CHAPTER 189: WORLD TREE

The room fell silent after Raphael’s revelation.

The massive tree in the center no longer looked like an eccentric centerpiece. Its roots stretched across the floor like veins, its trunk alive with a hidden fire, its branches reaching beyond the ceiling as if trying to escape the confines of this place.

The glow Raphael sensed within it seemed to pulse faintly now, a heartbeat inside wood and bark.

"...That thing’s been sitting here this whole time and none of us noticed it was a bomb in disguise?" Somner muttered, clutching his jacket tighter. "Fantastic. Just fantastic."

Magni’s laughter boomed, echoing through the glass dome. "Not a bomb, Brother Somner! Look at it! Standing tall, roots like chains of the earth itself. A tree of glory, born from fire and sky!"

"Or born from humanity’s worst nightmare." Ymir said, his voice like cold iron.

His eyes narrowed, watching Raphael as though waiting for him to crack. "Tell me, is every piece of your alien world so eager to disguise itself as something we would trust? First you, now this tree."

Aphrodite stepped forward, his sandals brushing against the roots. His purple eyes gleamed under the filtered sunlight, fingers brushing gently across the bark.

"No disguise... it is adapting. Surviving. Just as Raphael had to. Earth changes everything that touches it. Even gods were not left untouched."

Hermes, still staring at the tree, felt the weight of what it meant pressing down on him. His throat was dry.

He turned to Raphael, who stood rigid, fists clenched. "What are you thinking?"

Raphael’s voice was flat but firm. "Dr. Khemia. Siphon it. All of it. The solinium in this tree, and in this plant."

He opened the box, the fiery Pleroman plant glowing faintly like a caged star. "Turn them into a solution. Something I can inject. Then I won’t need the Thirteen Stripes anymore."

For the first time, the blind scientist paused. His pen stopped scratching against paper. His head tilted slightly, cataract-clouded eyes staring into the emptiness between them.

"If I do that," he said slowly, "the Pleroman tree and the plant will die. You would sever their life. You would sever your own tether."

Hermes immediately stepped in. "Then don’t drain it all. Half from the tree, leave enough for it to keep living. Then... you’re going to teach us how to cultivate the Pleroman plant so it can survive here. Just like this tree did. How did it live this long on Earth? How many years has it been here?"

Dr. Khemia sighed, long and mechanical, as though the air itself exhausted him. "Explanations are tiresome."

His hand slid into the piles of papers cluttering his desk of roots. Without hesitation, he tossed a thick folder toward them. It landed with a thud that stirred dust from the floor.

"Read."

Somner flinched at the sound. He eyed the file as though it might sprout legs and bite him. "That’s it? A bunch of papers? What if it’s fake? You could’ve written that garbage last night and—"

"Exactly," Ymir said, his cold voice carrying suspicion. "A lazy scientist could fake his records easily. Data lies if you want it to."

Aphrodite’s lips curved faintly, not quite a smile. "No. I’ve been using Mindbloom. I can read him clearly. He’s telling the truth. He simply doesn’t care to speak more than necessary."

His fingers brushed the file, reverent and cautious. "His mind is like his words—lazy, blunt, but not dishonest."

Somner made a face. "Lazy? Lazy?! The guy’s literally Frankenstein in a turban and he’s too tired to explain himself. What a joke."

Aphrodite ignored him, carefully opening the file. His pink hair caught the dim light as he adjusted the pages. His purple eyes moved quickly, his mind absorbing details the way his hands tended to every plant he touched.

"The dates..."He murmured. "This tree... it was a seed that came with the comet. Meaning... someone intended this. Someone placed it there, to grow alongside Raphael. They were meant to feed each other."

His gaze flicked to Raphael. "The tree gives solinium. You grow stronger. You give back in turn, and the tree thrives. A cycle. Symbiosis."

Hermes blinked at him. "So you’re saying Raphael and this tree are basically... connected, like conjoined twins. Keeping each other alive?"

Raphael’s jaw clenched. His hands trembled slightly, though he forced them steady. Hermes noticed, and for the first time, he wondered if Raphael was even aware of the trembling.

But Aphrodite’s voice continued, steady as a scholar. "It’s not just that. The notes... there are theories here. When the seed first came, it was fire. Pure fire, burning endlessly. But as it grew on Earth, alongside Raphael, it began to change. Its flame covered itself with earthly matter... carbon, oxygen, hydrogen. A shell of this world."

"Covered itself? Like a disguise?" Somner asked, shifting uncomfortably. "That doesn’t make me feel better."

"Only on the outside, though. Its core remains Pleroman. But if Raphael or the tree were ever to reproduce with creatures of Earth, the next generation..."

Magni leaned forward with wide eyes. "Offspring of two worlds!"

"...the offspring may not have solinium or helium at all," Aphrodite finished. "They might keep only their strengths. Endurance, fast healing, fire-resistance and seeing through everything. But none of the weaknesses. No reliance on sunlight. No weakness to water. No fear of dark matter."

Magni’s booming voice filled the air. "A lineage of perfect beings! Stronger than gods, freed from their chains!"

Somner gagged. "Oh great. Alien babies. Just what we need. This world doesn’t need more Raphaels."

"Somner." Hermes gave him a sharp look. "Not helping."

But before anyone could snap back at him, Aphrodite turned the page. His breath caught. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Wait. This doesn’t belong here."

The page was yellowed, brittle with age. The ink was not ink at all but carved impressions pressed into the surface. Strange wedge shapes scratched in patterns.

"This..." Aphrodite whispered. "This is cuneiform. Sumerian. The oldest writing system known."

Magni blinked. "Sumerian? What tribe is that?"

"Not a tribe," Ymir muttered, crossing his arms. "The first civilization."

Hermes leaned in, his heart pounding as he caught the drawings. "That’s... a tree. A tree guarded by winged men."

His breath hitched from the realization. "Winged people. Pleromans."

The room grew colder.

"A-Are Pleromans basically like evil fire angels or something?" Somner quipped, trying to lighten the situation but failing.

But there was another drawing. A dark circle, spilling black liquid like a waterfall into the world. Hermes stiffened, his blood freezing. The memory of the void, of his own birth, slammed into him.

A black hole, consuming everything.

He swallowed hard. "Explain this," he said, his voice sharper than he intended. He shoved the page toward Atum Khemia. "Translate it. Now."

Dr. Khemia’s pale eyes did not blink. His voice was the same flat drone.

"It is a summary. Of the Sumerian myths. This tree is the Assyrian Tree of Life. Guarded by lammasu, genies with eagle or human heads. King Etana sought the plant to bear him a son. It is a tree tied to creation, to humans. Just like Raphael."

He sounded a bit more like a priest than a scientist at this moment. "The world tree appears in every myth for a reason. The world tree is the link between heaven and Earth, between material and divine. Giving life an intelligence, making humans greater than beasts."

Aphrodite’s eyes softened with awe. "A cosmic archetype..."

Magni slammed his fist into his palm. "Proof that scholars and kings of old knew of this power!"

Dr. Khemia continued, turning to Raphael. "Heaven. What is heaven? A metaphor? Or a place, material and reachable, hidden in the universe? You say this plant is Pleroman. That your world is Pleroma. Do you know what it means?"

His voice grew faintly heavier. "Pleroma is the Greek word for ’fullness’. Completeness. Perfection. The home of God."

Ymir’s voice cut sharp. "You’re saying that Pleroma is heaven. And that we humans gained our intelligence from them? That’s ridiculous. Heaven is just a concept, and humans gained intelligence through evolution."

Dr. Khemia nodded. "I am not debunking that. I am a man of science, after all. But my hypothesis does not contradict all the well-accepted theories we have.... Only expanding on them."

Hermes’s eyes darted to Raphael immediately. He could see the shift.

Something inside Raphael cracked. His golden eyes widened. His lips parted. His voice shook.

"So that’s why... That’s why the Reverend says—" He stopped himself, snapping his mouth shut.

Hermes leaned toward him. "What? What did he say?"

But Raphael shook his head violently. His face hardened into coldness, the alien mask sliding back into place. The warmth was gone. He looked less like a boy, more like a creature beyond reach in some otherworldly plane.

"It doesn’t matter. We’re not here for that. Just take the solinium and leave."

Somner exhaled sharply. "Oh, of course. The alien from Planet Heaven is not at all curious about the big secret of the universe. Probably want us mere mortals to be left in the dark."

But the others were restless. The weight of the black circle on the page pressed on them all.

"What about this?" Ymir demanded, his finger stabbing the dark hole. "What is this? The flood of black liquid?"

For the first time, Dr. Khemia smiled. It was small, crooked, unsettling. His voice dropped lower, almost conspiratorial.

"Ask him." He pointed toward Hermes.

Hermes frowned. "What? I have no idea what this is—"

"The black sun." Dr. Khemia said. "The Sumerians drew it as a pitch black hole. Some say it is Saturn, the planet of endings. Saturday, the last day. Saturn, tied to Ninurta, healer and hunter, a god who frees humans from demons. But the black sun... was also said to be larger than the sun itself. Large enough to consume it. To consume all life it gives."

"Consume the sun and all life?" Aphrodite eyes narrowed. "Is this black sun literal then... Or a metaphor for something else?"

The words settled like ice in Hermes’s chest.

Dr. Khemia turned his blind eyes toward the east wall, as if he could ’see’ through beyond that. Where Shani was, standing guard.

"Perhaps Saturn is only the black sun’s harbinger. The one who delivers it to destiny. The one who announces the beginning of the second Great Flood."