In such circumstances, Baruba occasionally spoke in the group, and Kudodo and Babaya were willing to engage in conversation with him.
Thus, some things Baruba had previously considered impossible began to change.
Even though Baruba hasn’t truly had a direct conversation with Kudodo and Babaya, some emotional connections have slowly been built through their chats in the tree group.
Of course, Baruba didn’t completely share the above story, but through some details, Angel still deduced the full emotional change.
Angel was gratified by Baruba’s change in mindset.
But the thing that surprised Angel the most in this story was that tree group.
Unexpectedly, Jon’s development of the Mother Tree Network had truly begun taking shape, leveraging the trait of the "Tree Civilization." Although it’s still far from the flourishing era recorded in the holographic tablet, the hardest part of the Mother Tree Network is the first step. Once the first step is taken, subsequent developments will appear in a burst!
Currently, it’s just a "tree group." Angel is eagerly anticipating what grand spectacle the future Mother Tree Network will present.
By then, even Sanders might be astonished, as he wasn’t optimistic about the development of the Mother Tree Network back then.
...
After concluding his chat with Baruba, Angel finally mentioned the purpose of his visit.
Organizing the laboratory is not difficult; it just requires time and effort. The construction of the New City isn’t urgent either, as Frode needs to conduct a final environmental survey. During this time, Baruba is quite free.
So, Baruba accepted the task without hesitation.
Since Regina is expected to arrive in the next couple of days, time is tight. Baruba directly followed Angel out of the material repository and came to the adjacent laboratory.
Upon entering the laboratory, Angel saw Sanders standing at the workbench, with a ball-like metal tool above him projecting a beam of light, focused through a special observation film onto a tentacle placed on the workbench.
Angel took one look and realized Sanders was currently studying the Seed of Distortion.
Seeing the broken tentacle, Angel couldn’t help but worry about the Seed of Distortion. The Seed of Distortion he brought out from the Maze Candle Corridor was just a sub-body and severely malnourished. Now that its tentacle has been severed, he wondered if it would be in danger.
However, when Angel saw where the main body of the Seed of Distortion was, he was momentarily stunned.
The Seed of Distortion was now placed inside a transparent box, locked with special magic patterns. However, it seemed entirely unperturbed by the confinement, instead appearing quite comfortable, like a happy otter—
Its numerous tentacles wrapped around a pitch-black stone, exuding a floating, intoxicated aura.
It didn’t look at all like something that had just had its tentacle severed.
With a slight sense, Angel understood why the Seed of Distortion was like this. It turned out the stone it was clutching was a pure-breathed Mare Stone.
The breath of this Mare Stone was almost identical in concentration to the aura of the Nightmare Realm that Angel released. The Nightmare Realm’s aura can replenish the power the Seed of Distortion loses; no wonder it looked so content.
With the Mare Stone present, the Seed of Distortion definitely wouldn’t have any issues, so Angel relaxed his concerns.
Angel motioned for Baruba to tidy up the other rooms first, while he himself approached Sanders’ side.
"Mentor," Angel greeted, not asking about Sanders’ research progress. After all, he had only researched it for less than a day, so results were unlikely.
As expected, Sanders voluntarily shared his research findings from the half-day.
Not only was there no result, but he didn’t even have any leads.
Firstly, with the mushrooms, although Angel had roughly explained their effects, these effects could only be realized once the mushrooms matured.
Take the Yamen Mushroom, for example, it can enable short to medium distance spatial displacement between correlated sources. But here are two restrictions: first, so-called "correlated" means the main body splits to form mycelium saplings, ultimately cultivating these saplings into mature correlated Yamen Mushrooms. But splitting the mycelium saplings requires the Yamen Mushroom to reach maturity.
Second, is the mechanism of teleportation. The Yamen Mushroom’s teleportation requires swallowing a person, meaning it will be quite large upon maturing, like the Bone Chew Mushroom Angel encountered in the Duling Garden, big enough to swallow a person.
Currently, the Yamen Mushroom isn’t even the size of a palm, so how could it swallow a person for teleportation?
Precisely because the effects of these mushrooms require a mature form to be realized, Sanders couldn’t conduct specific research. He wasn’t adept at mushroom research, so he had to set the mushrooms aside and study the Seed of Distortion first.
But the Seed of Distortion’s research also hit a dead end. He managed to sever the tentacle, but found no special components, just a simple tool for binding or adhesion. This means the so-called amplification effect of the Seed of Distortion must originate from its spherical core. However, it’s a sub-body, and the only sub-body at that, so Sanders was hesitant to dissect it.
After researching for more than half a day, it turned out to be a complete waste of time.
Sanders knew continuing his research would likely still be futile, so after chatting with Angel for a while, he returned the mushrooms and the Seed of Distortion to him, deciding not to pursue it further.
Sanders: "The Seed of Distortion is a sub-body. Even if you dissect it, you might not figure it out. I suggest, once you find a suitable target, just use it directly. It can slightly enhance your combat strength."
Angel nodded. The reason he brought the Seed of Distortion out was precisely with this intention.
As long as he continuously provides the Seed of Distortion with the aura of the Nightmare Realm, it could provide Angel with a powerful and loyal puppet. And what Angel has in abundance, is the Nightmare Realm’s aura.
The problem is, the Seed of Distortion itself doesn’t have much strength, and a suitable creature must be found for it to possess.
Currently, there is no target, so he can only temporarily nourish the Seed of Distortion for now until he encounters one.