Chương 882: Outside Contact?

With all the massive amount of terrain that opened, Liu Shu spent quite a lot of her time creating new <Lignified Structures>. She had long since stopped producing those that specialized since birth and choose the path of development through Ascension. Either way, her <Lignified Children> would always catch up to her in both Level and have their Tier increased thanks to one of her titles. A <Title> which, at first, didn't really seem that powerful, but now, Liu Shu felt it was out of bounds.

Divine Tree Architect: All created or assimilated buildings: +1 Major Tier. Buildings auto-level 1 Level per week until matching the World Tree's Level. Buildings go through <Ascension> at 1, 000% speed and have their <Species> or <Age> increased by one rank at a choice up to the World Tree's ranks. Buildings gain 10% of World Tree's <Stats> up to 100% of their total <Stats>. Buildings cannot fall more than 2 Major Tiers below the World Tree (current minimum Tier: A-).

Buildings below this rank improve automatically (1 Sub-Tier / 3 months).

The word "Divine" had felt somewhat exaggerated when she first got it, but looking at its numbers now… Liu Shu admitted that it deserved that tag 100%. With just this one buff, Liu Shu's future Starships were basically set to become absolute monsters. Remember that, while Liu Shu called them "starships," in truth they were <Lignified Structures> that evolved and gained flight through a special <Ascension>. In short, they were flying buildings.

Therefore, all the buffs Liu Shu had toward structures and living beings applied to them in full.

'In the future, they might become the strongest in my army, barring some elites…' They did consume tons of resources to create, but it was more than worth it. If Liu Shu had the Star Reaching Starships instead of the ones she used in the recent war, she would've been confident even if they clashed frontally. Her gaze focused on the large structure orbiting around Ceperet.

"It's time to finish it." This structure she created decades ago was something Liu Shu had, at first, estimated she would only need a decade or so to finish.

'How naive I was.' The complications of its abilities became incredibly severe as distance increased, making it basically useless. Therefore, she couldn't complete it without some kind of deep enlightenment or source of information. Even with the new knowledge she had absorbed and digested from the Covenant and Nexus, Liu Shu found no solution to the problem at hand.

"Mommy Tree could help, but I want her to become more of an observer than a link. Someone who controls the flow, not the one who bears with it." Until now, all the teleportation used by the Ceperet Solar System was first created by Liu Shu and later maintained by Tree. Her existence was somewhat silent, but Liu Shu could confidently say that Tree was one of the pillars that helped the Golden Sap Empire move. A Life Tree deeply connected with her who specialized in Space Aether Mana manipulation.

Existences that fully specialized in one direction like Tree were so rare that you might never encounter them. The reason was survival. What good would it be to control space so deeply at Low Levels? A single beast with enough strength could snap the Life Tree's trunk easily. Even now, when it came to combat power, Tree was particularly weak. She could perhaps create spatial distortions to avoid attacks, but counterattacking was difficult with the specialized area of Space Aether Mana she manipulated.

"Mommy, can you help me with this?" Liu Shu, like usual, went to Tree when it came to manipulating Space Aether Mana. Tree's ancient and soft voice reached Liu Shu with love and tenderness.

"Tell me what you need, Little Sapling." Tree was probably the only being who could and would call Liu Shu by that name. Her one and only biological mother. Liu Shu felt a ticklish feeling in her heart as she tightened the roots around Tree in the form of a hug. Even her tone became somewhat soft and childish.

"Hehe. Thank you, Mom! Here, here. Look at these runes! Don't they make no sense when I place them together? The effect they should have is a connection between two points. It's basically the very basis, but it doesn't work because the longer the distance, the worse the consumption." Liu Shu, to show her the effect, activated three different Runic Fields. One between Golden Sap City and Azure Rose City, one between Golden Sap City and the Moon, and the last one she connected it to Nualis.

Tree glanced at them and focused not on the rune itself, but on the intended effect.

"Hm… I see the problem. While I don't understand the runic field, I can tell that it doesn't connect two points. What it is doing now is creating a line between points." This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Ah?" Liu Shu blinked and frowned. The effect was similar but fundamentally different. Connecting two points would not matter regardless of distance. Still, if she was not creating the two points but a line between them, then distance would matter.

"Ugh… Why is it doing that? The runes I've drawn shouldn't do that…" Tree gently caressed Liu Shu's roots.

"Don't rush, love."

"I know, but… I've been trying different combinations for quite a few decades already. Unless I can make a breakthrough here, I won't ever be able to complete that child that's still floating in orbit. At this pace, frost will start building on its surface!" That wouldn't happen because Liu Shu made sure to do maintenance every month or so. Still, it was true that she would never be able to complete it. Tree laughed softly.

"If you can't solve it, then probably no one in the Golden Sap Empire can. You also have that title that increases your spatial talent, right?" Liu Shu nodded and sighed. While they were talking, she felt Flor calling her. Liu Shu spoke to Tree.

"Flor Mom is calling; talk to you later, Mommy!"

"Go on, Little Sapling." Liu Shu shifted her main consciousness and noticed Flor looking at something in the screen with a deep frown. She summoned a root to caress between her brows and smooth out that frown.

"I am here, Mom! What did you need me for?" Flor pointed at the screen.

"Look at this, love." Liu Shu shifted her perspective and looked at the screen.

"Let's see… Huh?" Her easygoing feeling disappeared as her mind sharpened. Her voice also changed to a more serious one.

"... Is the source reliable?" Flor nodded.

"It comes from one of the merchant fleets we deployed. They were contacted a few years ago, and it has only reached us now. Look, here is the date."

"Hm… Let me check the information in depth." Flor moved back a bit, and one of Liu Shu's roots moved toward the Living Computer. Then, the tip opened, thin and glowing feelers sticking and piercing into the computer. Liu Shu quickly entered the folder and absorbed the information.

"Sarlos? Globular Star Cluster Empire Shattered Ring? He wants to… share information about spatial manipulation to create long-distance portals." Just what she needed. At first, Liu Shu felt that it was somewhat suspicious. Nevertheless, those who knew about what she was trying to do were few and trustworthy. Most of them were just family, and the rest were her Lignified Children. So, there was no risk of leakage.

'Coincidence…? Most likely.' The information Sarlos wanted to share with her was universally valuable. If he wanted to open trades with the Golden Sap Empire, this technology was the sweetest deal that one could offer. Reaching this conclusion, Liu Shu set aside her suspicion and hummed, interest flashing in her eyes.

"Accept it. Prepare some of the S- Rank berries to share, along with some of my recovered bark. Also, compile a list of suitable worlds where foreign merchants can settle." Flor nodded and began making calls to delegate the work. As the top leader, Flor's job was not to solve problems, but to know where to send them so that they could be handled by professionals. In this regard, Flor's management abilities were monstrously high. After looking at Flor's work for a while, Liu Shu went to visit Ignatia.

"Moooooommmyyyyyy!" Ignatia was currently resting on her bed after laying a few tens of thousands of eggs, her face languid. Hearing Liu Shu's call, she opened her arms with a smile, and roots coiled up from the ground to give her a deep hug.

"Baby~. How is my dearest and cutest baby in the world doing?" Liu Shu wiggled her roots happily.

"Hehehe. I am doing great! How about Mommy?" Ignatia caressed and patted them with a deep smile.

"Mommy is happy that you are happy, baby. Did you see the new little sisters that were recently born thanks to your blessing?"

"New? I didn't! Where are they?" Ignatia pointed to the side.

"In the seventh nesting room." Liu Shu curiously shifted her gaze, and then she exclaimed.

"Wow! Light and Darkness little sisters?" They were infant-sized baby ants, deep white or black. Both of them had scarlet, compound eyes. Liu Shu couldn't help but laugh.

"So cute~. Poke, poke." The caretaker ants saw Liu Shu's ants, and they all began clacking their mandibles in greeting. Some of them even moved over, rubbing against the roots of their eldest sister. Liu Shu smiled happily and began a pampering session in the seventh nesting room, giggling happily. Ignatia spoke softly.

"Is there anything you need, love? Or have you come to keep your Mommy company?"

"Both!" Liu Shu spoke softly.

"The Little Sisters are creating the sub-dimensional nest to connect with other worlds, right?" Ignatia nodded.

"Mhm. That's right. You were curious about the essence of how they did it, right? Sadly, we have not really managed to inspect or replicate it, love. Sorry." As a Humanoid Ant Queen, Ignatia could give part of her special affinities to them. Ignatia, who gained a <Title> as Liu Shu's mother, could give birth to ants with any of Liu Shu's elements. So, several of them were born with high Space Aether Mana talent.

These ants developed mandibles that could "tunnel" through space itself, shortening distances between space points. Unlike a World Tree, the ants only needed to make a tunnel that could connect worlds. As for spatial combat, their usual way of defending was swarming out from the worlds they had dominated to meet the enemies. With quick movement between stars and their almost endless numbers, the ants commanded by a Humanoid Ant Queen could spread out to other Solar Systems rapidly.

It was a scary ability, but not something Liu Shu could mimic. After all, their abilities came from innate abilities and <Titles>. So, even if she observed the principle, Liu Shu was unable to pierce into the essence. To begin with, the structure she was creating in Ceperet's orbit was inspired by them, not the other way around. Hearing Ignatia's negative, Liu Shu was not too sad.

"Well, someone has contacted me from outside, so I will refer to them. Once I get it, tell the little sisters not to focus as much in that area and liberate them." Ignatia sighed.

"Sorry I couldn't help you, love."

"Hehe. Mommy already helps a ton! No need to worry!"