Chapter 936 — The Clue Beyila Discovered
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The Solin Prime Hub was surely the most peculiar of all the empire's nexus hubs—not only because its crystal array had been built atop a tree, but because Beyila, a "living hub vessel," had used the unique biological properties of the Solin Great Tree to boldly remodel the entire hub, deftly fusing the once cold, lifeless steel and crystal into the structure of the great tree. And above the canopy of that tree, every corner of it bore the marks of her "design."
Guided by Beyila, Margarita arrived at the region where the crystal array was situated. The metal apparatuses supporting the array had been sunk deep into the great tree, and a great many wooden structures and vine-like "conduits" extended out from the layered branches, merging with the base of the crystal array. Amid a rustling clatter, Margarita saw a patch of "ground" near the base open up; the leaves that had looked so neat and dense trembled and drew back to either side, revealing a staircase slanting downward, seemingly leading somewhere very deep.
Though wrapped in layer upon layer of leaves and branches, the passage within was not dim at all. Countless luminous flowers, leaves, and slender vines hung down from the "walls" on both sides of the passage, lighting this "little world" inside the canopy like lanterns.
"This is my 'study.' I built it inside my own body, so it's more convenient to use," Beyila said to Margarita, already striding ahead. "Come with me—mind your step; this staircase is a little steep. I've been thinking lately about how to regrow this part properly."
"Truly... ingenious," Margarita said, keeping pace with the other's "footsteps" as she entered this "secret space" that belonged to Beyila alone, accompanied by several technicians and soldiers. She gazed in wonder at the luminous plants on the leafy walls to either side and at the cleverly grown staircase and corridors, and could not help exclaiming, "I never imagined you had such creativity, Lady Beyila."
"...To be honest, I had nearly forgotten I possessed such creativity myself," Beyila said. Her steps seemed to falter for a moment before she walked on ahead. "Curiosity, creativity, learning new things, observing this world... I once discarded a great many things, but lately I've been trying to recover them."
As they spoke, they had already climbed the somewhat steep staircase and entered a rather spacious chamber.
It was a roughly ellipsoidal "world within the tree," and Margarita swore that even in her most imaginative dreams she had never seen a sight so eerie yet so wondrous—
Sturdy wooden shells and supporting pillars held the place up; countless green leaves and walls of vines formed the walls, floor, and roof of this ellipsoidal space, and numberless luminous plants—flowers, and dangling mycelial threads among them—provided the illumination, making it look like a brilliantly lit cavern of vegetation. And in the interior of this "cavern," Margarita saw many things human understanding could scarcely account for: glowing vines that crept along the floor, flaring and dimming; pouch-like things hanging on the leafy walls nearby, like so many culture sacs; wooden platforms stacked in tiers; and most striking of all, at the very center of the space... a certain structure.
It was an enormous sac suspended from the ceiling. Several dozen vines and tubular tissues of varying thickness extended from its top, and the whole sac resembled a russet-red bag seemingly filled with some faintly glowing liquid. Now and then certain thinner "membranes" on the sac pulsed faintly, and within them something like blood vessels brightened and dimmed.
It was somewhat unsettling, yet carried a certain mysterious attraction. In its aesthetic it clearly bore some connection to the biotechnologies of the Fellowship of the Final End, and yet it lacked that bloody, frenzied feeling.