Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 516 - 26 Source Tree

"I’ll head back first, brother."

After concluding her visit to St. Peter’s Cathedral, Nora bid farewell to Valian and prepared to head home.

The Church Court’s residence at Ratlan Palace was not near the Lysine Building. Normally, Nora would definitely have taken a car home.

But this visit had left her so shocked that she needed time to think on the walk home, and thus declined her brother’s offer to send a car, choosing instead to walk back alone in silence.

Even at dusk, the Inner City of Solomon City was very safe, after all, unsafe elements (such as the homeless) had been expelled to the Outer City. As Nora walked along the pavement of the commercial street, her mind was still preoccupied with the thought:

Could Transcendents really pose a danger to human civilization?

Let’s rewind to an hour earlier:

"Nora, what you are about to see is one of the Church Court’s most important secrets, with an Intimidation Level as high as R3," Valian said solemnly as they stepped into the elevator, "This matter must not be disclosed to anyone in your squad, including your Squad Leader."

"Not even to the Squad Leader?" Nora asked, surprised.

"Yes," Valian replied gravely.

The elevator began to descend, and after more than five minutes, it showed no signs of stopping. Nora looked up at the elevator display in surprise.

Are we heading deep underground?

"Nora, do you remember the mutant incident you encountered in Stuttgart City?" Valian asked.

"Stuttgart?" Nora paused to recall and then it came to her.

It seemed that while helping the Falcon Family battle Earl Fishbone, they had encountered some green-skinned monsters who were incredibly strong, fearless of pain, and fond of shouting chaotically, leaving a decidedly negative impression on Nora.

"Are you referring to those Stuttgart citizens transformed by the mutation?" Nora asked for confirmation, "You mean the green, very strong ones who like to scream ’waah’ before attacking?"

"It’s not ’waah’," Valian corrected her pronunciation, "it’s ’WAAAAAAAAGH’... like this."

Nora: .........

I know my imitation wasn’t accurate, but was there really a need to correct it again? she thought somewhat helplessly.

"Do you know what caused that mutation?" Valian continued to ask.

"No," Nora shook her head.

"The emergence of those green skins originated from the infection of a certain substance," Valian’s voice grew more serious.

"It’s called ’Source,’ also known as Salmatian Essence."

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, startling Nora. The corridor outside was dimly lit, with no lighting on the ceiling, but the light from the emergency exit signs and a faint glow from the skirting boards at the bottom of the walls.

"As it happens, this also involves the Life Sect," Valian moved forward to lead the way, "You joined the Life Sect last year, right?"

"Yeah," Nora followed cautiously, "Is there a problem?"

"No, not really," Valian answered, "They wouldn’t dare do anything to you, especially since you are a Lysine."

"Back to the subject of Source, this substance can be traced back to the year 311 of the Fourth Epoch, when a demigod of the Life Sect left Constantinople, headed northward through the Thrace Province and the Dacia Province, and reached the North of Salmatia Province."

"I remember that place should be the Kyiv Duchy, right?" Nora asked.

"No, in the early Fourth Epoch, it was Beastman territory," Valian answered. "The wilderness was dominated by nomadic Beastman Tribes."

"Anyway, at that time, this Demigod had reached Level 39, just one level shy of the legendary threshold for condensing divine status as a True God. However, on one hand, the Magic Tide had receded, meaning she could no longer level up; on the other hand, her reason was on the verge of spiraling into uncontrollable madness."

"So according to the records of the Life Sect, this Demigod chose to go alone to the North, untouched by humans, in search of the legendary ’Source Tree’ that could give birth to Beastmen, to pursue her opportunity for ascension. Of course, if she failed, it could also be seen as seeking death, to avert the risk of her downfall causing mutants that could endanger others."

"As for the Source Tree, according to the limited records in Beastman legends, their ancestors, that is, the first Beastman, grew from a spore dispersed by the Source Tree that fell into the soil."

"Growing from a tree? That’s too..." Nora instinctively wanted to say it was too strange, but then another image flashed through her mind.

It was before their attack on Stuttgart City when everyone had seen a large tree in the center of a small town, and from each of its giant fruits, a Green Skin would emerge upon touching the ground.

She pondered absently, only to hear Valian continue solemnly, "This Demigod, after arriving in Salmatia, disappeared without a trace. Then, in the 27th year of the Fifth Epoch, she reappeared."

"She came back?"

"Yes, she appeared on the border of the Transylvania Duchy and destroyed a city within a few days."

"At that time, our Church Court had just been established, and we hadn’t expanded our influence to that area. The Life Sect was the first to react; they dispatched a group of Transcendents to capture the Demigod, but they failed."

"Fortunately, the Demigod did not continue into the heart of civilization but continued to wander aimlessly near the border of the Duchy. The Life Sect tried several times afterward, all without success. Finally, in the 174th year of the Fifth Epoch, the Life Sect sought help from the Church Court and joined forces with us, venturing deep into Salmatia to capture the Demigod."

As Valian’s words ended, he and Nora had reached the end of the corridor and stood before a thick metal gate.

"Your Excellency Bishop Valian, good afternoon," Raphael’s voice sounded.

"Requesting access to the Keter-class project, code 682S19TW," Valian said.

"Request granted," Raphael replied. "Please be careful, Bishop Valian, Miss Nora."

As Raphael’s mechanical voice spoke, the heavy metal gate slowly opened:

"What you are about to face is a Keter-class containment subject with an Intimidation Level as high as R3 and a threat index as high as 87%..."

"...also known as the ’Source Tree.’"

What Nora saw was a nearly 30-meter-tall opaque container connected to the outside world with complex piping and wiring.

"Please introduce the project, Raphael," Valian said.

"The Source Tree is currently contained within the Destruction device," Raphael explained. "The device, specially made for containing the Source Tree, employs nuclear fusion’s high temperature and high radiation to perpetually damage the Source Tree, submerged in Super Electrolytic Corrosive Liquid, suppressing its unique Evolution Ability."

"Based on analysis, the predecessor of the Source Tree is believed to be the Life Sect Demigod Diorenna, who disappeared in the year 311 of the Fourth Epoch, with a bloodline as a Tree Shepherd. Her primary Domain Law is ’Evolution.’ During the disappearance, due to the rise of the Magic Tide causing data observation gaps, it is believed that Diorenna experienced some kind of mutant transformation, resulting in a loss of control and collapse while attempting to ascend to Level 40."

"After her collapse, Diorenna transformed into the Source Tree; it resembles a giant walking tree person and continuously secretes essence, infecting nearby living beings, which irreversibly transform within 12 hours into the Keter-class subject code 682S01TE, also known as ’Green Skin.’ They are pain-tolerant, highly aggressive, possess a natural desire to attack human civilization, and have the strong ability to further spread the essence..."

"Thus, the Source Tree needs to be tightly contained to prevent irreversible damage to human civilization. Any information related to the Source Tree will be immediately sorted into Raphael’s emergency queue, prioritized as R2-level. For instance, due to the Life Sect’s high potential of secretly harboring some essence, their Intimidation Level was recently elevated to R2."

"At present, there is no effective method to kill the Source Tree. With its ’Evolution’ domain, the Source Tree can adjust its own structure composition and evolve to rapidly adapt to external environmental harm. Therefore, it requires a pursuance of prolonged and uninterrupted damage suppression within a high-temperature, high-radiation, and highly corrosive environment."

"However, due to the influence of the rising Magic Tide and the Source Tree’s evolutionary adaptations over the past several centuries, this damage suppression is being gradually weakened."

"Human civilization is nearing an apocalypse, Miss Nora. We need your help."