Chapter 11: Are They... Collaborating?

Ye Mi casually tore off a length of vine and bound Li Shuang tightly, then hoisted her up like a cured ham, suspending her from a tree branch not far from the pond.

This was a place where the healing effects of the fruit could not reach.

She had no intention of letting Li Shuang’s broken bones mend and risk another ambush.

After securing Li Shuang, Ye Mi stood quietly beside the Healing Fruit Tree.

The morning sunlight was vibrant with life, filtering through the leaves and dappling her tattered black robe, as if even the eerie aura about her had been dispelled somewhat.

Li Shuang noticed that the red light was slowly seeping into the stag-headed butcher’s body, and his wounds were closing at an accelerating pace.

It was her first time witnessing, with her own eyes, the mysterious power of the treasure so highly valued by the Defense Bureau’s highest ranks.

“So that’s how it is…”

In that moment, Li Shuang understood why her organization prized this intelligence so dearly.

If the Defense Bureau could obtain this Healing Fruit Tree… If they mastered how to cultivate it, then perhaps the B-rank espers at the front lines might venture even deeper into the Radiant Ruins.

“Hiss!”

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by a surge of pain; though she could not see it, her wrist, broken and now bearing her weight, was swollen and purple.

Ye Mi heard the commotion and glanced lightly at Li Shuang. The latter immediately fell silent, making not another sound despite the pain.

Ye Mi paid little mind to Li Shuang’s petty schemes. Instead, she crouched by the pond, pinching up some moist earth between her fingers and observing it closely.

The earlier conversation among the exploration team had told Ye Mi that the Defense Bureau already possessed intelligence on the Healing Fruit Tree. Even if this team failed to return, others would inevitably follow.

So, it was no longer safe for the Healing Fruit Tree to remain here. Ye Mi had decided to move it.

Such a thing—she would sooner destroy it than let it fall into enemy hands.

She hardly needed to guess the Defense Bureau’s intentions: mass propagation of the Healing Fruit Tree? Leveling the Radiant Ruins? Tightening their control, making everyone mere nutrients for the OC Corporation, forced to serve its interests.

She despised such control.

Ye Mi was no expert in cultivation, but she had enough common sense to know that a plant’s survival depended on its soil.

She carefully studied the earth near the pond to see what set it apart—and indeed, she discovered something.

The soil was laced with many strange, white fragments.

A closer look revealed them to be shards of bone.

Realizing this, Ye Mi seemed to grasp something and began digging deeper around the Healing Fruit Tree’s roots.

As she unearthed the twisted, tangled roots, she clearly saw animal skeletons entwined within them.

“So that’s it.”

The Healing Fruit Tree was most likely a mutated plant.

Though its trunk was not tall, its roots stretched far and wide beneath the ground—and at the end of each root lay the skeleton of some unknown mutant animal.

In other words, the tree’s nourishment came from these corpses. That, perhaps, was why it bore so many healing fruits.

How fascinating.

It fed on life, only to bear fruit that could heal life.

The logic of the tree’s existence was probably no different from that of humans or mutated monsters—so long as there was Radiant Ruins energy, it could survive.

This was likely common knowledge among beings that lingered long in the Radiant Ruins.

If that was the case, things would be much easier.

If this tree could thrive on the corpses of mutant beasts, then with her fifty-eight energy crystals, keeping it alive would be no challenge at all.

“From now on, you might be eating the richest meals you’ve ever known.”

Ye Mi reached out and poked the trunk. Her fingertip felt a faint tremor—the tree seemed to shiver lightly, alive in its own way.

She chuckled softly, then uprooted it entirely.

Li Shuang, hanging from the tree, watched in wide-eyed disbelief.

What was the stag-headed butcher doing? Why was she uprooting this miraculous little tree?

A metallic clatter sounded from deep within the forest.

Li Shuang tensed at the sudden noise and turned her head—only to see a gleaming figure parting the underbrush, followed by twelve Rust Tide creatures, moving in perfect formation like a military unit.

She was stunned.

Seeing the red and white electronic eyes of the leading Rust Tide, a sense of familiarity welled up inside her.

This monster… She was certain she’d seen it before.

But where?

“Rust Tide King?”

Li Shuang’s pupils shrank violently.

That monster—the one that had plundered three Defense Bureau supply outposts, the strongest known individual Rust Tide—why was it here?

Could it be that it had come to seize the treasured tree?

If so, and if the Rust Tide King and the stag-headed butcher fought, would she have a chance to escape amid the chaos?

Hope flickered beneath her fear. She began to struggle against the vines binding her.

She swung back and forth—her arms broken, but her legs still able to move—flailing desperately in midair, a wretched sight, like a fish out of water.

But Li Shuang had no other options; breaking the vine was her sole hope of survival.

If she did not break free, not only would she remain trapped, but she might also be caught in the crossfire of two monsters.

Yet after a minute of struggling, she suddenly realized the Rust Tide King had appeared right before her, staring silently, sending a chill through her bones.

What she didn’t know was that behind the cold electronic eyes, Ye Mi was slightly perplexed.

She’d thought Li Shuang had accepted her fate and given up on escaping—so why was she thrashing about now, swinging like a child on a playground?

As though she’d suddenly lost her mind.

A faint misty shadow flickered across the Rust Tide King’s metallic form—something Li Shuang could not see clearly.

Li Shuang’s expression darkened as she instinctively shrank back, but with her limbs bound, there was nowhere to go.

Then, she saw the stag-headed butcher lift the Healing Fruit Tree, walk silently to the Rust Tide King, and hand the tree over to the Rust Tide creatures behind it for safekeeping.

“This can’t be…”

Li Shuang’s throat tightened to a whisper, her voice barely audible. She glanced at the stag-headed butcher—how could she entrust the tree she’d guarded so long to the Rust Tide King?

Why?

Why was this happening… What connection was there between the stag-headed butcher and the Rust Tide King?

They weren’t of the same kind, nor did they inhabit the same territory. How could two unrelated monsters form an alliance?

In her experience, the monsters of the Radiant Ruins always fought alone; she’d never seen different types cooperate.

“What… are you planning?”

So much had happened that Li Shuang’s mind was reeling. Her voice trembled, words slipping out unbidden.

Of course, there was no answer.

The Rust Tide King merely raised its hand, placing its cold, metallic palm against Li Shuang’s forehead.

Icy metal pressed instantly against her skin.