Chapter 185: False Green Tree
The tiltrotor aircraft hovered in the air, making a flurry of sounds as it beat against the atmosphere.
Below, within the Fairy Circle, there was no notable movement.
“FC Investigation Team, commence airborne descent.”
From an altitude of approximately 100 meters, four Jumpers—quadrupedal machines with two arms—leaped from the aircraft. The Jumpers extended their six limbs to stabilize their falling posture while briefly firing gas jets to reduce their descent speed. Their lightweight design allowed them to achieve sufficient deceleration even with minimal gas propulsion.
“Four Jumpers have landed on the surface without any issues.”
Utilizing their elongated limbs skillfully, they absorbed the impact upon landing. The Jumper squad touched down on a lush green meadow.
“No movement detected. No anomalies in heat source detection.”
“Shall we do a preliminary sweep?”
“Yes, Ma’am. After ensuring safety, we will deploy a drone equipped with a Magic Essence Meter. This site exhibits unusually pronounced changes, so we hope to discover some discrepancies.”
From the recorded responses of the Magic Essence Meter, it had been confirmed that some particles or energy phenomena referred to as Magic Essence displayed varying concentrations. Generally, the closer to the ground, the higher the concentration, with variations existing even at the same altitude.
Even at the same location, the concentration could change over time.
Though the precision was not high, the Magic Essence Meter was an unknown measuring device. The reproducibility of the observational results had been thoroughly confirmed.
“No anomalies detected. FC Investigation Team, commencing patrol.”
After landing, the four Jumpers began gathering information about their surroundings.
They expanded their scanning range in a spiral pattern from nearly the center of the Fairy Circle.
“There appear to be no particular anomalies in the plant species. All are plants confirmed within the Demon Forest. No irregularities detected by the passive sonar. No noteworthy responses from the infrared detector either.”
They moved within a radius of approximately five meters to conduct their investigation. Aside from the rapid growth rate of the plants, no significant abnormalities were discovered.
“Deploying the installed composite sensor.”
From the tiltrotor aircraft above, a sensor was dropped. The sensor fell freely, anchoring itself into the ground with its bottom anchor and extending its stabilizing legs to secure itself.
“Sensor secured. Commencing information gathering.”
The installed sensor was deployed in a region where safety had been tentatively ensured, initiating more detailed information collection.
“No suspicious movements detected within a 50-meter radius… Shall we move the Jumpers?”
“Yes, Ma’am. FC Investigation Team, initiating independent movement.”
With confirmation that there were no threats in the vicinity from the sensor data, the four Jumpers began to move in different directions.
“What we particularly want to investigate is this tree that is growing rapidly within the Fairy Circle. We’ve also identified several similar species of trees along the perimeter.”
“Could it be due to its rapid growth? The trunk is green.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Based on its shape, it appears to be a tall tree similar to the beech family. This species is commonly found in the Demon Forest.”
The trunk, or more accurately, the bark, would typically turn brown and harden over time. Since the young branches had not aged much, their outer skin remained green.
The rapidly growing tree they were observing had only been around for about a week. As a result, it had developed a considerable girth while still retaining its green appearance. It was an unsettling sight.
“Hmmm… I didn’t quite grasp it just from the description…”
“Seeing it visually, it does indeed exhibit the characteristics mentioned.”
“Right. I thought it was just a matter of being told it was a green tree, but this is what they meant.”
What she (Eve) referred to was a well-known and troublesome monster from the Demon Forest that had come up during their information gathering in North End City.
“Shall we take a shot at it?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The name of that monster was the False Green Tree (Treant). It was a rather unique creature that had transformed from a tree into a monster, engaging in predatory activities.
“FC Investigation Team, bringing FC-1 closer to the target.”
Equipping one of the Jumpers with a Metal Mace, they approached the Treant. The remaining three maintained a safe distance, readying their coilguns for immediate response should anything happen.
As the Jumper drew closer, a rustling sound of leaves echoed ominously.
“Wind speed is less than 1 m/s. There’s virtually no wind detected.”
“I see?”
Despite the absence of wind, the leaves rustled. This indicated that the branches had moved due to some force.
The Jumper continued to approach. The moment its body slipped beneath the canopy, the surrounding branches lunged toward it, wrapping around the trunk in an attempt to ensnare the Jumper.
The command AI aboard the transport aircraft, hovering above, observed the scene closely. It maneuvered the Jumper for an immediate response.
With a swing of the Metal Mace, the Jumper struck the branches away. Simultaneously, it braced its four legs and retreated from the attack range.
However, its movement was hindered by roots that burst forth from the ground.
Due to its lightweight structure, the Jumper was significantly lighter than it appeared. The roots tangled around its legs, causing it to lose balance.
Even so, the Jumper’s agility was impressive.
Using gas propulsion, it forcefully retreated despite its compromised stance. At the same time, it swung the Metal Mace to regain its balance.
Twisting its body, it leaped away from the False Green Tree (Treant), maintaining distance.
“Wow! The tree really moves!”
“It’s unclear why it can move. It looks just like a tree, and no heat sources resembling muscle tissue have been detected.”
The Treant was a tree monster. According to the gathered information, if it were cut down, it could be used as regular lumber. It also contained a Magic Stone within its body, and extracting or destroying it would halt its activities.
However, defeating a Treant that attacked with its branches and roots was no easy feat. The simplest way to take it down was to penetrate the trunk with a powerful strike and accurately shatter the Magic Stone, but only a select few adventurers possessed the capability to do so.
Typically, one would circumvent it to avoid an attack. Thus, the materials from Treants were exceedingly rare.
“There are three other trees that appear to be Treants. Their characteristics match, so we will assume they are Treants. Setting a safe action range. Deploying the Magic Essence Meter drone.”
After ensuring safety, they released a drone equipped with the Magic Essence Meter. They formed a spherical formation with drones for protection, placing the drone with the Magic Essence Meter at the center. This way, if any attack occurred, the outer drones would be the first to suffer damage.
“Measurement response, recording has commenced.”
By analyzing the vibration amplitude of the Magic Essence Meter, they could record the approximate concentration of Magic Essence in the surrounding area. This was a preliminary approach to determine if there were any changes in Magic Essence within the Fairy Circle.
“While the concentration of Magic Essence fluctuates within the Demon Forest, the changes here are particularly pronounced.”
“Is that so?”
To explain to Ma’am, RINGO displayed a three-dimensional map of the concentration distribution. It transformed the varying concentrations of Magic Essence at the measurement points into color transparency. When compared to measurements taken at different locations, the differences were immediately apparent.
“It seems that within the Fairy Circle, the concentration of Magic Essence is higher near the ground. It almost looks like the Magic Essence is seeping up from the earth. Additionally, the area around the Treant appears to have a lower concentration of Magic Essence compared to its surroundings.”
“Oh, that’s true. Since the sample size is small, we can’t say for certain yet…”
“It can be inferred that there seems to be some relationship between monsters and the concentration of Magic Essence.”
While discussing this, they continued to observe the progress of their investigation.
“I’ve detected the emergence of slimes.”
“Wait, seriously?”
The all-around cameras of the installed composite sensor recorded the sight of slimes oozing up from the ground.