9 Saved by the bell

The [ a minute before the mother ship left the Test planet 144 ] 

The Ribbits are gnawing through the exterior of the mecha. 

Sera held the sprout in her hand even more tightly, and placed all of her concentration on getting the energy out of the plant. 

[ Super focus : doubling the transfer speed. ] 

[ Super focus : doubling the transfer speed. ] 

[ Combat support : doubling the innate talent effect ] 

With eight times the speed, she started transferring vitality. 

Outside, the drone camera zoomed in on the mecha surrounded by the Ribbits. The entire wooden barrel like mecha, which was at least the size of a small cottage, is fully surrounded by the Ribbits. 

The ones on the backside of the mecha and roof to the extent of the mothership's safe zone were being killed by laser shots, and the flying drones still collected the carcasses. 

The video captured all this, then, focused on the side where Ribbits are not being cleared. 

On the intercom, Eileen was speaking. 

" Sera Dustwood ! Your life is more important than preventing any infestation on this planet ! Give up whatever you are doing ! Get on Peter's mecha ! He is still around you trying to get a hold of you ! Sera Dustwood ! Sera ! Answer me, please ! " Eileen implored on the intercom. The pleading echoed through the dark cabin. 

" Please .. just wait ! Wait till the official time out ! " Sera begged back in a weak voice. 

She has not eaten yet, and the increased energy transfer speed was taxing on her body. 

" Sera , This is Peter ! We have collected too many Ribbits. The mothership has expended too much energy ! Moreover, we are expecting a gravitational storm along with comet river 3254, we have to clear that river before the storm hits. Please, just open the window of your Mecha ! we will help you get to the ship. " Peter begged her. 

Sera could not respond, because all her focus is on absorbing the vitality. 

If she could respond, she would say, " Which damn b*stard sucked out the energy from the mother ship that they can't have energy to stay seven days on the planet ? For a space cruiser , a mere gravitational storm and comet river pose a risk ? Mother ship was supposed to have double the energy needed to run the factory at full capacity and stay parked for a month within the planet. Running low on energy ? impossible ! " 

She would be correct. 

If only the corruption was on a small scale. 

During the time Sera was focused, Peter was looking on helplessly, one of the wooden dowels that held the shield together was bitten off by a Ribbit. The glass shield fell down, breaking into a thousand pieces. 

The Ribbits rushed through the open space, and in that one moment, Sera's face was visible. Her body has almost become skeletal, she was holding a sprout in her hand, without the space suit, only a leather armor on. 

She was covered by Ribbits in no time. 

One of the ribbits bit on her free left hand, to the bone. 

Blood gushed through the wound, wetting the camera lens. 

That moment, the camera zoomed back, and the video ended there. 

For the people of Oak River university, the incident ended there. 

For Sera, the incident began there. 

The second after the Ribbit bit off her hand, she saw the update. 

[ Level up. ] 

[ Innate ability Energy transfer ( flora ) changed to Energy Transfer ( flora & fauna ) ] 

Sera divided her attention several ways and sucked the energy out of the Ribbits. 

As the wave of death spread, and Sera recovered her energy, Mothership readied itself to leave the space. 

The ribbits fell down like flies. The blood drop slid off the drone camera, and recorded living sera sitting there with the sprout in her hands. 

Utterly sure of Sera's death, the instructor did not even turn back to look down at the screen. 

Sera focused once more on sucking the energy out of the plant. 

With each level up from there, her ability to absorb vitality from animals increased by a little. 

By the time she finished, her energy transfer was at level two hundred and fifty, Sera's entire being was in the state of exploding power. 

She moved easily, shaking off the Ribbit corpses around her. She had never been more thankful that she kept the helmet despite losing the suit. If not for the helmet, she would be smelling what's on the outside, and it's really stinky. 

The entire mecha was eaten clean, save for the mecha's control system, which seemed to be made of special wood that Ribbits could not break down. 

Ribbits still came for her, Sera absorbed their energy despite feeling like she was about to burst into a thousand different particles. The wounds on her body were healed long ago. 

Sera retrieved the world tree seed, which looked emerald green, thrumming with energy of life, and placed it on the notch made for the seed. 

The moment she placed the seed, golden lines ran across the ebony black wood panel. 

[ Register the ownership of Redwood Man with a drop of blood. ] 

A small round tube poked up. It was the size of vent holes on an iphone. Sera placed her finger on it. She felt a twinge. 

[ Registered the DNA of the owner successfully. ] 

[ Creating the bond with the owner. ] 

[ bond successfully created. ] 

Sera felt sensations she never thought she could feel. She felt the vibrations of ribbits approaching her. She felt all the features of her mecha. She activated the module she thought would be most suited to removing these Ribbit carcasses. 

[ Growth module activated. ] 

[ Absorbing unneeded bio-material. ] 

Wait ! she still hadn't collected the plant in the ground. 

Sera rushed over, and manipulated the planting bots to cut the gigantea's root at five feet. What's needed for the identification is only three meters. 

' Open DNA Improvement Cabin. ' Sera thought. 

A small purple pitcher flower grew in front of her on the ground. 

[ please place the prospective DNA material in the pitcher. ] 

The voice sounded once more. Sera put the route in, and closed the pitcher. 

[ Calamity level flora detected. ] 

[ Splicing the digestive system genes to include faster digestion ] 

[ Adding genomes to the structure of the mecha ] 

Sera felt a premonition. 

[ Please exit the mecha or stay in the commander chair ] 

Sera jumped out, still only in her helmet. Ribbit corpses spread around in a hundred meter circle around her. In that time, golden lines ran through yellow cheap looking wood of the exterior. The moment the lines ran through, there was an explosion. Yellow wood of the exterior exploded off the black frame. The black wood frame with golden lines grew sturdy looking black twigs in crisscross direction. Then, perfect skin grew on them, very similar in patterns to the beasts she killed. 

The black wood frames solidified to grow a clean shining wooden exterior which shone red, like freshly coated wooden furniture. Sera opened the door and walked in. 

Interior is made of warm Taek. There was a giant one eighty degree open window, which showed the outside situation. The display was the clearest she has ever seen. It is more like a picture in the eyes rather than a view outside seen through glass. Light green ivy vines spread on the ceiling, with oval shaped flowers, which are luminous. Gentle yellow lighting spread through the cabin. 

The floor is made of lush, but extremely soft grass, which begged you to run without sandals. A gigantic black panel rose in the center of one eighty degree view, right in front of the window. Upon close inspection, one can see the color of the panel is red so dark, it looked like black. The green tinted world tree seed is set in the middle of a formation, golden lines running through the black panel, showing the energy in green seed being consumed. 

Sera did not know that the exterior of the Mecha is not wood at all. Instead, it was Ribbit skin like leather, covering top to bottom. There were ten tentacles similar to Gigantea's aerial roots picking up Ribbits. Those tentacles sucked the corpses dry ! 

When they left the body, all that's left of the Ribbit's body is desiccated soil. 

Now that she is stranded here, she needs basic necessities. Sera checked the world tree seeds. They are supposed to be origin of all crops, so if she does DNA analysis, she should be able to get at least one crop, correct ? 

She opened the DNA panel. 

[ Analysis impossible. ]

The first seed showed. 

[ Splicing Impossible ] 

Next ! 

[ Cloning impossible. ] 

Next ! 

[ … impossible ] 

Sera dwindled down to the last seed in her hands. Please be something, she prayed holding the seed in her hands. 

[ Ainscorn Wheat detected. This seed contains the origin of wheat in the universe. ] 

[ Grow Ainscorn ? ] 

Sera immediately retrieved her planter tools, and set out to plant the wheat seed. See if it gets her any help. 

In no time at all, the plant has grown, and a wheat ear is produced. 

Each grain is the size of a peanut, and the wheat ear is as tall as a foxglove spire.