Chapter 648 – Sapling

Chapter 648 The Sapling

Familiar room, familiar furniture, familiar small living room, familiar bachelor pad.

Everything remained the same as it was when he first left, as if it was an amber that had been frozen in the shell of time, no matter how much time had passed, nothing would change here to happen.

Zhou Ming walked into the small living room of the bachelor’s apartment, and stood in this room where he had lived for many years, he gently breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t returned here for a long time – sometimes he even felt that he had already forgotten about this bachelor pad, and the “other world” that was represented behind it.

But in the end, this self-deluded “forgetting” didn’t mean much.

He shook his head with a smile, and then stepped towards his desk – he didn’t check the closed window as he had done before, as the sill had been cleaned of debris and flour last time, and he didn’t expect any more visitors to the last cabin in the depths of the mists.

On the desk, a layer of greenish firelight was slowly fading, and in the fading flames, he saw a new “collection” gradually taking shape.

Zhou Ming walked over, sat down on the chair, placed his hands on the desk, and looked calmly and gently at the vibrant-looking …… “sapling”.

She floated above the desk, the diameter of the tree’s crown is about as long as an adult’s arm, lush and green, with many branches and leaves, and a large piece of soil was connected to the bottom of the trunk, with her roots deeply rooted in the soil, and a few roots extending out from underneath the soil, exposed to the air.

She floats like this, the whole distance from the desk is about ten centimeters high, in a …… incredible way to maintain levitation, showing a very different style of painting from the other “collectibles”.

Zhou Ming raised his head and glanced at the large shelf not far away – the other items on the shelf were all quietly in their respective compartments, landing firmly on the partitions.

The “sapling” floating above the desktop at the moment was the only “collection” that showed obvious supernatural characteristics.

…… Is it because her essence originates from the “dream world”, so even if she becomes a collectible here, she still retains a bit of the characteristics of a unique dream world creation?

Zhou Ming had some thoughts in his mind, and reached out his hand to gently tweak Silentis’s crown – this “World Tree” that seemed like a “suspended bonsai” was floating in mid-air, and he pushed it away from him. The “World Tree”, which seemed to be a “floating bonsai”, fluttered in mid-air and was pushed away a little by him, then returned to its original position again.

But other than that, the sapling showed no other active characteristics – she could neither speak nor respond to Zhou Ming’s touch in any other way.

“Now, you’ve really become a sapling again ……” After quietly gazing at this tiny “World Tree” for a long time, Zhou Ming finally spoke softly. “I don’t know if you can still hear …… In fact, I myself can’t even figure out how the process of you turning into a ‘collectible’ here after being burnt by the Spirit Flame actually works, but ……”

He paused, glancing at the shelves not far away, his eyes sweeping over the models of the Lost Country, the White Oak, and the two city-states.

“But regardless, this will be your new home from now on.” He said softly.

The models wouldn’t answer his questions, which made him feel like he was muttering into the air, which would probably be an awkward scene if there were any outsiders present – but luckily, there hadn’t been any “outsiders” here for a long time.

He reached out his hand and carefully picked up the piece of soil where Silentis had taken root, and carried her towards the shelf in the corner – he was very careful not to touch the not-so-sturdy-looking “dirt”, because once it fell apart, it might not be so easy to bring it all back together again, and it would be very difficult for him to do so. He was careful not to break up the lumps, because once they were scattered, it might not be so easy to bring them back together again, and some of the dirt that had fallen into the cracks on the floor might become “wasted”.

Soil is a valuable resource in this hut.

But to his surprise, the seemingly loose soil is very “stable”, as if there is some kind of invisible force in maintaining its form, he held all the way through, there is not a grain of soil fell down.

He put Silentis on the shelf, next to the model of the Lost Country.

The “sapling” remained floating in the compartment, like a peaceful bonsai.

Zhou Ming stood in front of his new “collection” and stopped to look at it for a while, but this time his mood was no longer the same as in the past, with all sorts of complicated thoughts ebbing and flowing in his mind, and it was only after a long time that he let go of his feelings and sighed softly.

At least, after going back to tell the goat head, its “sapling” is indeed still there.

“You shouldn’t need to water it ……” Zhou Ming suddenly thought of something else, and couldn’t help but mutter, “Theoretically you shouldn’t need to …… Hopefully you won’t grow any bigger either, I don’t have that much room here ……”

The “World Tree” in the lattice of course did not respond to his self-talk, Silentis just quietly floated there, slowly rotating.

Zhou Ming shook his head and turned to the sofa in the small living room to sit down, he sat there for a while and rested, then casually took a book from the small round table next to him and flipped through two pages aimlessly.

It didn’t make much sense, he had also read that book I don’t know how many times, the content in it was dull and boring, and had long since failed to bring the pleasure of reading.

But he had gotten used to doing such “meaningless” things when he came back to his bachelor apartment – either sitting down to read a few pages, writing a couple of lines in his diary, or tidying up the clutter and cleaning the almost spotless room itself.

For Zhou Ming, these things were like opening a small store in a city-state, or being a caretaker in a cemetery. They were not necessary in themselves, but they were like an anchor for humanity, allowing him to feel that he was still a human being, and that he was still living in “order” and “civilization”.

After a few moments, Zhou Ming put down the book in his hand and prepared to get up and return to the Lost Country.

However, the moment he raised his head, his movements stopped – maintaining a posture of just getting up, his gaze was firmly fixed on the desk not far away. Silantis was floating silently a few centimeters above the desk, as if he hadn’t moved from his place there since the beginning.

Zhou Ming blinked, and for a moment even suspected that there was something wrong with his memory, then he frowned, coming to the desk and observing Silantis floating in mid-air from side to side, and then looking up at the empty compartment on the shelf.

After a slight hesitation, he picked up Silantis and placed her on the shelf again with seriousness.

He stared at the compartment for several seconds, confirming it before slowly stepping back, then turning to walk away for a few steps, then snapping his head back.

Silentis remained honestly in the compartment of the shelf.

Zhou Ming frowned, exhaled, and stepped towards the door of the apartment – but just as he was about to reach the front door, he suddenly stopped again and turned back without warning.

Silantis was floating silently over his desk, as if it hadn’t moved from place to place since the beginning.

Zhou Ming: “……”

He walked over with a stern face, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the “sapling” floating in mid-air.

“Are you doing this on purpose? You can move freely?”

Silantis, of course, didn’t respond in any way; she was like a real tree, peaceful and quiet as she stayed there.

Zhou Ming stared at the “World Tree” for a while longer, raised his hand and lifted her up, placing her on the shelf, then turned around and stood in front of her for a while, and then turned around after ten seconds or so to take a look – Silentis was floating in the air above the desk next to her.

The corners of Zhou Ming’s mouth involuntarily trembled, as he took a few steps to the desk and raised his finger to point at the table, “This, is my desk, it’s where I work, and afterward, if there are any new ‘collectibles’ coming over, they’re going to appear on this table as well.”

Then he lifted his other hand and pointed to the large shelf in the corner, “Over there, is a place for you, the second compartment down there is for you, you should go to your compartment, not take up my desk here!”

Silantis didn’t respond in any way, just floated peacefully in mid-air, turning slowly in a circle.

The corner of Zhou Ming’s eye twitched, and without hesitation, he raised his hand and put the “sapling” back on the shelf.

Then he stared at it for half a day, then turned around and stared at his desk.

Silentis did not appear on the desk this time.

But behind Zhou Ming came the sound of a “thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump”.

He turned his head and saw that Silentis had somehow appeared in another compartment – the storage compartment that housed the “model” of the White Oak.

Silentis was hitting the White Oak’s hull one by one with the large dirt clods on her tree roots, and the latter was almost knocked to the ground by her.

“Stop!” Zhou Ming directly reached out and pressed down on Silantis’ tree crown, “No bumping your ‘roommate’!”

Silantis shook under his hand for a moment, then quickly swayed to the side, and Zhou Ming could only feel his eyes blinking before he looked over in the direction of the sapling’s last sway-

This tiny ‘World Tree’ was floating quietly on his desk.

Zhou Ming: “……”

A few moments later, Duncan opened the door to the captain’s room, and with a tired look on his face, he came to sit down in front of the navigation table.

The goat’s head on the edge of the table immediately crunched its neck, dropping its gaze onto the captain.

“Duncan Ebnomar.” Before the goathead could say anything, Duncan waved his hand and volunteered.

“Ah, Captain! You’re back, I thought you’d be the first to come over, I didn’t expect ……” The goathead immediately came to life – it seemed that because of the dissipation of the mythic form, the familiar raucousness had once again returned to the chattering wooden sculpture body, but soon it detected a somewhat subtle expression on Duncan’s face, “Uh, you look tired?”

Duncan waved his hand again, and this time let out a sigh.

It took several seconds before he looked up and into the goathead’s eyes, “Your sapling has taken over my desk.”

(End of chapter)