Chapter 708 Trees on the Plain
On the deserted plain in the west of Solimburg, a plant of unprecedented scale covered the sky over the scorched earth.
It is not so much a tree as it is a small jungle supported by numerous pillars like aerial roots centered on a trunk.
Thick dark brown tree trunks grow from the cracks in the earth, with vines, moss and a large number of unnamed flowers wrapped around the surface. A canopy almost as large as the nearby Solimburg is supported at a height of 100 meters, layer by layer. Two-thirds of the stacked green leaves covered the plain area, and one-third had already covered the sky above Solimburg. From the treetops, there were many "pillars" that were hugged by two or three people, supporting the treetops in a random pattern. , connected to the earth, and on those pillars, there are also all kinds of symbiotic plants, lush and vibrant.
Under this huge "giant tree", the western plain of Solinburg, which was originally a scorched earth, has been covered with large tracts of flowers, grasses, and shrubs. The source of the cluster disaster outbreak, dare not imagine that it was once burned to a scorched earth by artillery fire and burners...
Amber's exclamation was completely justified, because even Gawain's eyes widened in surprise.
"This...a bit beyond my expectations," Gawain blinked. "No wonder the previous report said that this thing could not be described...Even with photos, it is difficult to reflect its scale."
"I feel that this thing is bigger than the tree of origins in the legends of the elves," Amber muttered to himself, "and this thing still... grows like this in a few days?"
"That's what the report says," Gawain frowned. "Soldiers don't lie about this... What the hell is going on?"
The convoy continued to drive towards the temporary camp at the foot of the giant tree. Gawain stuck his head out of the car window and looked further afield. He saw some collapsed sentry towers and tent-like buildings in the lush vegetation area at the foot of the giant tree. The damaged camp facilities have merged with aerial roots or bushes spread from giant trees, and the surface is covered with lush vegetation, as mentioned in the report:
When the giant tree suddenly burst out of the ground, the soldiers monitoring the camp only had time to evacuate the personnel and part of the supplies, and the rest was swallowed up by the plants within 24 hours.
Therefore, the urgently transferred monitoring force established a temporary camp outside the radiation range of this giant tree, and there are still soldiers who are watching the movement of the giant tree day and night to prevent the thing from suddenly expanding again, and the temporary camp is also given to "Eat in".
The closer you get, the stronger the shocking feeling of the giant tree, which stands in sight like a castle stacked with plants (in fact, it is larger than the castle), but in addition to the huge In addition to the oppressive force of the sky, it has an incredible holiness and magnificence - Gao Wen vaguely felt that this area was enveloped in a magical environment, it was very weak, and was almost hidden in the normal natural magical background, And...seems harmless.
The vehicle stopped at the entrance of the camp, and as soon as it stopped, a heroic young female knight came to the car: "Your Majesty! Salute to you!"
Gawain got out of the car and nodded to the female knight: "Margarita - it looks like you have taken over this side."
This female knight is Margarita from Kant. She is one of Walder Perich's subordinates, but because of her outstanding ability, Walder often sends her to perform tasks outside the rock fortress - this is to increase Her qualifications and experience can be regarded as the old knight's special care for the excellent subordinates.
After the establishment of the empire, Margarita's main task was to assist Byron in cleaning up the remaining crystal cluster monsters on the Holy Spirit Plain, and in the process to establish a series of emergency magic net hubs to form a temporary communication network in the eastern and central regions of the empire. , when the situation in Solimburg happened, she happened to take her troops to sweep the crystal clusters near the crossing of the sloped forest. As the highest-ranking commander in this area, she quickly took over this "urgent task". The name temporarily given to this giant tree in the book) The person in charge of the surrounding camp is her.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Margarita nodded solemnly, "We have established new monitoring posts in the south and east of this 'plant' - the original monitoring camp has been swallowed by the plant that suddenly appeared, The new surveillance post now looks fairly safe."
"How is the current situation?" Gawain raised his head and asked while looking up at the canopy that covered the sky, "Is it still growing? I heard that it devoured the first layer within forty-eight hours before. Monitoring the camp, the canopy stretches over the walls of Solimburg..."
"It is still growing slowly, but it has slowed down to an almost negligible level from twelve hours ago. The Druid on the camp side initially judged that its 'expansion period' should have ended, and within 24 hours at most , its expansion will stop, and it will enter an equilibrium phase - as to what will happen after that, it is still uncertain."
"What about the casualties?" Gawain asked immediately.
"No soldier was killed, everyone was evacuated in time, only three soldiers were slightly injured while carrying supplies, and..."
Margarita frowned when she said this, as if what she was going to say was too strange, she needed to organize the language, she brewed the words before continuing: "And I don't know if it was the influence of this giant tree, the wounded soldier. The speed of recovery is much higher than normal. Without the use of alchemy potions, the wounds of the three people healed within an hour. I did some tests to confirm that there is a strange environment around the giant tree that can warm and nourish vitality. Everyone's physical strength and energy can be quickly recovered, and relatively minor injuries can also be quickly recovered."
"Oh?" Gawain couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and suddenly remembered the subtle magical environment he felt just now... It didn't seem to be an illusion.
"It feels as if the entire area is shrouded in a continuous healing spell, but neither the druids nor the magic observers have found any formed magic fluctuations, this giant tree is doing it in a way we can't understand Unleashing the power... it is beyond the existing magic theory," Margarita continued, "We are currently making further observations and calculations of the magic field around Solimborg, but it is too large to exceed At present, the perception limit of any kind of observation eyepiece or measurement spell is difficult to describe its spell model by conventional methods..."
"It doesn't matter, take your time, I'm afraid this thing is enough for us to study for a long time..." Gawain sighed and walked towards the camp, "We will talk as we walk."
The entourage immediately followed, including Bud Wendell, who is still in a "semi-escort" state, and Pittman, who is a senior adviser.
When walking towards the giant tree, Bud couldn't help raising his head and glanced at the miraculous plant with undisguised astonishment, while Pittman next to him asked casually, "You know this thing How did you get here?"
"...This is beyond my understanding," Bud said honestly, "To be honest, although I have lived in the Association for the Death of All Things for many years, I am only a middle-level priest, and in the secret plan I have come into contact with... ...there is nothing about this tree."
Pittman pouted: "I was expecting you to know more than me... As a result, after so many years, I turned out to be a middle-level..."
Bud smiled awkwardly, but soon felt vaguely that Pittman's words seemed to have some extra content, but before he had time to speak, Pittman had already walked forward.
In front of the team, Margarita was still reporting to Gawain the information currently gathered by the monitoring camp:
"...At present, it is certain that this plant grew out of the lair where all things die. Its root system is rooted in the fissure of astonishing scale, and its underground part should have a more complex and larger structure. ...
"At the suggestion of the druids, we dug up parts of the eastern part of Solimburg and the southern part of the sloped forest pass, and indeed found a large-scale root system of unknown origin...
"These plants that grow with the giant trees have also been inspected, and the preliminary results have found no abnormality. Many plants are common species, and some illegible ones should also be subspecies growing in remote areas...
"We tested the non-toxic ones on animals and found that they were even edible...
"There is a root structure with voids at the root of the trunk of the giant tree. A large number of roots, underground rocks and building walls together form a complex underground passage. We suspect that this passage can enter the depths of the lair of the Death of All Things, but inside There are very complex magical reactions, and according to your instructions, we have not yet begun to explore...
"We had outposts and some lighting near the main trunk - its canopy was too large, the central area was so poorly lit that it was difficult to see even at noon and had to be illuminated.
"We haven't explored its canopy, also because the danger is too great, and its deep canopy seems to be slowly growing and changing, and it's not stable at the moment..."
"That's right," Gawain nodded with satisfaction after Margarita's report ended, "The information is timely and detailed."
Margarita bowed her head: "This is what I should do."
Gao Wen snorted, and looked at the huge tree trunk that looked like a giant tower in the distance, and looked like a huge tree trunk formed by countless vines intertwined: "Let's go directly to the 'trunk' area."
Margarita said subconsciously: "This may be a little dangerous, your status is honorable..."
"First, I'm here to check the situation myself, otherwise it's no different to stay in the command post of the camp and stay in the palace; second, I'm a legend, how can I be so vulnerable, let alone what we're going to do It's a relatively safe surface area that has been explored once; third..." Gawain glanced at the female knight in front of him and patted the latter's shoulder, "Don't always focus on the issue of 'noble status', Cecil It is all about doing your duty.”
Margarita was stunned for a moment, but after she was briefly stunned, Gawain had already strode forward, walking along a path cleared out by the soldiers towards the giant tree trunk in the distance.
The female knight quickly followed.
The shadows created by the huge tree canopy became darker and darker as they advanced toward the main trunk. The soldiers in the camp carved out a path among the grass and shrubs that had grown wildly that night. The magic spar lamp became the only source of light to dispel the darkness. Gawain was walking along this temporary road, and from time to time he would hear a soft sound nearby—the sound of the grass swaying.
Although the growth of the giant tree itself has stopped, the abnormal vitality brought by the giant tree continues to play a role, and until now, new plants are still emerging from the scorched earth to fill this sudden vigor.
After advancing for a while, Gawain came to the root of the giant tree.
The tower-like trunks and the huge, intertwined roots that burrowed out of the soil beneath the trunks appeared in front of him.
Temporary brackets, large and small, were fixed between nearby roots and stones. High-power magic spar lamps were hung on the brackets and on the surface of the tree trunk above. The artificial lights dispelled the darkness here and allowed Gawain to see clearly. the "entrance" between the roots of those discs.
As Margarita said, there is indeed an entrance there - it's like a specially grown gate. The roots of the two herringbone crosses form a triangular gap in the lower part of the trunk. The gap is very wide. You can even drive into a "Warhammer-I" tank, and there is a faint light inside, which seems to be the shimmer of some kind of glowing moss.
Amber stood in front of the entrance, poked his head and glanced inside, and came back after two seconds: "Mom, it's a bit scary inside..."
Gawain looked at this shame of all things strangely: "You were born in the Shadow Fortress anyway, and I never saw you cowardly when you stole a grave to dig a grave, why are you afraid of this blackness?"
Amber suddenly widened his eyes and put his hands on his hips: "Am I afraid of the dark? I have five sensitive senses! I don't know what's going on here, I always feel that the entire underground space and the surrounding area are 'alive' ...heh, it's creepy, okay?"
Gawain didn't care about Amber's explanation and boasting in the first half, but after listening to the second half, he looked up at the dark and deep canopy above.
"There is no doubt...it is of course alive..."
He turned his head and glanced at Bud Wendell behind him.
"Are you ready?"
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