I'm a villain, not a devil

The tree in front of me, which is so huge that it is difficult to measure, is dead...

But even so, Sean could still smell the terrible smell coming from the crack in the middle of the tree's trunk. At the same time, he came to another conclusion: the tree did not die because of the huge crack, but the heavy pollution it emitted after its death mostly came from this crack.

However, there is still a question facing Sean now - is the huge monster in front of him the legendary World Tree?

According to the various information he had obtained in the past, the World Tree should have taken root within the empire. The pit under the imperial capital was most likely left by the roots of the World Tree.

But it seems difficult to have any other explanation for this dead tree except the World Tree... Moreover, it can provide tree heart fragments that attract tree people and is called mother by the Stone Heart People. This is indeed something that only the World Tree can do.

Could it be that... after the World Tree was cut down, it grew legs and ran away?

However, because it was too conspicuous standing on the ground, it had no choice but to slip underground under the cavity?

In the end, he died here due to various injuries...

No, it still doesn't make sense. There is a special space in the imperial capital after the collapse of the World Tree's consciousness...

Sean frowned deeply. He originally thought that the "mother" worshipped by the Stoneheart People might be a creature like the Winna tree, a "small world tree", but after seeing it with his own eyes, he understood that the small world tree would never have such a terrible body.

While Sean was thinking, Luo Xi had not spoken a word, fearing that she would disrupt his train of thought. Now, seeing that Sean's brows were furrowed more and more, she could not help but remind him.

"The Stoneheart people said that they migrated a year and a half ago. At that time, you should have just arrived in the empire, right? It seems that it was at that time that the World Tree began its so-called revival. Could it be related to the body here? After all, the Stoneheart people can still receive the 'mother's dream talk'."

Sean said thoughtfully: "I didn't feel anything real before, but now I think about it, many things did happen after I left Paradise City... But why did this tree appear here? I don't quite understand..."

"The World Tree should be on the Empire's side, right?" Luo Xi asked.

Sean nodded and continued, "But what is certain is that this dead body is on the same level as the World Tree... Well, that doesn't make sense."

The doubts in his mind still needed more accurate information to be answered, so Sean turned his attention to the roots of the huge tree.

"Go over and have a look."

The journey to the roots is quite long. After all, the tree is too huge. When we got halfway there, there were more and more fallen leaves floating above our heads.

The surrounding environment was also becoming weird and corrupt. Sean clearly felt that the group of insect kings on his shoulders began to move - this was a sign of erosion.

Although the bugs cannot speak human language, their intelligence is not too low when they reach the Crimson level or advance to Crimson level. What Sean has shown along the way is enough to scare them. Unexpectedly, after being eroded, they start to attack again.

"Aren't you going to take care of those bugs?" Luo Xi glanced at his shoulder. The shrunken bugs were tearing Sean's clothes.

Sean pursed his lips and said, "No, I care. At such a close distance, even the aura of the evil god cannot erode my surroundings, including these little things - but they are still making movements, which means that there are other unknown things that are having an impact."

Luo Xi was slightly stunned, then reacted: "Is it the factor that accelerated their evolution?"

Sean nodded. "This is the only explanation. Most of these little creatures don't have a high enough upper limit, but now they are all moving towards Crimson, and they are taking the same promotion method as humans. At present, it seems that it can only be the influence of this tree. Now that it is getting closer and closer, this influence has become so strong that it has begun to deprive them of their own wisdom and consciousness."

As he spoke, the antlion took the lead, and a group of insects stretched out their mouthparts and targeted Sean's flesh and blood.

However, an invisible force suddenly surged, and the group of insects collapsed before they could attack, as if an invisible giant hand had suppressed them all and made them unable to move.

However, although they could not cause any trouble under Sean's suppression, these immobile insects still showed their fangs and claws, trying to attack Sean.

"The impact is much stronger than I imagined. Even fists are useless." Sean shook his head helplessly and increased the intensity of the suppression.

Most of these bugs are in the process of being promoted to Crimson, while the others are at the Crimson level - of course, it doesn't make much difference to Sean.

His various strange abilities determine that he has unparalleled suppressive power over both group enemies and low-level enemies, which is something that other Crimson Peaks cannot do.

Bending down and picking up a leaf to use as a blanket for the group of manic insects, Sean turned his attention to the front.

From seeing it from afar to observing it up close, there are dozens of kilometers between them, which is enough to show the huge size of this tree.

The closer to the roots, the more distorted the surrounding environment becomes. The plants growing in the rotten leaves have begun to transform into appearances that are unimaginable to humans, and even extremely aggressive carnivorous plants have appeared.

Sean casually cut off a piranha plant with dozens of big mouths and wondered, "There are no animals here. How do these ghost things survive?"

Luo Xi kicked the Piranha Plant away with some disgust. The mountains and fields above the Rainbow Nest were full of beautiful flowers and plants, and she instinctively hated these ugly plants.

"It must be a carrion eater. There are countless fallen leaves, all of which have turned into 'fertile soil'." She said with a frown.

Sean was suddenly stunned.

Fertile soil... fallen leaves... rotting...

"what happened?"

"Nothing, I just have a strange idea, but now is not the time to verify it." Sean shook his head, and the two finally reached the root system.

The roots of the trees were exposed, like an ancient stone tablet engraved with unknown symbols, and each twisted root seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, struggling on the edge of death. They no longer absorbed the nourishment of the earth, but stretched stiffly like dead bones, with thick moss and mold covering the surface, dark in color, and exuding a musty smell that did not belong to this world.

Around the roots of the dead tree, the air seemed to freeze, and time seemed to stand still. Occasionally, a faint ray of light from nowhere penetrated the remains of the tree canopy and shone on the tangled roots, but it only reflected a dead silence and despair.

As soon as he got closer, the sound of low crying entered Sean's mind.