We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 240 A New Form of String Song: Illusion or Reality?

In the captain's cabin.

Xia En's consciousness returned to his body, bringing back the spoils of this underwater voyage.

But the moment this "seed" left the seawater, its appearance underwent a dramatic change.

Now, it has completely turned into a rotten and ugly tumor.

Numerous tentacles of varying lengths and intricate structures clung to the surface of the tumor, still wriggling slightly.

As the tumor writhed, a thick green mucus was constantly secreted from it, emitting a strong stench.

Except for the fact that the eyeballs on the tentacles were completely closed and in a dormant state, everything was exactly the same as what Shane had seen before.

This means that what Shane saw not long ago was not an illusion.

This ugly and distorted appearance is the true face of this seed!
Thinking about this, Xia En couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Based on his experience exploring the City of Giant Trees, it's not hard to guess that most of the tree people in the city have already accepted the existence known as the Seed of Life.

But will allowing such tumors to take root in the body truly give the tree people a new lease on life?

Xia En instinctively sensed that a huge conspiracy must be hidden behind it.

"Its true name is [Seed of Corruption]?"

Xia En's gaze fell on the panel, and he saw the true name of the tumor. His expression changed slightly.

In fact, the rotting smell emanating from the tumor gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Plus the name...

"Could this seed be related to [the Fel God]?"

Xia En frowned slightly, guessing what was going on in his mind.

It's no wonder he overthinks things; in matters involving the Elf race, [Hui Si Ming] often plays an indispensable role.

Another thing that puzzled Xia En was...

This Seed of Corruption can disguise itself as a plant-like shape in the City of Giant Trees.

Even the descriptions on the panel were affected.

How come it revealed its true form as soon as it left the seawater?
As Xia En pondered these questions seriously.

The next moment.

[Seed of Corruption] suddenly erupted with a painful scream, like that of an infant.

Immediately afterwards, the fleshy buds and tentacles began to dance wildly.

But it didn't look like an attack; it was more like a creature struggling when it was dying!

When the desperate struggle reached its limit, the seed of flesh and blood finally began to collapse.

More and more pus flowed from the Seed of Corruption, and the granulation tissue rapidly lost its activity.

Less than a minute.

The Seed of Corruption disintegrated into a pool of dark green slime, and the strange shrieking sound ceased.

Xia En frowned and murmured, "This is..."

"Did it trigger some kind of self-destruct mechanism?"

"The reason is that you left the City of Giant Trees?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

"Is it possible that the disguise of the [Seed of Corruption] is actually related to the domain encompassing the entire [City of Giant Trees]?"

Xia En had found it strange before.

The territory of the "City of Giant Trees" seems to have nothing particularly special about it, except for its vast area and the advantage of being the home ground of the forest.

Not to mention comparing it to Xia En's [Great Dark Heaven], even the domains of ordinary secret practitioners are more exquisite and wondrous.

This seems inconsistent with the extremely high status of the [Giant Wood God].

But now that I think about it.

If this realm is related to the Seed of Corruption bestowed by the Giant Tree God, then everything makes sense.

It is precisely because of this disguise that the Tree People accept the Seed of Corruption with little suspicion.

Otherwise, just seeing this deformed tumor would be enough to scare away a large number of tree people.

Although the tree people also yearn for fresh flesh and want to live longer.

But seeing these ugly chunks of flesh, anyone would notice that something is wrong, right?

"and many more……"

Following this line of thought, Xia En couldn't help but have an even more terrifying guess.

"What if this illusionary disguise wasn't only applied to the Seed of Corruption?"

In the City of Giant Trees, he clearly saw that the treants who used the Seed of Corruption had more powerful and vibrant bodies than the conservatives.

The tree trunk is upright, and the leaves are lush and green, full of vibrant life.

Now, the Seed of Corruption has been proven to be a bad thing.

What do the tree-people who accept it truly look like?

Xia En didn't dare to think any further.

"Boom boom boom!"

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Then, Joey hurriedly pushed open the door and rushed in.

"Captain, are you alright?"

Seeing that Xia En was safe and sound, Joey breathed a sigh of relief and explained.

"I just heard screams coming from the captain's cabin, and that's when..."

"Hmph, I already told you, nothing will happen to the captain!"

Behind her, Xuan Ge said confidently, "This is our own ship... Ugh! What's that smell? It stinks!"

The self-satisfied boasting of the stringed instrument was interrupted by its own voice.

Dragons have a much more acute sense of smell than humans, and the stench of decay hit them hard.

"And it smells awful!"

Xian Ge muttered to herself, "I must have smelled it somewhere before!"

Xia En's gaze first swept over Joey and Xuan Ge, and he found that not only the two of them had come, but also An, Fei Ya, and Yan Yan.

Even Vivian, the usually sleepy Ghost, was secretly watching from the side.

A small warmth rose in Xia En's heart, and she spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm really fine. The scream just now was made by this thing."

As he spoke, he pointed to the puddle of slime on the ground and then looked at Xiange, who had a look of disgust on her face.

"Xiange, have you ever heard of something called the [Seed of Corruption]?"

As a bronze dragon that is suspected to have been reborn, String Song has always possessed some remnants of ancient memories.

Moreover, these memories continue to resurface as it grows.

Perhaps they will learn the origin of the Seed of Corruption.

"[Seed of Corruption]?"

Xuan Ge touched her chin and said uncertainly.

"I seem to have heard this name somewhere."

"Its effect should be to permanently parasitize the target organism, continuously absorbing the life and soul of the parasite, and assimilating the parasite in the process."

"However, due to the assimilation effect, the parasitized not only fail to notice their own abnormality, but also feel that they are becoming stronger."

Although String Song usually seems unreliable, when it gets serious, what it says is quite credible.

String Song continued to ponder, "It's like that kind of life-saving drug."

"By stimulating life's potential, one gains a superficial resurgence, but when that potential is exhausted, death is inevitable."

Xia En's thoughts flashed.

The string song's description perfectly reflects the current situation of the tree people in the City of Giant Trees.

This alone is enough to demonstrate that the "Giant Tree God" harbored ill intentions. He was certainly not a benevolent deity who selflessly bestowed gifts to save the tree people.

Instead, he is an evil god who will stop at nothing to satisfy his selfish desires.

Even the name "Giant Tree God" might be fictional!

Now the question is.

Is the City of Giant Trees, like the Seed of Corruption, also afflicted by an illusion that confuses the senses?
With the idea of making the most of everything, Shane asked String Song and Joey.

Do you know of any spells that can see through illusions or hallucinations?

Xuan Ge grinned and said proudly, "Captain, you've come to the right person!"

"After I advanced a few days ago, I flipped through that magic notebook again and learned a few new spells."

"One of them is a spell that can see through illusions, called [True Sight].

During this time, Lyra's Magic Notebook was kept in String Song's room.

It wasn't that Shane didn't want to read the magic book, but after returning from the history of the Emerald City, he had forgotten the Elvish language he had once learned.

It was as if the pronunciation of Elvish had been instantly stripped from his mind.

Not only him, but Yan Yan and Cui Xi also forgot Elvish.

It was only then that Shane understood the reason for the (temporary) suffix on the panel.

Clearly, the scope of the [Aphasia Curse] was much larger than he had anticipated.

As for why String Song can still master some Elvish, Shane still doesn't understand.

Regardless, String Song is currently the only crew member on the ship capable of deciphering [Lyra's Magic Notebook], so Shane naturally entrusted the notebook to it for research.

Now it seems that it has indeed been quite useful.

but……

Shaen encountered a dreamlike realm in the City of Giant Trees, a place associated with elves.

Coincidentally, Lyra's Magic Notebook contains magic to see through illusions...

Is there any connection between these two?

Xia En thought for a while, and finally shook his head with a smile.

It's probably just a simple coincidence!
Afterwards, Xia En asked Xiange how to use the [Eye of True Sight], wanting to learn it directly.

However, Xuan Ge said, "Captain, you probably can't learn this magic, because it can only be activated in Elvish."

"Does it have to be Elvish...?"

Shane frowned slightly.

He didn't think Xiange would lie about such a trivial matter.

Having experienced the history of Emerald Isle, Shane also clearly understood the wonders of Elvish.

This language itself contains a mysterious and extraordinary power.

Some ancient magic was lost because of the extinction of Elvish.

Currently, only the dragon String Song can speak Elvish on the ship.

Should we take String Song to [City of Giant Trees] for a look?

In terms of swimming skills, Xiange is actually no weaker than the other crew members on the ship, and is even among the best.

Legend has it that the oldest dragons came from the deep sea, and they naturally possessed the power to control the ocean.

Although String Song is not the oldest dragon, it has no problem moving around normally underwater.

String Song seemed to sense what Xia En was hesitating about, and her eyes lit up.

"Captain, are you going to take me out to sea?"

"Great! I've been wanting to explore the sea for ages! How can the glory of the great bronze dragon not be spread across the ocean floor?"

Xia En's lips twitched upon hearing this.

This is no joke!

Do you think this is a children's picnic?

The deep sea is fraught with danger, and this "City of Giant Trees" is even more turbulent.

If Xia En didn't have the ability of [Deep Sea Diving], he would never have dared to risk his life in [Giant Tree City].

Even if Xuan Ge breaks through to the third tier, with Gu Long's talent and abilities, his combat strength is comparable to that of a fourth-tier expert.

Even in the City of Giant Trees, it's still not enough.

Judging from Shane's experience fighting the Tree Man.

Each ordinary treant has a combat strength of about tier 3, but there are simply too many of them, and they also have the home-field advantage.

Once the war begins, we will face an endless "sea of trees".

Not to mention, there must be some powerful individuals among the tree people.

Shaen's [Projection Body] cannot die; even if he is driven to the brink of death, he can make a comeback the next day.

However, if one were to bring along a stringed instrument, one would have to constantly be mindful of its safety.

"Captain, what are you thinking about?"

As if seeing through Xia En's thoughts, Xian Ge said, "I have no intention of going on an underwater adventure."

"Why don't we just take a look down from the surface of the sea?"

Although Xiange said that, she actually still had some desire to explore the deep sea.

If I had to put it in a word, I'd say it's its nature.

Whether soaring through the sky or swimming in the sea, it will feel exceptionally exhilarated.

Hearing this, Xia En stopped trying to persuade him and said, "Then let's go down into the sea and take a look now."

Since we're just staying in shallow waters and maintaining our distance from the [City of Giant Trees], there shouldn't be any problems.

Xia En then warned, "However, you'd better disguise yourself and not go into the sea in the form of an ancient dragon."

Ancient dragons, like elves, should have been extinct from the seven seas.

The origins of that [Giant Wood God] are currently unknown, so it's best to be cautious.

Xiange took this long-awaited trip to the sea very seriously and was looking forward to it, nodding hurriedly.

"No problem, Captain!"

Not long after.

Xia En changed into some comfortable clothes and came to the deck.

It's kind of funny, but even though he's been a captain for so long, he's actually had very little experience going out to sea himself, so it feels quite novel.

At that moment, a petite figure walked up to Xia En's side.

She has two bronze dragon horns like ram horns, some bronze scales on her skin, and a dragon tail behind her.

Her hair was a metallic blue, with a smooth and silky texture.

Her facial features were exceptionally beautiful, as delicate as a porcelain doll.

The only problem is.

She looked only seven or eight years old, with chubby cheeks, still a little girl.

Xia En was taken aback: "Who are you?"

"Captain! You don't even recognize me!"

The young dragon girl raised her chest: "Hmph, I am the great bronze dragon..."

"Stop, stop..."

Hearing her soft, sweet voice, Xia En immediately recognized her identity, but couldn't help asking curiously.

"Xiange, what happened to you?"