306 Professional Gardeners (2/2)
\”I will be borrowing the spare water pump from Raj tomorrow to divert some water from the Spring of Vitality. The lab members will be helping me out to build a system using this portal. It's going to be something like that small pond at the back of the mountain in Half Moon Village. The Spring of Vitality can help to restore some of the life that this garden has lost but it isn't enough. I need to run some errands to ensure that the mana leakage stops so that you can get to work in the garden. For now, once the Spring of Vitality has been diverted to the pond, please keep an eye on the Tree of Knowledge. I want both of you to take turns monitoring that tree and inform me at once if it takes a turn for the worse.\”
Cleo touched the Tree of Knowledge and tried to read the dying tree's memories. Latitia watched the dryad work her magic and waited with Zero patiently.
Once Cleo finished syncronising her memory with the tree and its spirit, she gave Zero a strange look.
\”There's a parasite in this tree...\”
Ouroboros took offence and decided to make himself known to the ladies. \”How rude! I'll have you know that I'm actually a deity that represents immortality of the enviable kind!\”
Zero allowed them to be acquainted and stealthily checked the rock formation that Merlin talked about two nights ago. That was where the ancient array was hidden and Zero wanted to verify for himself what Solo created. Perhaps seeing it could jolt some old memories buried somewhere.
The pile of rocks looked ordinary and natural enough to be overlooked but Zero was searching them carefully. Unlike Ouroboros' illusion, the array manipulated with feelings instead of the five senses. Zero felt a pulling tugging at his mind and found his legs walking towards it automatically. The young doctor gasped in alarm and stopped himself just in time before his vessel decided to give in to the compulsion of impaling itself against the sharpest rock.
\”Zero?\” Cleo called out when she heard the gasp.
Latitia also noticed that Zero looked rather pale and unlike his usual self. Flying over, she checked the teen who assured them he was alright. The flower fairy and dryad who came over didn't seem to be affected by the ancient array hidden beneath the rock formation. Zero frowned. The pulling feeling at his mind eased away with the two ladies present. Was this array something different from what Merlin told him about? Or did this trap only activate because of him? Solo must have thought ahead if that was the case.
Not wanting to risk it any further, Zero told Ouroboros about his plan to split the planes. The serpent didn't comment about it at first but after Cleo and Latitia left, he called out to Zero.
\”Are you sure you want to risk it?\”
Zero nodded. \”There isn't any other way to save both planes. If the Tree of Life grows, it will help to stabilise the abyss and reduce the burden on the Tree of Knowledge. I don't know how both pieces of the plane will react if I cut the connection completely and forge a new one so that the abyss branches off from Heaven's main plane.\”
Ouroboros made a face. \”That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the roots that you're going to cut. What if the Tree of Knowledge dies because of that? How sure are you that the dryad and flower fairy can bring the tree back to its former glory? They're just ordinary mortals!\”
Zero deadpanned. \”Who else would you suggest then? As far as I am concerned, Latitia and Cleo are the best gardeners I know. I'm not a gardening expert and you're stuck to this tree. Unless you have a better suggestion, I won't be changing the plans.\”
The serpent couldn't refute that logic and hissed in discontent. Zero thought that inviting over a few professional gardeners would make Garden Eden regain its former glory and Ouroboros rolled his eyes at that naivety. If a few professional gardeners could do the job, why would Gaia struggle so much trying earlier? This didn't make sense!
Zero could understand the serpent's unspoken frustration. However, he didn't feel the need to explain to the sly snake his reasoning for inviting Cleo and Latitia for the job. While it was true that nobody could grow a garden better than Gaia, the Great Goddess had been banned from interfering with this garden in Heaven. Merlin found out that the ancient array had a warding function. There were many complicated layers and magic circles layered on top of each other that Merlin wasn't able to fully understand everything. However, Solo had thought a lot of things out when he created Garden Eden as the soul of Heaven's plane.
This was one place that no Gods were allowed to interfere with. It would explain why Merlin and Gaia were unable to do anything to it but Ouroboros was. Ouroboros was a deity who didn't abide by the rules of Heaven's plane. His existence was created from a lower plane so the rule did not apply to him. The same goes for Latitia and Cleo. Zero was a unique existence and Solo made special considerations for him. While Zero was able to alter Garden Eden and bring it back to life, he shouldn't be the one to do it.
Solo targeted Heaven's plane to be destroyed first and had expected that his future self would arrive and try to prevent that from happening. As such, Solo's trap was in Garden Eden. If Zero fell here and was tossed into the void from the destruction of the plane, he would succeed. That pulling feeling and strong hypnotism to make him severely injure himself earlier after trying to study the array was enough evidence for Zero to confirm his past self's intentions.
Garden Eden was a trap to seal Zero away in the void.
Zero bade Ouroboros goodbye for the day and returned to the cathedral after finishing what he set out to do. Confirming Solo's intentions made things a little easier on him. Solo might want to seal him away but Zero wouldn't allow that to happen. The more Solo tried to hurt him, the more Zero was determined to not allow it to happen. He was a doctor and until he saved Solo from himself, he wasn't going to be defeated.