Giant Tree

Yesterday afternoon when Anderson received his teacher's notice, he immediately cancelled the travel plans which he had planned for in advance.

He quickly traveled from the capital city of Barna's Federation to Makas City in Azo State. From there, he took an armed helicopter into the remote town of Buendo.

The journey felt both urgent and serious.

And his teacher had kept it a secret from him, not telling him the true purpose of this trip.

Purchasing of medicinal herbs from large sects? Examining the pharmacology of some medicinal herb?

And that required his teacher, a respected professor, to make a personal trip down?

Surely not, right?

Therefore, Anderson asked his teacher once again, hoping for a definite answer this time.

Faced with Anderson's eagerness, Mallory's weathered face broke into a smile.

"Anderson, do you remember the file record of Patient 1092?"

Mallory didn't answer Anderson's question directly and instead asked another question.

"Patient 1092?"

The voice from his earpiece made Anderson pause before he quickly recalled the patient as one he was in-charge of back then.

"Teacher, are you talking about Saralian State's Governor, Pilco?"

Mallory smiled lightly and nodded.

"He was in the late stages of colon cancer and has undergone two tumor removal surgeries under you. Last year, you said that he had less than half a year left."

"

"What happened afterwards? During a physical examination a mere three months later, his body was found to have recovered completely for no reason. I'm sure you still remember this incident clearly, right?"

Anderson was speechless.

Indeed, at that time, Anderson had even kept Pilco under medical observation for quite some time while conducting blood and other tests.

The results came back negative and he was left with no choice but to attribute it to the strength of Pilco's own immune system and his luck.

Throughout Anderson's career, although he personally had not seen any cases of complete recovery from cancer, he had heard many stories of cancer recovery.

Most of those cases were often early stage cancer patients and even then, only a small number of patients had that miracle and luck.

"Teacher, for you to bring this up now, could this be the purpose of our trip?"

Anderson's mind was astute and quickly made the connection. He asked in a hesitant tone.

Mallory shook his head and smiled, turning his attention to the tropical rainforest outside the helicopter.

"There are certain things that you won't come in contact with unless you reach a certain level. Anderson, this world is vaster and deeper than you can ever imagine."

"A miracle that cannot be replicated is not something that can be bought with money. Of course, with that, there's no way it can be publicized or spread."

Looking at his teacher, Anderson fell silent.

"Is that so?"

"Looks like I'll have to sign an even stricter confidentiality agreement when I get back this time, right?"

Mallory did not deny.

"If you want something, you will naturally lose others."

"Anderson, I'm already old."

At Mallory's words, Anderson's expression changed. He quickly made his decision.

"Teacher, I won't disappoint you."

"I hope so!"

Mallory had always been satisfied with Anderson, or he wouldn't have brought him along on this trip.

The town of Buendo was nominally recognized as being governed by Barna's Federation.

But in reality, the entire town was controlled by the local traditional tribe.

You could call them gangs, or you could treat them as a small warlord.

However, everything did not matter because this place was too poor. The politics of the Barna's Federation were rather chaotic, and with sloppiness in governance, it naturally contained a large number of variously sized gangs.

But it was also precisely because of the rule of these gangs that these poor commoners had some order in their lives.

In short, it was normal for order to be mixed with some form of chaos in Barna's Federation.

For Mallory's trip, he had long already contacted the actual ruler of the town.

To be more accurate, Mallory was invited by the town's ruler.

And it was certainly not just Mallory's National Academy of Medicine that accepted the invitation.

This was an auction as well as an opportunity to raise the price of the town's 'sacred medicine'.

Gazing deep into the rainforest, Mallory gradually stopped talking to Anderson.

The greenery in front of him when compared to the city's dry concrete and the fatigue in the labs always made him feel peaceful and more at ease.

The flight route into the depths of the rainforest was like a sacred road, one of a short reprieve for thirsty souls.

For an old man like Mallory, when he stared at the misty rainforest, it made him feel as if he was moving between the axis of dreams and reality.

Of course, it would have been better without the loud noise from the helicopter's rotor blades.

In the sky, the sun was trying its best to climb to the central position.

The refraction of light caused by the morning sun and the dew on the leaves of the trees in the rainforest created an extraordinary view.

Looking at the rainforest and the reflection of the morning sun, everyone in the helicopter was immersed in a state of enjoyment.

However, as the helicopter approached its destination, the pilot's exclamation on the public radio channel alerted everyone.

"Damn it, when did that tree become so tall and sturdy? How many days has it only been? It's unbelievable."

This pilot had clearly been here not long ago.

"Hm?"

Both Mallory and Anderson adjusted their positions and looked ahead where the pilot was looking at.

Suddenly, a gigantic tree appeared before everyone's eyes.

Under the morning sun, the giant tree was visible now and then through the fog.

The crown of the tree gave off a majestic feeling.

The thick and dense foliage was like a giant umbrella, covering a large area.

On the tree crown, there were many birds circling and playing.

The leaves on the crown of the tree were covered with dew formed by the fog, dripped down during the frolicking of birds and were illuminated by the rising sun.

When the dew dripped onto the ground, it was like drops of sparkling crystals.

Looking at the shimmers in the distance and the giant oak tree in the fog, everyone in the helicopter was stunned.

There weren't many 100 meter tall giant trees. In fact, there were only a few in the entire world. (With the exception of Eucalyptus regnans)

Of course, it would be fine if it was just a 100 meters tall tree in front of them. No one would be too surprised.

But.

There was another layer to the background of this 100 meters tall tree in front of them.

Not long ago, this tree was only 40 meters tall and was on the verge of its death.

Although this wasn't something everyone knew, the pilot and Mallory were well aware of it.

Mallory's eyes widened and emotions were surging within.

Unconsciously, Mallory drew a religious symbol with his hand on his chest for devotion.

Mallory thought back to a conversation he had with someone. He was somewhat lost in astonishment when he sighed.

"This is indeed surprising!"

As he sighed, Mallory looked at the huge oak tree in the distance, his eyes already blazing.