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…