Chương 444: Tipsy Liu Shu!

After being with Tempestria, Liu Shu became dormant again, though she didn't fully fall asleep this time. She lingered in a groggy, half-awake state.

'Huh… Am I awake? Am I asleep?' The sensations from her roots, the flow of information—everything was much harder to process than usual. For a normal intelligent being, it would be like being inebriated.

'Um… Woah! That's a funny animal~, haha.' One of her roots lifted out of the ground, wrapping around a rather ordinary deer and hoisting it into the air. The poor creature kicked its legs, startled by the sudden motion.

"Hehe~, why does your body feel so fuzzy? Your energy is a mess~." Hearing Liu Shu's voice, the deer actually calmed down. No creature within her domain failed to recognize the presence of the one who ruled it. And with the help of <World Tree Wisdom>, her meaning was faintly translated for it. The deer's wide black eyes blinked in confusion as Liu Shu's roots poked and prodded here and there before gently lowering it back to the ground.

"Ah. I was confused...? Bad animal, deceiving the World Tree is worthy of a death sentence! But since I am benevolent… you are free to go!" The deer bounded away, utterly baffled as to why the World Tree herself had paid it any attention. Liu Shu's current state came from her own efforts to avoid falling into another long slumber. She didn't particularly mind sleeping. In fact, she would be happy to meld into nature and drift along for decades.

But, with war still raging on, the threat of being attacked and failing to react was always there, so she wanted to avoid such situations as much as possible. Experience told her that if she were asleep during the important wars, many people would die unnecessarily. So, with much effort, she managed to resist completely falling asleep. Still, after completing her bond with Tempestria, Liu Shu was tiering up. Her half-awake state didn't take away from that; it exacerbated it.

The final result was that most of her mental power and energy flowed to help her with that. This created an effect similar to alcohol, inhibiting most of Liu Shu's mental capabilities like the beverage did to "neurons" in a human mind. Her gaze moved through her domain, and soon she found Tempestria and the others meeting in one of their rooms. Cinderielle's voice sounded somewhat annoyed.

"To think that I've ended up being the last." The others laughed faintly. Harmonixia grinned.

"Well, you now know how the others felt. Being the last is not too good of a feeling." Tempestria added.

"Even then, you are not truly the last. There are still others that will join us later." The other three paused, becoming somewhat thoughtful.

"Join~?" Liu Shu's slurred voice reached them without any echo. Since most of her mind was occupied with the <Tier Up>, her voice came out naturally and without the usual echo.

"Who is joining?" The four Sylvans were startled. They had never expected Liu Shu to be awake at this point. Verdantia spoke, changing the subject smoothly.

"Love? Why are you awake? Aren't you going through a <Tier Up>?"

"Hmph!" Liu Shu spoke, her slurred speech becoming much more apparent.

"Why can't I be awake? Do you want to hide things from me? Bad! Bad people, you can't hide things from a World Tree! That's a death sentence!" The tone was too difficult to miss, and the Sylvans caught on to it. First, they looked at each other to confirm their suspicions, and when they saw that look in each other's eyes, puzzlement settled in them. Cinderielle asked tentatively.

"Um… Love, how are you feeling?"

"Feeeeling? I am feeling, feeling…" Liu Shu paused her speech, as if she had lost the thread of what she was going to say. She then blurted.

"You know that a deer deceived me? It lied to me, making itself look fuzzy and distorted! But I forgave it. Aren't I a good World Tree?" The utter confusion the Sylvans felt was palpable. Tempestria coughed and spoke tentatively, her face carrying a subtle expression.

"Um… That's great. You are a really good World Tree."

"Right! A cloud!" Another outburst out of nowhere made whatever the other Sylvans wanted to say get stuck in their throats. Liu Shu continued, not caring about that.

"Like my canopy is being caressed by a big cloud! So… floaty! I am a bit… what do you call this feeling… Disturbed? No, no! Dizzy!"" Verdantia blinked.

"Ah. She is answering Cinderielle's question." The others realized, while Liu Shu's giggle filled the room.

"Silly! What would I answer otherwise?" A root appeared from the ground, patting the heads of all four Sylvans.

"So silly. Is your head hurting? Your head is precious, after all. If it goes sploch, you die! You can't let your head go sploch." Harmonixia chuckled and spoke to the girls.

"Is she… drunk? What is happening?" Cinderielle frowned.

"Did someone pour something strange in the water?" The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Tempestria rolled her eyes.

"It's not like we are watering Liu Shu. She is way beyond the size of being able to be taken care of in that regard." Cinderielle snorted.

"Even if it ruins us financially, we need to take care of her." Liu Shu barely followed the conversation.

"Finances… Are you short of money? Wait there for a bit." The faces of the four people changed, and Harmonixia called her hastily.

"Wait. Lian'er!" No answer came, making them start to sweat coldly. Verdantia stood up and moved to the side. In the room they were in, there was a large shelf with plenty of books. These books all had some information about World Trees.

"Really… what's wrong with our little darling?" Verdantia carried a rather thick book and placed it on the rounded, wooden table with a loud thud. Opening in the middle, Verdantia began reading the chapter quickly. Cinderielle leaned over and read the title.

"Hm… <Behavior Changes in World Trees>? Haven't you memorized this book already?"

"Yes. And that's the problem." Verdantia sighed.

"I can't think of any reason for Liu Shu to behave in this manner."

"I am here!" Liu Shu exclaimed rather loudly, making their ears ring for a second.

"Hehe. Money for you!" Before they could say anything, they heard a loud bang outside the Tree House. Tempestria walked to the window and looked outside with trepidation.

"That's…" Tempestria's lips began twitching as she saw the Arboreal Winged Serpent flying away.

"Love, did you just use one of the serpents to deliver something?"

"What's wrong? My snake friends listen to me and can fly! They are very good at delivering items!" Tempestria spoke after gulping.

"Um… How much is there?" Right outside Grey, Tempestria's Tree House daughter, there was a rather large pile of minerals. Liu Shu blurted out her answer.

"Huh? I don't know. So much to count… so lazy to do it… do it yourself!" All of them were speechless. What could they say? Tempestria cleared her throat and smiled.

"Thank you, love. We'll make good use of that money."

"Yeah! Hehehe. I could help my lovers! I love all of you~, I love Tempestria! I love Verdantia! I love Harmonixia! I love Cinderielle! I loveeeee youuuu!!!" Verdantia closed the book and sighed with a soft smile, which was mirrored by the others.

"Whatever. She seems to be in a silly and cuddly state, so let's pamper her." However, Liu Shu was in the mood to be a chaotic typhoon. So, without lingering much, she blurted.

"I am going! Buy many things with the money! Byeeee!" And so, the four Sylvans froze like stone statues, their smiling expressions seemingly nailed in time. Liu Shu naturally ignored them and visited Flor and Ignatia. The two lovers were in their bedroom, thankfully not in an intimate situation.

"Flor! Ignatia!" The Ant Queen and Flower Fairy got startled. They thought that their little darling had gone to sleep. Seeing some roots pop from the walls of Ignatia's nest room, both women stood up from their positions of cuddling in bed while reading.

"Baby? Why are you awake?" Ignatia's soft tone made Liu Shu giggle.

"Hehehe, so warm and fuzzy~." Her roots moved and coiled around the two women a bit tighter than usual. Flor frowned faintly; the strength of the World Tree was quite high after all.

"Love… You know I love hugs with you, but you are squeezing a bit too tightly for me."

"Oh…" Sadness overflowed from her tone, as if a switch had flipped.

"I am sorry… I didn't want to do it…" To say that the two mothers were startled was an understatement.

"O-Oh. Don't worry, love. I am not angry at all." Flor carefully caressed the roots and gave them little kisses. She didn't mind that some of them had a bit of dirt on them.

"Don't be sad, okay?" Liu Shu blurted out, her tone utterly devastated.

"But it is my fault they died… It is because I was sleeping that people died. I don't want to sleep anymore…" Her words struck Flor and Ignatia deeply. They had not expected Liu Shu to make such a confession. Ignatia's tone softened as she hugged the roots tightly.

"Baby. That's not the truth. You've always done your best to keep becoming stronger and protecting everyone."

"But I've failed…" Liu Shu blurted, her voice sounding heartbreakingly sad.

"I can't save people. I can't become close to anyone anymore… I don't know what to do with those trees over the Wall Forest… I—""Liu Shu." Flor spoke rather sternly once, stopping her tirade.

"Love. None of those words is the truth. You are the greatest World Tree in the entire world. I am extremely proud of what you've achieved in this short time." Liu Shu paused and listened. Flor smiled gently and rubbed her face with the roots around her.

"Some people have died, and that's the truth. However, how many have you protected, dear? How many criminal organizations that were using intelligent beings as commodities have you dismantled? How many people have you liberated? How many have you protected? How well have you maintained order in your cities? You've done so many good things that I can't even list them without taking a while."

"But—""No buts." Flor tapped the roots and gave a glare at Ignatia. It was basically saying.

'Our daughter is here having an emotional crisis! Why are you not speaking?' Ignatia's lips arched faintly, and she spoke.

"Love. You've done really well. Your millions of sisters and I are very happy about the little haven that you've provided us. This is the only place in the world where people won't take up their weapons and slaughter ants as soon as they see them. On the contrary, how many people are fond of your sisters? Now, you can see children approaching the ants with smiles, knowing they are secure around them. You can see Explorers actually asking some ants to accompany them on missions.

Ants have become a part of what makes <Golden Sap Country> your country. So, don't be sad and be proud of what you've achieved." Liu Shu, even when her mind was still groggy, felt her sadness floating away. Happy feelings flooded her heart, as if a layer of sweet honey was gently applied to her feelings. Then, Ignatia added with a laugh.

"Also, if you want friends, how about you take the initiative? Approaching you is rather impossible since you hear all of our voices daily. If you focus, you might find someone who speaks to you as a friend~."

"Really? I'll do that then! Bye!" Flor and Ignatia froze as Liu Shu left as spontaneously as she arrived. The Ant Queen asked with a rather serious tone.

"She is behaving a bit strangely. Do we need to worry about it?" Flor stood up and jumped to float in the air. She spoke while moving toward a wardrobe at the side to put on some clothes.

"Of course. She is a World Tree. We can't ignore this kind of strange behavior. What if something is wrong within her, and she comes to ask for help indirectly? I'd be a failure of a mother if I didn't check when my daughter is acting strangely." Ignatia followed behind Flor, walking toward the same area to get a dress to cover her bare body.

"I agree. Her roots reach far and wide, so we can't know what influences her at all times. Her strange behavior is too odd to call quirkiness."