On planet Xenomorph 1, Ringo's clone observed the large plain with tall, but sparse, trees, rudimentary houses resembling birds' nests were present everywhere in these plains.
On the ground, in the treetops, and sometimes even inside their trunks.
However, the place was not empty, hundreds of creatures that looked like humanoid trees walked slowly around, some sunbathing with satisfied faces, their feet rooted in the ground absorbing nutrients, others transforming their arms into long plant blades, alongside the river, fishing for strange-looking fish.
The fish are clearly mutants due to radiation from the planet.
The Groots.
Emma stood beside the clone, observing with gentle fascination. Her short green hair had already transformed into long, silky green hair, it seemed as if her life as a prisoner was a lifetime away from her current one.
-How are they?- Ringo asked calmly.
-Very well, they grow daily, if it weren't for the genetic limit you set, they wouldn't be smaller than these trees now.- She chuckled softly.
-Size isn't very useful for them, but I'm talking about the plant core design.- Ringo smiled slightly and explained.
Emma raised an eyebrow, placing her hand on a magical pouch at her waist and taking something out, a light green, hexagonal crystal with energy flowing continuously through it. -Very well, the energy crystals accepted my Esper power well.
Ringo picked up the crystal and examined it, sensing the abundant energy, but the power level was far too low for him, almost laughable, this was the best magic crystal produced so far.
Ringo seemed thoughtful and spoke. - Give me another one.
Emma didn't ask why, she took another crystal from her bag and Ringo took both, he sighed as he activated his evolutionary polymer, trying to fuse the two crystals.
At first it didn't work, the crystals weren't living beings or souls, but... the plant energy produced by Emma seemed susceptible to his power.
Then, before Emma's surprised eyes, the energy of one of the crystals slowly merged with that of the other, the light green color slowly becoming a little darker, but as Ringo perked up, he realized something.
Energy was slowly leaking out. Confused, he looked more closely, at a microscopic level, several cracks had appeared in the crystal.
Frowning, he understood the problem, the energy could get stronger, but the crystal couldn't withstand the power.
He sighed, it was a mistake.
The magic crystals currently had limits, and those limits were the xenomorphs themselves, or rather, their excrement and the technology used to synthesize the magic crystals.
Lost in thought, Ringo scratched his chin, watching the crystal slowly lose energy.
If the crystal were a living material, he could work with that, but it wasn't.
However, precisely for that reason Ringo began to think in a different direction, in this universe there are so many different beings that he could barely remember a fraction of them, but mineral life certainly exists.
If he could create a new containment for energy based on that... it would open many doors.
The goal of all this was to accelerate the Groots' growth process, Emma's plant energy had a plant-enhancing property, but it was too weak to really make a difference. Not only that, but Emma's energy, besides being nutritious for the plants, makes the plants she feeds much more controllable for herself.
Plants are very simple and easy to control, but Groots have minds of their own with reasonable intelligence and are complete living beings, so feeding them now with her energy will make it much easier to control them in the future when they reach higher strengths.
The magic crystals, with their neutral attributes, could circumvent this, she only needed to contaminate the crystals with her energy, and the rest of the energy would soon become the same type. However, the problem was that these crystals were still very weak and required a lot of time and energy from her to synthesize them.
If she could obtain a crystal with enough energy to power a Grade A plant for a long time, she would only need a little energy to contaminate it, and voilà, an abundant source of plant energy.
This was not only useful for the Groots, but for Emma herself, absorbing that energy back, which was practically her own energy, was very beneficial for her training.
This was not only beneficial for Emma, but also for Aurora and Hila, especially for Aurora who needed more vital energy to grow.
The magic crystals were practically a hack for her, but low-level life energy would soon stop having an effect on her, so Ringo had to think of how to help.
He threw the crystal back to Emma and said. -Absorb it, I need to leave.
He turned around, ready to consult the database. He needed to find a living being based on crystals capable of retaining energy, creating one from scratch would be time-consuming, and he didn't need to. The universe itself would provide that for him.
Emma picked up the crystal, her green eyes blinking slightly at the crystal's energy, then her gaze returned to Ringo's departing figure. A gentle melancholy enveloped her as she watched for a long time, until a small Groot, less than 30 centimeters tall, approached and gently tugged at her lab coat.
Emma was surprised and looked down, the little thing smiled and handed her a vibrant red flower. Emma bent down, smiling, picking up the flower, which ironically was poisonous, but as a pharmacist who controlled plants, she didn't care. Stroking the little creature, she sighed.
Then, returning to her professional demeanor, and placing young Groot on her shoulder, she set off, ready to absorb the crystal's energy.