Nolani reached out toward the glass cover with an aching heart, a wisp of natural mana seeping from her fingertips.
Inside the cover, the Silverdew Tree's branches and leaves swayed gently, but it did not respond to her like a normal plant would. Instead, it exuded an indescribable weakness.
Though its foliage was lush, its life force was nothing but an empty shell.
Celine did not share Nolani's anxiety, keeping her focus entirely on the device behind the glass cover.
She noticed that the back of each glass cover was connected to a black hose as thick as a wrist.
Following the hoses, she saw them run through the wooden racks and merge into a single main copper pipe along the wall, which disappeared deeper into the wall.
This was clearly no ordinary water pipe. It looked more like a system designed to extract and transport mana.
Walking along the pipeline, she quickly discovered a few notebooks on a workbench.
Celine flipped open a logbook, which recorded the growth status of each batch of plants.
Judging by the written entries, the recorder did not care whether the plants flowered or bore fruit. They only cared about how much "vitality" remained and how many more extractions they could withstand.
Nolani stood beside her, and her face darkened as she finished reading one of the pages.
“They are extracting the life force of these plants.”
Celine scanned the dates spanning several consecutive months in the logbook, then looked at the signs of long-term wear at the joints of the copper pipes. She added:
“And it has been going on for a long time.”
As soon as she spoke, a low hum suddenly echoed from the depths of the cultivation ground.
The walls and floor vibrated gently in response.
Subtle patterns lit up one after another on the surface of the black hoses. A nearly transparent green glimmer seeped from the roots of the plants, flowing slowly along the hoses toward the main pipe.
The plants inside the glass covers trembled simultaneously. A blooming white flower curled its petals at a visible rate, and its leaves rapidly lost their luster.
Nolani instinctively took a step forward, natural mana already condensing in her palm, but she forced herself to stop.
Cutting off the device abruptly would likely alert the people outside immediately.
She froze in place, watching the wisps of life force being drained away, a surge of anger rising within her.
“These people are absolute bastards,” she cursed in a low voice. “They went to all the trouble of keeping them alive just to slowly drain them dry?”
Celine walked to the wall and reached out to touch the copper pipe.
The surface was slightly warm, and the mana fluctuations inside were still extending outward. Judging by the orientation of the warehouse, they pointed directly toward the center of Red Kite City.
She withdrew her hand and walked toward the plant racks on the other side, speaking unhurriedly:
“Going to such lengths to extract the life force of living things usually serves only one purpose.”
“And that is to prolong someone's life.”
Nolani whipped her head around to look at her. “Prolonging life?” She seemed to realize something, her tone urgent. “Could it have something to do with that aura of decay?”
“We can't be sure yet,” Celine said, looking at the rapidly decaying branches and leaves. “But the only thing we can be sure of right now is that Castro modified the Rosalind warehouse without authorization and handed it over to the Green Shade Merchant Guild for long-term use.”
“That alone is already a violation of the rules.”
Nolani stared at her in disbelief.
“How can you still be thinking about those contracts after seeing this?”
She pointed at the completely withered white flower inside the glass cover, her voice tight with suppressed anger.
“Someone is extracting a massive amount of life force, and the pipes lead straight to the center of the city. Shouldn't we first find out who is behind this?”
Celine did not get angry at her questioning. Instead, she looked at her with a calm gaze:
“What we're seeing is indeed beyond my expectations, but that doesn't mean I should abandon my original goal and dive headfirst into deeper trouble.”
“Do you think this is just some longevity trick cooked up in secret by a noble?”
She lightly tapped the copper pipe beside her and continued:
“An underground cultivation ground of this scale, rare plants from various regions, an extraction system running long-term, and both the Green Shade Merchant Guild and Castro covering for them.”
“Do you really think whoever has their hands in this is someone we can easily mess with?”
Nolani's anger faltered slightly. She understood Celine's point, of course.
Whoever could make the Green Shade Merchant Guild gather so many rare plants and construct an underground cultivation ground inside the city was definitely not someone she could shake with just her words and a few spells of natural magic.
Investigating recklessly would likely get them quietly disposed of first.
But as she looked down at the dull, lusterless branches and leaves, her expression still sank bit by bit.
Elves were naturally close to nature.
She could clearly feel the pain of these plants, as well as their faint, almost vanished life force.
If she were to pretend she saw nothing, she simply couldn't do it.
Nolani clenched her fists and said in a low voice, “I know this is dangerous. But since I've seen it, there's no way I can just walk away.”
Just as Celine was about to reply, the Radiant Ring on her finger suddenly grew hot.
The 【Decayed Residual Root】 inside her inventory seemed to have an abnormal reaction.
Celine quickly spun her head to look at the deepest part of the cultivation ground. A white flower, housed alone under a black glass cover, suddenly bent its stem.
A small portion of the green glimmer that had just entered the pipeline actually flowed backward, drilling into its already shriveled roots.
The withered, yellowed leaves plumped up again as dark red veins rapidly spread along their fibers.
Nolani noticed the anomaly as well.
“That flower...”
Before she could finish, a crisp crack echoed from inside the glass cover.
The stem swelled at a visible rate, and the fist-sized bud at the top suddenly burst open. The pure white petals were stained dark red, and a ring of fine, serrated teeth grew from the pistil in the center.
【Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower】
【Category: Decay-type Mutant Plant】
【Status: Extremely Hungry】
【Traits: Can restore health by devouring life force and spread Decay contamination to surrounding plants】
【Warning: This target is currently attracted by the Decayed Residual Root】
At the same time the prompt appeared, the glass cover shattered completely.
“Get down!”
Celine shouted as the massive, dark red flower lunged out of the shattered glass cover, whistling past just above their heads.
Its corolla crashed into the wooden rack behind them, its layers of petals flaring open as it bit down, crushing a clay pot to pieces.
Nolani lay flat on the ground, shielding her face with her arms. Before she could even get up, several thorny vines shot out from beneath the stem.
“To the right!”
Celine rolled out of the way. Another vine followed close behind, heading straight for her.
Several Soul Threads spread from her fingers, weaving and tightening in front of her to form a translucent net in the blink of an eye.
The vine slammed violently into it, its thorns catching in the gaps between the threads, nearly touching her face.
Celine clenched her fingers tightly, and the Soul Threads instantly bound the vine.
At the same time, more Soul Threads condensed in her other hand, and the 【Blade of Truth】 rapidly took shape.
Celine swung down with force. The sharp blade sliced through the vine, spraying dark green sap.
The severed vine crashed to the floor, still twitching continuously.
But before she could even catch her breath, a dark red bud suddenly bulged from the severed end of the vine.
The bud blossomed instantly in the air, revealing fine, sharp fangs inside, and bit down hard on her arm.
Intense pain surged immediately. Celine furrowed her brows and swung the 【Blade of Truth】 with her other hand, hacking off the monstrous flower along with the rest of the vine.
The vine recoiled in pain, but the flower's sharp teeth still clamped onto her arm with a death grip.
She reached up and ripped it off, leaving two rows of tiny puncture wounds on her arm. The area around the wound rapidly reddened as if branded by a searing iron, and a burning pain crawled upward.
Corruption?
Just as Celine was about to check her status, a clear, resonant lyre chord suddenly sounded from behind her.
A green glimmer swept through the air, wrapping around her arm like flowing water and slowly dissolving into the wound.
The two rows of puncture wounds began to close, and the burning pain crawling up her arm was suppressed.
However, a few dark red traces still lingered deep within the wound, refusing to vanish completely.
Celine looked up to see Nolani kneeling on one knee beside a toppled wooden rack, holding her compact lyre, her fingertips resting on the slightly vibrating strings.
“Don't just stand there!” she yelled, suddenly looking up behind Celine. “It's coming again!”
Rate on N.U.
