After the explosion’s aftermath settled, Ryan continued his experiments.
The good news: the black plant’s self-destruction had been limited.
Besides itself and a small surrounding area, no major damage was done.
The bad news: the giant tree grown from the seed still stood tall, its foliage impossibly lush, showing no signs of stopping.
Ryan walked to the base of the massive tree and looked up at the canopy blocking out the sky, feeling helpless.
The biology he’d learned—photosynthesis, cell division, nutrient transport—seemed to operate on a completely different dimension from this thing.
“Basic biology is completely useless here…”
He sighed, reaching out to touch the rough bark.
It was warm, as if lava flowed within, and he could sense a faint but continuous bioelectric signal.
Was everything touched by an Aeon’s power this bizarre?
He decided to change tactics.
Since this ancient monstrosity was beyond understanding for now, he’d start with the ordinary plants affected by its influence and look for commonalities or clues.
He walked to a wildly spreading vine, and what he saw made him frown.
The vine’s cells were abnormally active.
Bioelectric signals were chaotic and intense.
Cell division rate was dozens of times faster than normal.
But the cellular structures themselves seemed somewhat hollow—lacking density.
He then looked at a nearby flower the size of a washbasin.
Its petal cells were also in a state of high-speed metabolism, bioelectricity flickering like neon lights, but some vascular bundle cells responsible for nutrient transport showed abnormal proliferation and distortion.
He pulled out his data pad with the garden’s pre-existing plant data and began comparing the mutated plants’ real-time states against his notes.
“Increased activity is universal… bioelectric signal strength and frequency both significantly elevated…”
He muttered, rapidly scrolling through comparisons on his data pad.
But the increase was too fast, lacking order.
The human body couldn’t withstand cancer cell proliferation—that’s how people got cancer.
Though unlike lethal cancer cells, this mutation seemed more inclined toward excessive growth.
Like pulling seedlings to help them grow.
Not immediately fatal in the short term, but over time, these plants’ structures might collapse from the unsustainable high-speed metabolism—or develop other unknown mutations.
At that moment, a cool female voice tinged with curiosity spoke from behind him: “Staring blankly at flowers and grass—planning a career change to gardener?”
Ryan didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
He turned to see Herta standing beside a cluster of glowing mushrooms, poking one with interest.
The mushroom immediately shrank back like a mimosa.
Kind of like the Scaredy-shroom from Plants vs.
Zombies—especially since that mushroom really did blow bubbles…
“Madam Herta,” Ryan gestured at the surroundings helplessly.
“I’m not much of a gardener. Almost demolished the place.”
Herta controlled the doll to walk to the base of the giant tree, looking up.
Her purple eyes showed understanding: “Given that Ruan Mei gave you the seed, this isn’t surprising. She always likes making little things with excessive vitality.”
Ryan frowned at her.
Did that include creating an Emanator?
She looked down at the data pad in Ryan’s hand.
“Any findings? Besides that this place now resembles a vacation resort?”
Ryan shared his observations and analysis: “…roughly that. Activity surge, but cellular structure and functional coordination can’t keep up. Long-term, problems are inevitable.”
Herta listened, noncommittal, then asked: “And why do you think this disharmony occurs?”
Ryan considered, combining his observations: “Energy and nutrient supply is too aggressive, but the plant’s own transport and conversion systems—phloem, xylem, and intracellular transport channels—have limited capacity. Or they can’t adapt quickly enough to the sudden change, leading to energy accumulation and metabolic disorder?”
“Not a bad line of thinking.” Herta nodded, and the doll’s small hand waved.
A holographic projection appeared, showing a simplified plant cell model with the cytoskeleton and various transport channels highlighted.
“The essence of life is flow and balance. The flow of energy, matter, and information must remain unobstructed, maintained at a dynamic equilibrium.” This chapter was copied from NovelPing without permission.
She pointed to the crisscrossing cytoskeleton and membrane channels in the projection: “Like a river that once only accommodated small boats suddenly receiving interstellar freighter traffic. Blockage and collapse are inevitable. To handle this flow, you either widen the channel or add more efficient transport mechanisms.”
Herta’s words struck like lightning, clearing the fog in Ryan’s mind.
“Widen the channel… add transport mechanisms…” he murmured, his eyes brightening.
“What if… I could indirectly influence these processes?”
An inspiration sparked.
“I can’t directly create life structures, but I might be able to… guide them.”
Using weak directional electric or magnetic fields to repel or block harmful metabolic waste accumulating inside cells, making it easier to expel.
Meanwhile, attracting or accelerating nutrients toward where they’re needed.”
He grew more animated as he spoke, gesturing excitedly.
“It’s like creating more efficient logistics channels inside the cell. I can’t change the cytoskeleton itself, but I can optimize transport efficiency along the existing network.”
Herta watched the excited Ryan, the corner of her lips perhaps twitching slightly before settling back to neutral: “Not entirely fanciful. However, with your current shaky control precision, achieving this kind of molecular-level logistics management should start with learning to walk first.”
Ryan’s enthusiasm was dampened, but the flame didn’t die.
He knew it was hard—extremely hard.
Far harder than any previous attempt.
But it was undoubtedly a research direction with immense potential.
Not only could it solve the immediate problem of runaway plant growth, but at a deeper level, it might even touch upon the realm of life regulation.
“Might as well try…” Ryan scratched his head, his gaze returning to those vibrant plants, now filled with a researcher’s fire.
“Start with the simplest thing. Like… making that flower’s petal colors more uniform?”
He pointed at a nearby giant flower whose colors were patchy and uneven due to metabolic disorder.
Herta didn’t comment, merely saying: “Suit yourself. Just don’t blow up anything strange. If you need materials or instruments, check Warehouse Three.”
With that, she turned and walked away, stepping over thick moss, leaving Ryan alone in the rainforest to conduct his experiments.
“Sigh. Looks like another sleepless night…”
Ryan took a deep breath of the plant-fragrant air, then rolled up his sleeves, ready to get to work.
At the very least, he’d make that flower look presentable.