Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies-Chapter 343 - 336: The Meeting Between the Great Compassion Tree King Nahida and the Little Lucky Grass King Nahida

Chapter 343 - 336: The Meeting Between the Great Compassion Tree King Nahida and the Little Lucky Grass King Nahida

After a brief moment of silence...

The version of Nahida as the Great Compassion Tree King smiled slightly and then said,

"You are truly a remarkable existence. It seems I must have been saved by you. Originally, mixing my own records into the forbidden knowledge was nothing more than a desperate attempt. In any case, thank you for saving my life. I will remember this and repay you."

As she spoke, she even gave a small bow.

Her cascading white hair fell softly beside her ears.

Despite once being a nation's deity, her bearing had never been aloof. Even now, from her presence, Haruto could feel only a gentle warmth, as if she embodied life itself.

"In any case, welcome to this new world."

Haruto decided to first help this goddess familiarize herself with the main world.

After all, there were some things he was also curious about—

For example, the forbidden knowledge and the existence of the World Tree. On these topics, Nahida held nothing back.

She was completely open, telling Haruto everything she knew.

The Great Compassion Tree King was once the god who represented wisdom. And she had never been stingy about sharing her wisdom with others.

In short, this Nahida was not one of those cryptic "riddle speakers."

This was a rare and admirable quality.

As for the forbidden knowledge Nahida came into contact with—it all began in Teyvat.

Though it felt a bit like going all the way back to the story of Pangu creating the world, the truth was, this went way back.

In ancient Teyvat, before the seven nations took shape—

Countless lifeforms battled until seven archons emerged victorious and became the Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm.

They were the seven gods.

The seven nations began to take form.

But outside of the seven nations, there existed a separate kingdom—a kingdom that did not worship gods nor receive protection from any Archon.

This was the ancient kingdom known as Khaenri'ah.

As Khaenri'ah continued to develop, it eventually reached a certain limit. In order to surpass that limit—

Khaenri'ah seized power from beyond the world.

But with power great enough to rival the gods came a price. And that price was a catastrophic disaster. By the time Khaenri'ah realized that the knowledge they had acquired was forbidden...

It was already too late.

The entire world was on the verge of collapse.

The Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm descended upon Khaenri'ah and destroyed all who had come into contact with the forbidden knowledge.

This was the only way.

In fact, this did indeed prevent the immediate destruction of the world.

Although the disaster still existed, it could be contained.

However, Teyvat possessed something called the "World Tree."

On this tree, all information in the world was recorded.

And as the embodiment of the World Tree, Nahida naturally knew all this information. As a result, the forbidden knowledge infected Nahida. Even though she used the World Tree to suppress it, that merely delayed the inevitable. As long as the forbidden knowledge existed in the world, it would lead to its destruction.

So eventually, Nahida devised a solution.

She broke off the untainted branches of the World Tree—

And took the remaining corrupted parts with her, heading toward destruction. If the whole of Teyvat could forget about Nahida's existence—

Then the forbidden knowledge would vanish with it.

After that—

Following a period of darkness, Nahida was picked up by Haruto.

Listening to Nahida's story, Haruto couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment.

There was really such a thing?

What a beautifully tragic plot twist.

Good thing he had transmigrated early—otherwise he'd have been emotionally wrecked by this!

Just as Haruto was about to ask more about the World Tree—

Nahida curiously pointed to something.

"Is that a Void Terminal?"

Haruto followed her gaze.

There he saw a D-Class personnel lying in a residential unit at the site.

This D-Class wore a full-dive gaming helmet and was currently in a state of complete immersion.

This was from back when they had discovered Kayaba Akihiko.

The Foundation had used this D-Class as a test subject to gather data from SAO. SAO was still running even now—it had been more than half a year.

Most of the necessary testing data had already been gathered.

But the Foundation had not forcibly disconnected the D-Class from the device. After all, doing so would only leave behind a vegetative body.

It was better to let the guy continue playing.

Once SAO ended, he could just go back to serving his sentence.

And the "Void Terminal" that Nahida referred to was, of course, the full-dive gaming helmet.

The so-called "Void Terminal" was a special network built upon the divine core of the God of Wisdom.

It allowed all users to share all knowledge.

It was somewhat like the Internet—but many times faster and more efficient. In a way, full-dive technology did share some similarities with the Void Terminal.

Haruto explained the concept of the full-dive helmet to Nahida.

And when she heard that Kayaba Akihiko, out of selfish desire—

Had trapped 10,000 people inside the game just to create a more realistic world—

Nahida furrowed her brows in displeasure.

This was the first time she had shown anger since waking up.

"Knowledge should not be used this way. It's meant to be a force that helps everyone."

Haruto nodded in deep agreement.

"Absolutely. If only there weren't always some bad people among the masses."

Still, it wouldn't be long before the people trapped in SAO would be freed. With Haruto's involvement, SAO's progression was lightning fast.

Originally, it would've taken two and a half years to complete the game.

But now, just over six months in, they were already past the 70th floor. Though climbing higher would become extremely difficult—

To Haruto, a bit of difficulty was just part of the fun.

As for Kayaba Akihiko, he could only silently accept the current pace of progress.

After all, Haruto's actions were within the rules.

And Kayaba had no way to deal with Haruto's account.

Back to the main topic—

To shift away from the SAO discussion, Haruto asked,

"Now that you've shed the forbidden knowledge, can't you return to your original world and resume your divine duties?"

Upon hearing this, Nahida paused briefly and shook her head.

"Though I do have Teyvat's spatial coordinates, I don't think it's necessary anymore. I've already broken off the purest branch—she is my reincarnation, and she will be even more powerful than I am in the future. With her around, there's no need to worry about the nation or the people. She will surely carry out the responsibilities."

Haruto was left a bit speechless by that.

He had only mentioned it casually—

He didn't expect Nahida to actually have the coordinates to Teyvat.

But... considering she's the World Tree, it's not surprising she knows these things.

"Still, don't you want to meet her? You're of the same origin. It's like sisters—or perhaps even mother and daughter. And since you took away most of the original World Tree, she was probably born confused."

At those words, Nahida fell silent again, this time for even longer.

It was obvious she did want to see the branch she had personally broken off. But perhaps it was the great distance between them—or a lack of means to cross worlds.

Seeing this, Haruto smiled.

He'd ask Nahida for the coordinates later.

When he found the time, he'd go visit Teyvat.

Even if just to let the Great Compassion Tree King Nahida see the Little Lucky Grass King Nahida.

"I have one more question—does this world... have a World Tree?"

After their casual conversation, Haruto asked his most pressing question in a solemn tone.

The so-called World Tree was where all the world's information was recorded.

In other words, it was the embodiment of the world. Any change made to the World Tree—

Would result in a massive change to the world itself.

If the main world had a World Tree, the Foundation would have to find a way to take control of it.

But this time, Nahida simply shook her head.

The soft gradient green at the tips of her hair swayed adorably as she did so.

"This world does not have a World Tree. Instead, vast streams of information are scattered throughout every corner of the world. However, it is possible to gather these information streams and form a World Tree."

Haruto blinked at her answer.

"I'll leave it to you!"

As he spoke, Haruto grabbed Nahida's hand. As expected, Nahida was so understanding. This was exactly what he had wanted to say.

If they could control—or even create—a World Tree, it would make managing the main world much easier.

After all, the World Tree could enable many miraculous feats.