Ball of Nothing

Chapter 515: Parental Love

Unable to come up with a good solution, Zero returned Sylvia her child's soul on the condition that she should no longer perform any strange experiments. All the slave and part orders that she made were forcefully cancelled. Zero decided to remain in the U.N.U. for a while as an envoy while he came up with a good solution.

Sylvia was more than happy to assist Zero in his understanding of chimaeras and alchemy when she saw how Zero was willing to think of something for her. Sylvia promised that as long as Zero agreed to help her out, she wouldn't do anything that he didn't like.

For now, the slaves were spared although the situation in U.N.U. was still as disastrous as before with the civil war continued raging on outside of the tower, Zero considered this somewhat a victory. He was given the best room in the tower and Zero spent most of his time pouring through Sylvia's research notes and checking his facts with his teachers.

Tanya answered many of Zero's questions which only led the doctor to believe that there wasn't a way to fix the crumbling soul. Enma also told Zero that his abilities only stretch so far. No God was able to 'create' a soul. They were something that formed naturally by maintaining the life cycle according to their domains.

"Is there a way for bodies to be created from trees?" Zero asked and Sedna was stunned.

"Bodies? As in children?" the confused Great Goddess asked over the call.

Zero nodded. "For example is there a way for someone to receive the blessings of a God or Goddess for children? I'm talking about people who want children but cannot find a spouse or fell in love with an incompatible gender... something like that. Does a God or Goddess of Love exist to create things like this?"

Zero's idea wasn't one that completely lacks logic. For a while, Sedna didn't answer. There used to be many Goddesses of Fertility before the massacre of Gods. However, now, there was nobody in charge of that domain. If people believed in such a God or Goddess, a new one would have been born but thanks to the shift in beliefs of the new worlds and the ending of old worlds, there weren't enough thoughts to birth a new Goddess.

"There used to be someone like that. However, they no longer exist. Why?"

Hearing that there used to be a Goddess of Fertility, Zero thought that it was a shame that parental love wasn't more appreciated. Dejectedly, he thanked Sedna for her time and sighed. If only there was a way to create children based on wishes. There were many kinds of world trees guarding and regulating many different things. Why wasn't there any to bear children fruits for those who wished to become parents? Surely the number of souls waiting to be reincarnated would love a chance at life. By having a children-producing tree, the bottleneck for souls waiting for their turn to reincarnate would be very quickly resolved rather than putting more cupids to work to tie red strings and shoot arrows at potential compatible targets.

"That's it!" Zero grinned. If such a tree and goddess didn't exist, perhaps he could find a way to create a new world tree and appoint someone to become the new Goddess of Fertility, preferably someone who loved children very much.

The clone that wasn't soaking in the pool suddenly shuddered. Zero's clones knew that Truen and Bob would be arriving at any moment with the twin magicians and Misana so the village was preparing for them. However, Zero's new idea meant that some priorities had to be shuffled.

"I have to go, Zero the original has a new task for me," the tired-looking clone groaned.

Raj and the lab members were startled. "Now? We're still in the middle of setting up the defensive array."

The clone felt a pounding headache when he failed to respond on time. "Yes, now. Sorry, I'll be back soon! Carry on without me, the patterns and intervals are the same throughout, I'll check them later!"

In a flash, the clone was warped back to Half Moon Village and hurriedly jumped through the Ten-Path Crossway portal without stopping until he arrived at the Tree of Life's temple.

Qin Yun and her fox clan were busy cleaning the temple grounds after hours when Zero's clone appeared, startling them. Some of them greeted Zero's clone but the clone didn't spare them a glance, zooming past them in a flash and heading straight for the barrier. He needed to talk to Axel and the Tree of Life urgently before the pain in his head drove him mad. Zero was really merciless towards his clones and sometimes the clone wished Wii would dedicate more Parallel Minds to him.

"Oh dear!" the spriggan was startled by Zero's sudden appearance. "How can I help you?"

The clone blinked. "Is there a way to create a new world tree? As a spriggan, Zero thought that maybe you would know a thing or two. He wants to create a new kind of tree and Goddess or spriggan to guard it."

The Tree of Life used some branches and leaves to materialise when Axel struggled to come up with an answer. It was the clone's first time seeing such a thing happen but he didn't question it. With so many demons praying and worshipping this tree, it must have become powerful enough to create a human vessel.

"Allow me to answer that," the Tree of Life smiled. "World Trees are born from a collection of thoughts just like how most Gods are created. The only difference between Gods and World Trees is the source of thoughts. Gods are born from expectations and hopes. They provide intangible support to those who pray to them by using a medium or by issuing blessings to devoted followers. On the other hand, World Trees provide tangible support and products for humans who support the blessings of the tree. They usually exist somewhere on the Material Plane in some form. An example would be a leaf or a branch from the tree. Even the Weeping Willow who is also known as Tree of the Future doesn't exist entirely on Earth. What the elves see is just a branch of the real tree hidden elsewhere on another inhabited planet."

The explanation gave Zero some form of hope after his clone relayed the message. It took a while for the clone to reply and Axel couldn't say he was surprised after hearing many stories about the crazy doctor.

"Can I cross breed world trees to create a new kind of seed for a new world tree? What are the conditions for planting a new world tree?"

Needless to say, the Tree of Life had never heard of such a thing. Logically, it should be possible as World Trees were also plants. They were just slightly more magical and rare. When Zero heard this, he thanked the Tree of Life and released his control over his clone to do whatever it needed to do before the interruption.

Axel wasn't even mad that Zero's clone left as quickly as he came. He simply treated it as a passing dream that wasn't real. Zero was truly like a hurricane and the best way to cope with such suddenness was to forget about it entirely to move on.

Back in the tower, Zero opened his eyes and pulled out his i-communicator. If there was someone who would have the slightest chance at cross-breeding world trees, it would have to be Mother Nature.