As Mo Chen regained her strength, a miracle occurred on the once-barren islands. Dr. Aris's engineered flora, a hardy, iridescent moss that fed on sunlight and seawater, began to spread. It covered the black rock in a shimmering carpet, its photosynthesis producing a faint, sweet oxygen that tasted different from the air anywhere else on Earth.
Then, the first tree bloomed. It was a strange, beautiful thing, with silver bark and leaves that changed color with the temperature. Aris had designed it to be the cornerstone of his new ecosystem. He called it the "Phoenix Oak."
Seeing the vibrant green against the stark black of her forged city moved Mo Chen in a way she couldn't explain. This was not just survival; this was life. It was the antithesis of everything she had been doing—the burning, the destruction.
She walked through the new, small grove of Phoenix Oaks, their leaves shimmering in the sunset. For the first time, The Aerie didn't just feel like a fortress or a throne. It felt like a home.
This fragile, newborn ecosystem was now the second-greatest target on the archipelago, after herself. She had built walls of fire and law to protect herself. Now, she had something else, something beautiful and vulnerable, to protect.
The Directory would see this life as a vulnerability. A thing she cared for. They would try to use it against her.
She knew what she had to do. She had to make it a weapon.