Chapter 28: Urgency and Discussion

Sitting at the edge of his bed, Ji Yu’s emotions could not settle for a long while. Thoughts tangled in his mind; the purple moon beyond the window and the old woman he had just seen—these two things combined set off alarm bells in his heart.

“No matter what, right now I must first gather my strength.”

In the silence, Ji Yu sighed, feeling an urgent need pressing down on him. With the power of the game that allowed him to incarnate as anything, he was already far ahead of ordinary people. If he wished to save those close to him, and even more people around, he would have to work even harder.

If not for the Oak Avatar sharing the so-called mental invasion today, perhaps he would not have made it back to his bedroom safely at all.

His own strength was still terribly weak; he needed outside help and, above all, to make good use of the game he had obtained.

With that, he forced aside the chaos in his mind and immediately entered the game.

It was eleven o’clock in the morning in Bana time.

The sun hung high over the rainforest, its rays scorching the land. Countless birds circled in the oak’s vast canopy; after hunting for food, they would always return here. Clearly, the many birds had already claimed this place as their new home.

Beneath the oak, the people of the tribe moved swiftly back and forth, tidying up their sacred ground.

The ground was pockmarked with dents and holes, with smears of black blood still visible everywhere. Ji Yu had just arrived and was startled at the sight before him.

However, as soon as he descended, memories of Adam’s actions from the previous night, along with his thoughts at the time, began to surface in Ji Yu’s mind.

With everything clear at last, Ji Yu understood.

“The purple moon, the pollution, the mutated crocodile horde.”

“To think the pollution from the purple moon could be so severe; no wonder the authorities kept everything secret.”

Ji Yu pondered, his gaze drifting to the northern side beneath the oak’s roots.

There, members of the tribe were digging pits and carefully stacking crocodile corpses within them.

Of course, they were exceedingly cautious—these crocodiles’ blood was highly corrosive.

Yet, despite their efforts, the ten-meter-long crocodile remains were still a massive headache.

Without help from Ji Yu’s oak or any machinery, these primitive people had only wooden poles and brute strength, prying and levering inch by hard-earned inch. It was a grueling task.

Recalling the oak’s depletion after the purple moon last night, Ji Yu abandoned the idea of helping. The people of the tribe had already received enough benefits; some hardship was only natural.

Thus, he no longer concerned himself with the clean-up beneath the tree.

Returning to his sea of consciousness, Ji Yu first commended Oak Adam’s actions the previous night, then wasted no time diving straight into meditation.

He needed to take advantage of the glorious sunlight to quickly restore the oak’s reserves, and also begin researching how to use the resonance guidance trait to promote the growth of subordinate oaks.

Ji Yu slipped into meditation with ease.

As he did, the entire oak began to change once again, though the anomaly was less dramatic than when it had advanced to a second-tier lifeform.

At the crown of the tree, the Jewel Flower once more shone with dazzling brilliance, and the fragrance of its blossoms, carried by the upper air currents, drifted for miles.

At the same time, the dense, broad leaves of the canopy turned a mottled white and yellow. The white resulted from sunlight absorption, the yellow from the enlarged leaf pores and the conversion of certain substances.

The sight of these white-and-yellow leaves spurred a subtle excitement in the people working below.

Beholding this miracle of the sacred tree, they felt as if the gaze of the gods had fallen upon them once more, and so they redoubled their efforts.

Yet the main cause was the faint buff effect the fragrance produced during Ji Yu’s meditation.

Watching the spectacular scene as his father meditated, Adam felt his own smallness keenly. Yet at the same time, he was enraptured by his imagined vision of his father’s immense power.

———

Latbora City, Bana Federation, Conference Hall.

Here, the entire group from West Union had assembled.

They first discussed the allocation of the six epiphytic mists and three emerald-like oak leaves, then moved on to the matter of what to do next.

The latest footage and reports from the oak had already been sent back to their respective countries, and politicians there were hotly debating the issue.

Those gathered here, who had witnessed all the miraculous phenomena of the oak firsthand, found their perspectives profoundly changed.

They did not wish for the oak to become a casualty of political power struggles.

Hence, this discussion.

“Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps we could be a bit bolder,” someone suggested. “The resurrection of the mysterious tree—perhaps we should announce it directly to the public. With your statuses and connections, it shouldn’t be hard to find media outlets to spread the news, should it?”

After much debate and many proposals, it was Vanne Campbell who finally voiced the most radical plan.

This idea would undoubtedly offend the officials and politicians above.

However, in a system like West Union’s, filled with electoral groups, offending politicians was practically a favored pastime.

Thus, though Vanne Campbell’s proposal seemed aggressive and risky, it also held promise.

Announcing the oak’s existence would draw a flood of media attention, and those involved would find themselves thrust into the public eye.

If they used this momentum to rally public opinion and campaign for certain positions, the task would become far easier.

Moreover, many present were not only professors from their nations’ medical academies; they also held numerous other positions—regional representatives, leaders of other organizations. Their varied roles, networks, and influence made them a force not easily underestimated.

Those in this room represented all twelve countries of West Union.

If the group reached a consensus and returned home to mobilize public opinion together, such a movement would be one the West Union authorities could not easily quell.

Especially since the governments of West Union were far from a monolith.

So, as Vanne Campbell’s suggestion hung in the air, the room fell silent before several people lowered their heads, deep in thought.

They weighed what this would mean for themselves—whether the benefits outweighed the risks.

After all, the value of the oak was immense. Even if it wasn’t a god, but rather a new lifeform that had gained intelligence for some reason, it still held immeasurable worth.

For the oak’s ability to mitigate the purple moon’s pollution alone, its existence was no trivial matter for all of West Union.