Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

After completing the ritual with everyone, when it was Anthony’s turn, she also tapped his shoulder, but her little finger pointed upwards, not even glancing at Anthony.

After he walked away puzzled, Anthony couldn’t help but ask, “God of Knowledge, do you know what that gesture means? Why was it only directed towards me? Is she interested in me? That’s not good, I haven’t been interested in women for many years. Although this elf maiden is quite attractive, women are too troublesome. I prefer to be by myself. How should I reject her?”

Negris chuckled, “You read too much into it. She’s mocking you for acting like a male elf, who in their society is considered ‘lesser’. Elven society is matriarchal, with female elves wielding power and strength while male elves are considered fit for lesser roles. The gesture she used is the same as when you humans mock someone as ‘girly’. She was mocking you for acting girly, probably annoyed at your cheating tricks while drinking.”

Anthony, however, didn’t get angry. Instead, he realized, “So that’s what it meant. Still, drinking is indeed not good; it affects my reflexes and punch speed. Size doesn’t matter. You, in your past life, were ‘big’ yet you never used it.”

“Kvada, I’m going to kill you!” Negris, fuming with anger, jumped up and swung his tail towards Anthony.

Lightning and Black Horse guffawed with laughter, while Ange, Little Angel, and Little Zombie watched on, completely bewildered.

Thus, the group, amidst all the bustle, stepped into the depths of the forest, completely unaware that the path they had trod was quickly being covered up by wildly growing grass and vines. After a few minutes, there was no trace left of it.

Traveling further, Ange suddenly pat Lightning’s nape, who immediately stopped and looked around, puzzled.

Anthony also stopped and started looking around suspiciously. He soon sensed something wasn’t right and called out sternly, “Who’s there?”

The whole forest suddenly shook, as if a light breeze just blew past, creating a shushing noise. An elderly voice replied, “It’s me.”

“God of Life? Didn’t you ask us to come to you? Why did you come out here instead? You’re being too polite,” Negris said, taken aback.

“You guys… took too long,” The God of Life’s voice carried a hint of helplessness and disdain.

“What’s the rush? Don’t you have over nine thousand years left to live? Even if I were reborn, I might not outlive you. Why are you in such a hurry?” Negris seemed to dismiss the urgency, a hint of jealousy creeping into his voice.

The God of Life sighed, “That’s under normal circumstances. Now, I’m sick, I won’t live that long.”

“What? You’re dying? Really?” Negris was shocked and said anxiously, “How much longer do you have? With your sudden hurry to see us, can’t wait a few more days?”

The God of Life slowly said, “Perhaps, I might wilt in around three thousand years…”

“Still have three thousand years? Whew, then why are you in such a hurry, you scared me.” Negris heaved a sigh of relief.

The God of Life calmly replied, “However, I have a feeling… that my consciousness, it will dissipate in the near future… if I don’t come, the only thing you’ll see is a giant tree devoid of life.”

Negris nearly bit his tongue, cursing the damn tree. Even now, he couldn’t get his words out without gasping for breath. Why couldn’t he say everything all at once?

He forced himself to calm down, having numerous thoughts in an instant, acknowledging countless possibilities.

The death of the World Tree would undoubtedly lead to a chain reaction, shaking the whole plane’s structure and could even cause drastic turbulence.

Firstly, once the elves lose the World Tree’s protection, they will quickly become a second-rate species.

This is not a joke. The elves maybe long-lived, individually powerful, with an array of Truth Bearer elites, but they are too naive.

The competition among species is brutal, survival of the fittest. The plane was filled with powerful species like the Dragons, numbers like the Orcs, technologically advanced like the Goblins, warlike Dwarfs, but in the end, only the humans and elves stood their ground.

Elves were able to rival humans purely because of the World Tree’s protection. Without the World Tree, they will quickly fall into the ranks of second-rate species like the dwarves.

Their fate will be worse than the dwarves, as their beauty will lead to the hunting and capturing frenzy by humans. They will become slaves and playthings, and eventually be reduced to hiding in forests.

If they do not wish to embrace such a dismal fate, the elves must wage war to wipe out humans before the World Tree’s influence runs out.

But elves will never do that; they are too naive. Of course, humans are not easy to provoke either. It’s not yet known who would go extinct first.

So, if the World Tree dies and no new World Tree takes its place to continue protecting them, the elves’ fall is inevitable.

Actually, not just Negris realized this, the Elf Queen Galadriel and the elven elders saw this coming as well. That’s why they were in a rush to nurture a new World Tree.

Unfortunately, if it hadn’t been for Ange helping them grow a batch of saplings, they wouldn’t even have found any traces of a new World Tree.

However, even though a new World Tree has been grown, it’s still unknown whether it can become the new God of Life or continue to protect the elves, given the new World Tree lacks self-awareness.