This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 176

Strange Evolution

The young girl wandered around, dealing with small beasts as she went. She didn’t dare venture deeper because the rest of the area was inhabited by level 2 beasts and above. Only the areas near the city had smaller, weaker beasts since they knew which areas were dangerous hunting grounds. The low-level beasts that dared to stay around had survival skills—some lived underground, and some could become invisible.

After some minor practice, Ellie let her Blue Apple handle large group of preys using its remaining poison bombs, then consume them for sustenance. There was no need to fight more today since the poison bombs would regenerate by tomorrow.

Ellie returned to the city, unscathed. Commander Metis watched with interest as the new city’s lord who dared to venture out alone returned safely. Inside the city, someone had awaited her—an unfamiliar representative of the eldest young lord. He had come to ask Ellie to form a bond with an interesting 3rd-floor city, which would connect with her 4th-floor city. This meant Ellie could use her 3rd-floor city as a gateway.

The 3rd-floor city would be protected by its original inhabitants, similar to how the Metises owned their city. Once the city control panels were consolidated, the person responsible for overseeing the city asked Ellie to name the new city. Naturally, he had already guessed what the new name would be.

"Pan 3 City" was established shortly after. Now, Pan 4 City and Pan 3 City had emerged. Nobody even knew where Pan 3 City was located because it too was in a remote area, protected by high-level races.

Although 3rd-floor cities had been conquered more than 4th-floor cities, the conquered cities ratio was only 30% of the total area, whereas 4th-floor cities was 15-16%. In comparison, the conquered cities ratio on the 5th floor was only 5-6%, and 6th-floor cities had only 1% of the whole area. These figures were estimates since they had never fully surveyed areas above 3rd floor.

After Ellie completed the bond, the representative went to rest. He had to take a test from 3rd floor on his own, which was quite a challenge. Unlike his young lord, he couldn’t pass through quickly. Thus, he was instructed to rest until negotiations for conquering 1st-floor and 2nd-floor cities were successful.

As the owner of a 3rd-floor city, Ellie could inspect it. However, as it was getting dark, Owen’s man advised her to rest first. He would personally guide her for the inspection tomorrow. Besides...she was exhausted from the day’s battles.

After a simple wash, Ellie spent some time training. She then remembered watering her tasty fruit plants with a fermented water earlier. She wondered how they were doing since there were no noticeable results in the morning. She wasn’t sure if the fermented water was worth the rare Pure Flame Dragon herb she used.

Before going to bed, Ellie entered her secret dimension to check. She frowned at what she saw. She had dreamt of seeing the three trees bursting with fruits and flowers—"Camouflage Apple," "Night Java Apple," and "Thousand-Handed Orchid," expecting to gorge on them until she was full. However, what she saw brought her to the brink of tears.

Previously, Ellie had chosen not to use her botanic power to accelerate the growth of her trees all at once, fearing that her level 0 trees would become level 1 trees, causing chaos because she took the level 1 fruits to eat, especially when they were unlike anything seen in this world. People were only familiar with the level 0 "Camouflage Apple," "Night Java Apple," and "Thousand-Handed Orchid." If suddenly level 1 fruits resembling these three appeared, her secret of enhancing plants might be revealed. And what would happen next? She could only think of chaos!

But who could have guessed that throwing the fermented water at them would have such disastrous effects!

“Kiou?”

“Kiou kiou.”

“Kiou!” Seeing Ellie, the three trees seemed excited and happy as they made a noise. If anyone else saw their transformed state, they would never recognize them as former fruit trees. Their current appearance was...almost indistinguishable from the Metises!

They had long limbs resembling humans, and their faces looked like little girls, mimicking Ellie’s appearance perfectly, except for the fruits and flowers around them.

- Spirit Camouflage Apple, Level 0: Properties - A fruit tree with its own low-level spirit, capable of understanding simple matters. It can bear Spirit Camouflage Apple fruits. -

- Spirit Night Java Apple, Level 0: Properties - A fruit tree with its own low-level spirit, capable of understanding simple matters. It can bear Spirit Night Java Apple fruits. -

- Spirit Thousand-Handed Orchid, Level 0: Properties - A fruit tree with its own low-level spirit, capable of understanding simple matters. It can bear Spirit Thousand-Handed Orchid fruits. -

One little tree had a face with white and green stripes like a zebra, differing only in color. Another had a face with soft pink mixed with green, resembling a painting. The last one had a bright face adorned beautifully with orchid flowers. While they looked different, they also shared similarities.

The similarity lay in their faces, which were modeled after Ellie’s. It’s probably they’d never seen anyone else but Ellie, so they had copied the young girl’s appearance.

She looked at the 3 trees, then glanced around. There was some relief in knowing that the other 9 trees remained normal fruit trees. However, she could sense a connection with all the trees, both the regular ones and the three spirit trees. It seemed that the reason these three trees had evolved to possess spirits was that they allowed one of them to absorb all the power from the fermented water, while the others remained ordinary fruit trees.

In fact, it was Ellie’s botanic power that had given them new life, just like all the plants in this dimension. Thanks to her botanic power, their life forces had increased. However, they only advanced in level without gaining spirits.

But the 3 fruit trees were different. They sensed the opportunity to evolve. When they received the fermented water, they chose not to grow individually, letting all the power concentrate in one place. Even plants learned to sacrifice for one representative to awaken. Ultimately, the power Ellie tried to distribute among the trees ended up converging to facilitate their evolution.

It had to be said that the power of the fermented water was truly beyond imagination. Perhaps it was because the fermented water had been accumulating for hundreds of years, making it extremely potent in the first few uses. If she had used the latest batch of fermented water, it wouldn’t have had the same effect.

Nevertheless, Ellie was shocked by this unexpected evolution. Normally, no living beings could enter the secret dimension, but she hadn’t considered that evolved plants might be able to reside here. Perhaps she should try bringing the Metis into the dimension to see if it was possible, or if the requirement was that they had to grow here from the start.

The 3 little ones looked up at Ellie adorably, making her feel like she had children or grandchildren. She couldn’t resist patting their heads.

"Kiou kiou," they chirped happily. Initially, they had felt a bit sad seeing Ellie’s expression earlier. She didn’t seem happy to see them but rather looked disappointed. However, as she patted their heads, they felt relieved.

"Alright, alright, let me check on the remaining 9 fruit trees." Despite her affection for the three little ones, she was more concerned about her food. She wanted to ensure the 9 trees were still normal. Even if they hadn’t grown as rapid as expected, she just hoped they hadn’t mutated.

The 3 little ones followed Ellie to check on their fellow trees. Some of them looked proud, while others seemed happy. It was clear that the three spirits had a strong sense of kinship with their species.

"Luckily, they’re still normal, even though they haven’t grown much from before," Ellie sighed in relief. From now on, she decided not to use any power or special treatment on the 9 fruit trees and let them grow naturally.

However, as Ellie stood with her arms crossed, happily observing the situation, she was surprised to see the three spirits moving forward and using their roots to till the soil around the 9 fruit trees, making it became beautifully loam. Not only that...but they also moved quickly to the water pool in the dimension, using their leaves to carry small amounts of water to irrigate the 9 trees.

Watching their actions, Ellie’s eyes sparkled. Perhaps...the evolution of these 3 wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Although she couldn’t eat the fruit they produced outside, it didn’t mean they couldn’t be useful in other ways.

If the three little ones could see Ellie’s expression now, they might feel scared, as her eyes seemed to say, "I’ve found excellent workers." This was a somewhat intimidating thought.

Clap clap.

Ellie clapped her hands to get the attention of the three spirits before laying out various tools in front of them. There were 3 watering cans, each marked with a symbol on the handle to easily identify whose was whose. She handed them to the 3 still-confused little ones.

"These are watering cans. Use them to scoop water and water the plants. From now on, I need your help because this area is quite large, and I can’t manage it all alone, so I’ll have to disturb you all. I’ll assign each of you a zone."

"The first zone will be the responsibility of the Spirit Camouflage Apple. Please water the plants every morning and check the soil. If the soil starts to harden and isn’t good for growth, please till it like you did around the fruit trees."

"This area is for the Spirit Night Java Apple, and this spot is for the Spirit Thousand-Handed Orchid. Please take good care of the plants in your assigned zones. If anyone does well, I’ll get more low-level fermented water for you frequently. You can even share it with your friends if you like."

Of course, they could share, as Ellie planned to keep cultivating low-level fruits and planting new ones continuously. She might be generous with them, but ultimately, she would only give them a little fermented water as a reward. At most, 1 or 2 trees might reach level 1 since the fermented water wasn’t as potent as the first and second batches she received.

The three looked at each other excitedly. Ellie was just as excited. If she could reduce her time watering and tilling the soil each morning, she could expand her cultivation area. Previously, her work capacity was limited, preventing her from growing a large number of plants...

Ah...It seemed the model farmer was about to emerge...

Upon hearing that, the spirit fruit trees didn’t waste any time. They quickly set about their tasks. Knowing they should compete with each other only made them more enthusiastic.

Even without rewards from Ellie, as their "mother," the desire to earn her praise was strong. If Ellie patted their heads happily once more, that alone would satisfy them.

While Ellie wasn’t aware of the thoughts of the three, she nodded approvingly at their hard work. Seeing them work so diligently made her feel eager to join in. Unfortunately, it was already late, and if she didn’t sleep now, she wouldn’t have any rest at all. Additionally, she needed to visit the 3rd-floor city tomorrow. She wondered what state it would be in...

Ellie’s hard work concluded on the 3rd day. The next morning, she discovered that the 3rd-floor city was inhabited by beasts like the Scaled Leopards. Unlike the somewhat intelligent Metis of 4th floor, these creatures weren’t particularly smart but could be used like guard dogs. This made the city incredibly well-defended, leaving Ellie curious about how Young Lord Owen had managed to conquer it with minimal casualties.

On the same day, Ellie also received the city-controlling stones for the 1st-floor and 2nd-floor cities. The 1st-floor city was close to other cities, making it a bustling area, though not very large. Young Lord Owen had secured it against espionage by building sky-high walls and covering the Appearance Platform with tall, opaque buildings. No light from outside could penetrate, no one could see from the outside, and there was also a barrier blocking sound from the inside.

This impressive construction caused quite a stir among people. It seemed like he was trying to create some secret pathway. Anyone else might be seen as antisocial or even a rebel collaborating with demons.

But because it was the terrifying Young Lord Owen, no one dared to question or interfere with his actions. The 2nd-floor city was secured in a similar manner.

This situation sparked much discussion among people. Ellie could only manage a wry smile. It was indeed nice that this young lord cared for her so much, but his actions seemed to attract a lot more of attention.

She felt that she could only safely move around in the 4th floor. If anyone saw her coming out of the 1st-floor or 2nd-floor cities, they would immediately know because no one else could access those places except her and Young Lord Owen’s people.

It was manageable if she appeared as Ellie since everyone knew that this young lord had claimed these cities for Ellie. But if she emerged as Luke...it would certainly cause a commotion!!!

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