Looking at the bay window reflecting the gaslight, Alger, hooded and masked, was about to ask for details of the operation when he suddenly saw a shadow growing out of the thick darkness beside him, transforming into a tall, thin, pale, sickly young man.
"The Bloodless," Heath Doyle… Alger quickly recognized him as the second mate of the Future.
Heath didn’t look at him, directly addressing the "Star Admiral" Cattleya:
"Captain, they didn’t notice anything unusual. They made those mushrooms into cream soup and have prepared pan-seared fish as the main course for tonight."
"Good." Cattleya removed the heavy glasses on her nose and looked with her mysterious purple eyes toward the dining room area behind the walls.
Heath Doyle didn’t waste words. His figure instantly darkened and merged back into the shadows, disappearing to some unknown place.
After listening to their exchange and combining it with what "The Hermit" lady had said earlier, "The Hanged Man" Alger more or less understood the core of tonight’s operation:
Mushrooms!
Poisonous mushrooms!
Though he didn’t know exactly how the "Star Admiral" had managed to make the Beyonders inside lose their spiritual intuition, unable to distinguish normal mushrooms from deadly ones, Alger believed that in mysticism, this was not impossible.
He hesitated and said:
"Will this lead to the death of the 'Artisan' Sharif?"
A wild "Artisan" is quite rare. Alger didn’t want to lose such a "friend" while there was still room to maneuver. For him, the ideal plan was to imprison this guy, making him an exclusive "Artisan" for himself and "The Hermit."
"No." Cattleya shook her head calmly and explained offhandedly: "Both the intelligence you provided and the details observed by my crew mentioned one thing: Sharif doesn’t like fish, in fact, he absolutely hates it. It might be related to an incident where he got a fish bone stuck in his throat as a child."
It was precisely based on this that Cattleya ultimately chose the "mushroom tactic," which could effectively break down the enemy’s effective strength while minimizing the risks to her side.
—The kind of mushroom that could devour flesh and blood to reproduce in a dark environment was ruled out by the "Star Admiral" from the start, because it would allow a spiritually sensitive Beyonder to directly detect the anomaly, much like facing something extremely toxic. Additionally, Beyonders who believe in the "Primordial Moon" most likely have a profound understanding of herbs, plants, and fruits; with just a glance, they should be able to identify overly dangerous mushrooms.
To fool them, the food itself had to be harmless, only becoming dangerous through contact with other elements.
In this regard, the mushrooms Frank Lee had previously created were just right!
If the two conditions of fish and water were not met, that mushroom was a normal mushroom. It wouldn’t poison anyone, nor cause diarrhea. It would be digested little by little, broken down into different components, and eventually excreted—once that happened, even if fish and water were present afterward, it was useless.
To this end, Cattleya specifically had Frank Lee redo the experiment that had been temporarily abandoned, obtaining a batch of mushrooms, and promised to hunt down a "Rose Bishop" of the Aurora Order for him in the future.
"Hates eating fish…" Alger muttered, feeling that once again he couldn’t follow "The Hermit’s" logic.
He had clearly asked whether the poison mushrooms would cause "Artisan" Sharif’s death, but her answer was that the "Artisan" wouldn’t die because he didn’t like fish, in fact hated it.
What necessary connection was there? Alger wondered silently to himself, but didn’t ask.
He kept quiet, deciding to observe and pay more attention later.
After a while, screams suddenly came from inside the house, along with repeated groans and sounds of vomiting.
"Move." Cattleya gave the command with unusual brevity.
Her figure instantly turned transparent, as if becoming a statue formed from countless stars.
The statue shattered in an instant, and brilliant starlight surged in scattered points, suddenly arriving at the house door and slipping through the gaps.
Fragments of starlight reassembled inside, and Cattleya’s figure reappeared.
Then she heard the sound of wind and the thud of impact.
The door frame shook, the door opened, and the hooded, masked "Hanged Man" Alger entered the target building not much slower than the "Star Admiral."
His gaze swept over, quickly taking in the situation in the dining area:
"Artisan" Sharif was backing away in terror, retreating from the long table;
On the floor, two men and one woman were lying, continuously vomiting mushrooms. The clothes on their chests and abdomens had split open, and mushrooms were growing out one after another.
Sensing someone entering, these individuals instinctively looked up; white mycelium was already showing on their faces, tuft after tuft.
Alger’s face, hidden by the mask, twitched involuntarily.
Although he was experienced and well-traveled, not the kind of Beyonder who had never seen terrifying scenes, this image still gave him a strong visual and mental impact.
"Star Admiral" Cattleya had expected something, but she hadn’t anticipated it would be so gruesome. She paused for a moment, then pinched her mouth with her right hand and whistled.