Chapter 125
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Chapter 125: The Price of Casual Remarks Was Way Too Steep
"Oh?"
"Interesting."
"When I came here before, there weren’t any mushrooms."
Trilobite floated in the water, bobbing as he stared at the small landmass he’d once crawled onto—more accurately, a peninsula.
Near the water’s edge, several mushrooms had sprouted.
"Similar to the earlier mushrooms, just paler in color."
"And where they’re growing…"
"Uh…"
Trilobite realized it was precisely where he used to dig toilet pits.
"Guess I can digest most of a mushroom’s structure and nutrients, but not spores or mycelium?"
"So these spores thrived on the fertilizer I produced?"
"No wonder they’re so tall!"
"Not bad… not bad."
Since arriving in this odd world of endless marshes and linked lakes, Trilobite felt he’d been doing good deeds everywhere.
Planting saplings, helping surviving trilobite creatures evolve, wrecking salt-raising vascular bundle plants, and now growing mushrooms.
"Each little act helps balance the ecosystem."
"Tiny contributions, really."
"And…"
"Whew—!"
Trilobite lifted his head, feeling the lake breeze.
Fine spores from the mushroom caps rode the wind upward, drifting toward distant lands.
"Well, hope you grow strong out there!"
[You offered blessings. 2000 Chaos Energy deducted.]
"Ah?!"
Though his stubby fish fins couldn’t reach his face, Trilobite desperately wanted to cover it.
Having words manifest power sounded impressive, but it kept causing headaches.
The cost of casual remarks felt absurdly steep.
His Chaos Energy kept vanishing after offhand comments—this had happened repeatedly.
And each time got worse.
First dozens of points, then hundreds… those were tolerable nibbles.
But 2000 points this time? Honestly!
The last of the Chaos Energy had run out again!
Trilobite recalled that he had spent a similar number of points to buy a Myelin Sheath before.
[Um… I’m sorry.]
[I can’t help it.]
*Cough, cough, cough…*
The weak system sister came out to apologize again.
As soon as he heard her voice, Trilobite stopped feeling bad.
"See, that’s how you serve people!"
"Themis, you should learn from this!"
In his past life, as an ordinary guy with many hobbies, Trilobite wasn’t the type to hold grudges. If a clumsy waitress spilled water on him while he was having coffee, he wouldn’t complain as long as she apologized.
He’d never force a server to kneel just because he was the customer.
They were all workers; no need to make trouble for each other.
"It’s fine. If I think about it, if my blessing really works and these spores grow up healthy, that might not be bad."
[Ah? Could it be…]
Valaharl suddenly realized something.
This "great" savior, who seemed "clueless from bad eyesight," might actually know the whole truth?
Was he just acting naive!?
Soon, Trilobite’s words left Valaharl confused again.
"The taste of these fungi reminded me of those that grow on wood."
"If that’s true, that’s good."
"You know, the biggest problem in the whole ecosystem is those trees rooting everywhere!"
"If nothing limits their growth spreading all over, and they’re not part of the big carbon cycle, the whole place will freeze and collapse."
"This is way scarier than any ‘human fate freezing’—it’s a total disaster! A Mass Extinction!"
"And these mushrooms can break down those trees and put them back into the carbon cycle."
"Even if it’s not very efficient, it’s better than nothing."
[Is that so?]
[I… I get it…]
Actually, Valaharl didn’t understand at all.
She couldn’t tell if the savior’s thoughts were his real knowledge or just luck matching the situation.
[But if it’s just "luck," that’s too lucky!]
[The Fantasy Tree of Subspace does have some value and is needed in the universe, but they’re too greedy, taking everything, and they’d even start the "Time of the End" to ruin the world for it.]
[If this goes on, the whole Quagmire Universe will fall apart and be destroyed by their greed!]
[So, the best approach toward Subspace remains maintaining balance—curbing its excessive greed while letting it merge into the entire Quagmire Universe and void system!]
[Sadly, nothing capable of effectively restraining it exists yet!]
[Is the savior implying that the reversed "World Nails" might actually curb Subspace’s expansion!?]
[That could very well be true!]
The reversed "World Nails" no longer shackled or pinned the world down. Instead, they anchored Chaos Energy, while the Fantasy Tree of Subspace embodied the gathering and materialization of that Chaos Energy.
With the "Reversed World Nails," Subspace might truly be contained!
[This… every point aligns!]
[But…]
[The savior’s meaning might not be what it seems.]
[So what does he truly intend…]
Just as Valaharl wrestled with doubt, a deep yet soothing female voice echoed through her consciousness.
"Stop fretting over what the ‘savior’ comprehends."
"Trust Him! Stand by Him—that’s what both you and I must do!"
"Themis grasps this truth. Valaharl, after enduring such trials, surely you do too."
Those words instantly revealed the speaker to Valaharl.
[You!? Saraph!?]
[Explain further.]
"It’s simple."
"I told Themis the same thing."
Saraph’s voice, tinged with laughter, resonated in Valaharl’s mind.
"If the savior knows all this, he’s a saint bearing burdens, radiant in his purpose."
"But if he remains unaware yet still achieves such feats…"
"That’s even more remarkable!"
"It means he’s the ‘unwitting Great Balancer’ and ‘impartial Great Devourer’—chosen by the unseen will of the Quagmire Universe!"
"He’s blessed by the cosmos itself!"
As Saraph spoke, Valaharl noticed something peculiar.
[This is…]
"See…"
"All unfolds as the savior foretold."
"Spores" drifting from the "fungal caps" of the reversed "World Nails" rose slowly skyward, drawn by the violent energy exchange from the "Exhaust Fan."
They quivered midair, dancing like Brownian motion—spinning, swaying joyfully as they floated toward the world’s edge, toward the breach in the Crystal Walls…
"Buzz—buzz—buzz—!"
The invisible "energy metabolism system" with its "invisible blades" kept spinning, extracting huge amounts of Chaos Energy.
And those "spores" from the World Nails…
"Whoosh…"
"Zoom—!"
They drilled through the gaps of the blades, broke free from the Crystal Walls, and dove into the endless void!
"It seemed the savior’s counterattack against the Fantasy Tree of Subspace had already begun!"
Right after floating out from the Bubble World, the spores cleverly went dormant.
Their glow faded and vanished, turning them black and harmless.
Some spores fell into the etheric liquid, bobbing up and down; while the lucky spores stuck to the shell of a giant armored worm!
And that huge armored worm was…
"Boom—boom—boom—!"
Its big body slowly crawled up the main stem of Subspace, sticking lots of "dark" spores onto the stalk of Subspace.
—-
But Trilobite didn’t know about the effect of these spores.
"Hiss…"
"Did I eat too much meat?"
"I think I’m a bit overheated."
Trilobite’s quick tongue touched his gums, tasting a bit of sweet metallic flavor.
It looked like his gums were bleeding a little.
"Well, it should be okay."
"Anyway, it won’t stop me from doing what I want next."
He was aiming at the flying bugs.
"Good."
"The range should be enough!"
"Now…"
"Ah—splat—!"
He spat at the giant worm diving toward the mushrooms!
But…
"Uh, I missed."
"But I’m not scared!"
Trilobite suddenly saw the big worm made of mosaics flying in his sight as if in slow motion.
