Motley paid no attention to the surprise on the faces of the two prison guards in front of him; after all, these self-proclaimed Soul Returner were always prone to making a fuss.
Ever since he was captured and became the first laborer on the wooden parts assembly line, Motley realized one thing: he could never apply his old way of thinking to the guys in front of him.
Just like when they laugh loudly, if you join in the laughter, you'll likely get a shock—no, a moment of Disorder; if you don't join in the laughter, you'll likely get a moment of Disorder as well.
And the same person has been doing all these things from beginning to end, meaning their personality is completely unpredictable.
This is hardly Soul Returner home.
In Motley's view, these people were clearly servants brought by the Demonic Tide.
He did think that way at first, but the undeniable facts quickly made him abandon that idea, and he began to be equally tolerant of these Soul Returner to their homeland.
All these changes stemmed from the existence of one person: the Son of God.
If Yiden realized the identity of the person before him when Ed displayed the four power systems, and thus realized that a new Tree God had been born in his hands, then Motley had the same feeling when he saw these chaotic Soul Returner become as docile as lambs in front of Ed.
He couldn't quite believe it when Ed took his symbiotic plant, until this scene unfolded before his eyes.
At that moment, he finally understood that line from the Cult of the Stained Ones.
"No specific characteristics are needed; when you see Him, you will know from the bottom of your heart that He is the Tree God."
Although everyone's moments of enlightenment differed, they all ultimately arrived at the same conclusion—
Yes, he—no, He is the Tree God, but he is called the Son of God because he has not yet fully recovered.
Is Motley Stained Ones?
Of course.
He had been a member of the Stained Ones for a long time and knew exactly what his faction wanted to do.
But he was a Holy Crusaders officer who neither conducted extensive experiments like Yiden nor secretly trained troops like Antiya Lisi.
The evil deeds he can do are very limited, or rather, he only does evil when the higher-ups of the Stained Ones need him to; otherwise, he is always honing his body and symbiotic plants.
In this respect, he seems to be less "tainted" than Yiden.
After confirming Ed's identity, Motley completely gave up resisting.
After all, the creed of the Stained Ones also states that all the mistakes they have made are for the return of the Tree God.
Now that the Tree God has returned, it doesn't seem wrong for him to be punished for his mistakes—after all, he didn't bring the Tree God back, so a pardon isn't his responsibility.
As a result of various factors, Motley eventually became a "half-aged penalized" prisoner. He did not complain about this and instead, after undergoing a period of training, he focused on working on the assembly line producing wooden parts.
Although Motley had no intention of leaving the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant, she heard Ed's voice a few days ago.
The voice echoed directly in his mind. He was eating attentively in the cafeteria when he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice calling him.
He turned his head to look around and found that all the other Stained Ones were eating as if seeking revenge, while he was the only one blankly holding a spoon.
After careful discernment, he finally confirmed the identity of the voice's owner.
Over the next period of time, Ed communicated with Motley many times, and whenever he had doubts about something in Fir City, he would remotely activate Motley's Fir City encyclopedia.
However, Motley doesn't know everything. For example, Motley himself doesn't know about Antiya Lisi's Symbiotic Tree ability, which is unknown to players.
According to him, although they were both Middle Tier, Antiya Lisi never needed to use the Symbiotic Tree to fight him, and he didn't understand why someone so capable would become an archbishop instead of a high knight commander.
In a recent conversation, Motley finally confirmed his new identity and his upcoming mission...
Upon reaching the end of the special passage, the two prison guards finally stopped, standing on either side, their sharp eyes still watching him.
The young prison guard stepped forward and used a special key to unlock the specially made collar around Motley's neck, while the slightly more mature prison guard kept a close eye on his body language.
What was removed from his neck was a " Disorder Collar " that Willow Ed make to prevent the prisoners from causing trouble. Every NPC prisoner who reached level ten had one around their neck, and if they dared to cause trouble, fifteen minutes of Disorder would immediately take effect on them.
With these special shackles removed, Motley felt he was a little closer to freedom.
In fact, since the end of the Bloody Night event, the symbolic meaning of this item has outweighed its practical meaning. After Ed entered the Middle Tier, although he dared not say that he could face Antiya Lisi head-on, he should have no problem defeating Motley.
The young prison guard took a half step back with the collar in his hand, going into alert mode, while the slightly older and more composed guard extended a fist towards himself.
Motley instinctively reached out, and the other person actually loosened their clenched right fist, allowing a seed to fall into Motley's hand.
A familiar touch came, and without even glancing at Motley, he knew what he had landed in his hands.
Seeds of my own symbiotic plant [ Resilient Beechwood ].
Just as the name " Symbiotic Tree " suggests, members of the Tree Worship Church would die if their Symbiotic Tree were forcibly removed.
However, everything about plants can be handled differently by Ed.
After he releases his unique aura, the symbiotic plants on the Tree Worship Church members always want to join him as their new leader, as if they are adorned with a bewitching halo specifically designed for plants.
In this Symbiotic Tree's proactive separation, the unfortunate victims of the Tree Worship Church do not feel any pain.
Aside from the possibility of feeling physically empty, they are even more like ordinary human beings than before.
To meet players' needs for easy installation and use, all the Aberration plants improved by Ed share the same characteristic: they can be actively removed without leaving any hidden dangers.
Motley trembled slightly as he received the seeds, and with a dry throat, he whispered:
"Thank you Son of God Highness."
After saying that, he reached his right hand to the side of his neck and grabbed the ironwood tree that had originally been used to produce wooden parts that afternoon.