CHAPTER 24: THE GREEN FEVER

  [LOCATION: THE EMERALD FRONTIER]

  [FACILITY STATUS: DEPLETED]

  [LOCAL THREAT: BIOLOGICAL (RANK 4-7)]

  The jungle didn't have the honesty of the desert. The desert was open about its desire to kill you; the jungle hid its intent behind a wall of vibrant, choking green. I stood on the outer ramparts of the Oasis, looking at the canopy that stretched for a thousand miles in every direction. Huge, predatory birds—things with wing-spans that could dwarf an Imperial scout-frigate—circled above trees that were the size of skyscrapers.

  I didn't feel a sense of wonder. I felt a sense of logistical dread.

  "Lilo, report to the gate," I said.

  Lilo walked up beside me. He looked his age now—his hair bone-white, his face etched with the ten years he’d lost in the void. He leaned on his sword as if it were a cane. He didn't look like a Hero of the Sun anymore. He looked like a veteran who had seen the end of the world and found it lacking.

  "It’s a long way from the sand, Gray," Lilo said. He took a breath of the damp air and coughed. "The men are terrified. They’ve never seen a tree bigger than a shrub. They think the plants are going to eat them."

  "I didn't bring them here for a botanical tour, Lilo. I brought them here because the jungle is the most mana-dense environment on the planet. Every leaf is a solar-collector. Every vine is a mana-conduit. We are currently sitting on the largest untapped energy-deposit in the world."

  "And the things that live here?" Lilo asked, gesturing toward a screeching sound in the distance. "They aren't going to let us just start harvesting."

  "I didn't say they would. That’s why I’m sending you and Lito. We need to clear a perimeter. Three miles in every direction. I need a clear line of sight for the Mana-Siphons. If it moves and it isn't wearing an Oasis uniform, it’s a pest."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Gray, the men are broken. They can barely stand after the Phase-Shift. You can't ask them to fight Rank 6 jungle-drakes."

  "I didn't ask them to fight alone," I said. I pointed to the 'Resolute', which was still half-fused to the Oasis. "We’ve recovered the Imperial auto-turrets. I’ve re-calibrated them to track biological movement. Your men aren't the front line; they’re the clean-up crew. Move the first battalion."

  Lito didn't argue. He led his men out into the green. I watched through the security crystals as the first tree-felling golems began to work. They didn't use saws; they used high-frequency mana-blades. The jungle didn't go down easy. The trees bled thick, amber sap that gummed up the gears. Vines as thick as a man’s waist lashed out, crushing two golems in the first hour.

  I didn't feel the loss of the equipment. I watched the mana-ticker.

  [MANA RECOVERY: 4%... 5%... 6%...]

  As the trees fell, the Core drank the residual energy. It was a feast. The violet light in the halls began to pulse with a healthy, vibrant glow. The Oasis was feeding again.

  But then, the sensors spiked.

  "Gray," Ami’s voice came through. She was in the jungle, scouting ahead of the men. "I’ve found something. It’s not a drake. It’s a structure. Overgrown, but it’s definitely worked stone. It looks like... a temple. And it’s humming."

  "I didn't authorize any archaeological exploration, Ami. Stay away from it."

  "I can't, Gray. The vines are... they're moving toward us. Not just us. Toward the Oasis. It’s like the jungle is reacting to the Core. It’s not just plants. It’s a network."

  I looked at the long-range sensors. She was right. The heat signatures weren't individual animals. They were connected. A massive, bioluminescent grid was lighting up beneath the canopy.

  "I didn't expect the jungle to have a security system," I muttered.

  "It's not a security system," Ami shouted. "It's a hive! Gray, the trees are opening!"

  I saw on the screen. The massive bark of the elder-trees peeled back, revealing thousands of wasp-like creatures, each the size of a dog, their stingers dripping with a glowing green toxin.

  "I didn't authorize a swarm," I said. I tapped the primary defense rune. "Lilo, get the men back. We’re moving to 'Defoliation Protocol'."

  I didn't wait for her to confirm. I didn't wait for the men to reach the gate. I watched the swarm cloud the sky, a wall of green death.

  "I didn't make the world this way," I said, my hand hovering over the trigger. "But I’m the one with the thermostat."

  I pressed the button.

  The Oasis breathed. A massive ring of white-hot fire erupted from the base of the mountain, incinerating everything within a mile in a single, blinding second. The swarm didn't even have time to burn; they simply turned to ash.

  [MANA GAIN: 15%]

  [PERIMETER: CLEARED]

  I didn't feel the heat. I sat in my cooled office and watched the ash settle over the scorched earth. The jungle was silent now. The message had been delivered.

  "I didn't come here to be a neighbor," I said to the empty room. "I came to be the landlord."

  I picked up my quill. I had a whole new world to audit. And I wasn't going to stop until every leaf in this jungle was a line item in my book.