Chapter 95: Orgins Of The Tree

Raya couldn't understand what was happening.

Where is my Holy Tree? What happened to my guardian tree?

Just moments ago, she was proudly showing off her new guardian to her friends. But now she was horrified to realize that her guardian had been taken down by a lunatic dressed like a bat.

Losing her guardian was bad enough, but what hurt more was that the guardian tree was supposed to be unbeatable in her eyes. She had even imagined her guardian taking on major challenges. Now, before she could even get started on her plans, her guardian was gone.

"This can't be happening..."

Raya was still trying to process the shock when she saw the figure in red approaching.

A cold, thin hand emerged from the red outfit, gripping Raya's throat like a vise and lifting her off the ground. The fingers were so tight they nearly crushed her throat.

Raya struggled to breathe. She saw Fana coming closer in the flickering firelight, her light blue eyes looking strangely empty.

In that moment, Raya realized something terrifying.

The girl in front of her, who used to be her best friend... really wanted to kill her.

"Fana, you want to..."

Raya couldn't finish her sentence. Her face twisted in pain from the suffocation.

Fana stared at her former friend.

Contrary to what many might think, Fana hadn't forgotten their time together after leaving the orphanage.

She remembered everything—the secret outings, the cave they discovered, sharing books and stories, and supporting each other during tough times.

But none of that mattered now.

Fana's grip tightened, making Raya's consciousness fade.

"You broke the law," Fana said firmly. "The infected... must be eliminated."

Instead of finishing her off immediately, Fana took out a small device.

This was a portable scanner given to field agents by Professor Miyazaki. It quickly checks if someone is infected to decide if they need to be eliminated.

Field agents usually have to fight back if they're threatened, but once an infected person is subdued, the scanner must be used. Only if the infection level is over 40% can they be killed on the spot. 

Fana always followed these rules strictly.

She expected Raya, who had controlled so many people, to be highly infectious. But when she used the scanner, the reading was... zero.

Fana was surprised.

Raya wasn't infected.

Fana released her grip, and Raya fell to the ground, coughing heavily as she gasped for air in the stale cave.

"You're not ill," Fana said, looking down at Raya. 

This meant that Raya's actions were her own choice. Everything she did was what she wanted.

Raya coughed violently for a while before she finally calmed down.

"I just want what everyone else has," she said, her face still twisted in an odd, unsettling way. "Is that so wrong?"

"No," Fana replied.

As Fana spoke, Phantom grabbed Raya by the wrist and lifted her up. She stepped forward, pulled out a pair of black handcuffs, and snapped them around Raya's wrists.

"But you broke the law," Fana said firmly.

Raya was silent.

She suddenly felt a shiver run through her. She thought she had changed, grown stronger, and gained the power to go after what she wanted. But now she felt so alien and strange that even she was afraid of herself.

But she was wrong. Now that she had lost everything, she realized nothing had really changed. She was still the frightened kid who had been left behind, crying alone in the corner, hoping someone would hear her.

And now, it felt like Fana was the one making her feel so strange.

---

The secret service Nine quickly arrived at the scene and set up a perimeter around the orphanage.

Agent Xiang Xuantong from the Jiangdu Branch of the Secret Service Nine, who came to the scene, couldn't help but admire Fana, who was quietly standing off to the side.

Finding the culprit on your own, taking down so many infected, and defeating the enemy single-handedly. No wonder Professor Miyazaki praised her so much.

They soon discovered the real source of infection deeper in the forest. It was a giant tentacle tree that had already been destroyed.

When the team arrived, the tree was covered in holes. Its trunk was dry and lifeless, with broken branches and vines scattered everywhere.

Seeing the tree in such a state, Raya rushed forward, crying out in despair. The agents were stunned by her reaction.

After the situation was cleared up and analyzed, the experts figured out what had happened.

"Based on the evidence and the bodies," they said, "this seems to be a plant-type infection source with relatively weak infection abilities. It can only infect people if its fruit or parts are ingested.

However, the infection source itself is quite tough. Conventional weapons have a hard time causing damage. High-explosive grenades or rocket launchers can penetrate it, but the target also has a self-healing ability similar to the infected. Ordinary damage gets quickly repaired.

Additionally, it uses vine tentacles to capture targets. The fruit on the tree is suspected to be explosive, which can be thrown and detonated at will by the infection source. The blast radius and power need further testing, but it's expected to be quite strong."

The more the analyst spoke, the more horrified Xiang Xuantong looked. He turned to Fana with a puzzled expression, "You handled this by yourself?"

Fana seemed like a one-person fortress, far beyond what a single agent could handle. Normally, something like this would require a special operations team with heavy weapons.

Handling this on her own, even if she was a pro, seemed extreme.

But Fana shook her head, indicating she didn't do it.

An investigator nearby spoke up, "No. It looks like it was Batman who took down this tree-like infection source."

"Batman?" Xiang Xuantong's shock turned into a relieved expression. "Oh, that makes sense."

It seemed people had begun to accept that Batman could handle almost anything. What seemed outrageous suddenly seemed reasonable when Batman was involved.

"So, the infection source is this tree." Xiang Xuantong glanced at Laya, who was in handcuffs. "And the girl who spread the infection... is she just an ordinary person?"

"Yes," the investigator replied. "But she said someone gave her the tree seeds."

"Someone gave them to her?"

"Yes. She said a person gave her the seeds and told her to plant them. The tree grew rapidly, and she was instructed to spread the infection, not to infect herself."

Xiang Xuantong's expression grew serious.

He approached Laya, asking, "Who gave you the seeds?"

Laya looked at him coldly. "A man. I didn't see his face. I was adopted by the Jordans at the time, and he showed his ID to them, claiming he was an official. They should have seen his face."

But the Jordans were dead, lying among the fallen infected in the cave.

"However," Laya paused, glancing at Xiang Xuantong with a sly smile. "He was wearing exactly the same clothes as you."