BXBX NOVEL Chapter 35 Fornol Sunflower
The Empress watched her palm revert back to normal as she felt exhausted, panting as she bowed before Yulna, "God Mother, that\'s the end of my demonstration. There\'s still a lot of my power left to unlock that I can only access once I grow stronger."
"That\'s good. Tell me in detail every time you unlock a new facet of your power." Yulna said before gazing at the royal guard, asking, "So, who wants to go next?"
"Me!" The head of the royal guard raised his hand, enamoured by the power the Empress had displayed. He was no longer reeling in fear as his mind was fully occupied by greed.
He would definitely kill to get his hands on this power. That was why he was ready to respond the fastest.
Moreover, as the head of the royal guard, his authority caused the other royal guards to hesitate in jumping the order when everyone knew that they were all going to obtain this power.
"Take care of the chaos that will happen next," Yulna said, staring at the Empress upon hearing a flurry of footsteps from the other guards in the palace that were rushing to the region following the beam.
"I don\'t wish to make my existence known beyond the people here." She continued.
"Please leave it to us, God Mother." The royal guards saluted in response, thumping their chests.
"Sure, I\'ll be next to the tree until then. Come see me once you\'re done here." Saying so, Yulna\'s figure vanished, followed by a burst of air.
None were even able to see her figure fly away as the Empress clenched her hand into a fist, wondering when she would wield so much power.
She was already damn excited as is, having inherited the power of the flower that symbolised her Empire\'s might.
When she was young, it was what her late husband used to propose to her. And just the sight of them casting a beam of warm light on the ground during nighttime was akin to walking into heaven.
After all, nights in the Fornol Empire were cold, but the region with the Fornol Sunflower was warm. This was the major reason the flower became the symbol of their Empire.
Moreover, only private ownership of the flower was banned. And to display the might of their Empire\'s symbol, they had dedicated royal gardens in the centre of every city where tens of thousands of Fornol Sunflowers bloomed daily. It was a sight everyone could bask in, for the flowers were arranged in such a way their warm light would be cast on the gazers.
During the peak of the winter, most of the commoners with poor living conditions would occupy the roads surrounding these royal gardens that were warmer than their homes.
Just this one reason was enough to keep the people happy, for even in the coldest of winters, they could remain warm. And this warmth caused them to feel warm towards their Empire too.
This was one of the reasons their Empire could expand so fast with little internal friction. It was a brilliant strategy, to say the least.
The Empress smiled upon recalling this, watching the guards arrive from all areas of the palace, carrying torches to light up their surroundings, kneeling on the ground in a hurry upon spotting the Empress.
"You can return to your posts now. You\'ll understand in the morning." She said curtly, waving her hands as the guards left immediately.
After all, they noticed the royal guard accompanying the Empress, understanding that there was no danger.
As for any doubts they had, they suppressed them for the time being, recalling the words of their Empress, anticipating what they would be told the next morning.
"Let\'s go." The Empress said once all the guards had left, leading the royal guard to the basement to see Yulna calmly seated on one of the branches of the Tower of Corruption, playing around with a fruit.
"Take this," Yulna said, throwing a Devil Fruit to each royal guard respectively, watching them consume it in a hurry before soon, all of them closed their eyes, sensing the information stream gushing into their minds.
The head of the royal guards opened his eyes first, noticing that his hair too had turned green, though the quality seemed a tad inferior to the Empress, making him understand as he looked at the condition of the green hair of the rest of the royal guard, \'So, the quality of our hair determines the quality of our power.\'
He bowed towards Yulna respectfully, turning his palm into a flower resembling a lily, saying after a moment of thought, "I need to prepare a little. Can I return here after a couple of minutes?"
"Yes," Yulna nodded, wondering what type of ability the Royal Guard Head had obtained for him to express such unconcealable joy.
A few minutes later, he returned, holding a sleeping butterfly that he had captured from the garden. His right hand transformed into the lily-like flower once again as this time, the butterfly seemed strangely attracted to the flower as it flapped its wings and danced through the air, gradually landing on the centre of the flower.
It then began to drink the nectar stored at the base of the stamen, filling its belly when suddenly, it began to shudder in response.
Yulna observed the corruption in the Royal Guard Head\'s body be consumed rapidly as it congregated in the butterfly\'s body through the nectar, sparking a reaction as the butterfly began to grow in size, soon becoming as big as his head.
It was faster, stronger, and had a more robust body. Appearance-wise, it seemed the same, but it had changed biologically to adapt to a bigger body.
"My real power is displayed when using insects with offensive abilities." He said in the end.
The Empress gazed at the butterfly, condensing corruption at the tip of her finger to beckon it, smiling as she watched the butterfly gently land on her outstretched finger, obeying her as she spoke, "So, you\'re able to control them too."
"Yes," The Royal Guard Head nodded, "But the range isn\'t far. It\'ll only increase once I grow stronger. And, from here on, they can only consume my nectar as food. Otherwise, they will die. So, the food needs is a limitation."
"Can you modify them, Luncress?" The Empress asked next, addressing the Royal Guard Head by his name.
"Nothing beyond their size at the moment. But in the future, I should be able to combine the traits of two or more insects into one." He nodded.
The Empress also observed the changes in the hair of everyone, understanding the relationship it had with their power, \'So, this means my power is the strongest.\'
Which was indeed the truth. Even though her power seemed simple, its usage was terrifying. And most of all, during the daytime, she wouldn\'t run out of power, for she wasn\'t a plant but was harnessing a plant\'s power.
This meant that she could unleash her beams whenever she pleased while absorbing power from the sunlight. And considering the amount of power even her first beam had, as she continues to grow, she would only become stronger.
Among the rest of the royal guard, one could shoot out pollen like bullets, one could condense wines that were able to drill through walls, etc.
Each of their power was strong in its own right. And as long as they were developed, their strength would only continue to increase.
Yulna stared at the group patiently, watching the royal guard become excited at their newfound powers. After some time passed, she slowly sat up, watching the Empress bow in respect immediately, followed by the royal guard.
"Continue to expand your Empire just like usual. You\'re free to wield your powers as you deem fit." She looked at the Empress, "It seems the tree can produce around 136 Devil Fruits daily. You can distribute it accordingly to your needs, but don\'t just hoard them. I want as many Blight Humans in the Empire as possible."
"Is there an enemy?" The Empress noticed the change of tone in Yulna, thinking of a possibility as she asked.
"Yes," Yulna nodded, "Someone with similar powers as mine but with a different nature. His army invaded my world."
"And now, he\'s chased after me to this world. But, he doesn\'t have his army here. So, he\'s probably doing the same thing as me to raise an army." Yulna said as she stared at the Empress, "He\'ll probably select an Empire strong enough to rival your own. So, as my representative, you\'ll work in destroying his army."
"I was going to do it anyway. This just makes things interesting." The Empress bowed once again, expressing joy as she grinned. World domination was her long-cherished goal, and things had just become more interesting.
"Okay, you all can leave now. Make the necessary arrangements and do as you see fit. Come here at dawn every day to collect all the produced Devil Fruits." Saying so, Yulna closed her eyes, "I\'ll be preparing to face my enemy until then. So, unless it\'s necessary, don\'t disturb me."
"Yes, God Mother!" Everyone said in response.
The Empress pointed at four of the royal guard, "You remain here to ensure the God Mother isn\'t disturbed."
She then looked at the remainder of the royal guard, "Your task is to clean up the basement. Just dispose of those useless prisoners. After that, turn this place into the embodiment of luxury, fit for the God Mother to reside in, you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The royal guards began to take action immediately.
"Come with me." The Empress pointed at Luncress as the two of them left the basement, heading towards the royal study as the Empress had no plans to sleep the night.
She unfurled a large map of the world, gazing at the borders of her Empire as she analysed the geography of the place.
Luncress acted as a wall, standing in one place, unmoving. His only goal was to ensure nothing happened to the Empress. In all this commotion, everyone had glossed over the Emperor\'s corpse in the royal chambers.
"I see," The Empress nodded after some time, tapping at one region on the world map, "At present, the Lerni Empire poses the biggest threat. If the enemy wishes to expand their army, then whether strategically or geographically, the Lerni Empire is the best choice."
And indeed, she was right about that as once he recovered, Rhizen made a beeline towards the Lerni Empire.