Chapter 83

When Helen brought up this new idea, everyone in the small team looked a bit confused.

"Actually," Iris said, "the Divine Tree is a type of magic plant. Magic plants, magical creatures… it's all kind of the same thing. But I've never heard of Dragon's Lure. Can you elaborate?" She looked at Helen. "I haven't spent much time in the Battlefield World and I'm not an expert on Demon Beast civilization. There's a lot I don't know."

"I hadn't really thought about it before. But hearing you talk about the Creator stuff, especially that Lord Dragon, got me curious. When Earth first hit this weird situation, what the owner called doomsday, the Divine Tree was really interested in what was happening here. The idea of humans evolving genetically sounded crazy. If humans actually pulled it off, it could've been a disaster for the Demon Beast civilization back then."

Helen didn't dive straight into the details about the Dragon Lure Grass. Instead, she started talking about the past.

No one interrupted her, though.

Even Karen, who was super curious about the Dragon Lure Grass, was quietly listening to Helen's story.

The Divine Tree's take on doomsday was something she'd never mentioned before!

"So, by connecting with the Creator organization and making some deals, the Divine Tree got a lot of info from Earth. It could gather info and watch this world through some plants. Of course, there were lots of limits, and only a few creators were willing to trade with the Divine Tree. Most were still pretty hostile towards the Demon Beast civilization."

"And what really stuck with me was that Lord Dragon you mentioned. He was super arrogant and weird! The Divine Tree said he was the least likely to trade, but he was the first to agree, swapping hundreds of Dragon Lure Grass seeds! This Magic Plant was almost banned by the Demon Beast civilization. Even the Divine Tree didn't dare let it grow again. Rumor had it, the Dragon Lure Grass could really attract dragons."

Helen glanced at the small black dragon in Karen's arms, looking a bit disdainful.

As for the Dragon Clan, weren't they bullied by cats when they were young?

"But if the Divine Tree was so wary of the Dragon Clan, why trade with Lord Dragon?" Iris asked, puzzled.

Why did the Divine Tree hand over this almost banned Magic Plant to Lord Dragon?

What was their deal?

"I'm not sure, but both sides probably made big concessions. Lord Dragon, who used to be super hostile to the Demon Beast civilization, even postponed the war after this trade. The Divine Tree Lord once said it had a feeling the Dragon Clan was destined to be reborn, but it didn't really get why at the time.""It wasn't until later, when the prophecy about the Zerg tribe descending on the Battlefield World came out, that the Divine Tree Lord realized the Dragon Clan's comeback was to face an even bigger threat," Helen answered Iris's question.

Then Helen leaned lazily on Anna and said, "In the whole universe, there are two things tied to the Dragon Clan. First, there's this mysterious Dragon Lure Grass. When it grows and bears fruit, it has a high chance of attracting dragons out of nowhere."

"But there's also another civilization that's like the Dragon Clan's nemesis, the Golden-winged Roc! This race exists just to eat dragons. They say the Dragon Clan in the Milky Way got wiped out because a Golden-winged Roc passed by! But now, besides the Dragon Clan, there's me. If the story of me bullying young dragons gets out, the Demon Beast civilization might make me their top hero!"

Ignoring Helen's last comment, Richardson thought for a moment.

This cat's head was full of info, but it didn't want to spill, and Richardson didn't want to pry either.

Just a simple Dragon Lure Grass had dug up so much explosive info.

This really shook up Richardson's understanding!

"Looking at it now, this Lord Dragon is probably not a simple guy! In a government position firmly against the Demon Beast, and on the side of the Creator organization, he was the first to work with the Divine Tree. It all makes sense. He agreed to join the creators to summon Earth's Dragon Clan, then had to work with the Demon Beast civilization."

"But now, it looks like Lord Dragon succeeded, because the Dragon Clan is here. So, next, Lord Dragon's followers will go nuts trying to take the small black dragon from me, or even capture me."

Saying this, Richardson grimaced, finding it tough to handle.

He had unknowingly pissed off such a deep opponent.

And clearly, in a fight, he was no match.

Richardson was really annoyed!

"So, we can put Lord Dragon aside for now. He's got his government position, and he can't just come to Earth to deal with us. When we head to the Battlefield World later, we can think about him then. For now, can you all show some basic respect for this Dragon Lure Grass? Besides attracting the Dragon Clan, we don't even get why its fruit is so powerful!"

Karen clapped her hands, pulling everyone's attention to her!

Sure, Lord Dragon was scary, and this looming enemy made Richardson uneasy.

But Lord Dragon was still far away. Even if the team went to the Battlefield World, they needed to sort out the Dragon Lure Grass crisis first!

Otherwise, the other survivors in Tower City would be wiped out by the ever-growing Dragon Lure Grass!

Not just Tower City.

"Overthinking is pointless. Karen's right, let's focus on understanding this Dragon Lure Grass. Helen, can you explain again what kind of Magic Plant the Dragon Lure Grass is, why its fruits cause such a big fuss, and how it attracts so many zombies?"Richardson was the kind of guy who was open to suggestions.

Mainly because he knew that sitting around thinking about Lord Dragon wouldn't get him anywhere.

So instead of overthinking, it was better to focus on the present.

"Yeah, the Dragon Lure Grass. I don't know much about it since it's a forbidden item. But I remember an old fox saying that the Dragon Lure Grass can emit a ton of pure energy, helping most life forms evolve and get stronger. But like a carnivorous plant, this energy output needs the life of its prey. And it harvests these prey through its mature fruits that devour them."

"It's rumored, though not confirmed, that the reason the Divine Tree didn't destroy the Dragon Lure Grass is that when its fruits mature to the extreme, they might grow into a Golden-winged Roc! In other words, the true prey of the Dragon Lure Grass is the Dragon Clan! But this hasn't been proven. To grow to the level of an adult Dragon Clan and Golden-winged Roc, it would need at least a tenth-level or higher! Right now, even if we combined the two civilizations, we still couldn't produce a strong individual of tenth level!"

Even though Helen claimed not to know much, she shared a lot of explosive info.

The team members were all ears, not wanting to miss a single detail.

"I see. So what we might face next is probably a fifth-level fruit of the Dragon Lure Grass. Now that it's more concrete, the underground parking lot doesn't seem so tough to handle."

By revealing the enemy's mystery, Karen's worries eased up a lot.

After all, the greatest fear is the unknown.

Now that they knew who the opponent was, at least their mindset improved.

Lily felt the same, slowly releasing her tightly held hand, as if Helen had just told a thrilling horror story.

"Actually, it's still quite challenging. Let me correct that, it's not just one, there are quite a few fruits of the Dragon Lure Grass. But like animals, these fruits have a sense of territory and will fight and devour each other. Maybe the Golden-winged Roc was cultivated through this kind of 'cultivate a poisonous insect' method."

Helen mentioned this mysterious witchcraft of 'cultivating a poisonous insect'.

Others didn't pay much attention, but Richardson was slightly stunned.

'Cultivating a poisonous insect,' a witchcraft from obscure literary works that most people hadn't heard of, and Helen actually knew about it?

In theory, shouldn't the Demon Beast have stopped coming to Earth ten thousand years ago?

But looking at Helen, it seemed like she had a deep understanding of the world before humans!

And this level of understanding seemed to surpass that of humans themselves.

"Is this also part of the Creator's trade? The complete inheritance of human civilization, or rather the fusion of technology and Magic."

Through this detail, Richardson keenly guessed that the Creators had probably given up on continuing to explore the development path of Magic technology.

They placed their hopes in Earth's genetic evolution.

So they could abandon all their current achievements just for more other benefits.

They were truly a group of lunatics! If it weren't for the future arrival of the Zerg tribe, forcing humans and the Demon Beast to cease hostilities, then if humans were wiped out by the Demon Beast civilization, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that these damn Creators were the main culprits!

They were war criminals, traitors to humanity!

"What are you thinking about, Master?"

Seeing Richardson silent for a long time, not joining the discussion about the Dragon Lure Grass, Helen left Anna's embrace and asked with concern.

"Nothing. Just… realizing I've been naive. Hard to accept some truths. War… it's just another form of politics,"

With a sigh, Richardson looked at Iris.

The crazy Creators, the government alliance with an uncertain stance, and the Divine Tree that wanted to unite the human race to fight against the Zerg tribe.

The identities and positions of these three parties were all changing.

But in the end, it was the lower-level soldiers and the small groups sandwiched between the big shots who bled and sacrificed.

Like Struggle!

The name of this organization was quite fitting indeed!

"Okay, enough doom and gloom! With Iris's help, we won! Thanks to Anna, everyone's fine, except for Karen's hair. No casualties! That's worth celebrating! Fifth-level Dragon's Lure, multiple fruits… we'll deal with them. Lily, get Iris settled in. We're having drinks on the eleventh floor!"

With Richardson's shout, everyone's emotions erupted instantly.

Yes!

Regardless of the damn Creators, they won today and survived!

Everyone was a winner!

So what else was there to be unhappy about?

"Drinks? Can I join too?"

Anna, with a slightly excited face, asked Richardson.

"Sure, but just a little," Richardson said. She couldn't handle much alcohol.

"Alcohol! I'd almost forgotten what it tastes like after so long in Peaceful World. Peaceful… hah! There's no peace anymore. Doomsday is the new normal," Iris said, enthusiastic about the celebration.

"Good, except for my hair, no casualties for all members! I like the sound of that!" Karen laughed heartily.

Without her fiery red long hair, but with the boldness conveyed by Karen's short hair, she exuded a unique charm that made her appear as a female warrior of the post-apocalyptic world. Karen looked more capable and mature, evoking a sense of trust.

"I want to join too!" Lily said that she couldn't be left out of such things.

She was already of drinking age, although she hadn't drunk much before.

And so, the members of the team reached a consensus.

They sat by the eleventh-floor balcony, leaning against the French windows, lit candles, and had some drinks to celebrate.

"It's really hard to understand. Victory in battle should be celebrated, but what does this alcohol feel like? Is it different from the fruit wine brewed by the monkeys?"

Helen was tilting her head in confusion. She was then directly lifted from behind by Anna.

And then Anna smiled and said, "It's not hard to understand, you'll know once you taste it later. I remember there are still many wines for cats to drink in the fourth-floor pet area."