The scale of the island began to reveal itself as Lifeless and Jarvis trekked deeper into the emerald heart of the jungle, far beyond the initial shores where they had first washed up. They discovered a big vine, thick as a cathedral pillar and pulsing with a strange, subterranean internal light, that led to the rest of the island. As they climbed the ridge following the massive botanical artery, they reached a peak that allowed them to see the true horizon for the first time. The land mass was staggering. It was bigger than Greenland and Australia combined, stretching out into the blue haze of the ocean until the curvature of the earth swallowed the shore in a veil of mist.
"Holy... shit. I did not know life was all majestic," Jarvis said, his voice a mere whisper as he stood incredibly shocked by the amazing view he was seeing.
The island was a sprawling ten million square kilometers of untapped potential, a continent masquerading as an island. Giant waterfalls cascaded from floating mountains that defied gravity, and forests of ancient hardwoods waved in the humid breeze like a sea of emerald.
"We can build some things with this," Lifeless said, smiling for the first time with a genuine sense of ambition that replaced his lingering grief.
Their goal was beyond anything ever attempted by mortal men. They needed to gather over three hundred million tons of wood to build an eighteen thousand kilometer environment for themselves. They planned to create a sprawling sanctuary that featured entertainment places to ensure they would not be bored all the time, including fighting pits, theaters, and grand libraries. They also planned a massive cage for animals to be kept, ensuring a steady supply of food and study subjects.
Lifeless began the process with a primal ferocity that shook the very foundations of the valley. He gripped his heavy steel axe and started to cut trees, destroying them one by one. The sounds of his strikes echoed like cannon fire, a rhythmic thud that signaled the beginning of their reign. Hours turned into days, and Lifeless was constantly sweating and gasping from exhaustion as he hauled the massive trunks into a central clearing. The sheer physical toll of felling the giants of the forest was starting to show on even his hyper-dense frame.
"I think you are doing too much effort," Jarvis said, watching Lifeless lean against a stump to catch his breath while sweat poured down his scarred chest. "We could just build a saw."
"And how do we do that?" Lifeless responded, his chest heaving as he wiped grime from his brow.
Jarvis signaled for Lifeless to follow him. They went to a nearby cave where the walls were slick with moisture and the air smelled of ancient sulfur. Jarvis pointed to the ceiling where thick, black shards of obsidian were glued to the cave walls by ancient tectonic pressure and volcanic heat.
"There was a volcano eruption here," Jarvis explained. "Help me get this obsidian out so we can make the saw."
Lifeless stepped forward and gripped the edge of a massive obsidian slab that was embedded deep in the rock. He planted his feet, his muscles bulging until they looked like corded steel, and pulled the obsidian out with his might. The stone screamed and cracked as it was torn from the earth. He handed the dark, glass-like material to Jarvis.
"Show me what you can do," Lifeless said, genuinely interested in how Jarvis would make a complex tool with nothing but the elements.
Jarvis got a piece of thin, durable wood to act as a frame. He used his red current to generate a pinpoint of intense heat, carving a jagged and lethal line into the obsidian to create perfectly spaced teeth. He then placed the obsidian blade on the thin piece of wood and tied it with reinforced vines to form a perfect saw for cutting the wood they needed.
The work became a mechanical, relentless rhythm. Lifeless and Jarvis kept cutting wood for over six months. They worked eighteen hours a day, their bodies becoming machines of pure productivity. They moved through the forest like a force of nature, leaving a trail of stumps in their wake. By the end of the half-year, they had collected the right amount of three hundred million tons of pure wood. Most of the trees in their immediate area were cut off so there was ample space for the construction to begin.
They began the project with the base, a gargantuan task that required perfect synchronization. Jarvis grabbed a long and wide piece of wood and carved it to make a pole, then repeated the process with Lifeless. They did this again and again until they had thousands of supports. They used the vines to tie them together to make the base to build on, ensuring the foundation was level across the uneven jungle floor. This initial foundation alone took five days of non-stop labor to complete.
From there, the environment began to take shape with staggering speed. They built the ceilings, the floors, the roads, and the pools in over five months of relentless building. They created sprawling theaters for entertainment and vast, open-air baths that collected rainwater. However, as the construction grew and the wooden walls began to trap the stagnant tropical air, the sun became too hot to bear. The heat within their wooden city was suffocating.
"I have an idea, cool kids used to talk about it," Lifeless said, wiping the sweat from his neck.
He sat down with Jarvis and began to explain the mechanics of an evaporative cooling tower. He explained how they could build tall, hollow chimneys made of wood and mud. By placing a water source at the top and allowing it to trickle down through porous layers of charcoal and fiber, the hot air would be drawn in through the bottom. As the water evaporated, it would strip the heat from the air through latent energy transfer, sending a constant flow of chilled, refreshing breezes through their environment.
They went to work immediately on this new phase of engineering. They made one cooling tower in every two kilometers to keep the air cool and nice across the entire eighteen thousand kilometer sanctuary. The effect was instantaneous and magical. The stifling heat was replaced by a crisp, cool mist that made the wooden halls feel like a mountain retreat in the middle of a tropical furnace.
To finish the central hub of their new world, they built a massive cage for the livestock they had captured, ensuring the animals had space to move but could not escape. They even built a large stove with mud and volcanic stone to cook their meals with precision. They stood in the center of their new world, a city of wood and wind, looking out at the island that was now truly their own. The environment was complete, a masterpiece of science and strength that stretched further than the eye could see. They had built a kingdom from the trees, and for the first time, they felt like they truly belonged.