Roland walked to the center of the garden and couldn't help but pause.

At the end of the path, a small room made of plants appeared. Trunks and improved crops formed the walls, and vines crisscrossed overhead, as if they had been carefully woven. Several strings of translucent grapes hung among the green leaves. In the middle of the room, a bonfire burned, surrounded by verdant furniture—on closer inspection, all made of strange plants growing out of the ground. For a moment, he thought he had stepped into a fairy tale world. If it weren't for the several familiar figures standing by the bonfire, he would have suspected it was a dream.

"What is all this?"

Tilly turned her head, a look of admiration on her face. "Leaf's ability has evolved. She has become this garden."

"Where is she?" Roland asked in surprise.

"She has merged with the plants," Tilly said, looking around. "Everything you see is a part of Leaf."

So the feeling that he was walking inside a giant creature wasn't an illusion after all, only the "giant creature" had turned into Leaf. Roland's heart suddenly tightened. "She won't be unable to revert, will she?"

"As long as the ability is deactivated, I can return to normal," Leaf's voice suddenly sounded.

However, listening closely, it wasn't her own voice speaking, but a combination of the rustling of leaves and the friction of branches.

Her answer slightly relieved Roland. "Can you hear us?"

"Not only can I hear, but I can also see, smell, and touch," Leaf sounded cheerful. "I can sense any change in the garden, including birds building nests in the branches, insects crawling on the trunks... This feeling is hard to describe in words. Tilly was right, I am the garden itself now. I noticed you the moment you walked in here."

As she spoke, a rolled-up giant leaf descended from the ceiling to Roland's hand and slowly unfurled, revealing a cup filled with a purplish-red liquid. The cup was made of four overlapping olive leaves, with the petioles forming the handle, giving it a delicate appearance. Roland picked up the cup, took a sip, and found that it was newly brewed wine, slightly acidic with a refreshing sweetness. It seemed that both the wine and the container came from this garden.

Roland drank her "toast" and walked to the bonfire, sitting with interest on the plant bench—its frame was made of rough tree branches, and the seat and backrest were covered with a thick layer of wheat leaves, making it feel like sinking into a sofa. A barbecue grill stood beside the bonfire, and Andrea was grilling apples and corn for everyone. Undoubtedly, these were also locally sourced from the garden.

"How did you do all this?" the prince asked, looking up.

"I'm not sure of the process myself," the voice quickly replied. "I was just taking care of the newly planted crops and your flying messengers as usual, while practicing my ability—and then they responded to my call. This may be the path to fusion I've been searching for, turning the jungle and the life it nurtures into a true whole."

"If you use your ability in the Misty Forest, can you turn it into a part of you too?"

"I think... not," she hesitated for a moment. "Even if I could, it would take a very long time. Maintaining this state doesn't consume much magic power; in fact, the forest can even replenish it for me. But every time I expand the control range, I feel my thoughts slowing down."

"Slowing down?" Roland was stunned.

"I don't know how to describe the feeling," Leaf said. "If I slowly expand the control range, I should be able to merge with the Misty Forest in a few years, but if I merge instantly, I'm afraid I'll lose my mind—when I first merged with the garden, I felt like my brain wasn't enough, as if my mind suddenly became extremely empty. It took me a long time to adjust." She paused and added, "But once I've controlled a plant, there's no sense of unfamiliarity when I enter it again. I can do it with a single thought."

Indeed quite incredible, Roland thought. Compared to Anna and Lily evolving towards the microscopic direction, Leaf's new ability was obviously a breakthrough on a macroscopic level. If one day she could control the entire Misty Forest, undoubtedly any movement of the enemy would escape her notice.

"Congratulations," Wendy smiled. "Now the Witch Union has another evolved witch. According to Agatha, this is already equivalent to half of the Union's scale."

"If she were here, she would definitely sigh for a long time," Roland smiled and then looked at the little girl who was curiously peeking at him. "White Paper?" (Baizhi)

"Regarding her ability... it probably needs further testing," Wendy replied. "But I've discovered a strange phenomenon."

With that, she snapped her fingers, and two wrapped balls of snow quickly fell from the roof.

Wendy unfolded them one by one, placing one next to the bonfire and the other in the corner of the room, then had White Paper use her ability on them. "I'm guiding her on how to use her magic power evenly, so as to achieve a stable ability application effect—just like you initially taught me. Although she can't control it precisely yet, the difference is not too great in general."

Roland noticed that the snow near the bonfire quickly melted into a puddle of ice water, while the snow further away only melted halfway.

Wendy picked up the melted water, walked to the wall, and knocked on it. The tightly wrapped vines contracted to both sides, revealing a fist-sized hole, and the cold wind from outside immediately poured in.

"Come, use your ability on this," she said to White Paper.

The little girl nodded and stretched out her hands. To Roland's surprise, a thin layer of ice crystals formed again in the snow water held by the leaves.

"This is... accelerating time, making the result appear sooner?" He rejected his own guess as soon as he said it. No, time is just a concept set up by humans for their own convenience; it doesn't exist in itself. How can you affect something that doesn't exist?

"I thought so at first, but Tilly said it's not like that." Wendy used a vine to hang a small stone, swaying it in front of White Paper. The latter used her ability again, but the speed of the pendulum didn't change; it still swung from side to side at the same amplitude until it finally stopped. "If it were accelerating time, it should swing faster, right?"

Indeed, Roland quickly realized the essence of her ability—she wasn't affecting time, but the movement of particles. Magic power changed the energy level of the particles, making them lower or higher, which macroscopically manifested as freezing or melting. Of course, White Paper herself probably couldn't understand this at all; she was just releasing her ability according to her feelings, so she came to the conclusion that it didn't have much impact on other objects: oxidation is a relatively long process, requiring a longer time to observe the results.

If he guessed correctly, then her ability was simply a natural catalyst.