Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

After hearing the three of them and feeling the hostility behind their words, Wert became thoughtful. 'Are they in a relationship with that Life Tree? Sylvans really love nature, especially the strong plant life. Life Trees are not as strong as World Trees, but they are also not as coveted. Hence, as partners, they could be considered as ideal.'

Wert crossed his arms and intensely looked at Liu Shu. 'Now, are you really a Life Tree? These people don't know, but I have one skill used to bypass most illusions and disguises. How about you tell me what you are?'

Liu Shu felt Wert's gaze suddenly shift, sending a strange pressure onto her. The sensation was very uncomfortable as if someone was trying to take off her clothes forcibly. 

This made her mood shift, becoming much more irritable. While she didn't know what he was doing, she didn't like it at all. 

On top of her, Mariane and Ignatia could easily feel Liu Shu's sudden mood change, and they frowned, looking at Wert. Seeing the energy flow into his eyes, they quickly realized that he was trying to see through Liu Shu's cover.

Liu Shu was about to send a wave of energy to interrupt him when Ignatia's hand landed on her branches. "Liu Shu, darling, resist. I know it is uncomfortable, but you must resist, okay?"

Liu Shu whined a bit, her voice sounding very aggravated. "B-But he is trying to look too deeply… It is very uncomfortable… I don't like it, Ignatia…"

The Ant Queen couldn't resist when Liu Shu called her in such a clingy way. Her motherly heart couldn't help but feel a squeeze, and her compound eyes focused on Wert with chilling coldness. 'I can't really let you do that, can I?'

Then, Ignatia's aura spread outward silently, and many ants appeared from the hole, startling the Explorer group. Wert's gaze was interrupted, and he looked toward the hole with a surprised gaze. He shouted. "Ant attack! Be careful!"

Flor shouted, her voice booming outward. "WAIT!"

Wert frowned. "Now it's not the time, Queen Flor! Ants are very dangerous creatures!"

Flor flew forward, stopping between the ants and the Explorers. Then, she opened her arms and said. "They are allies! Don't fight them!"

Wert and the others were stunned. Wert frowned. "Queen Flor, ants are unthinking monsters that just want to expand and feed their queen! They are not trustworthy creatures like Rose Fairies. I can't not exterminate them when I see a group of ants!" 

Flor's face became much colder, and she shouted. "The <Fire Ants> are living in a symbiotic relationship with us. We give them access to our town and sometimes food in exchange for them protecting us. Look at their titles! Select a low-level ant and analyze it!"

Wert frowned and looked at a smaller ant. Then, he used his skill to look deeper into the System messages. As humans, the default that they could see was name, race, level, and ternary essences. So, to see deeper things like titles, attributes, skills, etc, they needed extra skills.

Wert had one of those, it was a reward almost all Explorer Association Managers got.

***

Name: ---

Titles:

<Fire Born>: Affinity toward Fire Aether.

<Queen's Blessing>: Your Ant Queen is blessed, giving you the following bonuses when fighting near the creature who blessed her.

+10% Stats in the area dominated by Tianlian Liu Shu

+10% Growth rate in the area dominated by Tianlian Liu Shu

+20% Lifespan in the area dominated by Tianlian Liu Shu

Race: Worker Fire Ant

Level: 7

Aether Mana Shards: 660/660

Phoer Body Shards: 3600/3600

Anima Energy Shards: 1100/1100

***

Wert's eyes widened when he looked at the second title. He said to the rest. "Wait! Don't attack!"

One of the Explorers shouted. "WERT! I understand you want to get friendly with that Rose Fairy. However, they are ANTS. They are a scourge that razes down everything in their way!"

Wert angrily shouted back. "And I am telling you to stop while knowing all of that! Can't your fucking brain understand that perhaps I've seen something that made me make such a stupid decision!?"

The Explorers paused and looked at Wert's face. Wert looked at Flor and pointed at the giant tree in the middle of the town. "What's the name of that tree?"

Flor asked. "Why-?"

Wert interrupted, shouting. "ANSWER!"

Flor was startled, and after pondering for a few seconds, she heard Liu Shu speaking to her mind. 'Answer him.'

Flor spoke. "Tianlian Liu Shu. That's the name."

Wert frowned. "That name is from the language of… Is there someone here who knows what her name means? Tree names usually have meaning!"

An explorer answered. "If I am not wrong, it is something like Heavenly Willow Tree. The meaning is a bit fuzzy, but it should be something around there."

Wert rubbed his forehead and cursed. "Fuck!" He pointed at Flor, looking angry, but eventually, he just stomped the ground. "FUCK!"

BANG!

The earth shook a bit, creating cracks around his stomping area.

Mariane and Ignatia prepared to rush from Liu Shu's canopy while the two Arboreal Flying Serpents in the sky tensed their muscles to swoop down as fast as possible.

Wert looked around, and seeing everyone's state of alertness, he took a deep breath and spoke. "Flor, Flor, Flor. You've really placed me in a difficult position, eh?"

Flor tightened her lips and spoke. "I only want to live legitimately. As long as we are not attacked, we will be the most harmless city in this area."

Wert paced around and shook his head. "Flor, they are ants. Do you know what Sylvans, Humans, Beastkin, and other people do when they see ants?" Wert answered right away. "They kill them! Not only that, people follow their traces and exterminate their nests!"

Wert pointed to Flor three times and spat. "Do you know what can happen if one of the Ant Queens becomes humanoid and gains intelligence!?"

Flor opened and closed her mouth, not knowing how to answer, so Wert answered back. "They can become strong enough to swallow an entire continent! A CONTINENT!" Wert shouted. "That means that not even SYLVANS can stop her expansion! Do you understand how dangerous they truly are!?"

Ignatia's face, on Liu Shu's branches, was impassive. Mariane looked at Ignatia, and the Ant Queen asked, her voice cold. "What's wrong?"

Mariane coughed. "Nothing. I mean… Do you care?"

Ignatia's lips arched in a sneer. "He is telling the truth. What does it matter? Pre-Level 20, I could lay 10,000 eggs in just a few years. Now, I can do the same in a year. When I am Level 25, what do you think I can do? Level 30? Level 40? Level 50? Not only that, but my <Ant Princesses> can also lay eggs. I alone can populate a continent faster than any other race is capable of, combined. My threat is not my strength, which is high. It's my ability to spawn a horde of millions in nothing but a decade." Ignatia crossed her arms and legs and answered. "So, Wert is right."

Liu Shu's voice reached Ignatia. "I like you, Ignatia! Don't worry, I'll protect you~." 

Ignatia's cold facial expression melted away, and she laughed. "Thanks, Liu Shu. I love you too, little one."

Meanwhile, after Wert told her those words, she took a deep breath and said. "They have no such queen. They are normal ants led by a normal Ant Queen. The Ant Queen is slightly more intelligent than usual. However, she is bound to Liu Shu over there. She has a title, and that title is the result of the blessing on the ants she gives birth to."

Flor continued. "If the Ant Queen breaks her promise, the System will harshly punish her. It is suicide for her. As long as this tree stands, the Ant Queen is tied down and also unable to become a humanoid Ant Queen."

Wert took a deep breath again, trying to look at things objectively. However, this was like seeing the monster that your parents talked to you about in your childhood suddenly come to life in front of you and someone telling you that the horrible monster is, in truth, the good guy. 

"Okay. We'll do this. I'll go see this Ant Queen. If the Ant Queen has ANY hints that she is about to become a True Ant Queen, I'll kill that Ant Queen. How about that?"

Flor opened her mouth, but Wert cut her off. "If you want this town to have more than ZERO visitors, I suggest we do this. Only crazy bastards will come to a town infested by ants, okay? This town has NO CHANCE if the ants roam around the city."

The Rose Fairy Queen frowned deeply. She remembered Ignatia's words to her. 'She has prepared one of her <Ant Princesses> to act as the Ant Queen of the colony. However… Will it be able to deceive him? If his gaze works and he sees the same title on the Ant Princess as the one in the rest of the ants, that will reveal Ignatia's existence.'

Liu Shu's voice reached her again. 'Do it. Ignatia says to trust in her.'

Flor frowned deeply for a few seconds, and after a while, she sighed. "Okay. I'll guide you to her."

Wert shook his head. "I'll discover her myself. I know that some Ant Queens can assimilate other Ant Queens or something like that. I don't want to meet a decoy or something."

Flor nodded. 

Wert looked around and found the entrance to the Ant Tunnels. Then, he said. "We are going in. If things are even slightly suspicious, don't hold back."

Flor followed them, and Liu Shu did the same. The Sylvans stayed outside in case Wert and the rest came out of the hole and tried to attack Liu Shu.

Then, the World Tree called the two flying serpents and told them to wait outside the walls when the Explorers entered the ant tunnel. 

Everything moved forward, and once they entered the tunnel, Wert's face became heavy. "Complex structuring. The roots of the Life Tree are being used as support for these tunnels… This is not a simple Ant Nest."

Flor spoke. "This Ant Nest has been here for a long time. Even before the Life Tree outside matured. While expanding, the Life Tree's roots started circling this area, and that's how the Life Tree met the Ant Colony."

Wert asked. "So, there has been an Ant Colony in the Golden Sap Forest for a while already? Why did I not know about this?"

A female Explorer coughed. "We received reports in the past. However, they were Level 1, 2, and 3 ants. Therefore, no one bothered."

Wert almost laughed in anger. "Really well done. Real FUCKING well done. Oh, I hate this so much. Whoever it was that discovered them and didn't report them, I want an appropriate punishment."

The same Explorer answered. "Ehem, they are part of Fortuna City's Explorer Association."

Wert's eyebrow twitched. "I see."

Flor commented from behind. "Can you control your cursing, Wert? The Life Tree in the middle is quite young, and I don't really want it to hear bad words."

Wert looked at Flor with a deadpan, but he sighed. "Sure, sure. I won't curse again. I'll say… I don't know… Freaking instead of fucking, how is that?"

Flor nodded. "Sure."

Wert sighed. "Okay, let's move on. We have an Ant Queen to hunt."

"Understood."