Chapter 87
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Chapter 87: During This Period, Deforestation Was Actually a Good Thing 4/8
“Ah-woo… ah-woo…”
Trilobite, annoyed by his discomfort, frantically thrashed and gnawed at the tree roots.
He discovered that the blade-like jaw inherited from Duncker’s fish not only shattered armor but also excelled at severing tree roots.
“Crack… crack…”
The tangled roots trapping him were swiftly chopped apart, left powerless to soak in the mud.
Yet Trilobite refused to spare them.
As he kept biting, he noticed something unusual about these roots…
“Tree roots taste pretty good, huh.”
In the age of vascular ferns, land lacked large herbivores while plants were scarce—truly a golden era for terrestrial flora.
Without evolutionary arms races, plants developed no real defenses.
Their roots were tender, delicious, and oddly digestible!
Of course, Trilobite wasn’t primarily after plants.
His stomach lacked cellulose-digesting microbes like "hairy worms"—too pricey to afford.
Shifting from predator to herbivore like pandas would’ve ruined him completely.
“Mainly ‘cause roots pack meat worms and microbes. Swallow those and Chaos Energy surges fast!”
“Hold on… yikes, eating fiber-rich roots really gets digestion going.”
“Gotta…”
Trilobite dug a small "chamber" beside his tunnel.
There he handled "life’s cycle," leaving cellulose-packed excrement before resuming work.
Ahead, more tangled "roots" irked him; his emptied stomach already growled for another chew.
“Today, this’d count as deforestation.”
“As a human, I’d land in jail.”
“As a beast, I’d be labeled a pest and shot.”
“But now? Different story.”
“Plants are the real villains!”
Modern society sees plants as "dutiful producers" in balance with insects and animals—model citizens.
Yet in ancient eras, especially the Paleozoic, plants were no saints.
They were Earth’s game-changers, apocalyptic bosses.
Algae nearly wiped life with the Great Oxidation and Huronian Ice Age.
After colonizing land? Still ruthless "version-killers."
Today we fret over carbon emissions, but Devonian and Carboniferous periods faced the opposite crisis.
At that time, there was insufficient carbon emission but excessive oxygen.
Land-based vascular bundle plants sank deep roots, frantically absorbing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil while wildly producing oxygen through photosynthesis and absorbing carbon dioxide.
Even worse, insects back then hadn’t evolved wood-chewing skills, so they could only nibble tender leaves and gnaw newly sprouted roots.
This caused massive amounts of carbon to become trapped in tree xylem, unable to re-enter the natural cycle—eventually turning into coal.
While this might’ve fueled the industrial revolution millions of years later, and vast forests created an era of giant insects, it also cooled the Earth. When atmospheric CO₂ dropped below a critical threshold, the ice age began.
Global temperatures plummeted, rainforests collapsed, oceans froze, and sea retreat occurred…
This chain reaction wiped out most life on Earth.
Green back then symbolized not life, but destruction!
"So now, gnaw more, just gnaw more…"
"My strength may be tiny, but chewing roots? That I can do."
"I’m just a Pander Fish—no match for mighty crocodiles or Theriodonts—but plants? I’ll crush you!"
"Keep chewing!"
…
*Crack… crack… crack…*
His chewing triggered disaster.
*Boom—crash—!*
A young, medium-sized vascular bundle fern creaked as it snapped, plummeting downward!
"Holy crap!?"
"This… got out of hand."
Trilobite jolted at the noise, frantically digging downward with his head and fin limbs.
He cursed the System for shortchanging him two legs.
If that thing hit him—
*Thud!*
*Splash!*
The woody trunk smashed into the swamp’s surface water, spraying everywhere before sinking toward the mud layer below.
Trilobite had dug desperately, fearing the tree would pierce the sludge and crush him.
Luckily…
*Sploosh…*
The unknown "xylem fern" bobbed upward after barely touching the mud, now floating helplessly on the swamp.
"Whew…"
Seeing the danger passed, Trilobite sighed and stopped digging.
Soon, pride swelled in him again.
"Indeed, I had quite a bit of power, huh."
It was quite a lot of power to collapse a "tree" amidst frustration and hunger!
Trees could grow so tall because of their developed, extensive root systems deeply embedded in the ground, almost merging with the earth!
This principle was already clear during the Devonian period when vascular bundle plants first appeared.
Many trees could sprout green leaves and buds even if cut down to stumps; but if uprooted, they would only topple and die.
"I destroyed a big tree to help stop the world from freezing!"
"I did a great thing!"
Trilobite did not yet realize just how "great" his good deed was!
But thinking of "plants" and "green," he recalled his "home," which was barren and lifeless.
"Well, a bare home didn’t look good at all."
"How about…"
Trilobite aimed for a small root system and carefully dragged it.
"Whoosh…"
Soon, a tiny plant trembled as he held it in his jaws.
"I’m not a bad guy."
"Since I entered a new lake, I should bring some ‘local specialties’ to add some green to Miss Themis."
With this thought, Trilobite held the small plant in his mouth and turned to swim back.
"Sizzle… sizzle…"
In Trilobite’s mouth, the seedling of the "Fantasy Tree" soaked in his saliva, making a sizzling sound.
—-
"Boom—boom—boom—!"
As a main trunk of Subspace collapsed, the space echoed with its furious roars, while the approaching demon gods could only watch helplessly!
Though only a trivial corner of Subspace collapsed, the "collapse" itself was an unprecedented event!
"How tragic…"
"A whole growing main trunk of Subspace was destroyed like this!?"
"I heard a seedling that hadn’t even broken through the Primal Mud disappeared too."
"It must be the Outer Gods! Those crazy Outer Gods!"
"Or it could be the Ether Dragons; those guys are getting more and more out of control!"
"No, perhaps it’s the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons! They’ve always had a history of swallowing subspace and devouring planes!"
"I don’t think it’s the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons. They do consume planes, but usually only the upper ones and don’t gnaw on root systems."
"Didn’t you notice? The upper planes weren’t destroyed at all…"
The strangely-shaped Chaos Demon Gods were engaged in a heated discussion.
At the forefront stood the dazed member, Lielajin.
He had successfully triggered the Time of the End, extending the root systems of Subspace into the Bubble World of Valaharl to draw its energy.
Thanks to the energy from "Valaharl," a new "main trunk of Subspace" grew, and this newly developed territory became Lielajin’s new fief.
But now, everything was ruined!
Lielajin was furious!
"Whether it was the Ether Dragons, the Outer Gods, or those vile Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons, I want them to pay the price!"
"I, Lielajin, the fourteenth seat of the Chaos Council, formally proposed to the Chaos Council to declare war on the Outer Gods, Ether Dragons, and Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons!"
"These chaotic beings had become a serious threat to the safety of Subspace!"
"They must also be included in the scope of the ‘Black Expedition’!"
