatures.

These creatures were all natural enemies of the Metamorphic Trees. They often blocked the path before the Great Tree Cave and attacked newly born Metamorphic Trees.

The Metamorphic Trees loathed these predators that had oppressed their tribe for so long, endlessly praying devoutly to the cube.

"We hope the Holy Object can save us."

It seemed they had already treated the cube as their last hope.

Mo Ling happened to want to explore this area.

As one creature after another fell, the Metamorphic Trees erupted into waves of ecstatic cheers.

Yet Mo Ling calmly watched the fallen creatures, full of doubts.

"More ordinary creatures. Where did the Theseus Cells go?"

The Theseus Cells seemed to have disappeared.

Even the insects and plants were made of ordinary cells. This place looked completely normal.

Mo Ling had initially thought that the predators attacking the Metamorphic Trees were rampaging creatures affected by the mutation.

But from what he had seen along the way, they were merely normal creatures. They attacked the Metamorphic Trees only because the latter were too weak.

The sky gradually darkened. The Metamorphic Trees' expedition came to an end, and the cube was brought back to the tribe.

Every Metamorphic Tree wore an irrepressible smile.

The leader was standing on a platform, delivering a victory speech.

"Praise the Holy Object!"

"The enemies that attacked us have all been eliminated. Only the last one remains!"

"The Cave Demon!"

The Metamorphic Trees, who had been incredibly excited moments before, immediately looked at one another upon hearing that name. Their smiles vanished.

They whispered among themselves, looking deeply afraid.

Seeing how frightened his kin were, the leader quickly encouraged them. "The enemies we once thought powerful could not last long before the Holy Object."

"The gigantic Raging Lizard had its body hollowed out by the Holy Object in mere seconds!"

"The elusive Shadow Beast had nowhere to hide before the Holy Object!"

"The countless Needle Bees were wiped out by the Holy Object!"

"The Cave Demon is nothing special either. All we need to do is believe in the Holy Object!"

With the leader's repeated encouragement, the Metamorphic Trees regained their high spirits.

"All warriors, rest well and recover your strength. We will fight the Cave Demon to the death!"

"Tomorrow will be its day of death!"

"By then, the road to the Great Tree Cave will be completely clear!"

The leader did not forget to paint them one final hopeful picture.

Listening to the leader's impassioned speech, Mo Ling could not help but sigh.

He really knew how to inspire people.

That day, Mo Ling had helped the Metamorphic Trees eliminate many natural enemies, and they trusted him more and more.

At night, they placed the cube upon a magnificent altar, and the guards protected it tightly.

Beside the altar stood many wooden totem poles, carved all over with the Cube Tribe's symbol—a perfectly regular square.

Mo Ling studied the totem, feeling increasingly unsettled.

Why was it a cube of all things? How could there be such a coincidence?

From the moment he fell into the Great Tree Cave to the "descent of the Holy Object," everything had been too coincidental.

Just as he was thinking, the leader stepped onto the altar.

He sent all the guards elsewhere, intending to worship the Holy Object alone.

Once the guards had left, the Metamorphic Tree leader, whose expression was always incomparably resolute, suddenly let his face fall.

His spherical body seemed to deflate at once, becoming listless and dispirited.

Dragging his exhausted body to the cube, he leaned against it and slowly sat down.

Gone was the leader's impassioned bearing. Like a weary middle-aged man after work, he stared expressionlessly at the sky.

After staring blankly for a long time, the leader muttered a question to himself.

"Holy Object, can you forgive me?"