162 Enchanted Forest Part 1
Zhuang Yao asked, "Mr. Pine, why did you come all the way from Yunnan to the northeast?"
The Devil's Pine yawned, "Shouldn't pine trees live here? That's what humans told me."
"You want to live here... forever? Continuously?"
"Where else would I go? It's cool here, the soil is good, and there are countless members of my kind. If it weren't for you humans who can't measure your own limits disturbing me, this place would be perfect." The Devil's Pine furrowed its brow, "Stop talking, I don't need you to tell me."
Cautiously, Cong Xia asked, "Has the self-awareness of that human never disappeared?"
The Devil's Pine looked at him, "Are you saying that the self-awareness of humans can disappear?"
"Some alien species might lose their self-awareness, but each species is different. Most of the time, human self-awareness prevails."
The Devil's Pine showed a thoughtful expression, "No, it has never disappeared. How can I make it disappear... Shut up, you're so annoying. If I knew how to make you disappear, I would have done it long ago. So, you won't disappear, just stop making noise!"
Cong Xia awkwardly said, "I don't know." Even if he knew, he wouldn't tell the Devil's Pine. It seemed being seen as a normal human by the pine tree was advantageous for them.
Zhuang Yao asked the crucial question, "Mr. Pine, do you intend to stay here forever and never go anywhere else?"
The Devil's Pine lazily replied, "I won't go."
"Then, do you want to keep growing like this indefinitely?"
The Devil's Pine looked at him for a while, as if he asked an irritating question, "Are humans afraid that I will take over their land? It's ridiculous. This land belongs to all species on Earth, not just humans. Besides, it's cold up there. I don't want to grow taller anymore, but I can't stop myself. What can I do?"
"So, is that why you chose to grow horizontally? Can you evolve autonomously?"
"If your 'autonomous evolution' means the same as what this human understands, then yes, I can choose the direction of evolution. I don't want to grow taller anymore, but I can only focus on evolving in that direction, not completely prevent certain aspects of my evolution."
"Do you want to stop it? We have conducted many experiments on evolution, and evolution is irreversible. The ultimate result of evolution is self-destruction, and your evolution is progressing too fast."
The Devil's Pine looked at Zhuang Yao, "Self-destruction? What do you mean?"
Zhuang Yao roughly described the experiments they had conducted, but he didn't tell the Devil's Pine that they had only done experiments on animals. Due to the large size of plants, they currently didn't have the conditions to use puppet jade for the catalysis, and so far, there was no evidence that plants would self-destruct.
The devil pine pondered for a moment, "Are you saying that I might explode too?"
"It's highly possible."
"Why should I believe you?"
"We have many experimental videos. If you want to see, my companions outside the forest should have them."
The devil pine glanced at him, "No need, human child. You still haven't directly answered my question. What exactly do you want to do here?"
"I want to stop your evolution because it's not beneficial for you and the people around this forest."
"How do you plan to stop it?"
Zhuang Yao swallowed nervously, "Give me your Puppet Jade."
The devil pine slowly extended its face towards Zhuang Yao, "What is Puppet Jade?"
"A small black, translucent jade fragment."
Suddenly, the devil pine widened its eyes, and a massive hand burst out from underground, grabbing Zhuang Yao.
Cheng Tianbi leaped up, wielding invisible wind blades, slashing at the tangled branches of the giant hand. The fierce wind instantly severed the "wrist," which had a diameter of over one meter, causing Zhuang Yao to fall.
Abu rushed up, trying to catch Zhuang Yao with its mouth, but Tang Yanqiu was faster, quickly embracing him. However, the next moment, an even thicker branch with thousands of sharp pine needles swatted towards Tang Yanqiu.
Li Dao'ai quickly rushed forward and formed a massive earth wall in front of the two, bearing the heavy impact. Pine needles over ten centimeters long pierced through the soil, extending towards Tang Yanqiu. The dense, emerald green pine needles were just two or three centimeters away from them, creating a chilling and frightening sight.
As the devil pine's attack failed, several branches gently shook, and countless pine needles rained down from the tree, covering the sky. They looked up and saw the sky darkened by the falling needles; there was nowhere to hide.
Cheng Tianbi shouted, "Shen Changze!"
The two of them had cooperated many times and were very well coordinated. They quickly wove a vast net of wind and fire, covering everyone's heads. Pine needles turned to ashes as they were engulfed by the fire net, but there were too many of them, and many escaped the blaze, falling down.
Li Dao'ai lowly shouted, swirling the soil beneath his feet. The soil seemed to possess a spirit of its own, forming a thick protective wall above their heads, and countless pine needles stuck into this "wall," giving it a green, furry appearance.
The devil pine still wanted to attack but suddenly said angrily, "They started it first." Its movements also slowed down.
Zhuang Yao called out, "Enough, everyone stop!"
They all ceased their attacks and watched the devil pine warily.
The devil pine struggled for a while before finally retracting its massive branches. It huffed, "Stop calling out inside my head!"
Everyone looked at it with lingering fear, afraid of another attack. The devil pine merely flicked some pine needles at them, but they required the combined effort of three naturally evolved individuals to defend against it. If several waves of such attacks were to come, they wouldn't be able to withstand them.
Zhuang Yao said, "Mr. Pine, we mean no offense. We've come here only to have a conversation with you."
The intertwined giant hand once again lifted Zhuang Yao into the air. Zhuang Yao gestured to the others, indicating they should not act.
The devil pine's colossal face looked somewhat ferocious, "So, you're also here for that piece of jade."
Zhuang Yao calmly asked, "Have others come here as well?"
The devil pine narrowed its eyes dangerously, "Some foreigners have. I don't know what you want that jade for, but it fills me with power. Do you want to take it away, greedy humans? Why do you always want everything?"
Zhuang Yao said, "Mr. Pine, you've been in the Northeast for too long, and you don't know how the outside world has changed. Are you interested in knowing what has happened in this world since the apocalypse? How have humans and other species fared? What is Puppet Jade, and what is the truth about the apocalypse? How about I tell you all of this first, and then you can make a judgment."
The devil pine hesitated and said irritably, "Stop making noise. If you keep yelling, I'll eat this human child... Fool, I was just kidding. Don't shout so loudly!"
The hand with intertwined roots that had extended from the ground stood over ten meters high. Zhuang Yao was sitting on that hand, at eye level with the devil pine. It stared at him and said impatiently, "Go on."
Zhuang Yao cleared his throat and systematically recounted the cause of the apocalypse, the significant changes that had occurred over the past year, and the relationship between the Cambrian consciousness and Puppet Jade. Apart from concealing some details that needed to be kept secret, he covered all the important points.
Importantly, he emphasized the side effects of Puppet Jade and its significance for all species. Zhuang Yao intentionally avoided presenting this information from a human perspective, choosing instead to suggest and imply to the devil pine that the existence of Puppet Jade posed a threat to all global species, not just humans.
Zhuang Yao spoke for over half an hour, and the devil pine listened quietly. Since it had evolved humans a year ago and left Kunming, it had headed straight to the Northeast. Its strength was too powerful; it didn't need anyone's help or contact with others. It had effortlessly reached the Northeast and quietly rooted itself there. Its exposure to the outside world had been very brief, and it had little understanding of this world.
Moreover, it didn't care to understand. It was just a pine tree, indifferent to how humans and other species had changed. All it knew was that in this place, no one could harm or disturb it, allowing it to live peacefully. Besides, this world had granted it intelligence and immense power, and compared to that cramped flowerpot, it naturally preferred this vast land. Thus, it had no intention of making any changes.
However, if what the child said was true, and this jade that made it feel fulfilled would bring catastrophic disasters, the devil pine had to think it over carefully. After all, it felt large enough and didn't need to grow any further.
Everyone remained silent, patiently waiting for the devil pine's response.
After a long time, the devil pine murmured to itself, "Why should I listen to you? This human child is obviously smarter than you. Can I trust him?"
Cong Xia said, "Mr. Pine, if you don't believe us, you can come with us to the outside world and transform into a human."
The devil pine glanced at him, "I can't leave here."
"Why not?"
Zhuang Yao explained, "Its root system is deeply embedded in the ground. If it leaves, it will trigger a massive earthquake in the Northeast region."
The devil pine said, "If I leave, I'll have to uproot or sever all the roots buried deep underground. It would be a waste after so long of growth. Besides, I never intended to leave this place. I like this place; I'm a tree, and trees should root themselves in one place. Unless one day I get tired of it here, I won't leave."
Zhuang Yao said, "Everything I've said has enough evidence and data to support it. If you don't believe me, we can bring the evidence to you. Keeping Puppet Jade serves no purpose for you. You're already powerful enough, so powerful that hardly any creature on this planet can harm you. You have no ambition and no desire to expand further. Puppet Jade will only make you continue growing endlessly, which goes against your own wishes. In that case, what do you need Puppet Jade for?"
The devil pine fell silent again.
Seeing an opportunity, Cong Xia also urged, "Mr. Pine, since you no longer wish to grow, you shouldn't keep Puppet Jade with you. Its primary function is to promote biological evolution."
"What do you think? You must be speaking on behalf of humans, but I am not a human. I haven't replaced your thinking; your ability to think is also mine. No, I don't think that way. You're truly annoying."
Everyone watched the devil pine talking to itself in silence. They had no idea how two consciousnesses could coexist in the same organism. Was it similar to personality dissociation? But personality dissociation occurred when two distinct personalities split from one entity, while the devil pine and the human it had evolved were initially two separate individuals forcibly combined. They now shared the same knowledge and memories but had two distinct consciousnesses and thoughts. Clearly, the devil pine's consciousness and decision-making predominated, but the human consciousness continued to struggle for its voice, which was truly fascinating. If not for the human self-awareness striving to survive, they might not have had the opportunity to converse with the devil pine at all.
The devil pine seemed to argue with its internal human consciousness for a long time. Sometimes it would make sounds, and other times it remained silent, its expression constantly changing. After a while, the large hand retreated back into the ground, and Zhuang Yao was released. Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
162 Enchanted Forest Part 1
Zhuang Yao asked, "Mr. Pine, why did you come all the way from Yunnan to the northeast?"
The Devil's Pine yawned, "Shouldn't pine trees live here? That's what humans told me."
"You want to live here... forever? Continuously?"
"Where else would I go? It's cool here, the soil is good, and there are countless members of my kind. If it weren't for you humans who can't measure your own limits disturbing me, this place would be perfect." The Devil's Pine furrowed its brow, "Stop talking, I don't need you to tell me."
Cautiously, Cong Xia asked, "Has the self-awareness of that human never disappeared?"
The Devil's Pine looked at him, "Are you saying that the self-awareness of humans can disappear?"
"Some alien species might lose their self-awareness, but each species is different. Most of the time, human self-awareness prevails."
The Devil's Pine showed a thoughtful expression, "No, it has never disappeared. How can I make it disappear... Shut up, you're so annoying. If I knew how to make you disappear, I would have done it long ago. So, you won't disappear, just stop making noise!"
Cong Xia awkwardly said, "I don't know." Even if he knew, he wouldn't tell the Devil's Pine. It seemed being seen as a normal human by the pine tree was advantageous for them.
Zhuang Yao asked the crucial question, "Mr. Pine, do you intend to stay here forever and never go anywhere else?"
The Devil's Pine lazily replied, "I won't go."
"Then, do you want to keep growing like this indefinitely?"
The Devil's Pine looked at him for a while, as if he asked an irritating question, "Are humans afraid that I will take over their land? It's ridiculous. This land belongs to all species on Earth, not just humans. Besides, it's cold up there. I don't want to grow taller anymore, but I can't stop myself. What can I do?"
"So, is that why you chose to grow horizontally? Can you evolve autonomously?"
"If your 'autonomous evolution' means the same as what this human understands, then yes, I can choose the direction of evolution. I don't want to grow taller anymore, but I can only focus on evolving in that direction, not completely prevent certain aspects of my evolution."
"Do you want to stop it? We have conducted many experiments on evolution, and evolution is irreversible. The ultimate result of evolution is self-destruction, and your evolution is progressing too fast."
The Devil's Pine looked at Zhuang Yao, "Self-destruction? What do you mean?"
Zhuang Yao roughly described the experiments they had conducted, but he didn't tell the Devil's Pine that they had only done experiments on animals. Due to the large size of plants, they currently didn't have the conditions to use puppet jade for the catalysis, and so far, there was no evidence that plants would self-destruct.
The devil pine pondered for a moment, "Are you saying that I might explode too?"
"It's highly possible."
"Why should I believe you?"
"We have many experimental videos. If you want to see, my companions outside the forest should have them."
The devil pine glanced at him, "No need, human child. You still haven't directly answered my question. What exactly do you want to do here?"
"I want to stop your evolution because it's not beneficial for you and the people around this forest."
"How do you plan to stop it?"
Zhuang Yao swallowed nervously, "Give me your Puppet Jade."
The devil pine slowly extended its face towards Zhuang Yao, "What is Puppet Jade?"
"A small black, translucent jade fragment."
Suddenly, the devil pine widened its eyes, and a massive hand burst out from underground, grabbing Zhuang Yao.
Cheng Tianbi leaped up, wielding invisible wind blades, slashing at the tangled branches of the giant hand. The fierce wind instantly severed the "wrist," which had a diameter of over one meter, causing Zhuang Yao to fall.
Abu rushed up, trying to catch Zhuang Yao with its mouth, but Tang Yanqiu was faster, quickly embracing him. However, the next moment, an even thicker branch with thousands of sharp pine needles swatted towards Tang Yanqiu.
Li Dao'ai quickly rushed forward and formed a massive earth wall in front of the two, bearing the heavy impact. Pine needles over ten centimeters long pierced through the soil, extending towards Tang Yanqiu. The dense, emerald green pine needles were just two or three centimeters away from them, creating a chilling and frightening sight.
As the devil pine's attack failed, several branches gently shook, and countless pine needles rained down from the tree, covering the sky. They looked up and saw the sky darkened by the falling needles; there was nowhere to hide.
Cheng Tianbi shouted, "Shen Changze!"
The two of them had cooperated many times and were very well coordinated. They quickly wove a vast net of wind and fire, covering everyone's heads. Pine needles turned to ashes as they were engulfed by the fire net, but there were too many of them, and many escaped the blaze, falling down.
Li Dao'ai lowly shouted, swirling the soil beneath his feet. The soil seemed to possess a spirit of its own, forming a thick protective wall above their heads, and countless pine needles stuck into this "wall," giving it a green, furry appearance.
The devil pine still wanted to attack but suddenly said angrily, "They started it first." Its movements also slowed down.
Zhuang Yao called out, "Enough, everyone stop!"
They all ceased their attacks and watched the devil pine warily.
The devil pine struggled for a while before finally retracting its massive branches. It huffed, "Stop calling out inside my head!"
Everyone looked at it with lingering fear, afraid of another attack. The devil pine merely flicked some pine needles at them, but they required the combined effort of three naturally evolved individuals to defend against it. If several waves of such attacks were to come, they wouldn't be able to withstand them.
Zhuang Yao said, "Mr. Pine, we mean no offense. We've come here only to have a conversation with you."
The intertwined giant hand once again lifted Zhuang Yao into the air. Zhuang Yao gestured to the others, indicating they should not act.
The devil pine's colossal face looked somewhat ferocious, "So, you're also here for that piece of jade."
Zhuang Yao calmly asked, "Have others come here as well?"
The devil pine narrowed its eyes dangerously, "Some foreigners have. I don't know what you want that jade for, but it fills me with power. Do you want to take it away, greedy humans? Why do you always want everything?"
Zhuang Yao said, "Mr. Pine, you've been in the Northeast for too long, and you don't know how the outside world has changed. Are you interested in knowing what has happened in this world since the apocalypse? How have humans and other species fared? What is Puppet Jade, and what is the truth about the apocalypse? How about I tell you all of this first, and then you can make a judgment."
The devil pine hesitated and said irritably, "Stop making noise. If you keep yelling, I'll eat this human child... Fool, I was just kidding. Don't shout so loudly!"
The hand with intertwined roots that had extended from the ground stood over ten meters high. Zhuang Yao was sitting on that hand, at eye level with the devil pine. It stared at him and said impatiently, "Go on."
Zhuang Yao cleared his throat and systematically recounted the cause of the apocalypse, the significant changes that had occurred over the past year, and the relationship between the Cambrian consciousness and Puppet Jade. Apart from concealing some details that needed to be kept secret, he covered all the important points.
Importantly, he emphasized the side effects of Puppet Jade and its significance for all species. Zhuang Yao intentionally avoided presenting this information from a human perspective, choosing instead to suggest and imply to the devil pine that the existence of Puppet Jade posed a threat to all global species, not just humans.
Zhuang Yao spoke for over half an hour, and the devil pine listened quietly. Since it had evolved humans a year ago and left Kunming, it had headed straight to the Northeast. Its strength was too powerful; it didn't need anyone's help or contact with others. It had effortlessly reached the Northeast and quietly rooted itself there. Its exposure to the outside world had been very brief, and it had little understanding of this world.
Moreover, it didn't care to understand. It was just a pine tree, indifferent to how humans and other species had changed. All it knew was that in this place, no one could harm or disturb it, allowing it to live peacefully. Besides, this world had granted it intelligence and immense power, and compared to that cramped flowerpot, it naturally preferred this vast land. Thus, it had no intention of making any changes.
However, if what the child said was true, and this jade that made it feel fulfilled would bring catastrophic disasters, the devil pine had to think it over carefully. After all, it felt large enough and didn't need to grow any further.
Everyone remained silent, patiently waiting for the devil pine's response.
After a long time, the devil pine murmured to itself, "Why should I listen to you? This human child is obviously smarter than you. Can I trust him?"
Cong Xia said, "Mr. Pine, if you don't believe us, you can come with us to the outside world and transform into a human."
The devil pine glanced at him, "I can't leave here."
"Why not?"
Zhuang Yao explained, "Its root system is deeply embedded in the ground. If it leaves, it will trigger a massive earthquake in the Northeast region."
The devil pine said, "If I leave, I'll have to uproot or sever all the roots buried deep underground. It would be a waste after so long of growth. Besides, I never intended to leave this place. I like this place; I'm a tree, and trees should root themselves in one place. Unless one day I get tired of it here, I won't leave."
Zhuang Yao said, "Everything I've said has enough evidence and data to support it. If you don't believe me, we can bring the evidence to you. Keeping Puppet Jade serves no purpose for you. You're already powerful enough, so powerful that hardly any creature on this planet can harm you. You have no ambition and no desire to expand further. Puppet Jade will only make you continue growing endlessly, which goes against your own wishes. In that case, what do you need Puppet Jade for?"
The devil pine fell silent again.
Seeing an opportunity, Cong Xia also urged, "Mr. Pine, since you no longer wish to grow, you shouldn't keep Puppet Jade with you. Its primary function is to promote biological evolution."
"What do you think? You must be speaking on behalf of humans, but I am not a human. I haven't replaced your thinking; your ability to think is also mine. No, I don't think that way. You're truly annoying."
Everyone watched the devil pine talking to itself in silence. They had no idea how two consciousnesses could coexist in the same organism. Was it similar to personality dissociation? But personality dissociation occurred when two distinct personalities split from one entity, while the devil pine and the human it had evolved were initially two separate individuals forcibly combined. They now shared the same knowledge and memories but had two distinct consciousnesses and thoughts. Clearly, the devil pine's consciousness and decision-making predominated, but the human consciousness continued to struggle for its voice, which was truly fascinating. If not for the human self-awareness striving to survive, they might not have had the opportunity to converse with the devil pine at all.
The devil pine seemed to argue with its internal human consciousness for a long time. Sometimes it would make sounds, and other times it remained silent, its expression constantly changing. After a while, the large hand retreated back into the ground, and Zhuang Yao was released. Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
