Chapter Seventy-Four: Ryan's Approach

“We’re back? We’re really back?”
Simon felt a little dizzy, gazing at the familiar jungle before him, the familiar army-green tents. He was clearly still caught off guard by the sudden return.
“Is this the work of the Mysterious Tree? Its spatial powers?”
“Isn’t this already a miracle?”
Fanny Campbell stood stunned, clearly at a loss. In the span of just one hour, she had received so much news that she needed to carefully trace the threads of everything that had happened.
But at that moment, a doctor who had already entered the tent rushed out in a panic towards her, exclaiming with excitement,
“My God! It’s unbelievable, Professor Fanny, you must come see! The patients—all the patients are cured!”
“Cured?” Fanny Campbell asked in astonishment, and immediately said to the doctor, “Let’s go, show me.”
Striding swiftly, she reached the tent closest to the oak in no time.
Lifting the flap, Fanny Campbell stepped inside.
What she saw instantly rendered her silent.
Inside, all the patients who had once been bound were awake now. Their eyes were clear, their expressions puzzled, as if they had no idea how they had ended up tied in this unknown place.
Those who had already been untied were being briefed by nurses, learning about the events that had led them here.
Fanny Campbell was at a loss for words, unable to express what she felt. This day had brought her so much shock and amazement that she was almost immune to such miracles.
The recovery of all the patients—she naturally attributed it to the oak tree’s power.
Yet Ji Yu was equally surprised by the patients’ sudden improvement.
He had not treated these people himself; he was absolutely certain of that.
As for how they recovered, Ji Yu had a theory.
The purple, illusory vortex that had dragged him and the surrounding life into the Purple Moon realm had consumed all the Purple Moon energy inside these corrupted humans.
Their recovery was likely a fortunate side effect.
Still, from what Ji Yu could sense, those whose bodies had not mutated could return to normal life, but those who had suffered complete transformations were less fortunate.
The tall ones, whose bodies had become grotesque masses of flesh, had not reverted to normal.
Their appearance was so altered that ordinary methods could not restore them.
Deformities in less vital areas could be removed surgically, but those towering, bear-like figures—standing two and a half meters tall—could not be helped without risking disability.
Moreover, though these people seemed normal now, it did not mean they were safe.

Because their bodies had long been reshaped by the Purple Moon, their affinity for Purple Moon energy far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Even without exposure to the moonlight, they would likely absorb residual Purple Moon energy scattered across the world.
Thus, their prospects were not optimistic.
Ji Yu withheld comment.
Now that they were temporarily cured, their fate rested with themselves and the doctors.
He had already accomplished everything the oak could do.
Having made his decision, Ji Yu did not intend to waste any more time.
Under the brilliant sunshine, he finally resumed his long-awaited meditation as the oak tree’s incarnation.
———
Spinewater Mountain Range, outside the Forest Corridor.
Towering trees blocked every path leading into the heart of the woods.
Even the tall grasses and vines, which could normally be forced through, were now monitored and sealed off by hundreds, if not thousands, of sika deer, each strengthened to the first level of life’s limits.
Night fell.
A fleet of armed helicopters suddenly appeared over the forest.
Dense and numerous, their count had long surpassed a hundred.
The whirring of so many rotors created a deafening noise.
Deer throughout the corridor awoke in alarm, and the thousand-strong herd scattered through the forest, lifting their heads to the sky.
Floodlights from the helicopters cut through the darkness, casting circular beams like lasers over the trees.
The entire forest was illuminated, leaving no herd unseen.
The fawns grew anxious.
Relying on their role as the species’ oracle, they called all the deer to gather around them.
Despite their formidable power, the fawns remained timid.
There were only two reasons for gathering the herd.
First, the instinctive urge to protect their kin.
Second, the sheer numbers offered a hint of safety.
These two motivations clashed.
On one hand, the fawn sought comfort in the herd’s numbers; on the other, it wanted to protect them.
Naturally, this was contradictory.

Does numbers equal security?
For the fawn now, this was an outdated instinct.
Facing predators, a larger herd meant a lower chance of being singled out, but given its current stature, the fawn could no longer draw safety from the smaller deer.
Moreover, its current adversary was not an ordinary predator, but humans, renowned for their intelligence and dominance over the world.
“Low intelligence” aptly described the fawn at this moment.
This was not an insult, but a fact.
Despite Adam’s guidance and Ji Yu’s constant imparting of knowledge, the fawn had had too little time to learn.
Counting the three days it had been under Ji Yu’s control, it had only possessed intelligence for five days.
Far too short a time.
Its mind had not had a chance to mature.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’m strong now,”
The fawn kept reassuring itself, but its gaze was clearly uncertain, lacking confidence.
Looking up at the sky, that confidence quickly faltered further.
With its enhanced senses, it could see the dark, gaping cannons mounted on the helicopters.
Seeing those cannons, it couldn’t help but recall its previous death at the hands of humans wielding guns.
Fear surged from deep within and quickly became uncontrollable.
In the end, the fawn, without a shred of pride or hesitation, cried out to its father for help, its voice trembling.
Ji Yu, who was meditating as the oak tree, was awakened by the fawn’s call.
With no time to think, he swiftly switched the avatar selection on his game interface.
In the blink of an eye, Ji Yu opened his eyes again and immediately saw, in the night sky, the massive fleet of helicopters approaching.
Unlike the fawn, Ji Yu’s attention was not solely on their weaponry.
He examined the fleet closely and noticed that helicopters at the back were carrying animal cages of various sizes.
Inside those cages, he saw a significant number of sika deer.
“What’s this?”
“Brandishing military might while bringing deer to foster goodwill? Or are they seeking some kind of transaction?”
Ji Yu fell into deep thought, waiting quietly for the arrival of the fleet.