Chapter 3202: Protectors Of Cosmos

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Cosmos Corridor, Unknow

“What do you mean? You said I had the right to know.” I was quickly beginning to regret cutting BoBo off from my Calamity Fragrance and Fruit.

“Yes, but your right only extends as far as your duty as a World Calamity Tree, a protector of the cosmos. That is, to maintain balance in the cosmos you’re assigned to. As for why the cosmos exists, or why cosmoses keep expanding only to collapse and restart, or simply die? Those questions are what you humans like to call above your pay grade. I have been doing this way before you, since my birth. It’s our duty to maintain the Myriad Cosmos through the Myriad Cosmos Corridor,” BoBo remarked sternly, making me wonder whether she was punishing me for cutting her off from the Calamity Fragrance and Fruit.

“BoBo, do you want a Calamity Fruit?” I offered, producing one on my branch.

“Since you’re offering, why not?” BoBo nodded immediately, reaching for the fruit and eating it. Then she quickly added, “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Do you want more?” I asked, ignoring her words and producing another Calamity Fruit.

“Yes, but I can’t tell you more than you’re should know.”

This time, BoBo didn’t reach for the fruit right away, having caught on to why I was giving it to her.

“But you’ve already revealed so much to me,” I argued, surprised that BoBo could control herself. I saw that she really wasn’t addicted. She was just indulging herself, since I might leave soon and who knew when she would next get to eat the tastiest Calamity Fruit she had ever had and smell the most pleasant Calamity Fragrance she had ever smelled.

“I only revealed what you should know and what will help with your duty, nothing more,” BoBo explained, then clarified, “What you do with it is still up to you. Not to mention, you’re not an actual World Calamity Tree but a hybrid mutant.”

BoBo wasn’t trying to offend me. What she meant was that the other World Calamity Seeds had been born to play a role in maintaining the balance of the cosmos, but I hadn’t. I had gained these abilities through my own efforts. It was her duty to tell me what my powers were for, but I wasn’t obligated to play that role.

I could if I chose to, or do nothing if I didn’t want to. In the end, it was up to me, since I hadn’t been created with that purpose in mind like the other World Calamity Seeds. They didn’t need orders or incentives. They simply did what came naturally to them, because it was their purpose in the entire myriad cosmos.

In the end, what she was saying was that she was doing her duty. It was her role in the myriad cosmos, and no amount of bribes could make her go against what she had been doing for thousands of millennia, regardless of how tasty and pleasant my Calamity Fruit and Fragrance were.

“Sorry for the pressuring you, but can you give me back my core? I would like to turn back to my human form. The World Calamity Tree form is good, but I still relate to my human side more,” I asked, no longer being cautious, since I understood that nothing I did or said would get BoBo to compromise her duty. I also didn’t want to force her to compromise her values by underhanded means, especially now that I had gotten to know her.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t return your core to you as long as you’re in the Myriad Cosmos Corridor. The original energies in here shouldn’t communicate with your core. If they did, your core would grow accordingly, and releasing it back into your cosmos would be contrary to protecting it or maintaining its balance,” BoBo said, rejecting the request. She briefly explained why, then offered, “However, I can help you morph into your human form.”

“Yes, please,” I agreed immediately.

Soon, I sensed BoBo fly high above me and sprinkle some of her pixie dust on my World Calamity Tree body, and before I knew it, I was morphing into my human form.

Finally back in my human form, I let out a long sigh of relief as I sensed BoBo slowly descend into my hair, nestle into it, and get comfortable. Just like DreDre used to.

Ignoring her, I focused on the words she had said earlier. I realized there was more to the World Calamity Tree than I had learned so far, but to learn it, I would have to unlock it. For that, I would have to get my hands on the other original energies.

Knowing this, I figured it wasn’t that I couldn’t sense other original energies in here. BoBo simply wasn’t allowing me to. She feared that my core would grow and that returning to the myriad realms would break the balance I was supposed to maintain as a World Calamity Tree, even though I had no idea what this cosmic balance was or how maintaining it would protect the cosmos from itself.

Yes, protecting cosmos from itself.

When BoBo said we were the protectors of the cosmos, she had never mentioned that we would be fighting powerful beings. So I believed that protecting the cosmos meant protecting it from itself, helping it maintain its cosmic balance to prolong its life and push its end through natural causes like the Big Crunch, the Big Freeze, the Big Rip, or any of the countless other ways a cosmos could end.

I decided my thoughts could wait. I would sort through what I had already learned later. For now, I shifted my focus to BoBo, who was playing in my hair like a cat with catnip.

“So, what’s this duty of the World Calamity Tree?” I asked her.

“You know the cosmoses are ever expanding, but do you know the factors that affect that expansion? Why do some cosmoses suddenly accelerate? Why do others suddenly slow down?”