sinovels Chapter 336 Death, New Form
Chapter 336 Death, New Form
"Is that big golden tree in the valley outside you?"
Lin Fan stared at the ancient tree in front of him and asked the question that had been on his mind.
Soon, he heard the ancient tree's response in his mind.
Moreover, this response contained a lot of syllables and a great deal of information.
Lin Fan stood there for about ten seconds before he could barely understand what the other person meant.
If we were to translate the ancient tree's words into human language, it would be something like...
The golden giant tree is just one part of it, one of its seeds.
Its physical body had long since withered and was unable to maintain normal life activities.
Therefore, in order to maintain its own existence, it releases a seed into the outside world and absorbs nutrients from the outside world through its split body to maintain its remaining vitality.
It is very weak.
Extremely weak.
This is the limit of what it can do, and it's the only way it can temporarily maintain its existence.
"So you're going to let that split tree absorb those mutated beasts?"
Lin Fan's tone turned cold.
"I saw it. You lured those wild beasts here, paralyzed their senses with your scent, and then wrapped them up with mycelium to digest them. Is this what you call 'absorbing nutrients'?"
The aged voice rang out again.
This time, what the other party conveyed made Lin Fan frown.
There were no deaths.
It's just a conversion.
They did not disappear.
It simply transformed into another form. It became a new creature, a new form.
"A new form?"
Lin Fan's eyes were filled with doubt.
"What new form? Is it turning into a plant like you?"
But this time the other party didn't answer so quickly; instead, they waited a while before giving a puzzling answer.
In its understanding, the integration of the individual into the whole is itself a kind of continuation.
On its planet, this is the final destination for all plants.
It merges into the earth, into the root system, and then reappears in the world in another form, becoming part of civilization.
It doesn't understand the negative meaning of "death" in Lin Fan's words.
Because in its civilization, there is no concept of "death".
"..."
Ok!
Upon hearing this answer, Lin Fan fell silent.
At the same time, he also realized a problem, which was...
He might not be facing a bad person.
This thing isn't intentionally harming those mutated beasts.
It is simply living in accordance with its own civilized way.
In its view, integrating those creatures and then reappearing them in the world in a new form is its duty or understanding.
This gap in understanding... is indeed quite large.
Just as Lin Fan was about to ask something else, the connection in his mind suddenly snapped.
It's not that the other party doesn't want to talk.
He was kicked out of the mysterious space.
It felt like being engrossed in an online game when a network administrator accidentally kicked off the power cord...
With a whoosh, the dark space began to shatter, and consciousness was forcibly pulled away.
"You motherfucker..."
Lin Fan suddenly opened his eyes.
The car was stuffy, and the sunlight streaming in through the windshield made him squint.
Its daybreak?
So fast?
He straightened up, rubbed the back of his head, and savored the experience.
"How did it suddenly break?"
"Damn, I didn't even have a chance to ask why they went in on their own."
Once Lin Fan came to his senses, he immediately felt a pang of regret.
However, it's too late to regret it now that it's already out.
"Never mind, I'll ask again next time I have the chance."
Lin Fan sat up and looked out over the windshield at the valley.
The golden giant tree stands out prominently in the morning light.
The flowing golden light appeared much softer in the sunlight, and from a distance, the whole tree looked warm and peaceful.
"Come on," Lin Fan said, pursing his lips. "I know your background now, so don't pretend to be harmless in front of me."
He leaned back in his chair and began to recall what the dead tree had said.
The golden giant tree is just a separate entity.
Those mutated beasts didn't die; they just "changed their form."
So what exactly did it change into?
It has to be said that Lin Fan has become incredibly curious at this moment.
He thought for a moment, then opened the car door and got out.
The air in the valley still carried that sweet scent as always.
The thought of getting closer popped into my head again.
But this time, Lin Fan did not resist.
He knew it was the giant tree guiding him.
Since the withered tree said that the mutated beasts were not dead, he would believe it for the time being.
Of course, he still wanted to see for himself what it was really like.
With that in mind, he immediately and without hesitation followed the route he had taken the night before down the mountain.
This time he did not deliberately hide his whereabouts.
Sure enough, the mutated beasts scattered throughout the valley did not react at all when they saw him.
A giant crystalline deer, three meters tall, stood in his path. Lin Fan walked to within five meters of it.
Julu looked down at him.
Then continue chewing on those purple ground cover plants.
"Wow, you have a good appetite."
Lin Fan couldn't help but tease it as he walked past it.
But Julu really had no intention of attacking at all.
He continued forward.
A pack of white wolves lay on the open ground in front of him. A few of them looked up at him, twitched their ears, and then lay down again.
"This looks like a zoo. They're just short of charging admission."
Lin Fan passed through the herd of beasts without any hindrance.
These mutant beasts are indeed not aggressive.
But Lin Fan noticed that they didn't seem to react with the fear or alertness that ordinary animals would show when they see humans.
There was emotion in their eyes when they looked at him.
Moreover, it wasn't that they ignored him, but rather that they didn't care at all.
It was as if, in their perception, Lin Fan, this two-legged creature, was the same kind of person as them.
"Have they been assimilated to this extent? Have they even lost their basic self-preservation instincts?"
Lin Fan frowned, but did not stop, and continued walking towards the giant tree.
The closer you get to the giant tree, the denser the white mycelium on the ground becomes.
In the end, the ground beneath his feet was completely covered with mycelium, and it felt soft underfoot, like walking on a thick carpet.
The giant golden tree was right in front of us.
Up close, the tree is even larger than it appears from the ridge.
The trunk diameter is estimated to be over twenty meters.
The bark on the surface doesn't look like normal wood fibers; it appears more like a translucent, golden-veined membrane.
And you can also see light flowing inside.
Lin Fan stood in front of the tree trunk and looked down at the roots.
The mutated beasts encased in mycelium were still there. Some were completely wrapped in white cocoons, motionless.
He squatted down and carefully examined one of the "cocoons".
Through the translucent layer of mycelium, he could vaguely make out the outline inside. It should be a medium-sized canine mutant beast.
But it's different from what I saw last night...
Beneath that layer of white mycelium, the beast's body was not "melting".
Instead, it is changing.
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes.
He saw that some kind of plant-like structure was growing from the ends of the beast's limbs.
It's like vines growing out of the body, replacing the original bones and muscles.
"Is this what they call another form?"
Lin Fan stood up and looked at the giant tree, muttering to himself.
It did not respond. Or rather, this separate entity did not possess independent consciousness; it was merely a tool executing the commands of the withered tree itself.
"Well, I wonder if you could show me anything?"
Thinking of this, Lin Fan took a deep breath and raised his right hand.
He hesitated for less than two seconds.
His palm touched the trunk of the golden giant tree...