After talking for a while, Liu Shu finally understood the general history of the last more influential years of Nualis. The world, being mostly covered by oceans and swamps, had little volcanic activity. This led to a lack of land-forming above the seas. However, the high atmospheric concentration made up for it, warming the planet enough for it to become habitable for myriad species.
'The temperature in Nualis is warmer than in Ceperet, but not by much. This made it more suitable for creating moist environments, increasing evaporation, and the global rainfall cycle. From what I've observed, Nualis is smaller than Ceperet as well.'
Other than that, she quickly summarized the most important events in her head. 'The time when the newest era began is probably right after the Amphibian War. From the ashes of war, five ruling races appeared. The reason they are called as such is due to being the only races that managed to develop a
Liu Shu rubbed her roots in thought. 'The deep ocean doesn't have intelligent races. However, like in Ceperet, there seem to be plenty of monsters roaming those depths. Ships don't exist, but all land is interconnected with shallow seas. They have a strange type of carriage pulled by aquatic creatures to help transport merchandise through semi-aquatic channels. It was an invention of war, later assimilated into their culture.'
From what Liu Shu heard, the previous semi-primitive races advanced by leaps and bounds during that war. Mainly because the humans were starting to overwhelm them with technologies that they didn't comprehend.
Sadly for the humans, the Star Elders of the Star Chart Newts managed to see the danger of human innovative prowess, and they were quickly overwhelmed and exterminated.
'According to Vyrella, there are no humans left in Nualis. And because Sylvans are usually adaptive and develop according to those around them, they have stayed relatively primitive, taking over any forest without deep rivers where an amphibian species could dominate in combat.'
After organizing the information, Liu Shu spoke up. "So, to summarize. Your five races dominate as the five major civilizations. Your forces usually suppress all the other intelligent beings. Finally, deep oceans remain unexplored, but they most likely have no intelligent race civilizations due to the high density of powerful sea monsters."
Lunavi nodded. "That would be right, Lady Heavenly Willow."
Liu Shu hummed and then asked, curious. "Are there slaves?"
It was not a strange question to ask. After all, if someone could come up with the idea of domesticating animals, there would be those who would push it to other extremes.
When she asked, Liu Shu noticed their confusion. Lunavi mouthed the word slowly. "S…laves? What is that?"
Their confused looks came as a surprise, but then Liu Shu remembered something quite important. 'Right, I am not speaking in the universal common language. While I learned their language instantly thanks to Wisdom, some words might not have one-to-one translations.'
"Slaves are… a labor force. Did your races take over other races and use them for work or other means?"
She worded it carefully. The last thing she wanted was to become the source of slavery on a new planet. Even after her explanation, there was no reaction from these five people. Lunavi answered. "We do not know of this slave-type labor force you speak of. When we encountered our enemy races, the only thing we did was forcefully eliminate them for our safety.'
"Ah."
Liu Shu realized that these people didn't take slaves, not because they didn't want to, but because everyone from the rivaling races was massacred.
"Well… Alright. Let's move on to the important matters then."
Not really knowing how to react, she moved onward. After all, whatever past these people had was not her problem as long as they became loyal citizens in the future.
"From now on, the Divine Beast Forest will be renamed to
Once that water spirit took over, Liu Shu would take a part of it and pour it on Nualis. According to the skills she read in the past, distance mattered not, as the only condition for the Origin Water to start spreading was that a part of it touched a body of water.
"What I need to spread quicker is… allied World Trees. Who should I take?"
If Pelagia were awake, she would've moved her without a doubt. A
Unlike Liu Shu, who could accelerate her own growth by leaps and bounds, these World Trees needed their sweet time to finish. 'I hope they don't take several hundred years. Otherwise, I would not know what to do with them… Not only them, but all the World Trees back at home that are below Level 100 will eventually need to go through the breakthroughs as well. If talented ones like Big Sister Warlya take several hundred years…'
Shaking off her thoughts, she refocused on her approach to conquering Nualis. "Lakeborn… and another three water World Trees? That sounds right. Although… I don't know if Lakeborn will like moving over. I've already moved her once. Doing it again in such a short period of time might make her feel uncomfortable."
Being one of the earliest World Trees she ever knew, she had some special fondness toward this big sister of hers. Therefore, if she didn't want to, she wouldn't bother her and would use others. 'Still, if she wants to, I can make Nualis her forever home. I can sense that there aren't many World Trees in Nualis, just around 12. So, she would not be overwhelmed and would be quite free to spread as she likes.'
In Ceperet, the number of World Trees was many times that number. So, moving over a few of them would not be excessive at all. Especially those that were in the previously known
The only thing she was somewhat unsure about was how to complete the migration of Ceperet inhabitants to Nualis. Using the manta ray was an option, but not a long-term one. Its speed allowed it to move back and forth every few weeks with the
"Five hundred is nothing, to be honest. I might use it twice for elites, but they won't be able to manage large populations all around the world. Is it time to start creating a spatial tunnel? I heard that it is possible from Elyne and the others. But… I might be lacking materials."
While pondering all these things, Liu Shu continued talking with Lunavi and the others. Eventually, she spoke of some of her plans and returned to Cperet to look for people who would serve her purposes.
'Let's go slowly, step by step. To start with, I need to transform the Divine Beast Forest into the Nualis Golden Forest City. I already have the Temples prepared, and while I still can't build the
Near the coast of the Golden Sap Continent, Lakeborn was peacefully managing her city and increasingly large population. She had become quite well-known, and almost everyone there liked how she handled things.
Seeing that her waters were populated once again, there was a sense of satisfaction deep inside as a World Tree. A contradicting duality existed inside every World Tree. For one, they didn't really micro-manage the beings living within their domains. Nevertheless, a World Tree would not be happy unless there were living beings living inside its domain.
Not because they strictly needed them, but because their nature as World Trees pushed them to foment the land and life under their canopies.
"Big Sister Lakeborn, can I ask you something?"
While Lakeborn looked at her people with satisfaction and calm, she heard Liu Shu's call. Curious, she reached out and communicated with the being who had grown far beyond herself. Her voice, a myriad of different tones that merged into a single feminine voice, echoed through Liu Shu's roots. "Of course, you can ask us to do anything. What do you need from us, Liu Shu? We will do our best to complete the task."
Liu Shu giggled. "Don't be so stiff. There is no need for that. What I wanted is a bit of a selfish thing, so remember that you can easily say no to my offer. I am not forcing you to agree, alright?"
Lakeborn felt amused. She, who was an amalgamation of many individuals mixed to form a single complex, united conscience, had never been treated normally, even among the World Trees. Moreover, any contact she had with anyone in the past before Liu Shu was due to a conflict.
So, hearing Liu Shu's concern and evident affection, the World Tree felt warm and happy inside. "Speak, Liu Shu. We will hear you and decide."
Lakeborn's tone was gentle, and soon, she heard the answer.
"You see, I am currently in Nualis… you know, our neighboring world. There are amphibious creatures there, with most of the surface underwater or covered in marshes and swamps. I thought that if any world would be perfect for you, this one would be it. While I wanted to ask for Pelagia's help, she is still asleep. And you, who are already at Level 84, are quite a good second option."
Lakeborn was surprised, and soon, she understood Liu Shu's concern.
'Is she worried because we were moved not long ago?'
'We should answer positively.'
'But what about our cities?'
'They are cities developed during the last few decades. Time so short we won't notice it later.'
Lakeborn's myriad of consciences debated together, thinking as a group with the same end. Eventually, they reached a conclusion and answered. "We would like to go. While we are fond of the beings we are taking care of, there are many others who can take over our place. If you feel like we would develop more freely over there, Liu Shu, we are willing to attempt it. Moreover, if we were unhappy, there is an option to return, isn't there?"
"Well… Yeah. You can move once every decade. So, I think it is possible. Only, during that decade, I won't be able to do anything about it, you understand?"
Lakeborn's voices were soft and gentle. "We do understand. Thank you for worrying about us. We are ready to move."
Liu Shu hummed. "Alright then.