Chapter 247. Golden Sap Forest Aftermath. Liu Shu’s Ridiculous Harvest.

Chapter 247. Golden Sap Forest Aftermath. Liu Shu’s Ridiculous Harvest.

Liu Shu was currently waiting for Flor and the others to return and inform her of the battle situation. She wasn't very nervous even when she didn't know what was happening. The main reason for that is that her Aether Mana consumption was relatively stable. This meant that none of her serpents had died.

Looking at the numbers going up and down, Liu Shu decided to check her surroundings. During the battle in her forest, many things had been destroyed. While the trees in the Golden Sap Forest had become much more resilient and healthy thanks to her skills and presence, the combat was between several <Second Energy Cycles>. Moreover, with her own bombardment of the area, many trees had been heavily injured by her own attacks.

'Hm... How is everyone doing over there~?'

Several hundreds of voices reached her right after.

'Hurt...'

'Branches have fallen...'

'My trunk has burned...'

'Cousin has died...'

Liu Shu commented. 'Okay, okay. I know that it hurts, but you need to be stronger! Try to spread your roots and plant your seeds where others have died! Repeat after me! We! Are! One!'

Those hundreds of voices suddenly coordinated and spoke as one. 'We... Are... One...'

Liu Shu giggled. 'Wow! That sounded super creepy! If you all learn to speak to intelligent people, crossing this forest will be maddening... literally.'

While Liu Shu was laughing, if a normal creature had received all those messages at once, they would've probably had a stroke as their brains would've shut down from overstimulation.

Liu Shu just found it interesting and moved on. She looked over toward Tree. Seeing the gorgeous Willow tree safe and sound, Liu Shu felt a sense of peace and comfort. She asked softly. 'How are you doing, Tree?'

Tree's slow voice reached her, sounding relaxed and happy. 'I am doing fine... How are you, Liu Shu...?'

Liu Shu answered Tree happily. 'I'm doing great! My Aether Mana is starting to run out, though... I hope they can deal with it before my summons are forced back.'

Tree's voice reached her, sounding slightly worried. 'Don't push yourself... You need to put your own safety first...'

Hearing those words made Liu Shu feel happy. 'Oh! By the way, Tree. I never really asked, but how old are you?'

The Willow Tree didn't answer straight away. After a few minutes of thinking, she said. 'Many years... Many winters...'

Liu Shu hummed. 'I see... No wonder you sound more clever than those trees in the surroundings.'

Liu Shu then focused on the area where the most destruction happened and saw Ignatia standing in the middle of the battlefield, looking around while caressing the corpses of the ants in the surroundings.

Her gestures were gentle as if she were walking in a sacred place. Her face didn't show any negative emotions; it was calm and accepting. She would pause occasionally when she recognized a high-level ant and gently leaned forward to kiss their heads.

Liu Shu couldn't help but observe her movements in a heavy silence. After a few moments, she spoke to her in her normal voice, which she only revealed to those close to her: "Thank you."

Liu Shu didn't apologize. She had done what she did with Ignatia's approval. The sacrifice of the ants allowed them to entrap the enemies in a close area and bombard them, killing thousands. Without the ants using their bodies as barriers, the large army would've dispersed across the forest and attacked the city after crossing the forest. Her defensive measures would be much less useful, which would've limited her ability to send the serpents as reinforcements in the first place.

"No!" Liu Shu stopped humming and protested. Ignatia tilted her head, confused. "Huh?"

Liu Shu said with a pouting tone. "If you knew, you would've tried to find another World Tree instead of choosing me!"

Ignatia paused and then burst into laughter. "Don't worry, darling. You are my biggest baby, okay? That won't ever change."

"Hehe~, good! That's how it should always be!"

Ignatia looked around her and saw that the place had been cleaned. She asked. "Will the trees in this area grow differently?"

Liu Shu answered with a tone showing that she didn't care much about it. "Who knows? The trees might grow differently because of all the death and blood, but I am unsure. I hope they grow strongest in the forest, though."

Ignatia asked, confused. "Why do you want that?"

Liu Shu hummed. "If the trees in the north area are the strongest, armies won't dare come through there, so Tree will be safer!"

"Oh~!" Ignatia smiled. "That makes sense." Then, the Ant Queen looked at her system and commented. "I have gained quite a lot of Experience Points during this time. I will go to my nest and start laying eggs now. When I have enough to Level up to Level 25, I will do so. How about you? You've killed a few thousand people, so you might have enough Experience Points to Level up several times, no?"

Liu Shu looked at her messages and almost got dizzy. "Um... Many messages indeed. System, summarize it, and tell me how much experience I have gained!"

[You've eliminated 6541 beings during the war!]

'Huh?' Liu Shu read that message twice because she didn't really process the first one.

[Calculating Experience Point reward for the killing of 6541 beings...]

[Congratulations! You've earned 463,251 Experience Points!]

'HUH!?'

Liu Shu looked at that number, absolutely baffled. 'H-How!? Explain, System!'

[You've eliminated around 2513 Ants. You've eliminated around 4028 enemy soldiers. Trees eliminated won't give you any Experience Points because they belong to your domain. After calculating each creature's Experience Points for being eliminated by you, you've gained a total of 463,251 Experience Points. Do you want to see the full list of System Messages?]

'NO!' If she saw more than 6000 messages telling her about Experience Points, she might as well use that time to laze around; it would be more productive!

Liu Shu looked at that number of Experience Points several times, not knowing what to do with it. Suddenly, she felt a few thousand creatures entering her perception range and noticed that it was Eila's army of several thousand. Liu Shu tensed as they circled around her forest.

They were close to her forest because they didn't want to deal with the <Dark Aether Swamp> creatures. Of course, Liu Shu didn't know that, and seeing her Aether Mana and Anima Energy about to drain out, she was a bit nervous. What if they suddenly attacked her? She probably would be unable to hold them back. Moreover, she was basically alone since she had sent most of her army to help Sirol City.

Thankfully for her, she felt the Serpents entering her detection range right after, making her exhale a sigh of relief. 'With them, I will be safe for a while.'

Of course, Liu Shu didn't have to worry since Eila and the others would eventually just circle around the Golden Sap Forest and return to Fortuna City.

Flor's group arrived shortly after that, and Liu Shu was informed of everything that had happened.