National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

The leaves have a glassy texture.

Each leaf is as thin as a cicada's wing, like a meticulously crafted work of art...

The kind that can sell for a thousand or eight hundred in a tourist area!

The half-green, glassy leaves of the tree stood up on the ground in a messy yet dense manner... and the tips of the leaves were still trembling slightly.

Ivan was still holding his axe as a shield, his breathing sounding particularly heavy in the quiet air.

A row of heads peeked out from the side of the ship.

"My God...it's so beautiful! This painting could be submitted directly to an exhibition!"

Just by hearing that tone, you can tell it's Nathan.

Ivan, still shaken, touched his arm, which had healed but was still covered in blood. "Hey, I almost got pricked to a pulp just now. Can't you show some respect for the victim?"

"Of course, Warriors,"

"I've already thought of a title for the painting: 'Blood and Blade,' what do you think? It's full of the passion of the era of cold weapons, embodying the grandeur of life clashing with cold, sharp objects..."

I don't want to hear him finish...

Ivan gritted his teeth, looked around, and reached out to pluck a leaf so that Nathan could also experience the feeling of clashing with a sharp weapon.

It was at this moment that...

Those leaves, which seemed like works of art, suddenly melted away at the same time!

Starting from the petiole, instead of turning into smoke or light spots, it quickly seeped into the soil like melting ice, leaving not a trace.

That's it?

Ivan was dumbfounded.

He touched the spot where the leaf had fallen earlier—

The soil was soft, just as it had been when they arrived, as if the massive raid they had just witnessed was a collective paranoia of these two-legged creatures.

But the axe surface is covered with countless scratches!

Like some kind of abstract battle damage paint scheme = =

"Boss, this forest is a bit eerie." Ivan, carrying his worries, retreated back onto the Abyss.

"Mm," Renyi replied.

Under his gaze, the bare tree trunk trembled slightly.

...like someone shivering from the cold.

Immediately afterwards...

As if a video had been fast-forwarded, translucent glass leaves began to sprout from the branches closer to the trunk, appearing as if they were popping out of the bare branches.

In less than a minute, the tree regained its lush and leafy appearance, becoming no different from its peers.

"..."

[Holy crap, the weapon can be automatically restocked?! That's faster than 3D printing!]

[If there were no CCTV footage, it would be impossible to find out who died here...]

Are these new leaves, or are they the same ones from before?

Is it possible that this tree is just waiting for someone to touch it so it can take the opportunity to scam someone and get a new outfit? (doge)

"The luster of this tree... is a little dimmer than before."

Klaus carefully compared it with other trees.

"Although it's very subtle, there is indeed a change in the refractive index... Perhaps this behavior isn't without losses!"

His gaze swept across the seemingly endless crystal forest, and he speculated:

"This could be a hunting strategy."

Ivan's strike on the tree triggered its attack; it consumed the leaves and regenerated them, allowing them to grow back.

The prey escaped, so it only expends its energy, but if the prey dies...

He will be absorbed by the soil like those melting leaves, becoming nourishment for this tree or this forest.

This crystal forest...

Essentially, it is a massive, all-natural, fully automatic mousetrap that also has a self-destructing mechanism.

"A self-service restaurant that's designed to extort money?"

Nathan muttered something, which conveniently revealed Renyi's thoughts.

"Then we..."

This forest cannot decompose; if even a single tree is so dangerous, then what must be so sinister to survive in it?

The risks and rewards currently appear to be completely disproportionate.

"Take a detour."

The captain's decision was as swift and decisive as ever.

At a command, the rabbit army hopped around again, forming a transport formation.

[Abyss] Turn the ship around.

Maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far from the edge of this crystal forest, they ran in another direction.

......

However, reality did not grant the captain's wish.

[Huh? I've already left work, why is the boss still running in the same spot?]

[Upstairs... this isn't the same spot, it's been a whole day of running around!]

Honestly, if the scenery hadn't been constantly changing, I would have thought we were stuck in the same place...

"We've finished eating."

Sean sat listlessly in the dried-up fish tank, holding a blue Sea Soul Stone in his left hand and a red Medusa Eye in his right.

"Are we just going in circles?"

The rabbits and grass at the bottom of the abyss have already changed shifts several times.

The spirited vanguard team had now returned to Mother Rabbit Grass, turning into a pile of wood crystals, and together with Blue Eyes, absorbed the high-energy biomass poured by the captain.

But we've been walking all day, from dawn till dusk, from school uniform to wedding dress, and to our left is still that glass forest.

To the right is the familiar white cloud-like tundra.

"I'm going to get snow blindness if I keep looking at it..."

Nathan closed his notebook; the latest page was filled with drawings of glass trees from various angles, labeled "Material #1, #2, #3..."

He sighed.

"In a sense, the ship's relative position on this map has hardly changed, just like..."

It's like being anchored here by some kind of rule.

This crystal forest is like an insurmountable, infinitely extending barrier of air at the edge of the map.

Klaus, Aurora, and Luigi made comfortable mattresses and pillows out of cloud moss for all the rooms where people lived. Now, only a few energetic night owls, such as Any, Nathan, and Ivan, and Sean were left on the deck.

The sky was getting dark.

The forest on the left began to emit a faint, cold light, illuminating the scene like something out of a fairy tale.

It's the kind of dark fairy tale.

It's both beautiful and somewhat eerie.

"squeak--"

"Chirp chirp—"

What was that sound?

The sound came from the glass forest on the left. It was just a few scattered sounds, but it quickly became louder, like it was time to go to work.

Are there other creatures inside?

"Hey, is this forest playing dead during the day and throwing a party at night?" Ivan perked up instantly; he had long been impatient with this long training exercise.

The chirping of insects grew louder and louder, but from this angle, it was impossible to see what was happening inside.

Now Renyi understands...

This is not an open map. This forest is the only way through this map. Going around it is just a waste of time.

Since it's an inevitable route, there's no point in hesitating.

"Alright, no need to run anymore."

He patted the head of the rabbit grass beside him.

The rabbit-grass army, which had been carrying the abyss on a wild run all day, slowly came to a stop. They hopped around a couple of times, seemingly puzzled.

Jump onto the railing at will and gaze at the shimmering, colorful forest—

The trees were too close together for the boat to pass.

"Go and call everyone out."

"Let's go to that buffet restaurant tonight... and have a free meal."