Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1450: Forest Spirit

We met the Ship Captain of "Grass and Wood Ark" and the Tree Elf Observer stationed by the Empire at the customs office of the Civilian Starport: the issue about Ghost Ship parts was reported by this Observer.

This Civilian Starport has numerous modular customs offices. Every spaceship docking here for more than a week can apply for one of these free offices to handle official business and coordinate with Empire management departments for various intelligence, or it can also be used as a venue for business negotiations: many "special" merchant ships traveling through the Macro World conduct their trade activities directly at the starport. They move from one starport to another, their cargo holds always filled with those long-circulating goods. They are intermediaries and transporters who never leave their spaceship or set foot on any planet, except during downtime. These Otherworld merchants call themselves "Starship Traders," and their motto is, "We don’t produce resources; we are just movers of nature." However, these Starship Traders have nothing to do with the Forest Spirits at hand; I’m quite curious about the significance of these Forest Spirits applying for such an office, even though they qualify for the application, but as merchants, they have no cargo, no intelligence to exchange, nor do they need to host any business partners. This kind of office seems to have no meaning for such a down-and-out group of merchants.

To my question, the Merchant Ship Captain who looks no different from any other Mimosa answered quite shamelessly: "Anyway, it’s a waste not to use it for free. My ship and cargo are all done; can’t I take a little advantage here?"

At that time, I felt these first tradesmen starting commerce in the Macro World might all be cast in the same mold: I saw the shadow of the Queen of Vendors from Feiyali Empire in this Mimosa.

Sandora was talking to the Tree Elf who was serving as an Observer to learn about the Ghost Ship, while I curiously observed the Forest Spirit Ship Captain in front of me: after seeing that chattering Mimosa in Shadow City last time, I became interested in this Race. Subsequently, I also learned about the background of these Forest Spirits in various network communities in Shadow City; the more I learned, the more curious I became: how did this strange Race come into existence?

Forest Spirit is a New Species from the edge of the Macro World, and their official exchanges with the Empire started less than a year ago. Until earlier this month, they were engaged in short-line trade in remote areas and had never appeared in the Inland of the Imperial District. These perennial herbaceous plants possess enlightened intelligence and a relatively high level of Technology Civilization. They have already thoroughly studied their Universe but still don’t know how to leap out of their world yet. Therefore, Forest Spirit Caravans like "Grass and Wood Ark" rely on purchasing spaceships from other Civilizations or applying for public Crossing Gates to complete self-guided tours. This Race, which seems to be a plant but is actually composed of plant and mechanical parts, leaves first-time acquaintances bewildered. Even in Shadow City, where strange and bizarre Races are commonplace, when Forest Spirits first appeared, they aroused the curiosity of many people. According to normal logic, a Race like this that has not yet evolved natural limbs (or other functions that would allow them to have operational ability) and communication organs shouldn’t be able to start on the path to becoming a High-level Civilization: they cannot create the first tool nor form the first class or conscious cluster. Without the aid of mechanical components, the Forest Spirit can only make extremely slow and limited movements relying on their roots; they would lose language ability, relying on inefficient and vague plant pheromone communication even with their own kind. In other words, losing those mechanical limbs and auxiliary plugins would turn Forest Spirits into organisms only slightly more advanced than plants: they would retain thinking ability but can’t move, can’t speak; no one would know what clever ideas spin beneath their inflated petioles.

This aspect has not changed throughout Forest Spirit’s entire evolution history: they have always been unable to detach from their mechanical bodies. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

So how did they start on the Evolution Road towards becoming a High-level Civilization? Or put more simply: how did they acquire the first mechanical prosthesis and pass this mechanical prosthesis to the next generation?

The reason is peculiar and rare: the initial Forest Spirits were actually pets created by another Race.

"We call them ’Father’," the Forest Spirit Ship Captain with ease skipped around the office table; his voice, demeanor, appearance, and various habits seemed no different from the Mimosa I saw a few days ago, "This designation is exclusive to the Creator, because Forest Spirits are hermaphrodite; we don’t have the concept of parents within our Race, and ’Father’ comes from the Civilization of the Creator. They are very clever and were the first to kindle a bonfire on our planet—Oh, a great Civilization. They discovered Forest Spirits and planted us in the corner of their walls at first just to improve the air in their homes. Later, one of these great people among the great decided to connect electrodes and decoding equipment to Forest Spirits in his home; that was a historic day: That also great Forest Spirit—whom we call the Eldest Son, this designation also comes from the Creator—he said ’Thank you’ to the scientist, hence showing gratitude for watering every day; these two words appeared on ’Father’s’ display screen, and thus someone finally discovered the Thinking Ability of Forest Spirits. A long time passed, and ’Fathers’ mastered all technology for normal communication with Forest Spirits and realized that we had been silently thinking for hundreds of years in the past, albeit such thinking was primitive, close to sleep talking and sluggish thinking Illusion, ’Fathers’ still appeared very pleased."

At this, I couldn’t help but interrupt: "I say, didn’t your Creator have some sort of conspiracy theory? Like worrying another Wisdom Race appearing on their planet would compete for land—There are a lot of similar stories on Earth."

"Oh, there was, but that idea was quickly proven to be a joke," the Forest Spirit Ship Captain vividly spread his branches, mimicking a human spreading hands, "Forest Spirits need to be planted in soil, our favorite things are just right watering and sunbathing, we don’t need any wealth ’Fathers’ hold, quite the opposite, Forest Spirits are indispensable plants on the ’Father’s’ planet; eighty-five percent of gases ’Fathers’ breathe come from Forest Spirits; the two Races mutually don’t loot each other’s any treasures, the waste that neither of us needs is instead the survival resource of the other, intelligent people understand we have no need for competition—I know what Earth is, would Earthlings worry that too much food and air would encroach on their living space?"

Me: "...Well, that’s true."

"In short, ’Fathers’ transformed Forest Spirits," the Ship Captain’s little short legs swiftly ran on the table, "They enhanced the intelligence of Forest Spirits and created equipment that could more conveniently output thoughts: the sensors, then installed multifunctional mechanical limbs for us: they could be used as legs and also as hands. Forest Spirits and ’Fathers’ lived happily together; those days were good."

I was just casually asking this strange Race’s background, yet unexpectedly, this story was so interesting that I couldn’t help urging him to continue: "Then? What happened to your Creator?"

The Forest Spirit Ship Captain’s mood suddenly sank, even his leaves drooped spiritlessly to the table: "A group of bandits came, bandits five light years away, they are a bunch who commit all sorts of evil among the stars, like pests gnawing away resources from one planet after another. These bandits invaded ’Fathers’ planet, and after fierce battles, they won."

"’Fathers’ carried out genetic extermination by bandits, and after a generation, they all perished, but Forest Spirits survived. This is because when the war was about to be completely lost, ’Fathers’ modified all databases, erasing traces of Forest Spirits possessing advanced wisdom, then let us disguise as pets with simple thinking ability and plants in nature; bandits did not expect this, and coupled with needing Forest Spirits as smart servants to help improve planetary atmosphere, Forest Spirits survived."

Nowadays, Forest Spirits not only are still living but have become one of the active Races in the Macro World, which indicates they eventually wiped out their enemies, but how did these seemingly weak plants exact revenge? Especially in the era mentioned by Ship Captain, Forest Spirits didn’t have any weapons at hand; this revenge seems simply unimaginable to me.

"It took a very long time," the Forest Spirit Ship Captain hopped in place, "Seven hundred years, we spent seven hundred years preparing for revenge. We had no weapons, no base, no place to hide, couldn’t even show advanced intelligence before bandits: only in this way could they continue relaxing vigilance, seemingly Forest Spirits have nothing, but we have a method for revenge—Evolution and Plant Pheromones, Forest Spirits can conduct basic exchanges through Plant Pheromones, even swap their genetic fragments or cooperate to produce new chemical substances; we can control the direction of our Evolution through generations of purposeful, subtle Mutation to generate toxins slowly over five hundred years; our organelles began secreting seemingly harmless small molecular compounds—those bandits have excellent Interstellar Navigation Technology and weapons but only average biochemical and genetic technology, it’s a perfect opportunity."

I was completely captivated by Forest Spirit’s story, never expected these seemingly fragile plants have such a history, and still couldn’t imagine how they perfected revenge by evolving toxins: Forest Spirit’s goal shouldn’t be merely poisoning a few enemies; this is racial hatred, they need bigger-scale victory.

"Very simple," the Ship Captain solemnly (if folding all leaves exemplifies solemnity) said, "We made ourselves nutrient-rich, easy to digest, and cater to bandits’ taste."

I was instantly left staring in shock.

"For the next two hundred years, the Forest Spirits became a delicacy eagerly sought after by those bandits, and we even evolved to develop some little tricks, making ourselves look like medicinal products with health benefits. The bandits were addicted to it, every one of them was addicted, and eventually, the Forest Spirits became their main dish: toxins accumulated in their bodies, taking three generations to slowly take effect, then erupting suddenly. Those fools could not have imagined that the plants could wait so long for revenge, so they didn’t connect it to the food they’d been eating for two hundred years: they lost the ability to reproduce, and gradually lost their logical thinking abilities. These bandits tried to use cloning to continue their race, but as long as they continued eating, they couldn’t escape these toxins. Ultimately, even those who could operate the cloning equipment died, and out of the incubation pods came monkeys drooling while counting their toes—the Forest Spirits prepared for seven hundred years and spent the last three hundred years watching it all unfold, this is our story."

"After that, you can guess what happened next: we survived using the mechanical limbs left by our ’fathers’ to continue our civilization, and every new Forest Spirit must undergo this transformation, with mechanical limbs accompanying each Forest Spirit for life. Praise be to ’fathers’, praise be to the Eldest Son, from now on no one dares to underestimate the Forest Spirits: once a plant begins revenge it doesn’t end."

I stared blankly at the joyful-toned Forest Spirit Ship Captain, who seemed to have not a single worry as I suddenly understood what these beings who still think of grabbing ’petty gains’ after the ship breaks and cargo is destroyed were all about: they don’t worry, they aren’t stuck in adversity, they aren’t defeated by any short-term difficulties. Yes, to such a patient and enduring race, they just need to always energetically open each leaf to greet the Sun and that will be enough.

"In this place, it’s a tradition for Ship Captains from different worlds to introduce their races and civilizations’ glorious histories to each other," at this moment Sandora and the Tree Elf Observer’s conversation came to an end, the tall, thin Tree Elf turned around and said, apparently he had been listening to the conversation here, "The Forest Spirit’s story is the most gripping, but the only issue is these Forest Spirits love telling others about it: I have heard their story six times, if you want I can recite it to you backwards..."

Me: "..."

Alright, you can imagine why, after all, the Mimosa we encountered two days ago was someone who couldn’t differentiate between simple and complex speech, the Forest Spirits’ thought process seems a bit different from other races. When they communicate with others, they pour out everything they think of indiscriminately without priority, during initial contact one might feel the Forest Spirits are warm and easy to communicate with, but as time goes on, one might find these perennial herbaceous plants somewhat noisy. But considering I’ve conversed with that Sui Cui from the Star Domain, I can tolerate the slightly talkative nature of Forest Spirits, given that they’re just a bit talkative whereas Sui Cui from the Star Domain nearly achieves a state of endless speaking self-loop...

"Let’s talk business first," I shifted my focus away from the Forest Spirits’ issues, seeing Sandora’s relaxed expression, since knowing the issue with the Ghost Ship was pretty much confirmed, "Is that part confirmed to be from the Ghost Ship?"

"Confirmed, it’s this." Sandora said as she handed over a small cylindrical metal object, which was only about a foot long, egg thick, and one end was broken. It was even smaller than I expected: when I first heard about finding Ghost Ship fragments onboard the ’Grass and Wood Ark’, I imagined it would be a rather large piece."

"Just now I confirmed, this is an external sensor commonly found on Imperial Ships, the manufacturing date matches expectations, a relic from the Old Empire at its peak," Sandora said while handing the sensor to Xiao Xue, "With this, combined with Xiao Xue’s Prediction Ability, we should be able to pinpoint where the Ghost Ship will appear next."

"This job might be safer if my mom does it." Xiao Xue said grumblingly as she took the metal cylinder.

"Your mom just came back from a business trip, let her rest for a couple of days," I glanced at this naughty kid choosing the easier path, "Besides, you’ve almost turned into a couch potato at home, if you don’t start moving I’m worried you’ll rust in front of the TV."

Xiao Xue gave me a toothy grin, and finally grabbed the broken sensor, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She would trace the information threads of this item, locate other components that spent over ten thousand years together. It’s a process hard for others to understand, but if you must explain it, it’s like finding the tree that once belonged to a leaf in a forest. It’s a seemingly impossible task, but like everything born from the Void, they’re all within a vast information ocean, without exception. The Prophet’s eyes can glance at all extensions spreading from this step on the Void Ladder: though sorting out a Ghost Ship from such massive information might seem unbelievable, Xiao Xue has her unique methods.

Sandora and I waited quietly for a few minutes, during which the Forest Spirit Ship Captain ran off to chat with the Observer again, and finally, Xiao Xue suddenly opened her eyes: "I found it."

"Where is it?" Sandora and I spoke in unison.

"Three days later, in Outer World Capital, over a red dwarf star about three million light-years away from Earth," Xiao Xue returned the metal cylinder to Sandora, "The Ghost Ship doesn’t always appear around the Macro World route, occasionally drifting to a desolate spot. However, its stay in these desolate places is usually brief, too short for even Imperial radars to scan them. This time the Ghost Ship will stay there for three seconds."

Three seconds... that’s really quite brief.

Sandora didn’t seem to mind much: "It’s enough, we’ll send people over to set up a perimeter, three seconds is enough for the Gravity Trap to activate. Xiao Xue, does that ship have armaments?"

"No armaments," Xiao Xue shook her head, "But whether inside the ship there’s armaments I can’t say, one-time jump information is too much, looking rather vague."

Neither Sandora nor I paid it much mind and waved it away: just being able to pinpoint the Ghost Ship’s upcoming location and time is already quite good, Xiao Xue, this naughty kid, when attending to business doesn’t mess around.

At this time the Forest Spirit Ship Captain had once again caught hold of Starport Observer and was enthusiastically opening the chat: "Hey, let me tell you about my adventures back in the day..."

I suddenly thought it might be better to leave this place sooner... wouldn’t these Forest Spirits happen to believe in the Dragon God?! (To be continued. If you like this story, feel free to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)