Red, Grey, Green, and Blue glanced at their mothers with confusion, but they didn’t answer and went straight to sleep.
Seeing them fall asleep in 0.5 seconds flat, the four Tree House Daughters were stupefied. The four of them whispered among themselves. “What do you think Mommy did to them?”
“Who knows, Red… They look strangely revitalized, and at the same time, as if someone had sucked out half of their souls.”
“Grey’s words are quite… accurate. Oh my, Mama Verdantia is snoring over here.”
“Pfft, Mama Harmonixa is not moving at all, as if her limbs are unable to twitch.”
The four daughter houses giggled, silently praising their Mommy’s prowess.
“What are my four babies speaking about~?”
As they whispered, they felt roots materialize around them and hug them tenderly. A voice sounding soft and calming reached them, making it clear who it was. Green chuckled. “We were commenting on Mama Verdantia and the others. Mommy, you tired them out for too much time!”
Liu Shu was amused. “You say that, but why do I hear laughter in your voice, eh?”
Green giggled, and Red jumped to speak. “Mama, will we have new siblings soon? Without little ones to take care of, we are a bit bored.”
“Yes, one from me, and… well, who knows how many from your mothers. They might give birth to twins or triplets.”
“Wow~.” Green and the others laughed.
Grey asked softly. “Mommy, why don’t you get them pregnant more often?”
Liu Shu hummed at that question. “Your mothers are Sylvans. Therefore, constant pregnancy can be quite a burden. You four should have learned quite a bit while helping with the homework of your sisters, right?”
“Mhm.” Grey acknowledged.
Red muttered. “Because Sylvans need to nurture the babies for a long time, it takes much more vitality from them than it does for humans and other species, right?”
“Exactly. A Sylvan is a very complex lifeform. Without at least 9 years of nurturing the fetus, the child would fail to grow appropriately. Prematurely born Sylvans can grow up normally, but even one that is born at 8 years will have their lifespan halved. Worst case, they fail to develop their very characteristic Sylvan Transformation skill.”
Liu Shu’s reminder made them nod seriously. Blue commented, curious. “So, Mommy, how often will you make them pregnant?”
“Why?” Liu Shu was curious about their strange obsession with this matter.
Blue muttered, her tone a bit guilty. “It’s just that… Our Sylvan sisters are very clever, and, well, they helped a lot as they grew… Not that our Alraune sisters don’t help at all! I love all of them! It’s just… ugh.”
Blue didn’t know how to explain without sounding as if she despised her alraune sisters. She loved them to bits, especially because her direct siblings were the only males in the family. So, they were treated quite preciously.
Liu Shu understood. Then, she sighed. “I don’t know, love. I’ll just make them pregnant when I feel that their bodies can take it and they want to. Putting a time frame on these matters is not… proper. So, I’ll just allow things to flow on their own.”
“I see.” The four sisters nodded.
Green asked, curious. “What about plant siblings, Mommy? Like another Lignified sibling, or perhaps a pretty little bush. Or a flower like Violue!”
Liu Shu pondered and commented. “I could give birth to a few… Give me a few months.”
She had stored quite a bit of… fertilizer from each of them during the last week and a half. So, she had no problems creating simple life, such as flowers and such. These babies didn’t even need her Avatar’s direct participation.
A few months later, Cinderielle and the others returned home, only to find the main table in the largest living room full of pots with red-colored plants.
There was a note by their side.
“Red and the others wanted a few plant siblings, so I gave birth to these babies. You and the other three have received 20 plant babies, each a little different. Some are flowers, others bushes, others small fruit trees… I’ve placed a label on each of them. You can also use the System appraisal~.
Much love and kisses,
Liu Shu.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Cinderielle looked at the note, speechless, and then glanced at the rows of different potted plants with a complex expression. “Red… Where will we even grow all these siblings of yours?”
Red answered happily. “Naturally, in the backyard! There is enough space for these babies. Mommy said that the tallest tree species among them can only grow to around 20 meters in height. It’s not that much, and I can take care of them!”
Cinderielle sighed with a helpless but soft smile. “Alright.”
She approached the plants, gently caressing the small leaves of the saplings. Her orange eyes glimmered like soft amber, her eyes full of tenderness. “Welcome to the world, little ones.”
Verdantia and the others reacted similarly, all of them feeling somewhat speechless but also happy.
For the next week, almost all the children returned home and helped in planting their new siblings. It became quite a large event, and everyone felt elated about the new family additions.
Liu Shu also took part with part of her consciousness, while focusing on further perfecting and developing the new computing system.
With no other major events, and with the insectoids on the Moon behaving properly and slowly assimilating, time flew by.
Five years passed quickly, and Liu Shu managed to make contact with the surface of the Sun, also discovering the Sixth planet of the Solar System:
Tiravel was a gaseous giant, its surface full of shimmering auroras and raging storms. The color of the storms was a gradient of greens, with some purplish spots on the north and south poles.
Liu Shu, curious about the composition of the Gas Giant, manifested her roots and sank them into the surface of the planet. The countless roots tore through the stormy surface, easily bearing the harsh winds and storms.
“Hm… Is it everything gas?”
Her roots continued piercing the surface, and eventually, she tore through the heavy layer of clouds and reached a shimmering surface of liquid. “That’s… not water.”
Her roots sped downward, and soon, they splashed into the liquid. “Wow… so cold. What is this?”
[Liquid Aetheric Hydrogen (C Tier): A material created due to the pressure of a Gas Giant’s gravity and the mixing of ternary essence. Its uses are varied in Alchemy, Array, and Rune Crafting.]
“Oho~. Interesting.”
Liu Shu continued pushing through, the pressure increasing the deeper she went. Even then, her roots were sturdy and immovable, digging deeper and deeper.
‘This ocean is… endless. In rocky planets, the deepest ocean I’ve seen was around 19 kilometers deep. However, I’ve been digging for hundreds of kilometers, and it is still going.”
She was astounded. The level of pressure at this profundity was enough to crush normal Level 75 beings.
200 kilometers… 300… 500… 1000… 2000…
After reaching a terrifying depth of around 4000 kilometers, the liquid was already comparable to a solid, and soon, Liu Shu felt that she was digging into “ground.”
[Supercompressed Aetheric Hydrogen (A+ Tier): A material found often at the core of some super gas giants. This material has high conductivity but incredible volatility. If not processed and contained properly, it has a high chance of exploding and expanding. Used mostly in Alchemy and Blacksmithing.]
Liu Shu exclaimed. “A precious material! There is a lot of it as well…” But she was not confused about this. What Liu Shu pondered deeply was…
“How do I develop life on this planet?”
Forget water, this world’s atmosphere was terrifying enough to tear through most Level 49 and below materials. So, to develop life here, the newborns of whatever species that was born here would need to bear those terrifying air currents or the chilling coldness of the hydrogen ocean covering the entire surface of the world.
“Floating islands…” Liu Shu muttered, her eyes squinting. “I can create floating islands that merge with the air currents… Some islands would eventually crash down, react with the sea, and burst into particles that can later merge and create new and more abundant islands.”
Liu Shu’s eyes shone with interest and ambition. “As the material for these islands functions similarly to opposing magnets beyond certain dimensions, it would create a balance eventually. It would be like a rain cycle but of floating islands. Such an environment can create a nomadic life that learns to travel between islands, predict their descent, and eventually even manipulate such things for their benefit.”
With the idea in mind, Liu Shu quickly got to work in her workshop.
The roots covering the spherical space snatched materials from the
Of course, to make sure that these experiments would function, she used her spatial abilities to transport large amounts of Aetheric Hydrogen over.
With her work mode on, Liu Shu’s mind quickly developed and expanded on her ideas, eventually creating the following materials.
[Magnetic Aetheric Dirt (D+ Tier)]
[Electromagnetic Wind Aura Rock (C+ Tier)]
[Current Flowing Aetheric Semi-Conductor (B+ Tier)]
[Core Aetheric Rock (A+ Tier)]
Their properties were mutually helpful. Moreover, Liu Shu also ensured the development of a set of more complex materials that could be mixed in smaller quantities and serve as bridges for multiple interactions.
“Hm… Five years have passed since the day Cinder and the others became pregnant.”
During this time, Liu Shu had spent time with everyone. While her main focus was the development of these materials, she would not ignore her new family members.
Not to mention, with the
Just like that, Liu Shu’s family welcomed another round of babies, and it became extremely lively again.
Verdantia, her stomach quite swollen already, smiled as she held a four-month-old Alraune in her arms. “It’s so… different.”
“Hm?” Tempestria, holding a one-year-old Sylphaith, looked at Verdantia with confusion.
“I mean to say, when Liu Shu is awake and when she is not, it’s like two different worlds.” Verdantia sighed. “Without her, everything feels… stale. Even when we already have so many children, I just can’t help but want to see this cycle repeat endlessly.”
Tempestria looked around, and seeing the large number of children playing, she smiled. “You are right. That’s why we need to treasure her, right?”
“Yes.” Verdantia relaxed, and feeling the baby in her arms bite her dress, she quickly knew that the Alraune was hungry again.
Meanwhile, Liu Shu began shipping a large amount of her new materials to the new world, ready for the tests.