World Keeper

Chapter 930: The Root Of The Problem

Chel furrowed her brows as she went through a series of reports laid out in front of her, idly listening to the work that the rest of the research team was conducting in the background. These were all reports that had come in from local law enforcement about unknown methods used to attack people in various parts of the world.

Granted, that in itself wasn’t anything new, as there were too many possible energy combinations. Whether man or beast, it was impossible to keep track of every single method that could be used to take the life of another. However, it could usually at least be inferred how they died by studying the remains. Looking at the energy traces left behind, and running a few simple tests, it was often possible to either determine the energy used or directly identify the killer.

This time, however, there did not appear to be any such traces. It simply seemed as if the bodies stopped working and fell over on their own. Is this a new void influence? It’s getting to be about the time for stronger monsters to begin appearing that can push through our shield. However, we should have at least gotten a reading that something penetrated the defensive barrier.

Chel closed her eyes, focusing. Dana, are you free?

What’s up, Chelsea? You don’t usually call me. I just finished getting everything moved over, so what’s going on? Chel tilted her head slightly, hearing that things were being moved, but didn’t think much of it. She had been too busy the last few days to know that the Keeper had been planning on moving his main residence.

One of your familiars was put in charge of void patrols, right? Can you get her to check if there are any hostile entities sneaking past Deckan’s barrier?

Huh? Sure, I’ll have Clara get on that. Dana spoke up readily, though Chel didn’t have much confidence that she would find anything in the first place.

The world is starting to move beyond the level of what I can predict. Although she was a former system companion, the act of bringing her back like this deprived her of any knowledge irrelevant to her original life. If it wasn’t something that was at least theorized in James’s world, she would need to create all new countermeasures to defend against it.

Seeing this new threat silently reaping the lives of farmers and traveling merchants, Chel’s eyes began to burn with a competitive spirit. While she waited for the report from Dana, she began to go through any recent developments that had been made. Martial Will? No, there are no signs of internal or external damage consistent across the bodies. Their ki hasn’t been sucked out of their bodies, so they aren’t being harvested or sacrificed.

Nothing seems to be wrong with their mana or spirit, either. In two cases, the spirit was able to be called back for questioning. It’s common for memories to be blurred around the time of death, as that is a major spiritual shock. However, neither spirit said that they noticed anything strange before they died.

If there isn’t a void beast attacking Deckan, that leaves two primary possibilities. One, a memetic attack with a delayed effect. Two, there is a glitch in the world’s system that has a very slight chance to randomly drop health to zero. I haven’t heard of any reports like this from other worlds, so it’s unlikely to be a glitch. I doubt Ashley would overlook something like that, as well.

A memetic attack, though… So far, the affected individuals have all been in rural areas, isolated from major population centers. The primary victims have been farmers, with secondary targets being traveling merchants. While there are scattered incidents outside these two groups, they make up a very small minority.

Is it possible to grow a memetic fruit or vegetable? If it were the work of a single farmer, the cases should be more isolated. Either there is a villain behind the scenes testing a new weapon, or this is a natural mutation.

Suddenly, Chel’s eyes went wide as she remembered something. There was a new system that had been introduced recently that impacted farming. More importantly, the nutritional value offered by food and how it can affect mortals.

Just heard back from Clara. There are a few beasts slamming into the barrier, but none that seem like they’ve already slipped in. Dana’s voice spoke up in Chel’s mind, causing her to faintly nod.

Got it, thanks. Be on standby, though. I think I might be onto something. Chel quickly began typing away at her terminal, pulling up the personal information of the various farmers. Due to the new ‘Consumer’s Digest’ system that had been purchased, farmers defaulted to producing high level food products. There were still many that used lower level foods, but those were mostly to provide seasonings or spices.

After all, the price disparity between a five ring and a twenty ring meal was not that incredible. However, a meal with a higher nutritional value could satisfy someone with a lower level for a much longer duration, and even provide additional benefits.

What products do all of these farmers have in common… Chel asked herself. Naturally, there were a few popular vegetables that they all harvested on a regular basis, so she bit her lip. Narrow it down to Deckan exclusive exports.

As there were no major reports of similar deaths in other worlds, that meant that whatever produce was causing this problem had to be unique to Deckan. There were only a few of such plants that hadn’t been shared to other worlds. Typically, the reason for this was that they relied on the dimensium of Deckan in order to properly grow.

There! Chel’s eyes widened as she landed on one particular food product. The Nine-Layer Ginseng was an exclusive product of Deckan that had a myriad of effects, making it a popular option for farmers.

The reason that it was named ‘nine-layer’ was due to the fact that it had to be grown nine times before it could be properly harvested and made edible. Every layer of growth changed the effect that the ginseng provided, with the first eight effects being valuable either as a medicinal or magical ingredient. For instance, the first layer was a potent material when making low-grade health potions, and the fifth layer could be used as a material in anti-depressants.

Every time it was fully grown, it would begin to shrink itself to prepare for the new layer to be added on. This was the process that required it to be planted in Deckan, as otherwise the lack of dimensium would limit the root to its first layer.

Has it evolved over the last few years thanks to the new system? Admittedly, agriculture was not Chel’s strongest point. Thankfully, she knew someone who was a greater expert in the subject.

Aznod was walking through the glistening halls of Olympus, simply taking his time and exploring, when Chel’s call came in. There is a… food related crisis within Deckan? He asked in surprise after Chel summarized the problem.

That’s right. I want you to head to Deckan and take a look at the growth of nine-layer ginseng. I suspect there has been a mutation that has caused it to be unsafe for consumption. With your domains, you should be able to quickly come to an answer.

Aznod couldn’t help but nod his head, as his three domains were particularly suitable for investigating the nature of culinary ingredients, whether plant or animal. I understand. Are you going to issue a warning to the public in the meantime?

Not yet. Chel denied. I can’t be certain that the ginseng is the root cause of the deaths… and I didn’t mean to make that pun. Don’t tell James. Anyways, once we know the cause, and if there is a suitable workaround, I’ll make an announcement. That’s why I’d like this to be taken care of as soon as you can.

Aznod nodded his head again, thinking. He had been preparing to make snacks for everyone after his exploration was over, but this was a far more important task. Aurivy, would you be so kind as to send me to Deckan? I have something I must accomplish.

Hmm? Sure! Aurivy’s response was swift, and Aznod soon found himself being surrounded by golden mist. When it parted, he was standing within the city of Ashtanu, immediately before the palace. With a small smile, he flew off into the distance. Chelsea, please direct me to one of the afflicted farms.

With Chel’s guidance, Aznod sped through the air like a meteor, soon coming to an old farm a few kilometers outside a small city. This farm is the most heavily affected, as both of the farmers working here were killed at the same time. Since the land hasn’t been reclaimed yet, this should make for a good spot to test the produce..

Aznod nodded his head in agreement, moving down and landing next to the tilled soil. He spread out his awareness, looking for the farmer’s seed repository. Thankfully, it didn’t take long, and he was able to acquire a handful of ginseng seeds rather easily. Then, moving over to the soil, he planted ten of these seeds.

Without outside interference, it takes one hundred years to go through all nine layers of this plant. Aznod thought to himself. A skilled farmer can reduce this time to one year through the use of natural energy. However, I do not have the time to wait one year in order to confirm these effects.

Thinking to that point, Aznod took a deep breath, surrounding this plot of farmland with his divine energy. “I have to be careful not to let my divinity impact the results of this test.” As he focused, he activated one of his divine circuits, the air warping around him. “An acceleration of one thousand times should allow me to harvest within eight hours.”

As he said that, he kept his eyes on the soil. There was a constant drizzle of water pouring down atop it, keeping the soil enriched together with his domain. This was a far more limited version of the farming area that Tryval had established for his divine market.

Throughout the entire process, Aznod paused it every time the ginseng reached a new layer, testing to see if there were any changes compared to the ingredient he had memorized long ago. The first, second, and even third layers showed only minor adjustments, some of which could even be considered improvements over their original. Every time he tested a layer, he had to harvest one of the ten ginseng he planted.

Starting from the fourth layer, however, the abilities of the plant began to change more abruptly. Aznod had to carefully simulate and catalog each new layer, as well as identify any visible differences between this new mutation and the original.

The sixth layer is now edible? He thought to himself after waiting through six hours of the process, scanning the roots with his Preparation domain. Naturally, there were at least three more layers to go, so he allowed the roots to continue their growth pattern.

The seventh layer seemed to stimulate the recovery of spiritual energy, a rare factor for a raw material. The eighth was quite simply poisonous, and Aznod suspected that it could kill a mortal below the twenty-fifth ring. As for the ninth, it held a mysterious power that Aznod couldn’t really identify. Most likely, this was the power that the farmers consumed. He decided that he should keep these new samples for Chel to study.

Just as he was preparing to turn off his divine power and deliver these specimens, the tenth ginseng he had produced began to shrink, a sign of continued advancement. Aznod had planted a tenth seed primarily to soothe his need for an even number, but also to test to see if there were additional stages in their advancement.

This time, the ginseng grew far more slowly, needing a full twelve hours even under the effects of Aznod’s domain. At this point, he had been gone from Olympus for twenty hours, and had long since sent a message back to Udona, apologizing for not being able to provide their meals until he was done with his current task. It was rare for him to go off and do his own thing, so Udona was naturally interested. He even suspected that she had been watching ever since he sent that message.

Once the last ginseng finally stopped showing signs of growth, Aznod went forward to harvest it. His brows furrowed as he felt its weight in his hands, and he sent a wisp of his divinity into the plant. Chelsea, I have news to report.

Go on? Chel was eager to here what conclusions Aznod had come to after a day of investigation.

First of all, the mutated ginsengs can be identified by the shapes of their leaves, which I’ll send to you soon. The sixth layer of this mutation is now the ‘edible’ layer, while the ninth holds a power I’m unfamiliar with. I’ll allow you to study that on your own. However, there is an additional tenth layer.

Back in her research lab, Chel gave a small nod. So this can more accurately be called a ten-layer ginseng. Have you identified the property of this final form?

From an initial assessment, it seems to have a primitive form of self-contained space. The one I just harvested has an internal space that can be accessed through spiritual energy, and is roughly ten cubic meters.

Chel’s eyes immediately went wide at this revelation. It’s harvesting space directly from the void? If Aznod’s reports were true, there was no need to worry about needing to completely cut off these plants from the market. If they could be used as a cheap alternative to grow spatial items, their value would instead skyrocket.