“‘Global warming has caused numerous European plant species to migrate to higher elevations over the past decade’ – that is what all human news have reported, Your Highness,” the laboratory workers informed. Humans had no idea what they had done. But as always, King Seed-Shoot, leader of the EuroPlant 450 tribe did. Those big, two-legged foolish men thought they were the boss of everything. But Seed-Shoot knew better.  

The humans were pretty much clueless about the great achievements of plants. They did not know about the continual fighting going on between Grand King Oak and Lieutenant Thunder or the revenge the Fir Community took when the Prince of the Giraffes ate their army chief. So it was plants who ruled the world.  

Then there was this global warming thing. Dumb humans and their dumb damage. They had put their own lives in grave danger. It was a whatever fact to plants. They could not care less what happened to humans. What they needed was a way for the next generation to be safe when something terrible happened. Then there was a third party. A party with the same intentions as the plants – but for evil. A team who wanted all fortune for themselves and wanted to spread crime. A team with an 11-year-old leader who thought highly of himself. A leader who had pretty much convinced the plants that he would keep them safe. But of course there was a catch.  

This was no regular leader we were talking about. For one thing he was 11 and for another he was a criminal genius. To him the trees did not matter much. He had discovered everything about them and now he wanted to make a deal. This deal had kept King Seed-Shoot awake for eight consecutive nights. It kept him thinking. No other person had such effects over the most powerful plant alive before. This was only possible for one – Blade Spikes.  

Plant technology was way superior to human technology. Humans thought they were just simple, green things. But Blade, with his brilliant brain, knew it all. And in order for him to keep this secret and to provide them safety from global warming, the plants were needed to give up their most precious thing – their gold.  

Selfish, greedy, power-hungry. That was Blade Spikes. Or as his family called him – Bobby. As soon as he read about Artemis Fowl he wanted to become him. Too bad fairies didn’t exist. So he did whatever was possible.  

By age four, Blade had opened his own account in the continent’s police website (under the name of a foreign agent), hacked into the criminal files and registered his own name in the criminal records so that the police were aware just who they had to deal with. In later years he stole precious jewels, robbed companies like Microsoft and fought policemen (being well trained in karate). Now, at 11, it was time to start something big.  

Nothing was as big as building up his small team of men into a huge army. An empire, a criminal empire. But he needed money. His superb technology skills helped him find out all about the plants. Any normal person would have told the world and earned millions of Euros. Not Blade Spikes. Blade had his own ways of playing games. He researched more and more until one day he came across some rich information about the plant world’s treasure. He simply couldn’t resist the fact that the soil underneath them was their storage – for their gold. And so that was what he was after. To use the gold to establish the Spikes Criminal Empire – something that would go on generation after generation. So he needed to think up something equally good to offer the plants as robbing trees off their gold was not really his way of winning.  

EuroPlant 450 ran the Plant World’s government. They controlled the police force, army, navy, air force and everything around. So the gold was their responsibility as well. Blade had contacted them about his wishes, going into some fiery arguments with King Seed-Shoot himself. The plants needed to live and Blade knew how important that was. He was ready to offer just anything for the gold. So the EuroPlant450 tribe weren’t too surprised to see two figures – one giant and one quite small – climbing up the snowy mountain the next morning.  

Blade Spikes and his huge bodyguard acted as if they had been here a million times. They walked right into XxChloro544 City, past the Royal Police and Blade looked straight at Seed-Shoot.  

“Seed-Shoot. King, EuroPlant 450, XxChloro544 City, The Alps, Europe, Plant World. Am I right?” he asked, looking around, enjoying the commotion he had caused in this pleasantly cold environment.  

“All the facts, Spikes. Well, we are all clear about your intentions and vise versa. You want our gold as the fortune for your criminal empire and in return you offer us some kind of safety when the world goes down, right?”  

“Uh-huh. Exactly. Think about it. My home, my lab. Strongly built. We have a greenhouse and a garden. Strong mud. But even stronger outside walls. And glass. Nothing will happen to you. And for my betterment, you’ll give me your gold and technology and help me build my empire. Think about it. You can get back at everyone for doing this to you. We’ll have fun. You hate humans. I know, I’m also one – but hey, we’ll be partners and I have not contributed for global warming, trust me.”  

This was a pretty convincing speech, not to mention impressive. The plants seemed satisfied.  

“Ah. Spikes, I believe you are right. Our children and grandchildren need to be safe. And in return you will get what you want. Just get a shovel and dig deep into the soil. We’ll give you the password and gold will appear before you. And together, we shall conquer all humans. It’s great just thinking about it,” Seed-Shoot said, re-considering the deal over and over again.  

“So come on. You’re more than welcome to join Spikes Empire!” Blade said, the winning smile across his face.  

The plants faced no other choice. They picked up the roots and ran to Blades’ Private Jet.  

Powerful or not, humans were too clever – there was no stopping them.