Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2107: Chapter 2108: Tree Group

Angel arrived at the lower layer but didn’t go to the laboratory immediately. Instead, he pushed open the door to the materials store across from it.

The materials store was still empty, without any materials placed inside.

The only difference from before was the addition of a coated wooden cabin near the artificial lake, with two small white clouds floating above it.

This wooden cabin currently serves as the dwelling for Baruba and the others in the real world.

The reason Angel came to the materials store was to find Baruba.

Regina is about to arrive soon, but the laboratory on the other side is currently cluttered with various items that need to be cleaned and organized. Since it involves many extraordinary tools, using spells to clean recklessly is certainly not feasible, as it would easily damage the equipment. Therefore, someone must carefully organize it.

Baruba had previously worked long-term at the Promy Alchemy Shop, making him very familiar with various experimental tools, so having him do the organizing would be the best choice.

Angel arrived in front of the wooden cabin and sensed Baruba’s current state in the Wilderness of Dreams through the Gate of Dreams. He was now on an airship heading to the new city’s location.

Thinking there shouldn’t be any major issues, Angel decided to wake him from his sleep.

Baruba opened his eyes, immediately showing a guarded and cautious expression. This wasn’t the first time he’d left the Wilderness of Dreams, but this departure was not voluntary; it was forced by an external power, which made him worried that something might have happened outside.

However, there were no unexpected changes around him, everything was calm as before.

Not until he sensed Angel’s presence outside the cabin did clarity appear in his eyes, and his gaze gradually returned to peace.

Angel probably called him back from the Wilderness of Dreams.

Baruba didn’t know why Angel did this, but since he was awakened from the Wilderness of Dreams, there must certainly be some reason.

Baruba quickly walked out of the cabin.

”Sir,” Baruba greeted respectfully.

Angel nodded, not immediately stating his intentions but first asked about Baruba’s current situation in the Wilderness of Dreams.

”I’ve memorized the blueprints of the new city mostly well, and now I’m on my way there,” Baruba said and paused hesitantly, ”However, some buildings in Mr. Jon’s blueprints might be beyond my capability because they are extremely difficult to understand...”

Baruba opened his mouth, wanting to describe the situation of those buildings, but stopped, unsure of how to express it.

Transparent buildings on the blueprints, steam fortresses suspended in the sky, and shops with lots of light screens and strange ”neon” signs. Trying to comprehend and describe all this alone is hard enough, not to mention achieving it.

Although Baruba didn’t explicitly say it, Angel had seen those blueprints and hence understood Baruba’s difficulties.

After all, when Jon designed the blueprints, he combined Earth’s architecture with his understanding of wizardry civilization to create them. Even though they have a certain degree of cohesion regarding design, safety, appearance, and function, these unified conceptual blueprints are indeed challenging for someone like Baruba, who only builds step-by-step using magic rune scrolls.

Solving this problem requires not only manpower but also a person who can oversee everything.

This person must possess coordination skills, understand the design principles and concepts of Jon’s blueprints, have deep knowledge of wizardry, and comprehend the properties of various materials.

Overall, Angel himself would certainly be the most suitable, but the construction of the new city requires a lot of time, and he is currently too busy to handle it personally.

Angel thought about it and decided to hand it over to Frode.

With Frode’s extensive interaction with Jon, Frode has unknowingly begun to accept part of Jon’s concepts, coupled with him being the person who has studied the blueprints for the longest besides Jon. He surely has a deep understanding of the blueprints’ ideas.

The only thing Frode lacks is knowledge of material properties, but this can be easily solved.

At that time, Lord Rhein can send some wizards who are familiar with material properties to assist Frode. After all, the new city is an Extraordinary City, and Rhein wants the Barbarian Cave to hold a decisive advantage in the Wilderness of Dreams, so he will undoubtedly care about a city that could potentially house many wizards.

Thinking of this, Angel said to Baruba, ”Just do as Frode advises, complete the outer buildings that you are capable of first, and set aside those that you can’t understand or accomplish. Before long, someone will take over.”

Angel chatted casually with Baruba, and during this, he noticed that Baruba’s emotional state was significantly more relaxed compared to when he was in the Barbarian Cave.

The atmosphere in Originheart City was very relaxed, and Jon was a gentle person. In such an environment, Baruba’s pent-up emotions were slowly being relieved.

This is indeed a good thing.

Baruba’s inner disposition is entirely contrary to his rugged appearance; he is quite meticulous yet prone to suppression, easily leading to self-denial when hitting a dead end due to emotional suppression. Being able to relax in the Wilderness of Dreams and then facing the high-pressure competitive environment in the Barbarian Cave with a sense of balance is definitely not a bad thing for him.

Besides the transformation in Baruba’s mindset, there is another thing that intrigues Angel.

It’s Baruba’s attitude change towards the two Kukakuka tribe members.

Initially, Baruba did not have much connection with Babaya and Kudodo, these ”small” individuals. Baruba’s character wasn’t one to accept external emotions easily.

Originally, Baruba thought he wouldn’t have much interaction with these two until the task was completed.

However, a turning point occurred.

On the morning of the day before yesterday, Jon and his small team discovered a very basic chat tool.

Using the network of the Mother Tree, one doesn’t need to find contacts one by one, but can directly use a dialog box similar to paper appearing in front of them for group chat.

Jon named this chat tool: Tree Group.

The Tree Group is divided into instant chat little tree groups and big tree groups, as well as Tree Group forums where more text can be written with slight delay.

Jon pulled his development team into a small tree group, and since Baruba accepted Jon’s architecture task, he was also included.

In that small tree group, because the chat was in text, Baruba discovered many aspects that were entirely different from what he knew before.

Kudodo seemed quite honest and sincere, but in the small tree group, he was playful and humorous, with some words so cleverly amusing that even Baruba couldn’t help but laugh.

Babaya usually practices in silence, seeming like she doesn’t talk much. But in the small tree group, she often keeps typing out perplexed messages, asking ”why” constantly, almost like a chatterbox.

Jon, however, is as gentle and knowledgeable as ever; Popota doesn’t like to talk much.

In this small tree group, Baruba initially didn’t know what to say. Later, when Jon was teaching in the group, Baruba asked a few questions about building construction. The initial answers were normal, but then Kudodo suddenly started taking the conversation off-topic with wild ideas about building shapes. Baruba was initially quite upset and tried to correct the subject, but the topic derailed even further, with Jon also joining the fray. To uphold his ideas, Baruba became competitive. For a while, the small tree group was extremely lively.

After that time, Baruba found himself speaking in the small tree group without the usual psychological burden.

In such circumstances, Baruba occasionally spoke in the group, and Kudodo and Babaya were willing to engage in conversation with him.

Thus, some things Baruba had previously considered impossible began to change.

Even though Baruba hasn’t truly had a direct conversation with Kudodo and Babaya, some emotional connections have slowly been built through their chats in the tree group.

Of course, Baruba didn’t completely share the above story, but through some details, Angel still deduced the full emotional change.

Angel was gratified by Baruba’s change in mindset.

But the thing that surprised Angel the most in this story was that tree group.

Unexpectedly, Jon’s development of the Mother Tree Network had truly begun taking shape, leveraging the trait of the ”Tree Civilization.” Although it’s still far from the flourishing era recorded in the holographic tablet, the hardest part of the Mother Tree Network is the first step. Once the first step is taken, subsequent developments will appear in a burst!

Currently, it’s just a ”tree group.” Angel is eagerly anticipating what grand spectacle the future Mother Tree Network will present.

By then, even Sanders might be astonished, as he wasn’t optimistic about the development of the Mother Tree Network back then.

...

After concluding his chat with Baruba, Angel finally mentioned the purpose of his visit.

Organizing the laboratory is not difficult; it just requires time and effort. The construction of the New City isn’t urgent either, as Frode needs to conduct a final environmental survey. During this time, Baruba is quite free.

So, Baruba accepted the task without hesitation.

Since Regina is expected to arrive in the next couple of days, time is tight. Baruba directly followed Angel out of the material repository and came to the adjacent laboratory.

Upon entering the laboratory, Angel saw Sanders standing at the workbench, with a ball-like metal tool above him projecting a beam of light, focused through a special observation film onto a tentacle placed on the workbench.

Angel took one look and realized Sanders was currently studying the Seed of Distortion.

Seeing the broken tentacle, Angel couldn’t help but worry about the Seed of Distortion. The Seed of Distortion he brought out from the Maze Candle Corridor was just a sub-body and severely malnourished. Now that its tentacle has been severed, he wondered if it would be in danger.

However, when Angel saw where the main body of the Seed of Distortion was, he was momentarily stunned.

The Seed of Distortion was now placed inside a transparent box, locked with special magic patterns. However, it seemed entirely unperturbed by the confinement, instead appearing quite comfortable, like a happy otter—

Its numerous tentacles wrapped around a pitch-black stone, exuding a floating, intoxicated aura.

It didn’t look at all like something that had just had its tentacle severed.

With a slight sense, Angel understood why the Seed of Distortion was like this. It turned out the stone it was clutching was a pure-breathed Mare Stone.

The breath of this Mare Stone was almost identical in concentration to the aura of the Nightmare Realm that Angel released. The Nightmare Realm’s aura can replenish the power the Seed of Distortion loses; no wonder it looked so content.

With the Mare Stone present, the Seed of Distortion definitely wouldn’t have any issues, so Angel relaxed his concerns.

Angel motioned for Baruba to tidy up the other rooms first, while he himself approached Sanders’ side.

”Mentor,” Angel greeted, not asking about Sanders’ research progress. After all, he had only researched it for less than a day, so results were unlikely.

As expected, Sanders voluntarily shared his research findings from the half-day.

Not only was there no result, but he didn’t even have any leads.

Firstly, with the mushrooms, although Angel had roughly explained their effects, these effects could only be realized once the mushrooms matured.

Take the Yamen Mushroom, for example, it can enable short to medium distance spatial displacement between correlated sources. But here are two restrictions: first, so-called ”correlated” means the main body splits to form mycelium saplings, ultimately cultivating these saplings into mature correlated Yamen Mushrooms. But splitting the mycelium saplings requires the Yamen Mushroom to reach maturity.

Second, is the mechanism of teleportation. The Yamen Mushroom’s teleportation requires swallowing a person, meaning it will be quite large upon maturing, like the Bone Chew Mushroom Angel encountered in the Duling Garden, big enough to swallow a person.

Currently, the Yamen Mushroom isn’t even the size of a palm, so how could it swallow a person for teleportation?

Precisely because the effects of these mushrooms require a mature form to be realized, Sanders couldn’t conduct specific research. He wasn’t adept at mushroom research, so he had to set the mushrooms aside and study the Seed of Distortion first.

But the Seed of Distortion’s research also hit a dead end. He managed to sever the tentacle, but found no special components, just a simple tool for binding or adhesion. This means the so-called amplification effect of the Seed of Distortion must originate from its spherical core. However, it’s a sub-body, and the only sub-body at that, so Sanders was hesitant to dissect it.

After researching for more than half a day, it turned out to be a complete waste of time.

Sanders knew continuing his research would likely still be futile, so after chatting with Angel for a while, he returned the mushrooms and the Seed of Distortion to him, deciding not to pursue it further.

Sanders: ”The Seed of Distortion is a sub-body. Even if you dissect it, you might not figure it out. I suggest, once you find a suitable target, just use it directly. It can slightly enhance your combat strength.”

Angel nodded. The reason he brought the Seed of Distortion out was precisely with this intention.

As long as he continuously provides the Seed of Distortion with the aura of the Nightmare Realm, it could provide Angel with a powerful and loyal puppet. And what Angel has in abundance, is the Nightmare Realm’s aura.

The problem is, the Seed of Distortion itself doesn’t have much strength, and a suitable creature must be found for it to possess.

Currently, there is no target, so he can only temporarily nourish the Seed of Distortion for now until he encounters one.