Chapter 38: Changing Direction
Two months later, in the Labyrinth Workshop.
Rena wore a mask and gloves at the workbench, pinning down a mouse for observation.
She used a long needle to touch the left side of the mouse’s body.
The mouse struggled nonstop, clearly in great pain, yet the left side of its body remained completely immobile, shriveled and stiff like a dried corpse.
“This dicine’s effect still isn’t ideal.”
Rena sighed and put down the experintal tools in her hands.
“I didn’t think it would be that simple either.” Leon, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed and watching, shrugged.
Rena was currently researching the toxic chanism of Cockatrice venom, hoping to concoct a special dicine that could cure the aftereffects of Leon’s injury.
The Cockatrice Beast was a low-level Magical Beast in the labyrinth and not particularly rare.
It resembled a rooster in shape but had no feathers, instead possessing lizard-like scales and bat-like mbranous wings.
At the end of its tail grew the head of a venomous snake.
The Cockatrice was small in size and not very strong, but it was extrely agile.
Both of its heads—front and back—were poisonous.
Anyone pecked by it or bitten by its tail would experience a coagulation phenonon in their bodily tissues, which would gradually harden like stone until complete necrosis.
If Church holy water was used in ti, the petrification symptoms could be alleviated, but the aftereffects were unavoidable.
“The toxic chanism of the Cockatrice is rather complex. Compared to poison, it’s actually more like a curse,” Rena analyzed.
“A curse?” Leon asked.
“Many Magical Beast poisons work like this. Once Mana is added to activate them, their toxicity increases—the higher the Mana purity, the stronger the poison. Ordinary poisons lose their activity once heated to a certain degree or treated with strong acids or alkalis, but these poisons are unaffected. It seems that using ordinary antidotal herbs won’t have any obvious effect. Maybe we need to look for another research direction,” Rena explained.
“What direction?” Leon asked.
“The Cockatrice has natural enemies in the labyrinth. So creatures aren’t afraid of its poison.Of course, I’m not talking about cases like Slis, where their physiological structures are completely different, but true immunity to Cockatrice venom—like Demonic Wolves. If we could get Demonic Wolf blood…”
Rena spoke while thinking.
Leon had also heard of Demonic Wolves in the labyrinth.
These creatures were larger than ordinary wolves, had tough bodies, could heal quickly after being injured, and were immune to toxins.
Demonic Wolves hunted in packs and could prey on large animals and Magical Beasts.
They were extrely hostile toward humans, but it was said that Witches could ta them as mounts.
“Just the Cockatrice venom already cost thirty-five thousand. This sounds like it’s going to take another huge sum of money,” Leon sighed.
As a Magical Beast, Demonic Wolves were more dangerous than Cockatrices, so their materials would definitely not be cheap.
“Let’s give it a try. If it can solve your injury once and for all, it’ll definitely be better than you constantly spending money on holy water,” Rena thought for a mont, then suddenly proposed, “At worst, I’ll pay for it myself!”
“So generous?” Leon was a little surprised.
“After all, my own research has progressed largely thanks to you. I don’t want to owe you,” Rena replied.
“Thank you, Rena.” Leon looked at her and smiled.
“I said it’s just because I don’t want to owe you,” Rena replied.
“What I’m thanking you for is that you’re willing to put so much effort into my injury. I’m very grateful, no matter whether you succeed in the end,” Leon said seriously.
Rena widened her eyes at Leon, then quickly turned her head away.
“Don’t get any weird misunderstandings. I just want to get rid of you as soon as possible!”
“Alright.” Leon still smiled.
“But even if my injury gets cured, I still want to earn a bit more money. Money always cos in handy.”
“You…” Rena glanced at Leon.
“Do you want to help lissa and the others repay their debts?”
She recalled the ti Leon had helped lissa’s family repay one season’s worth of debt and then ca to her to align their stories.
“Provided I can earn a lot, a lot of money, taking out a little to help them wouldn’t be a problem,” Leon said.
Rena made no comnt.
After a long while, she spoke again:
“Then if one day you earn enough money and your illness is cured, and I’m no longer of any value to you, you’ll let
go, right?”
“What could I possibly do to you? We’re accomplices!If you keep up your research, even if I quit soday, I might still have to find a way to keep protecting you. You’re so na??ve—if you get caught one day and sell
out, that’d be real trouble,” Leon replied.
“I’m not afraid of you arresting . I’m afraid you’ll silence ,” Rena muttered.
“If you were really afraid, you wouldn’t even ask. I’m more afraid you’ll poison ,” Leon shot back.
They joked like this often now.
“If you’re really afraid, then hurry up and get to work and do your job as an assistant. Otherwise, I’ll give you a dicine that makes your whole body itch.”
As she spoke, Rena pointed at the breeding pool.
“It’s all for researching your antidote. I haven’t even fed the Magical Beasts yet today.”
“You’ve been researching for over a month with no results. I think you’d be better off researching so dicine to make yourself smarter first—that’s the real critical illness!” Leon said, but still turned around and picked up the wooden bucket for feeding the Magical Beasts.
“You’re dead today!” Rena bared her teeth and lunged at Leon.
“Stop ssing around! There are poisonous things in this laboratory!”
……
At the sa ti, in the Inquisition, Director’s Office.
“Sir, we’ve visited everyone under Mr. Griffin in town, and for now we haven’t found any obvious abnormalities. Do you think there might be new distributors we haven’t yet grasped?” Captain Martin of Team Three reported the recent investigation results to the Director.
Director Caron Eso leaned back against the chair, a pipe clenched in his mouth.
After thinking for a mont, he raised his hand and waved a finger.
“That batch of finished goods has already been confird as Mr. Griffin’s rchandise. The Mana must have been purchased by his distributors. He only trusts his own people—at a ti like this, if a stranger approached him to supply goods, he’d definitely treat them as a spy from the Earl’s side.”
“But all of Mr. Griffin’s distributors in town are your informants. They… would dare take such a huge risk to deceive you?” the captain asked cautiously.
“The fact that these mongrels can serve as my informants proves they play both sides. Not a single one of them is trustworthy!” Caron said disdainfully.
“I dare say it—one of them is definitely secretly sourcing goods from sowhere behind my back!”
“Then should I find a way to apply so pressure and interrogate them one by one?” the captain suggested tentatively.
“That would take too much ti.” Caron rubbed the family crest ring on his finger and thought briefly.
“Maybe we should change direction.”
“Change direction?”
“Mr. Griffin is in desperate need of High-Purity Mana. If soone suddenly produces goods like that, their standing in the organization will definitely rise.”
Caron pointed at the captain as he instructed him.
“Have other informants ask around in that direction. And while you’re at it, check whose territory has expanded recently among those people!”
“Yes.” The captain bowed in acknowledgnt and withdrew.
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