Meng Chao looked through the pictures in his hands carefully and remained silent for a long time.
Ye Xiaoxing continued. "Based on our observations over the years, the new generation of Dragon King Town citizens have the following characteristics. First, they're all men, or rather, they're more inclined toward men. In truth, since they use asexual reproduction, the concept of gender has disappeared from Dragon King Town a long time ago."
"Wait …" Meng Chao frowned.
Meng Chao frowned. "Even if all the women who transmigrated from Earth died, the new generation born in the Other World should have a relatively balanced ratio of men to women, right? This so-called asexual reproduction can only last for one generation. How can they all be men?"
"You're smart, so you must have guessed that the Divine Tree won't give humans the chance to reproduce on their own. Otherwise, how could it live together with humans?"
Ye Xiaoxing said. "We don't know whether the Divine Tree used genetic modification or some other method. In any case, it controlled the gender of the new generation of humans and ensured that humans lost the concept of gender and the ability to reproduce. They could only rely on the Divine Tree to pass on their genes.
"Similarly, through genetic modification, the Divine Tree carved a large amount of machine and civil engineering knowledge into the genes of the new generation of humans. Humans don't need to learn, but they can obtain a lot of knowledge and skills and become excellent workers and warriors.
"The disadvantage of doing this is that they know what's going on, but they don't know why. The new generation of humans lost their creativity. Their skills are just simple imitations of their parents and grandparents. They don't know the principles behind it. Of course, to them, it's enough if they can use simple machine and civil engineering skills.
"Third, the new generation of humans also lost the ability to digest food directly. Once they hunt monsters, they mince them and send them to the roots of the Divine Tree so that it can enjoy the fattest parts of the monsters. Then, the Divine Tree secretes a substance that's similar to nutrient fluid. The new generation of humans rely on the Divine Tree's juice to survive.
"As time passes, the digestive system of the new generation of humans also changes. They become really weak. Aside from the Divine Tree's juice, they can't digest anything else. You can clearly see the mouths of the new generation of humans in this picture. Indeed, their teeth have degenerated quite a lot, and they've practically lost the ability to chew.
"Naturally, the new generation of humans worshiped the Divine Tree and treated it as the mother of life. Their entire civilization — if their small world could really be called a civilization — revolved around the Divine Tree. After being genetically modified by the Divine Tree, they had long forgotten the glory of Earth and their identity as Earthlings. They wholeheartedly regarded themselves as the people of the Divine Tree. The Divine Tree was their queen ant, their ruler, their god.
"Meng Chao, Meng. Chao Xingxiong, do you think these Dragon King Town citizens are real humans?
Meng Chao said.
He pointed at a picture and asked, "Meng Xingxiong Xingxiong.
In the photo, a row of Dragon King Town residents had their backs to the camera. They stood in front of the "divine tree" with their pants down. They looked like they were peeing.
Ye Xiaoxing was silent for a moment before he slowly shook his head. "No."
Lu Siya coughed softly by the side.
Meng Chao turned to look at Lu Siya.
Lu Siya stared at him expressionlessly as well.
Meng Chao instantly understood.
Seriously … the distortion of human nature and the loss of morals!
"What's this?"
Meng Chao pointed at another picture.
It seemed to be a funeral in Dragon King Town.
A Dragon King Town citizen had died. The other citizens had dug a shallow hole beside the Divine Tree's roots and placed him among the intersecting roots.
By the looks of it, the Divine Tree wanted to completely digest and absorb his corpse.
In a world shrouded in fog and limited resources, corpses were precious resources to survive. They could not waste even a single drop.
Meng Chao could understand and accept this funeral custom.
What he could not understand was why the deceased's corpse was covered in a large poster, and the poster had the face of a cute girl from an anime.
Based on the bright colors of the poster, it was impossible for it to be a product from before he transmigrated. It had just been printed.
This meant that decades after he transmigrated, Dragon King Town had changed beyond recognition. The new generation of humans had forgotten most of the glory of Earth's civilization, but they still had the ability to print large posters, and the content of the poster was a cute girl from an anime world?
That was too strange!
"The new generation of Dragon King Town citizens have unique beliefs and customs," Ye Xiaoxing explained.
Ye Xiaoxing explained, "Because their world was almost destroyed by women, they have hatred and fear for women in the real world. In order to prevent new women from appearing, the Divine Tree strengthened this hatred and fear at the genetic level.
"All women are demons. This mental brand is left in the brains of all the new generation Dragon King Town citizens.
"But the desire humans have for the opposite sex is not something that can be completely covered by mental brands.
"Besides, to ensure that humans have a certain level of fighting power so that they can help it hunt more monsters, the Divine Tree needs to maintain the androgen levels of the new generation humans at a relatively high level, so it's inevitable that some people will have wild thoughts.
"Coincidentally, Dragon King Town originally had a few machinery and civil engineering schools. Many of the students from the science and engineering courses liked the girls from the anime world.
"The women in the real world are all witches and demons. They cause men to kill each other, which leads to the destruction of Dragon King Town. But the girls from the anime world are different. They're gentle, cute, and completely harmless.
"Of course, the style of the real world and the anime world is different. Even if the Divine Tree leaves a mental brand on them, they can tell that the anime world is fake.
"But humans are the best at deceiving themselves, especially when they live in such a hopeless world. The girls from the anime world are the only source of comfort for the new generation humans.
"In the unique worldview of the new generation humans, the anime world is heaven.
"As long as they fight bravely for the Divine Tree and hunt more monsters, after they die, they can enter the anime world and hug countless anime female characters. That's about it, right?
"Right now, in Dragon King Town, there are all sorts of anime products like these posters and lifelike dolls. They're practically the only source of spiritual sustenance and entertainment for the new generation humans."
"I understand, Captain Ye. I agree with your point of view. These people are definitely not the same type of humans as us."
Meng Chao frowned deeply. "What? Is Dragon City just going to watch Dragon King Town fall to this extent and do nothing about it? We should save our compatriots from the evil reign of the Divine Tree! "
"How are we supposed to save them?"
Ye Xiaoxing asked. "Dragon King Town is too far away from Dragon City. We have to cross a few mountain ranges with monster gatherings on the way, so the main army can't spread out.
"More importantly, the local humans have long since formed an unbreakable symbiotic relationship with the Divine Tree. Right now, all the citizens in Dragon King Town are born from the Divine Tree. If Dragon City really sends powerful fighters to destroy the Divine Tree, do you think they'll fight us to the death?
"Also, don't forget what I said just now. The local humans' digestive systems are really weak. Aside from the Divine Tree's juice, they can't digest anything else.
"We're rather suspicious that the sap secreted by the divine tree contains mysterious components that we don't know about. It's not something that can be replaced by any high-calorie nutrition liquids. If we directly destroy the divine tree, it's possible that all the townspeople will starve to death.
"Even if they don't starve to death, they've been living in that sort of environment for too long. Their culture, morals, customs, spirit, and beliefs are all built around the Divine Tree. If we destroy the Divine Tree in a simple and crude manner, it will only cause their minds to completely collapse. They'll fall into pain worse than death. Can this really be considered as saving them?
"Regardless of whether we're willing to admit it or not, when Dragon King Town was nearly destroyed, the Divine Tree came and saved the humans who survived.
"Regardless of whether its original intention was to search for a group of qualified bee soldiers and worker ants, at the very least, it helped Dragon King Town continue human civilization, even though it did so in a very deformed and twisted way.
"If it weren't for the Divine Tree, Dragon King Town would have been destroyed decades ago, and it would have been destroyed by the humans themselves.
"If we look at it from this angle, it might not be suitable to simply and crudely define the Divine Tree as our enemy, especially when our enemies are as numerous as the hairs on a cow."
Meng Chao thought about it carefully, and he had to admit that Ye Xiaoxing was right.
If they treated survival as the first need of civilization, the Divine Tree had at least helped Dragon King Town survive.
Over the decades, it had shielded the humans from wind and rain, allowed them to reproduce, and even helped them fight against monster invasions. It had also provided them with raw materials and a way to pass down their wisdom.
If they destroyed the Divine Tree recklessly, it would only lead to Dragon King Town's collapse. All the citizens might die with the Divine Tree.
Even though Meng Chao felt that the current Dragon King Town was deformed and twisted, it was not a reason to destroy it completely. The new generation of Dragon King Town citizens were not the murderers who killed each other in the past. They were not guilty of loving the second dimension!
"What does Dragon City intend to do with Dragon King Town now?" Meng Chao asked.
"For the time being, we can only observe it from afar," Ye Xiaoxing said.
"Once we completely absorb the results of the northern offense and steadily expand Dragon City's territory, we'll push our technology and fighting strength to a new level. Then, we'll deal with it.
"Fortunately, the Divine Tree isn't an Other World creature that has a lot of aggressive tendencies and desires to expand its territory. It's already satisfied that it can stay in Dragon King Town and control a part of the col. Besides, based on our long-term observations, we haven't noticed that the Divine Tree has intelligence and consciousness. It only has instincts similar to that of an ant queen and a bee queen.
"But not all Other World creatures are like the Divine Tree.
"Many of the high-grade monsters have really high aggression and high intelligence. At the very least, they have the foundation to give birth to super intelligence.
"Think about it. If a satellite town similar to Dragon King Town lands in the hands of an even more aggressive, highly intelligent monster not long after it transmigrates to this world, and to survive, it forms a symbiotic relationship with the highly intelligent monster. After decades of development, will they give birth to a brand new civilization?"
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