The Record of Unusual Creatures

The journey to Inferno had turned out to be nothing like they ever imagined.     

An inconspicuous, small-displacement car was driving silently across the lush wilderness. Meanwhile, turbulent air kicked up leaves at the rear of the vehicle. The world was so vast, yet the car was so small that it looked like a bug running across the grasslands. If it were not for the occasionally visible rock formations behind the clouds, no one would have imagined that there was another layer of crust hanging in the sky.     

The car ground to a halt in front of a black "mountain", which was another one of Heaven's Pillars that supported the dome. It looked like a huge cliff, going as high as a kilometer into the air with its upper part just disappearing into the clouds. Hao Ren got off the car. He took out some instruments from his Dimensional Pocket and assembled them on the spot.     

The MDT connected itself to the instrument before it projected a hologram of the planet's cross-section. Meanwhile, a few tiny machines got out from the cylindrical container below the instrument and flew straight towards the Heaven's Pillar. The little machines quickly drilled into the tough skin of the trunk and sent back the data. The MDT began to show the scanned images of Heaven's Pillar in a cool blue color.     

"This third giant tree is dead too. There's no sign of life," the MDT reported. "There are still wood fibers in the deeper layer, but the outer skin's petrified. It's turned into a mineral. The hardened secretion of the trunk must have evolved into the reinforced shell. This 'fossil', which is as strong as the armor of a spaceship, provides strength to the hollow trunk."     

"So they can support the world above." Hao Ren looked up at the crust that hid behind the clouds. "Are the trunks evenly distributed?"     

"Yes," the MDT replied while it showed the distribution map of Heaven's Pillars between the two layers of crusts. The data that the probes sent back were not detailed enough. But they were good enough for a preliminary analysis. As one could see from the visual, the first layer of Inferno was completely suspended more than 10 km above the lower layer. There was no geological connection between the two. And, Heaven's Pillars were the only things that held the two layers of crust in position. The giant trees grew in the lower layer, and there was one every 100 km—far more than the number of entrances on the surface.     

"Not all the giant trees are hollow. Most giant trees are solid and substantial," the MDT explained. "And their hollow trunks are like chimneys; they've become the conduits between the surface and the underground world. They are the so-called infernal entrances.     

Lily became curious. "What caused the trunks to turn hollow? Disease?"     

"Nope. It was most likely done intentionally," the MDT replied. "The distribution of giant hollow trees is uniform. On average, 1 in 100 Heaven's Pillars is hollow. The entire atmosphere of the underground world depends on these 'chimneys'. I figure that the hollow, special trunks are like breathing tubes, exchanging air with the surface world. They also act as sensory organs. My scan reveals that there's a surge of a strong electric signal below the giant hollow tree. If I'm not mistaken, it should be—"     

"The nerves of the First Born," Hao Ren chimed in without waiting for the MDT to finish. "These trees evolved from the First Born's tentacles?"     

Hao Ren was no longer a rookie who used to rely solely on instrumental analysis to make judgments. He could easily deduce from environmental evidence that only the First Born could create such a miracle. The Heaven's Pillars that supported the upper crust were undoubtedly a part of the First Born. The only problem was, the tentacles had evolved so much that they no longer looked like tentacles, and even their internal physiological structure had become very different.     

The MDT did not answer him directly. Instead, it showed Hao Ren the scanned images of Heaven's Pillar underground. It was a complex world where roots grew like brain nerves in the earth; the deeper the pillar grew, the stranger it became until its roots looked completely like tentacles in the deepest part of the planet. Unfortunately, the low-powered radar that Hao Ren carried could not carry out a deep-earth scan.     

"The First Born's tentacles have evolved into the giant trees. However, from a physiological point of view, these trees are a completely different life form," the MDT sounded confused. "They're made of real wood, but these trees are wrapped in a layer of shell that's stronger than superalloy on the outside. It's almost like their body grew out of titanium."     

"That's understandable. The First Born is the origin of life; based on this premise, it's entirely possible for it to turn some of its limbs into a different species. If it can do it with the lifeblood, I can't see why it can't do the same with its tentacles." Hao Ren was not surprised at all. "We can confirm this with Zorm later. The key question now is to ascertain whether this First Born is dead or alive. It has nerve impulses, but the giant tree is dead."     

"We wouldn't know. For a living species like the First Born, we can't define its life by conventional understandings of a species. Its body and soul, each of its tissue and organ and even piece of debris may have an independent definition of life. Part of them might have withered, but the withered part is supporting the world. And, don't forget, there are still signals coming from the deeper part."     

Lily then come up with a term. "They're turnips?"     

Hao Ren glanced at Lily with a bizarre look as if to say that there was no better description to express the incongruousness in that world!     

"If... If I'm not mistaken, the upper layer is not a crust either." Vivian gazed up for a long time before she said, "This planet can't just grow a new layer out of thin air. The outer shell on top of the trunk could only be a…"     

The MDT immediately switched the image, now showing the detailed scan results of the outermost crust where toxic hot springs and monsters filled the space. The scan revealed the hidden veins deep inside the crust though it looked like a sturdy, rocky dome at first sight.     

"You're right. It's a canopy. The first crust of planet Inferno is a petrified canopy."     

The canopy was so dense that it completely covered the planet's original surface. The unique petrification process of Heaven's Pillar was not only reflected on the trunk, but also the canopy. Over time, the forest canopy became a rock formation of several kilometers thick, and the world above that rock layer became a hostile environment—the Inferno.     

In the process of the transformation, Heaven's Pillar died. It was unknown if the transformation was planned or not. When they saw the "black mountains", they were already dead plants—dead bodies of the First Born's tentacles. They were fossils that held the canopy crust, which had also petrified in place.     

Nangong Sanba scratched his jaw thoughtfully. "That is to say, the place where we're standing on now is the real surface of planet Inferno?"     

"Yep. It was, at least, the original land before these giant trees completely closed up the sky." Hao Ren nodded, his eyes gazing upward along the great black trunk. "I think this is some protection measure to ensure the survival of the original ecosystem. It works hand-in-hand with the outermost cloud layer; this planet has survived until today without a sun."     

At this time, the MDT suddenly received an emergency message from a probe. "Hey, put that tree aside. The probe's returned back with something!"     

Vivian immediately ran over. "Is it Baptiste?"     

"No—there are some traces of artifacts." The MDT showed them the image. It was a jumbo relic covered in plants and mud on the prairie. "It's a city! A city built by intelligent beings!"