Chapter 190: Mushrooms and Fish

Chapter 190: Mushrooms and Fish

Looking at the oriel window reflecting the light of the gas wall lamps, Alger, wearing a hood and mask, was just about to ask about the details of the operation when he suddenly saw a shadow grow out of the thick darkness nearby. It transformed into a thin, tall, pale, sickly young man.

Bloodless Heath Doyle… Alger swiftly recognized him as the second mate of the Future.

Heath did not look at him. He spoke directly to Star Admiral Cattleya.

“Captain, they did not notice anything abnormal. They made those mushrooms into cream soup and prepared pan-fried fish as tonight’s main dish.”

“Very good.” Cattleya removed the heavy glasses perched on her nose and looked toward the dining room beyond the obstructing wall with eyes that revealed a mysterious purple color.

Heath Doyle did not waste words. His figure instantly darkened and returned to the shadows, disappearing to some unknown place.

After hearing their exchange and combining it with what Ma’am Hermit had said earlier, The Hanged Man Alger roughly understood the key element of tonight’s operation:

Mushrooms!

Poisonous mushrooms!

Although he did not know exactly what method Star Admiral had used to make the Beyonders inside lose their spiritual intuition and become unable to distinguish ordinary mushrooms from deadly poisonous ones, Alger believed that in mysticism, such a thing was not impossible.

After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Will this cause Craftsman Scharf to die?”

An unaffiliated Craftsman was an extremely rare thing. If there was still room to maneuver, Alger did not wish to lose such a “friend.” To him, the ideal plan was to imprison the fellow and make him a Craftsman exclusive to himself and The Hermit.

“No.” Cattleya calmly shook her head and casually explained, “Whether it was the intelligence you provided or the details observed by my crew, one point was mentioned: Scharf does not like eating fish. In fact, he hates it. This may be because he once got a fishbone stuck in his throat when he was young.”

It was precisely because of this that Cattleya had ultimately chosen the “mushroom tactic.” It could effectively dismantle the enemy’s fighting strength and reduce the risk to her side to the lowest possible level.

The type of mushroom that could devour flesh in the dark and reproduce had been ruled out by Star Admiral from the beginning, because a Beyonder with keen spiritual perception would directly notice something abnormal about it, just as they would when facing a highly toxic substance. Furthermore, Beyonders who believed in the Primordial Moon were very likely to possess deep knowledge of herbs, plants, and fruits. Merely by sight, they ought to be able to identify mushrooms that were too dangerous.

To deceive them, the food itself had to be harmless and only mutate after coming into contact with other things.

In this regard, the kind of mushroom Frank had previously created was perfectly suitable.

As long as the two conditions of fish and water were not both present, that kind of mushroom was just an ordinary mushroom. It would neither poison anyone to death nor cause diarrhea. It would slowly be digested, broken down into different components, and finally expelled from the body. Once it reached that stage, even fish and water would be useless.

For this reason, Cattleya had specifically asked Frank to redo that experiment that had temporarily been abandoned, obtaining a batch of mushrooms. She had promised him that in the future she would hunt down a Rose Bishop of the Aurora Order for him.

“Hates eating fish…” Alger murmured, feeling once again that he could not keep up with The Hermit’s train of thought.

He had clearly asked whether the poisonous mushrooms would cause Craftsman Scharf to die, but the other party’s answer was that the Craftsman would not die because he disliked eating fish, and even hated it.

What necessary connection is there between those two things? Alger muttered in puzzlement to himself but did not ask aloud.

He kept his silence and decided to observe carefully later.

After some time, screams suddenly came from inside the building, accompanied by waves of pained groans and the sounds of vomiting.

“Move,” Cattleya ordered with extreme brevity.

Her figure instantly turned transparent, as if she had become a statue formed from countless points of starlight.

The statue shattered at once. Brilliant specks of starlight surged, abruptly arriving at the building’s door and slipping in through the cracks.

Inside, the pieces of starlight gathered again, and Cattleya’s figure appeared.

Then she heard the howl of wind and the heavy thud of impact.

The doorframe trembled. The door swung open. The hooded and masked Hanged Man Alger entered the target building at a speed not much slower than Star Admiral.

With one sweep of his gaze, he swiftly took in the situation in the dining room.

Craftsman Scharf was retreating with a face full of terror, moving away from the long table.

On the floor lay two men and one woman, vomiting out mushrooms again and again. Their clothes had already split open across their chests and abdomens, and one mushroom after another was growing from them.

Sensing people enter, the three instinctively raised their heads. White hyphae had already appeared on their faces, cluster after cluster.

The skin beneath Alger’s mask twitched involuntarily.

Although he was experienced and knowledgeable, not the sort of Beyonder who had never seen terrifying scenes, this sight still brought him a powerful visual and spiritual impact.

Star Admiral Cattleya had expected something of the sort, but she had not imagined it would be so horrifying. She froze for a moment before pinching her lips with her right hand and blowing a whistle.

Illusory ropes emerged from the floor. Like snakes, they coiled around the three believers of the Primordial Moon and bound them tightly.

“Is there a way to stop it?” Cattleya turned her head and asked the shadow in the corner.

After a brief silence, Heath Doyle’s voice came from within it:

“Frank said he hasn’t figured out a method to stop it yet. They can only be cremated.”

Cremated… Cattleya’s brows moved slightly. She immediately took a handful of powder from a hidden pocket and threw it over.

The powder seemed to have a life of its own, landing accurately on the three Primordial Moon believers and on every mushroom.

Without a sound, crimson fire rose up and quietly burned everything it touched.

Craftsman Scharf had already frozen in terror when he witnessed the mutation. When someone broke in, he had originally intended to resist using his collection of mystical items, but he soon recognized the newcomers as Star Admiral Cattleya. His rationality made him give up at once, and he decisively stood where he was and waited.

He believed he still possessed rather high value. No matter where he went, he would not be killed outright. Besides, Star Admiral had never had much of an evil reputation.

The worst-case scenario is joining the Star Pirates… And this pirate admiral herself is far better-looking than her wanted portrait. Her aura is completely different… Scharf tugged at the wolf-tooth necklace around his neck, piled on a fawning smile, and waited for the intruders to state their purpose.

Cattleya glanced at him and seriously examined his appearance. All she could confirm was that he was a typical Intisian; she could not see any particularly strong resemblance to the Queen.

After considering her words, the pirate admiral said, “I originally wanted to seek you out through a friend’s introduction to have you make a mystical item. Instead, I discovered that you had gotten involved with believers of the Primordial Moon.

“The three of them are not especially strong. They cannot restrain you at all. Why did you still remain here?”

One of Cattleya’s main hypothetical enemies in this operation had actually been the Craftsman himself. She could neither kill him nor let him go, and she had to control him. In addition, he possessed quite a few well-matched mystical items, making him an undeniably powerful opponent. Yet, to her surprise, the matter had proceeded so smoothly.

Scharf gave an embarrassed laugh.

“At the beginning, they had a powerful figure in Bayam. Through the fragrance and powder of some kind of flower, they infected me with a strange illness and made me rather weak.”

Cattleya casually looked him over.

“You have already recovered your health now. Why didn’t you look for a chance to escape?”

Alger silently watched from the side without speaking, lest his voice betray him.

Craftsman Scharf laughed dryly twice.

“During the period when I was controlled by them, they told me that as long as I believed in the Primordial Moon, I could cure my chronic ailment through a certain ritual. I couldn’t withstand the temptation and tried it. In the end, it really succeeded. I once again found the feeling of being a man…”

At this point, he stopped abruptly, realizing he had said too much and exposed a private condition.

Was he too indulgent with women and gradually lost his ability? Alger let out a silent heh.

Scharf looked up at the two people opposite him. Seeing that neither of them mocked him aloud, he coughed softly and continued:

“That wasn’t relying on medicine. I truly returned to the state I was in when I was young. After that, I twice dreamed of a moon that looked both bloody and alluring.

“I think I truly became a believer of the Primordial Moon, so I didn’t dare escape.”

Cattleya and Alger exchanged a silent glance. At the same time, they sentenced the Craftsman to death in their hearts.

Once a person truly believed in an evil god, a demon, or certain hidden existences, then unless they were willing to continue down that path and slowly become fanatical, even if they repented and were taken under the protection of official forces, and even if no problem occurred for a long time, they might still silently strangle themselves to death in their sleep several years later.

Such a person was almost impossible to save, unless they were qualified to receive the blessing of a terrestrial angel at the level of a Church pontiff, or accepted isolation by certain Sealed Artifacts and lived underground forever.

Of course, in similar circumstances, there were many who did nothing and still lived normally until old age and death. But most of those were ordinary people—objects easily ignored by evil gods, demons, and hidden existences. Scharf, however, was a very useful Craftsman.

Cattleya no longer brought up the matter of his belief in the Primordial Moon. To her, whether the Craftsman believed in an evil god was not an especially major problem. As long as they could communicate, reach a deal, and he did not go mad every so often, they could cooperate. Other matters were not the concerns of a pirate.

She said instead, “What mystical items do you currently have? I’ll choose some and leave a few for you.”

Craftsman Scharf was not at all surprised by this development. The other party was a pirate, not the police. Robbing him in passing was only natural. The fact that she was willing to leave him a few items even made him feel that he ought to thank her sincerely.

In truth, given his level and his items, if he truly risked everything, he might indeed have been able to escape. But he did not have that courage.

“Very well.” Scharf first took a pair of gray-white-framed glasses from the pocket at his chest. “Gargoyle Glasses. As long as there is eye contact, it can paralyze the other party’s entire body, making them seem as though they have been petrified. It has two negative effects. First, if you look in a mirror while wearing it, you will paralyze yourself as well. Second, your body becomes heavy, and your movements lose agility.”

Isn’t this the item I reserved… So it had already been successfully made… Looking at the Craftsman, Alger could not help narrowing his eyes.