Chapter 172. Conflict With Human Explorers.

The following day, Flor returned while carrying the three people who didn't speak up. It was the Level 15 and two Level 9s. Still, Flor got enough information from the rest to be worried about. 

Arriving at the Golden Sap Town with those three in tow was easy. After all, the Serpent that had been hiding revealed itself and escorted them back. Once she reached the wall, Liu Shu controlled the roots and opened them, creating a gate. The Serpent flapped its enormous wings, flying over the wall and hovering in the air until he landed on the Temple Of Summoning in the distance.

The day was nearing sunrise, so the sky had already cleared up enough, revealing the entirety of the town. When they entered, the three prisoners looked around with disbelieving eyes. While it had a lot of free land and sparse housing, the foundations for a great city were there. 

The buildings that looked like trees were very pleasant to the eyes, and the energy density inside the area was superb. Not to mention, the number of creatures running around went far above their estimations. 

The number of Rose Fairies, Myconids, and Ants significantly increased when no wars were ongoing, allowing the town to flourish. 

However, the giant tree in the middle of the town made them the most confused. The Level 15 kept looking as if maintaining his gaze on it would change its aura and form. 'A… Life Tree? Why is a Life Tree there? Where is the World Tree?'

Flor didn't say anything and continued guiding them toward Liu Shu. She was going to finish the interrogation there and then let Liu Shu eat them. 

Speaking of eating, the corpses that the Arboreal Serpent didn't eat were buried by the lake's Willow Tree's side as an extra bit of fertilizer. 

Seeing Flor carry prisoners that were bloodied and beaten down, human explorers approached with frowns. "Flor, what's the meaning of this?"

Flor looked at the man who approached and remembered that he was one of the Level 20+ people. She didn't remember his name, but she knew that he was quite strong. "They poked their noses where they shouldn't, so they are going to get killed after I extract a bit more information."

One of the Level 9 women had an idea. She started crying, looking at the man and trying to arouse his compassion. Her face was pleading as if asking the Explorer to become her savior.

This worked because of one reason: the Explorers set up by Wert were still not accustomed to living with monsters. Many of them slept with their weapons by their pillows or never took off their armor and accessories, washing off everything when they were cleaning themselves. "Flor, you can't treat humans like this. Release them."

The Rose Fairy Queen was about to fly off when she heard this, and she turned to look at the man. He approached and ordered with a deep tone. "Give me the ropes; I'll deal with them from here on."

Flor asked. "Are you feeling empathy toward your race because that woman is crying? Have you thought that I might have a reason to do what I am doing and that your actions might interfere?"

The man frowned, feeling angry that Flor didn't follow his order. "I am not asking what you are doing this for, Flor. I am ordering you to give me the humans. You, as a Rose Fairy, have no right to judge humans."

Flor laughed and asked. "Are all humans like you? What kind of entitlement is this? Are you saying that I can't judge these people because I am not human, regardless of their actions? Are you joking around with me, or is this an actual request?"

The man lowered his tone and extended his hand. "Flor. Don't make me repeat myself."

Flor's smile became cold. "Or what?"

The people around started noticing, and many walked over. Liu Shu was observing the interaction with a cold gaze, and she had also alerted the three Sylvans and other people who knew of her existence and she trusted, like some of the initial humans that arrived.

Verdantia was quick to arrive. "What's happening?"

The man looked over and spoke. "Miss Liferoot, it is good that you are here. Can you tell her to give me those three people? Humans should be judged by humans."

Verdantia looked at the man with cold eyes. 'You are living in Liu'er's town almost for free, and now you have the GALL to order Liu'er's mother figure around!?' 

The Life Sylvan spat with incomparable disdain. "Is age affecting your mind? If only humans can judge other humans, does that mean I can't judge humans either?"

The man paused, not expecting Verdantia to be on Flor's side. "Miss Verdantia, you are naturally different. You are a Sylvan; she is a Rose Fairy. A monsterkind."

Verdantia walked forward, her tall stature allowing her to look eye-to-eye with the man. "And? Rose Fairies are the Rulers of this area. They are the ones who have lived here since the start of this town. You are in their territory, human, not the other way around."

The man frowned and pointed at the three gagged prisoners. "Look at them! Is that a way to treat prisoners?"

Flor snorted. "These are the only survivors, either way. They are lucky I bothered leaving them alive."

The Level 15 looked at Flor with rage and bit down with all his strength. His gums bled as he bit down as strongly as he could, but eventually, he managed to bite through the gag with a loud snapping sound.

He spat the gag, and ignoring the pain in his teeth and gums, he shouted. "THESE MONSTERS AMBUSHED US!"

Flor looked over with surprise. 'Those gags were made out of Level 12 roots… He bit through?'

The people that had gathered around looked over and the man continued. "They just want us to feed their World Tree! She wants to turn me and my friends into fertilizer! Please, save us!" 

Verdantia wanted to stop him from speaking when she heard the "World Tree" words, but Flor lifted her hand calmly.

Everyone that was worried about the World Tree thing saw Flor's signal, and no one moved. The male Explorer looked at Liu Shu puzzledly and then back at the man. Flor laughed. "Did I hit you so hard that now you are blind? A tree being big doesn't mean it is a World Tree." 

Flor approached the shouting man and grabbed him by the hair, forcefully turning his head toward Liu Shu. "See, you demented human? That's a Life Tree."

She was not holding back her grip at all, and some hairs were being forcefully ripped off as she kept her grip. 

"Release him!"

A human woman from the Explorer group stepped forward and shouted. "Can't you see that you are badly hurting him!?" 

Flor sighed and summoned a wind blade. The male Explorer shouted. "WAIT!"

Flor ignored them and shot the windblade down.

"ARGH!!"

Both of the man's legs were amputated, and then Flor lifted the rest of the body off the ground. "Hm~. Much lighter." 

The male Explorer's face twisted, and he rushed forward to snatch the man out of Flor's hands.

Wrong choice. 

'Don't touch Flor!'

BANG! BANG!

Before he could properly react, two of the large flowers from the Flower Field moved and shot with terrifying accuracy. The Level 22 looked sideways and crossed his arms while his face changed to one of surprise. 

Then, the seeds exploded on impact.

BOOM! BOOM!

[-4200]!

[-5400]!

The man's body flew backward for a few meters, and Flor waved her arm, releasing a non-damaging wind gale toward him to complement the act. 

Several dozen roots burst out from the ground, tying all of the male Explorer's limbs to the ground and immobilizing him. The Level 22's face was filled with pain and anger, and his aura burst outward.

Everyone expected the roots to burst into pieces when he pulled. Nevertheless, what happened next left everyone speechless; even Verdantia and the others who knew Liu Shu were flabbergasted. 

As if he was a mortal man pulling on solid metal, the roots around his limbs didn't budge. A Level 22 human's physical strength was far from enough to escape from Liu Shu's ridiculous stats. 

While many knew that Liu Shu was powerful and really thought that they had a general gauge of her strength, this situation proved everyone wrong. A Level 22, a first sub-cycle powerhouse, got immobilized in less than 5 seconds. 

This was because, if a human was in the Low Tier (E Tier), Level 20 to 24 people had between 250 and 400 raw stats on their highest stats. 

Liu Shu's <Physique > stat was 956. The man had no chance of escaping Liu Shu's iron-like grip.

Flor spoke before the other Explorers moved into action. "LISTEN!" Flor looked at everyone with a chilling expression. "You are all in MY territory. Here, I AM the rules. As long as you don't overreach, nothing will happen. However, don't challenge me on things you are clueless about!" 

The tiny Rose Fairy Queen holding the body of a legless man several times her size was incredibly imposing and frightening. "These people are from the <Void Witherwood Exarchs>. I am trying to interrogate them and learn why they are roaming our forest. I caught this group when going to get water from the lake! That's what happened." 

One of the Explorers shouted while anxiously looking between the Level 22 and Flor. "T-Then, why didn't you say so!? This has escalated because-."

Flor cut that person off and asked mockingly. "Did I have the chance? Did someone even bother to ask what was going on before they jumped to the conclusion that the evil monster was abusing humans!? What were all of you humans worried about, eh? Can anybody here tell me?"

Flor looked around and saw that most humans looked away, which made her stomach churn as anger boiled. "I TOLD YOU TO TELL ME WHAT IN THE ROOTS ABOVE YOU DID WRONG! ARE YOU ALL FU-FREAKING DEAF!?"

One lower leveled explorer blurted out fear. "W-We didn't ask what was happening!"

Flor looked over, and the man took a few steps back in fear, almost falling down. "At least one of you has a brain that's worthy of being called an [Intelligent Species]!" 

Then, she pointed at the two Level 9s and said to Amapola and Clavel. "Carry them to the middle of the town! Also, take the legs with you." 

"Yes, Queen!"

Both Rose Fairies flew forward and picked up the two humans and two legs. Then, Flor looked at the Level 22 and asked. "What's your name?"

The man gritted his teeth and answered. "Morrigan." 

Flor spoke with a neutral tone. "Go to the Town Hall and get some medicine. It is free. Also, next time, try not to get deceived by the doe-eyes of a human female. If you are in heat, ask one of the females around to mate with you or whatever you humans do when you are in heat!" 

She waved her hand again, creating another non-damaging gale, and Liu Shu's roots released the man, going into the ground again while the land closed behind. After a few seconds, it was as if a bunch of roots bursting out with terrifying strength was nothing but an illusion.

Verdantia looked around and said. "I'll add this to everything that Flor said. This is NOT a human settlement. It is neither a Sylvan nor a beastkin settlement. I hope you all have in mind that we are living among creatures that are slowly learning how to become more civilized. So, don't give them a reason to act upon their instincts! Nature can change and adapt, but it needs time!" 

Verdantia sighed. "Thankfully for all of you, their race is <Rose Fairy> and not <Rose Fae>!" 

Everybody cringed at those words. If the <Rose Fairy> were something akin to a honeybee, a gentle and almost harmless insect that was nothing but beneficial for the environment, <Rose Fae> were like the wasp equivalent. Their values and acting way were similar, but their way of acting upon them was radically different. Fae were like the unreasonably aggressive versions of fairies.