The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3994

Chapter 3994 Incompatible ldentity

The revelations from Ves and Joshua completely flabbergasted the Aducs.

Matriarch Erexi Aduc and her three children looked so shocked and confused that they looked as if their cranial implants had crashed.

The Old Lady was the greatest treasure and heirloom of the Aduc Family. From the beginning, The Aducs took extremely good care of her. As proficient terraformers, they also excelled in botany and other related fields. They consistently made sure that the oak tree was able to grow under the most healthy conditions possible without resorting to artificial means that could taint her growth.

There was never a time when the Aducs had deliberately neglected or mistreated the Old Lady in any way. They had installed many safety measures such as energy shields and air filtration systems around the tree to make sure that no possible accident or attack could disturb her growth and existence.

For centuries, the Aducs had been rewarded for their efforts. The tree they cared for and revered with all of their hearts grew into a majestic organism. Her bark grew thick and strong while her canopy became more green and lush.

Every Aduc celebrated the gradual but unstoppable growth of the Old Lady. She was a genuine extension of Old Earth, the home planet of the human race and the start of their great civilization!

It was only after a few centuries that the Old Lady started showing signs of decline. For inexplicable reasons, the tree stopped growing as steadily as before. She even began to deteriorate as her branches began to droop while some of her leaves lost their green.

These changes completely distressed the Aducs. Their best botanists and biotechs studied her from top to bottom to determine the source of her affliction. When that didn't work, they acquired the services of other experts. They even paid millions of MTA merits in order to borrow the expertise of one of the Association top scientists, to no avail!

The Aducs had gone from alarm to escalating concern.

The good news was that the Old Lady's nature as a tree granted her a lot of time before her condition deteriorated too much.

The bad news was that none of them were able to find a solution to this problem! Were the Aducs destined to witness the slow and unstoppable death of this unique and magnificent gift from Old Earth?

Even though it was not impossible to procure a new sapling from Old Earth by paying a high price, it simply wouldn't be the same.

Matriarch Erexi and all of the predecessors and descendents of the Aduc Family had revered the Old Lady from the beginning of their lives!

It had been a tradition for them to worship the revered oak tree from the moment they gained enough awareness to do so. Visiting the Old Lady was like attending church to them. The Aducs became so attached to her that they equated her resilience as a representation of their family's luck.

Ever since the Old Lady's health had stalled and deteriorated, the Aducs became a lot more distressed about their future. Had they committed a grave sin? Were they not sincere enough in caring for their precious tree? Was the decline of their family already set in stone?

Many Aducs feared that their family would no longer have the capital to survive if the worst scenario took place!

The Aduc Family without the Old Lady would no longer have a heart. There was no tree or other growth that could replace the role of this priceless heirloom.

This was also why the Aducs found it extremely difficult to accept the explanation given by their guests.

Matriarch Erexi's expression grew incredibly grave. Though she wanted to deny the claims made by the Larkinson expert pilot, she possessed enough rationality to consider the matter seriously.

At the very least, this was the first time they heard an explanation that could adequately explain why the Old Lady had grown sick!

Many other experts who were much smarter and more knowledgeable than anyone else had tried and failed to form a satisfactory diagnosis!

Now that the Aducs finally obtained one, they should not reflexively deny it out of hand just because they didn't like what they heard!

As a matriarch, Erexi Aduc still knew what to prioritize. The pride and reputation of their family was not as important as reversing the Old Lady's decline!

"Please… explain it to us." She spoke with a heavy voice. "How could she not feel at home? Our family has taken exquisite care of her since we obtained her. Though our family has relocated to several planets after our exile from the Terran Confederation, we have always located and settled on the most ideal Earth-like planets that we can reach. Even this artificial biome we are in right now simulates a temperate climate of Old Earth to an accuracy of 98.763 percent. There are hardly any other technologies available that can increase this rate any further."

The two spiritually sensitive Larkinsons both exchanged glances with each other. Neither of them looked particularly optimistic about the Old Lady's spiritual condition.

Ves was actually surprised that Joshua sensed the Old Lady's ailment before himself, but after a bit more thought, he supposed it made sense.

Ves was a creator by nature and tended to look at spiritual existences as potential sources of ingredients.

In contrast, Venerable Joshua genuinely respected the life and personalities of different life forms. He saw every human, creature or spiritual entity as a potential friend. As long as he tried hard enough and as long as his counterpart wasn't hostile, he was confident he could befriend anything that was alive!

While the Old Lady was definitely alive, she wasn't as sophisticated as the mechs and design spirits that Joshua interacted with on a daily basis.

Nonetheless, the Old Lady still developed a measure of spiritual life, akin to a second order living mech.

Instead of answering Matriarch Erexi's question, Venerable Joshua made a presumptuous request.

"Can I get close enough to touch her trunk, ma'am? At this distance, I can only sense what the Old Lady is feeling on the surface. I need to get into contact with her in order to get a better feel. I might even be able to talk to her, though I'm not sure trees can even do that. I won't hurt the tree. I promise."

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify