Those who heard lody’s voice beca relaxed, but a trace of tension remained on everyone’s body when they saw the ants approach their supply carriages. The beasts that had been pulling them beca restless when they saw the ants approaching. Everyone thought that there would be a chain reaction and cause chaos, but it all changed when they ca close.
The animals that were restless and the people suddenly saw as the ants in the lead released a wave of aura. This wave spread like a gentle wind and hit every restless animal that was being approached. Instantly, all the animals cald down and beca docile, not even moving when the ants approached them and broke them free as they took over the carriages and pulled them away.
This baffled everyone, even lody and the other leaders. “What happened? How co the beasts beca calm once the monster ants approached?” One of them couldn’t help but ask, even though he felt that this was a secret of the city.
Flor glanced at that person once and then spoke calmly. “Naturally, it is because all the ants carry the aura of our World Tree. They can be considered part of the family with her, and therefore, they have the ability to calm down creatures to a certain degree with their aura. For the beasts, the ants went from predators to just another type of intelligent species that wouldn’t hurt them. So, even when they approached, they stayed calm.”
One person asked instinctively. “Isn’t this a very dangerous ability? They will be able to hunt creatures and make them comply without needing any violence. If they develop such a skill to the level that it can affect intelligent creatures, it would be a disaster.”
Flor answered calmly, already accustod to people’s skepticism toward her wife’s babies. “Not even a World Tree can pacify people’s aggression, so what makes you think that ants can? If World Trees had such a skill, they wouldn’t be hunted down by anyone. There wouldn’t be tragedies related to them as well.” Calmly answering was one thing. Accepting the disrespect was another. Hence, the last few words spread around with a hint of coldness and indifference. “So, I think that instead of worrying about imaginary scenarios that have never co to fruition, you should focus more on following our orders so that we can sort everyone quickly and efficiently.”
Everyone heard the clearly displeased tone and glanced at Flor, surprised. anwhile, another elder comnted. “It seems that you have so fondness toward the ants.”
The tone of that sentence was clearly condemning, as if such a thing as having affection toward ants was an incredibly blasphemous matter. Instead, Flor answered with a proud tone. “Of course. They are adorable creatures that have never hard anyone unprovoked for more than the two decades that they’ve been living with others.”
“But they’ve hard people.” That elder insisted, clearly adverse to the idea of living with ants in the sa space.
Even then, Flor’s tone kept being nonchalant as her cold gaze zeroed in on that person. “They have not only hard but also killed intelligent beings. They’ve participated in wars, sacrificed themselves as martyrs, and made sure that violence is kept at a minimum in the Golden Sap Country. Being living creatures with enough intelligence to control their impulses and coexist with absolutely zero unwarranted violent cases, how are they any different from the wild animals in the city or towns or the beasts tad by law officers in other countries to maintain peace in their cities?”
Seeing the other party about to continue speaking, lody finally interrupted. “Enough. For now, we’ll see with our own eyes if Flor’s words are the truth. I don’t ask you to blindly believe her and trust the ants. However, I will not accept anyone who doesn’t look at things with an objective mind to remain one of the leading elders in the Songtree family.” lody looked at everyone with a stern look. “If anything happens, co to and I’ll deal with it. For any other opinions until that sothing happens, keep them to yourselves.”
lody’s words were fair and gave face to both sides. Flor looked at her with a hint of appreciation and smiled faintly. “That’s great to hear. Now, I’ll ask the leaders in your groups to follow . Guiding more than half a million people through the Golden Sap City’s streets would be a ss. Therefore, I’ll give you a tour and hope that you can use that to inform the rest of your clansn.”
She paused for a bit before adding. “For such large immigration batches, we have a bit of a more forgiving policy for the first few months in terms of petty cris or breaking rules. However,” she marked firmly. “Any cri that’s not attached to peculiarities of the city will be judged sternly and without any pardons. So, I hope that no one in your group tries to violate other people’s rights and then claims they didn’t know it was not allowed. Let’s keep everything civilized. Am I understood?”
Everyone nodded, and soone added. “Speaking of which, what are the punishnts for heavy cris?”
“Death,” Flor answered with a simple word, startling so of them.
“Isn’t that a bit too harsh? There must be so leniency, and expect them to—”
“To what? To give them another chance to commit the sa cri again?” Flor laughed once and looked at lody. “Was your Songtree family this lenient with criminals in your country? lody, we're family, so I'm warning you with the best of intentions. Compared to how Liu Shu punishes those who commit cris, we are lenient. Liu Shu has killed people who even dare to rob, regardless of the reason. She is extrely strict about the security of her citizens and will not tolerate others creating any kind of chaos.”
lody nodded easily. “Of course. Don’t worry, Flor. Those who dare commit any cri will be dealt with rcilessly, following this place’s laws. We have not co to create a sub-country inside yours, but to beco part of Liu Shu’s ecosystem.”
Inside, lody had kept a ntal note on all who had spoken. She was not a World Tree, so controlling all actions in her territory was naturally impossible back in their ancestral territory. She knew that there were so underhanded deals and injustices occurring, but she couldn’t be too heavy-handed without causing internal conflict. Hence, she ignored so of it. ‘Now, I can finally clean house without worrying as much about making the entire Songtree clan collapse.’
Once that was dealt with, and after seeing the large group of people enter through an opening in the massive wall, lody and the others moved and passed the wall as well.
When they arrived inside, their eyes widened slightly as the place in front of their eyes unfurled. The streets were bustling with people, with several businesses thriving and selling things here and there. There was transportation through both beasts and other vehicles, with roads to keep the fast-moving things circulating without endangering people on foot.
The towering Lignified Houses were imposing and full of energy, and as soon as they entered the city, their systems kept beeping with Runic Field effects that wanted to be activated. Flor comnted. “Don’t be bothered with the runic fields too much. Every single building has them, so you will be entering and exiting their range often. The only Runic Fields that you need to accept and will affect you inside and in the nearby surroundings are those of the Temples and other special buildings. We’ll go more into detail about that later.”
Walking down the streets of the city, Flor would explain when they ca across any building that wasn’t a residential Lignified House. So of them had been rented by wealthy individuals, transforming them into large shops. Of course, like in the beginning, no one could “buy” them per se. There were available deals, but nothing that would endanger the Tree Houses as individuals. Policies about harming the houses were extrely strict since, at the end of the day, they were all considered Liu Shu’s children.
Hearing the fantastical explanations, lody and the others had their expectations completely blown out of the park. They could see prosperity, order, and opportunity everywhere. Together with a relatively affordable living cost and the high currency flow in the city, everything was “too good to be true.”
As they walked, they heard a scream and looked toward the source. They saw an ant stomping on a person and brutally mauling them. Killing intent surged in their hearts, thinking that the ant had gone rogue. However, no one seed to react to it, leaving them confused. So, instead of jumping the gun, they looked around. One of the elders suddenly noticed sothing on the large ant’s leg. “Over there.”
The elders looked and saw a small Sylvan girl hugging the ant’s leg with tears in her eyes, clearly scared not of the ant but of the person that the ant was beating to death.
A man ran down the street, and seeing the scenery, he sighed in relief and quickly thanked the large ant. “Many thanks, many thanks. That man almost kidnapped my baby girl.”
The little girl ran toward the man, opening her small arms. “Daddy!”
“Oh, baby.” The man hugged her and smiled, rubbing his face with hers. “Are you okay, little seedling?”
The Sylvan child smiled widely, showing a brave face even through her teary eyes. “Yeah! Big Sister Ant has beaten up the bad guy already!”
The elders had not said a word and couldn’t help but look at the Flower Fairy. They saw Flor looking at them with an unamused smirk on her lips, her eyes cold. Her hand was raised as a very light pollen mist was surrounding them. “The next ti you direct killing intent toward them, I won’t stop the ants from attacking you. So control your urges. This is my first and last warning.”
“Huh?” They were confused until they looked around and saw hundreds of ants on the trees and streets, zeroing in on them. Their mandibles clacked nacingly, clearly ready to pounce on them. If they weren’t enveloped in Flor’s aura, one could already imagine what would’ve happened by now.
lody said nothing about Flor’s actions, naturally accepting and supporting her thods.
As they walked around the city, they arrived at the important structures, and Flor explained every single one of them. While so of them were clearly not fit to be leaders in the city, the grand majority had behaved perfectly until now. It was thanks to their low numbers that Flor could easily see those who acted weirdly. They contrasted nicely compared to the calr crowd.
“Endless Library?” lody humd and read the Runic Field’s effects.
: Creatures affected by the soothing aura of this Runic Field will find themselves being more productive and having a much easier ti focusing.
Once she finished reading, she took in a deep breath and looked at Flor with disbelief in her eyes. “Does this Runic Field truly do as it says?”
Flor smiled faintly. “Yes. All scholars in the city co here when they want to prepare for important matters, while the public section is available for everyone with just a small entrance fee.”
The wording was vague, but lody understood the true importance of this effect. Distractions were the biggest obstacle between a genius and a true genius. A person who is extrely good at sothing but takes it easy will eventually not beco anything too outstanding. However, what if soone is skilled at sothing, has a passion for it, and actively devotes their ti to perfecting the craft? The result would be the birth of an absolute monster in whatever field that person works in. Coupled with the enhancent of the , lody understood that this city was a true fertile ground for once-in-a-century geniuses. The only thing they probably lacked was good seedlings.
‘Our Songtree clan naturally has many young talents. Once they use all the advantages of this city to enhance their strengths…’ lody felt exponentially optimistic the more ti she spent in Golden Sap City.
Harmonixia spoke once they arrived at their lodgings. “Mom. I’ll take you tomorrow to see my adorable little flower and the other siblings!”
Hearing that she could finally et her grandson, lody’s face revealed a radiant smile.
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