Chapter 38 - Thirty-Six: The Mother of the Guardians

Chapter 38: Chapter Thirty-Six: The Mother of the Guardians

The portal went black.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The Golden Space was completely silent.

Even the river stopped flowing.

Even the leaves stopped moving.

Even the squirrel—

miraculously—

stopped chewing.

Lin Yue stared at the place where the portal had been.

Her mind kept returning to the same words.

My children.

Lumi had called the voice—

Mother.

Eira had gone completely pale.

Shen Rui noticed first.

"Eira."

She didn’t answer.

"Eira?"

The Archivist finally looked at him.

Her voice was barely audible.

"She shouldn’t be alive."

Lin Yue turned.

"Who?"

Eira looked toward the dark sky.

"The First Mother."

The First Mother

Lin Yue had heard the term before.

In ancient records, there had been references to a mysterious figure who created the first Guardians.

But the records were incomplete.

Some called her:

The World Mother.

Others:

The First Keeper.

Some called her:

The Gardener.

But nobody knew her true name.

Lin Yue looked at Lumi.

"You remember her?"

Lumi nodded.

"Mother."

"What does she look like?"

Lumi thought.

Then she drew a shape in the air.

A woman.

Long hair.

A crown of leaves.

Golden eyes.

Lin Yue frowned.

"Is she human?"

Lumi shook her head.

"Guardian?"

Another shake.

"Then what is she?"

Lumi pointed upward.

Then toward the earth.

Then toward the ocean.

Lin Yue thought carefully.

"The world itself?"

Lumi nodded.

Eira whispered:

"Not the world."

She looked at Lin Yue.

"The consciousness that connects it."

The Original Worldseed

Eira took Lin Yue into the ancient archive.

This time, she didn’t hesitate.

She opened a sealed chamber.

Inside was a single book.

Its cover was made from something resembling tree bark.

There was no title.

Lin Yue touched it.

The book opened by itself.

The first page contained a drawing.

A woman standing beside a giant tree.

Around her were seven small Guardians.

Lumi.

Neri.

Verde.

The River Guardian.

The Soil Guardian.

The Forest Guardian.

And one final figure—

a tiny golden bird.

Lin Yue stared.

"There were seven."

Eira nodded.

"The original seven."

"Where are they now?"

"Scattered."

"Why?"

Eira looked down.

"The First Mother disappeared."

Lin Yue turned the page.

The next image showed the Guardians searching.

Then fighting.

Then separating.

Finally—

only Lumi remained beside the Worldseed.

Lin Yue’s expression softened.

"Lumi stayed."

"She waited."

"For how long?"

Eira closed her eyes.

"Thousands of years."

Lin Yue looked at Lumi.

The little Guardian was sitting quietly nearby.

Lin Yue crouched.

"You waited all that time?"

Lumi nodded.

"Why?"

Lumi pointed toward Lin Yue.

Then smiled.

Lin Yue’s chest tightened.

"You were waiting for me?"

Lumi nodded.

The Guardian’s True Purpose

Eira explained what the ancient records had hidden.

The Guardians weren’t servants.

They weren’t weapons.

They weren’t magical pets.

They were custodians.

Each represented one part of the living world.

Lumi represented the Worldseed itself.

Neri represented the ocean.

Verde represented natural balance.

The others represented rivers, soil, forests, and living cycles.

Their purpose was not to obey the Keeper.

Their purpose was to protect the world from the Keeper.

Lin Yue stared at her.

"From the Keeper?"

Eira nodded.

"The Keeper has access to tremendous power."

"And power can corrupt."

"Yes."

"So the Guardians were created to stop me if I became dangerous."

"Yes."

Lin Yue was quiet.

Then she smiled.

"That is actually a very good system."

Eira looked surprised.

"You aren’t offended?"

"No."

Lin Yue looked toward Lumi.

"I’d rather have someone stop me than let me become another Red Root."

Lumi happily nodded.

Shen Rui’s Question

Shen Rui folded his arms.

"If the First Mother created the Guardians..."

He paused.

"Who created her?"

Eira didn’t answer.

Lin Yue looked at her.

"Eira?"

The Archivist’s expression became troubled.

"We don’t know."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"That makes no sense."

Eira opened another ancient record.

"This is where the history ends."

Lin Yue read the final sentence.

THE FIRST MOTHER AWOKE BEFORE THE FIRST WORLDSEED.

She frowned.

"Awoke?"

Eira nodded.

"She wasn’t created by the Worldseed."

"Then..."

Lin Yue’s eyes widened.

"She existed before it."

"Yes."

Shen Rui looked toward the golden stars.

"Then where did she come from?"

Nobody answered.

The Third World

The portal reopened.

Mira appeared.

But this time, she wasn’t smiling.

"Lin Yue."

"What happened?"

"Our instruments detected something."

"Another Worldseed?"

"Worse."

Lin Yue’s expression tightened.

"What?"

Mira turned the camera.

Behind her was a massive observatory.

Hundreds of scholars stood around a glowing map.

Three golden stars were visible.

Then—

a fourth appeared.

Lin Yue stared.

"Four."

Mira nodded.

"Four confirmed."

Eira whispered:

"There shouldn’t be four."

Mira continued.

"We’re detecting more signals."

"How many?"

Mira swallowed.

"Thirty-seven."

Silence.

Lin Yue’s mouth fell open.

"Thirty-seven?"

"Possibly more."

The Golden Space flickered.

A message appeared.

[WORLDSEED NETWORK EXPANSION DETECTED.]

Lin Yue stared at it.

"What does that mean?"

Eira answered softly.

"It means our world isn’t unique."

The Multiverse of Gardens

The revelation changed everything.

The Golden Space was not a single world.

It was one node in something far larger.

Each golden star represented another ecological civilization.

Another Worldseed.

Another history.

Another set of Guardians.

Another Keeper.

And possibly—

another failure.

Lin Yue immediately began writing.

Shen Rui looked over her shoulder.

"Are you making notes?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because we need to understand the system."

"You just learned there may be thirty-seven worlds."

"Exactly."

"And you’re taking notes?"

"Would you prefer I panic?"

He considered it.

"No."

"Then let me write."

The First Interworld Meeting

Mira proposed something extraordinary.

A meeting.

Not physical.

Not yet.

A communication network.

Each Worldseed would send a representative.

Farmers.

Scientists.

Engineers.

Healers.

Ecologists.

Teachers.

Builders.

They would exchange knowledge.

Not resources.

Not weapons.

Knowledge.

Lin Yue immediately agreed.

But she added one condition.

"No centralized authority."

Mira smiled.

"We were hoping you’d say that."

Eira looked at Lin Yue.

"You’ve become very consistent."

Lin Yue laughed.

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

The Interworld Agricultural Exchange

The first meeting focused on agriculture.

One world had developed drought-resistant crops.

Another had mastered floating farms.

Another had developed terrace agriculture.

One had extremely cold-resistant grains.

Another had advanced composting systems.

One had perfected mushroom cultivation.

Another had developed desert irrigation.

Lin Yue listened eagerly.

Her notebook filled with pages.

But she didn’t simply copy everything.

She asked questions.

Would the crop become invasive?

What soil did it require?

What nutrients did it consume?

What pests affected it?

What were its ecological interactions?

What happened when the crop failed?

The other agricultural scholars quickly realized—

Lin Yue wasn’t merely collecting technology.

She was evaluating it.

One elder farmer finally laughed.

"You’re troublesome."

Lin Yue smiled.

"I’ve heard that before."

A New Agricultural Principle

After the meeting, Lin Yue wrote a new principle.

NEVER IMPORT A SOLUTION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING ITS ECOSYSTEM.

Shen Rui read it.

"That’s sensible."

Lin Yue nodded.

"People often copy successful systems without copying the conditions that made them successful."

He smiled.

"You’ve thought about this before."

"Of course."

"You really did memorize all those books."

Lin Yue looked at him.

"Most of them."

"How many?"

She thought.

"Thousands."

Shen Rui stared.

"Thousands?"

"Approximately."

He laughed.

"I’m never arguing with you about anything again."

The Family Farm

Despite the growing cosmic mystery—

Lin Yue still had crops to harvest.

That was something she refused to neglect.

The wheat needed threshing.

The vegetables needed harvesting.

The orchard needed pruning.

The chickens needed feeding.

The irrigation channels needed cleaning.

The accounting books needed balancing.

The printing house needed paper.

The workshops needed materials.

The household needed food.

Her father found her carrying baskets.

"You’ve discovered thirty-seven worlds."

"Yes."

"Possibly more."

"Yes."

"And you’re harvesting beans."

"Yes."

He smiled.

"Good."

Lin Yue looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because no matter how large the world becomes..."

He pointed toward the fields.

"...someone still needs to grow dinner."

Lin Yue laughed.

"That may be the wisest thing you’ve ever said."

Shen Rui’s Secret

That evening, Lin Yue discovered Shen Rui repairing a broken irrigation mechanism.

She watched him silently.

He had become very capable.

He wasn’t merely following her anymore.

He understood the systems.

He could read the diagrams.

He could calculate water flow.

He understood crop schedules.

He could manage workers.

He could inspect construction.

He even kept his own notebook.

Lin Yue picked it up.

"What’s this?"

Shen Rui immediately reached for it.

"Nothing."

She moved it away.

"You have secrets?"

"Everyone has secrets."

She opened it.

Inside were pages of observations.

Not about machines.

Not about farming.

About her.

Lin Yue forgets to eat when excited.

Lin Yue talks faster when discussing ecology.

She becomes quiet when worried about family.

She smiles when the children succeed.

Lin Yue’s face grew warm.

She closed the notebook.

"You’ve been observing me."

He looked embarrassed.

"Yes."

"Why?"

He was quiet.

Then:

"Because you’re important to me."

Lin Yue’s heart skipped.

She looked down.

"That’s..."

She struggled to find a response.

"...nice."

Shen Rui smiled.

"I was hoping for something slightly more enthusiastic."

She looked at him.

"Don’t push your luck."

The First Almost-Confession

They stood beneath the orchard trees.

The evening breeze moved through the branches.

A ripe peach dropped between them.

Thump.

They both looked down.

Then at each other.

Lin Yue laughed.

Shen Rui laughed too.

The tension broke.

"Perhaps the peach is telling us something," he said.

"What?"

"That we’re taking too long."

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

He opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

He smiled.

"Never mind."

She smiled back.

"Coward."

"Probably."

Neither of them realized—

Lumi was watching from a branch.

The little Guardian shook her head dramatically.

The Fourth Star

That night—

the fourth golden star became brighter.

Then a fifth.

Then a sixth.

Then ten.

Then twenty.

The Golden Space sky filled with golden lights.

Lin Yue stepped outside.

Eira stood beside her.

"What is happening?"

Eira looked frightened.

"The network is waking."

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

The stars began forming a pattern.

A circle.

At its center—

one enormous dark space.

Lin Yue stared.

"What is that?"

Eira whispered:

"The space between worlds."

Then a message appeared.

[INTERWORLD CONNECTION: ACTIVE.]

Another.

[CREATOR SIGNAL: DETECTED.]

Lin Yue’s heart stopped.

The stars pulsed.

One after another.

Then every Worldseed transmitted the same message.

Not words.

A single image.

A woman.

Long silver hair.

Golden eyes.

A crown made of leaves.

The First Mother.

Lin Yue stared.

"That is her."

Lumi flew into the air.

She began crying.

"Mother."

The image smiled.

Then spoke.

Her voice echoed across every Worldseed.

"My children."

The Guardians all responded.

The forests moved.

The oceans rose.

The rivers glowed.

The mountains shook.

The Golden Space trembled.

Then the First Mother said:

"I have watched you build."

Lin Yue’s breath caught.

"I have watched you learn."

The image turned toward her.

"And now I must ask you a question."

Lin Yue stood perfectly still.

"What question?"

The First Mother smiled.

"Are you ready to leave your world?"

The golden stars expanded.

A massive pathway appeared between them.

Eira whispered:

"She is opening the World Road."

Shen Rui stepped beside Lin Yue.

"Where does it lead?"

The First Mother answered before Eira could.

"Everywhere."

Lin Yue looked at the enormous network of worlds.

Then at her family.

Her farm.

Her Guardians.

Her home.

She smiled.

But before she could answer—

the First Mother added:

"Because something is coming."

The golden stars suddenly went dark.

One by one.

The First Mother disappeared.

The World Road remained.

And from the empty darkness beyond it—

came a sound.

Not a voice.

Not a machine.

Not a Guardian.

A heartbeat.

BOOM.

The Golden Space trembled.

BOOM.

The farms shook.

BOOM.

The ocean Guardian roared.

Then the final message appeared:

[UNKNOWN ENTITY APPROACHING ALL WORLDSEEDS.]

Lin Yue slowly closed her notebook.

Shen Rui looked at her.

"You’re thinking again."

She nodded.

"What?"

Lin Yue looked toward the World Road.

"This time..."

She smiled.

"...we’re not building alone."

And for the first time in thousands of years—

the Guardians of many worlds began gathering.