Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Liu Shu saw Finnian moving around and ordering a retreat, baffling her. She heard everything they discussed, so she understood the reasoning behind it. Still, this situation was new for her. In her experience, even when things looked very unfavorable, their greed and arrogance blinded them to acting in ridiculous manners. 

Moreover, this time, Liu Shu knew that she would probably need to reveal herself if she wanted to fight Finnian. Still, while it was a setback, she didn't think it was that bad. 

Of course, those were just her thoughts because she cared very little about who knew and who didn't. Regardless, Finnian deciding not to fight and retreat was a complete miscalculation on her part. 

It was more than a miscalculation; she didn't even consider it. 'Do I attack them? If I do, I can change their mind. However, do I want to be attacked?'

The fact that she was even considering it came as a surprise to Liu Shu. Since the very beginning, she wanted to exist calmly and produce fruits while leveling up at her pace and extending her roots. 'Why did I want to start a war where many people might get hurt or even killed…?'

The World Tree pondered, and because she was 100% honest with her own feelings, she muttered. 'I feel in a hurry to Level Up after seeing Finnian's strength… Oh. I feel rushed? Wow~. I do feel rushed… Since when?' Liu Shu pondered and realized that it had already been a while since she started feeling like this. 

'I started when I saw Flor so heavily injured back then. When I woke up to a completely changed situation and people.'

Reflecting on her actions, Liu Shu spoke to Flor. 'Relax, the enemies are retreating.'

Flor was confused, her eyebrows tightly coming together. She whispered. "What do you mean?"

Liu Shu answered. "After Finnian couldn't save Eldric, he came to the conclusion that taking our city would not be as risk-free as he anticipated. The unexpected strength must've forced his opinion to change."

Flor was still surprised. 'Someone as strong as him didn't want to risk it?'

She answered with a mutter. "I see. Did you hear any of their plans?"

Liu Shu hummed. "They want to do something political or something like that in the future. Like, infiltrate the town and become a powerful underground association." Liu Shu commented. "Ignatia says that we are lucky and that we should take advantage of this situation by making the Explorer Humans know that we are not helpless little bugs. That we can fight." 

Flor nodded with a smile. "I'll tell them, don't worry."

The Rose Fairy Queen didn't waste time and moved to inform the people who were ready to fight. Her message was confusing, but it was a joyous one: They were not going to fight. 

The people's morale was quite delicate after learning about the other side's strength. No one wanted to fight against Finnian, after all. Dying from the collateral damage of his blows would not be a strange situation for many of the individuals gathered.

Mariane appeared with a smirk, looking at Eldric's blank face. "Hey, Flor. That boy seems to be in Lalala land. Be careful that you don't lose him completely."

Flor was so happy that they didn't need to fight that she forgot the baggage that she was dragging with her at all times. "Right. What do we do with him?"

Verdantia took a step forward and said, "Let me deal with him. Mom told me that we could deal with things between us without the adults interfering."

Eldric looked at Verdantia approaching and snarled. "Don't you dare do something stupid, Verdantia! Lord Finnian hasn't retreated! He is trying to deceive all of you! He will appear here when you least expect it and will raze everything to the ground, saving me in the process!"

Verdantia sighed. "Sure, sure. Now, will you tell me everything that you told the Nexus people, including your lies, so that I can react accordingly?"

Eldric sneered. "Lies? What lies!? That tree over there is a World Tree! How could it give those powerful fruits otherwise!?"

Verdantia rolled her eyes. "Come with me." She summoned a vine, tied his arms, and carried him away. 

With that solved, everyone else was told to rest. Taking into account the possibility that what Eldric told them was the truth, they needed to be rested and prepared. 

Still, two weeks passed, and there were no visible movements. Not in the sky, not underground. 

Wert was informed during these two weeks, so he arrived many days ago to check everything himself. After doing so, he gathered with Flor and sighed. "They are thorough; finding their tracks is almost impossible." 

Flor looked at Wert and commented. "Your personality changes very often."

Wert lifted his eyebrows and looked at Flor. "What do you mean?"

Flor hummed. "You were extremely wary, but after a few weeks, you are eager to help us.

Wert laughed. "My personality hasn't changed. I am me. Do you always stick to one way of acting in front of everything and everyone?"

Flor stated. "That would be too tiresome."

Wert snorted. "That's what I am saying. That would be tiresome because it is not really you. People just don't act one way. You might be shy in front of someone, but aggressive and outspoken in front of another person."

Wert paused and looked at Flor. "Let's stop the boring conversation and go to the main thing."

Flor blinked. "Main thing?"

Wert asked, his sharp eyebrow moving upward. "So, is the <Association Building> built?" 

Flor pointed outside of the window. "That place is where it will go. As you can see, it is still growing."

Wert muttered. "Right, not building but… 'growing.'" Wert chuckled. "Such a miraculous technique."

Flor hummed. "It has plenty of drawbacks."

"No need to do that."

Flor blinked. "Do what?"

Wert smirked. "Trying to make it sound less amazing than it is because you fear that I will try to steal your technology."

Flor coughed. "Humans are really sharp."

"Hahaha. Well, not all, but most are sharper than they think they are." Wert sighed. "Some people just ignore the signals they see because if they act upon them, they will become sad."

Wert smiled broadly. "In that regard, humans are worse than a mindless beast."

The Rose Fairy Queen looked at Wert and commented. "Was that everything you wanted to ask?"

Wert asked. "Are you in a hurry?"

Flor nodded. "Somewhat."

"I see…" Wert sighed. "By the way… I see those two large buildings over there. The <Temple Of Summoning> and… Endless Library?" 

Flor asked, confused. "What's wrong?"

Wert smiled at Flor and asked. "For who did we build those centers? Or, better, what materials did you use?" 

Flor answered easily. "Those who we gathered."

Wert's smiled widened, and he nodded. "I see." 

Speaking of buildings, Liu Shu took the following months to complete several Low-Ranked houses and upgrade everything else to low rank as well.

Because the structure was not as unique as the <World Tree's Endless Library> or the <Temple Of Summoning>, Liu Shu could complete them almost daily. 

The ones that took the most time to build were the <Explorer Association> building and the <Lignified Root Wall>. Both structures were complex enough to take three weeks each.

By the time Liu Shu was done completing a total of 30 <Low-Rank Lignified Houses>, <Low-Rank Water Reservoir>, <Low-Rank Explorer Association Building>, <Low-Rank Lignified Inn>, and the <Low-Rank Lignified Wall>, four months had gone by. 

Everything together gave Liu Shu's town a total of 40 houses, two inns, one large water reservoir that could be used all around the town, two farms that could keep up with most of the food production while also providing E Rank and below Woodcrafting materials, a giant library that was mostly empty for now, a gorgeous temple, the Explorer Association building, and finally, the Town Hall.

While much basic infrastructure was missing for it to be called a city, it was impressive for a town that had been built from nothing by her. 

Wert commented to Flor as he walked around the houses. "These houses are similar, right? All of them can change like you showed us." 

Flor nodded and spoke. "However, they won't be abused. If we feel a signal of distress from the Life Tree, we will act accordingly and punish those people." 

Wert hummed. "We will leave 10 of them for rent to be used as workshops. Each of these Houses is around 16 meters in height, with four floors each that can accommodate a total of 16 people living comfortably. Renting 10 to be workshops is a good number. Each of those ten houses can have four workshops, and if we make it so the quality of life is better the higher the floor it is located, it will give those rich people who want to look good a reason to waste their money. " 

Flor asked, not denying the idea. She was thinking something similar, after all. "What about the other 30 houses?"

Wert mumbled. "With quick calculations, if we take into account how many people can live in the two inns, my <Explorer Association Building>, your <Town Hall>, and the 30 remaining houses… Reaching nearly 1000 residents shouldn't be too complicated. The inns are big and comfortable. The houses are top-notch. And these calculations are taking into account that you'll be human-sized." 

The Rose Fairy Queen laughed. "You are quite eager, aren't you? I thought you were reluctant at first."

Wert clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "After tasting the luxury of being able to manipulate the place you live in to be to your tastes, it is hard to give it up. This place will boom, Queen Flor. You have the Temple's blessing. You have a rich aura that's full of life surrounding this place. You have a Life Tree…" Wert shook his head. "Even with the ants roaming around, the benefits are so large that there will be people who stay even when they are deadly afraid that the ants will one day attack them." 

Flor paused for a second, and Wert turned to look at her. "What's wrong, Queen Flor?"

"When…" Flor paused for a second and finally asked. "When are you planning to open this town to the public? What are your plans to welcome people?"

Wert commented. "I've thought about it, and I was thinking of having a group of ants escort every person that comes from other towns to visit so that they get accustomed to their presence. While it might initially be uncomfortable, people will soon link ants with protection if you can guarantee that nothing will go wrong." 

Flor nodded. "I can guarantee that as long as nobody provokes them for no reason at all, we can control them. Even if they go a bit out of control, we are able to keep them in check. However, they are ants at the end of the day. Like any other wild, domesticated animal, they will react if you poke the wrong buttons." 

Wert blinked and muttered. "Well, that's fair. If you start touching and grabbing a house pet, the house pet will attack you."

Flor nodded.