Chapter 23: Understanding "Dullness" |
The trading location.
Lino set down his sack full of mushrooms and waited quietly.
Lai Ya and her rat-skin companion, Da Zhuang, arrived at the scene.
As usual, the two parties first completed the trade for the regular mushrooms, letting Da Zhuang leave with the load on his back.
Once the rat-skin was far enough away, Lai Ya looked Lino up and down. "Why do I feel like you've gotten taller?"
"You're right. I'm undergoing physical augmentations, so I'll be even taller in the future." Lino smiled. "How is the illustrated guide coming along?"
Lai Ya pulled a journal from her inner pocket.
"Here, open it and take a look. I've recorded information on fifteen biological and non-biological subjects. I know you like fungi, so I specifically made sure to include the six most common types found in the Ruins Zone. The fungal samples are in my bag."
"Thank you for going through all that trouble, Lai Ya," Lino said thoughtfully. "I've run into some trouble recently, and I need a favor."
"Yeah, I can see that. Who beat you up like this? Lure him over, and I'll bring some people to beat him to a pulp."
"That won't be necessary. The favor I need has nothing to do with the injuries on my face. I got these during training."
As he spoke, Lino accidentally twitched his bruised face and drew in a sharp breath.
"Hiss, that hurts. Lai Ya, do you have any way to counter mind-affecting psionic energy?"
"Mind-affecting psionic energy?" Lai Ya frowned deeply. "Did you provoke a Psyker?"
Lino spun a quick excuse.
"You could say that. The guy can force people into hallucinations. I want to find a way to counter his psionic energy."
"No wonder you were beaten black and blue. Did he disorient you with an illusion first and then take the opportunity to beat you up?"
Clearly, Lai Ya had filled in the blanks of Lino's supposed victimization on her own.
Lino couldn't be bothered to explain the details, so he just nodded, silently confirming her theory.
Lai Ya took a glass tube about the size of her pinky finger out of her pocket.
"Try this: Cold-Leaf Tincture. Drink it while you're trapped in an illusion, and it should help you snap out of it. I won't charge you for it; consider it a gift. I still have plenty more back home."
Lino originally intended to accept it, but he remembered what Robnos had said while injecting the enhancement serum:
After injecting the enhancement serum, you cannot drink water, and you cannot eat.
Robnos hadn't specified what would happen if he forcefully drank or ate, but he figured it would undoubtedly trigger severe side effects.
If he couldn't even drink water, then swallowing a chemical tincture was definitely out of the question.
Lino waved his hand.
"Lai Ya, his illusions are special. While the hallucination is active, I can't drink water or eat food; otherwise, I'll die on the spot."
Lai Ya stared at him blankly.
"That's bizarre. I've been wandering the Ruins Zone for so long, and this is the first time I've ever heard of that kind of psionic energy."
Lino spread his hands, a look of helplessness on his face.
Lai Ya put the tincture away and gently rubbed her brow. "Well, can you afford a psionic inhibitor?"
Without waiting for Lino to answer, Lai Ya looked him up and down and answered her own question.
"Alright, it seems you're just like me and can't afford a psionic inhibitor. Only people from the upper hive get to enjoy things like that. In that case, I only have one piece of advice for you."
Lai Ya raised her index finger and wagged it.
"And that is to temporarily turn yourself into an idiot, so you become completely incapable of experiencing hallucinations."
'Huh? Turn myself into an idiot? What the hell?' Lino was thoroughly dumbfounded.
Seeing his reaction, Lai Ya knew he didn't grasp the true value of being an "idiot."
"Take a look at page ten of the guide. It records a type of monster that can cause hallucinations."
Lai Ya helped Lino flip open the journal.
This page featured a hand-drawn sketch.
The drawing depicted the interior of a rocky tunnel. The stone walls were uneven and completely covered with bizarre, jagged patterns.
Looking closely, those patterns were clearly distinct human faces.
Their mouths were wide open in silent screams, as if they were suffering in sheer agony.
Below the drawing, it read:
"Wailing Passage: Those who enter will be affected by mind-altering psionic energy, see terrifying visions, and hear cries of agony. Those unable to withstand the hallucinations will be sucked into the rock walls and transformed into a new human face.
"Countermeasure: Consume drugs to disable your ability to hallucinate."
Lai Ya said, "This tunnel is on the unavoidable route between the Ruins Zone and the Underhive. People passing through usually take anti-psychotic drugs first before crossing. If no drugs are available, swallowing mushroom spores with similar effects works too. For example, this one."
Lai Ya flipped back a few pages to a section introducing a certain type of fungus.
An image of a mushroom with a white stem and a red cap appeared in the guide. The cap was covered in colorful, speckled spots, giving it a somewhat eerie appearance.
Its informational description read like this:
"Dull Mushroom: A type of Psychic Fungus that actively sprays spores into its surroundings.
"Its spores can freeze a person's cognitive abilities, forcing them into a state of Brain Paralysis, much like an idiot.
"These spores are not entirely harmful. Experiments have proven that a person trapped in Brain Paralysis will have their brain protected by a psionic barrier, temporarily rendering them immune to psionic-induced hallucinations."
Lino looked thoughtful.
"Interesting. Using spores with a negative effect to counter hallucination-inducing psionic energy—it acts like two negatives making a positive. Is this the wisdom of the Ruins Zone?"
Lai Ya smiled.
"It doesn't really count as the wisdom of the Ruins Zone. This method of fighting poison with poison mostly originated from the mutant gangs and cultists down in the Underhive. Oh, right, the fungal sample is in my bag."
Lai Ya opened her backpack and took out a glass jar.
Lino aimed at the mushroom inside the jar and cast Analyze Fungus.
[Name: Dull Mushroom]
[Analysis Results:]
[A peculiar predatory fungus that can sustain a saprophytic lifestyle even in the absence of prey.]
[This mushroom has been contaminated by miscellaneous bacteria and carries toxicity. Its medicinal value lies in the psionic effects of its spores.]
[Fungal Ability: Brain Paralysis]
[Unlock Requirement: 100 skill points. Once the fungus is domesticated by you, the unlock requirement drops to 1 skill point.]
[You only need to remove the bacterial contamination to complete the domestication.]
'Brain Paralysis?'
'A skill that freezes the brain?'
'If I use this ability against those dockworkers looking for trouble, won't it turn them all into wooden logs?'
Lino was full of anticipation regarding the effects of Brain Paralysis.
If it could truly counter hallucinations, then that would be absolutely perfect.
"I'll head back and test its effects in a bit." Lino took out a sample-grade mushroom and handed it over.
"Put the mushrooms away first. Wait for me to finish reading through the guide you brought before you head back. I'll be quick; it won't take up too much of your time."
Receiving the mushrooms, Lai Ya couldn't wait to pull one out and eat it. She smiled brightly.
"I'm in no rush; take your time reading. If you can't handle that Psyker, just lure him over, and I'll find some people to teach him a lesson. You just need to give me five kilograms of sample-grade mushrooms for it."
Her methods were truly wild.
Lino politely declined with an awkward smile. While reading through the guide, he discussed trading with cigarettes with Lai Ya.
The over-the-counter retail price of premium-grade Kram Cigarettes was two hundred ration cards per pack. With ten cigarettes in a pack, that came out to twenty ration cards per cigarette.
However, the cigarettes at the counters were always snapped up immediately, leaving them perpetually out of stock. Ordinary people had no choice but to go to private cigarette stalls and buy them at a price of twenty-five ration cards per cigarette.
These stalls bought back cigarettes for twenty-two ration cards each, with no limit on the quantity, trading on the spot.
Consequently, Lino and Lai Ya came to an agreement:
Starting from the next trade, they would settle their transactions using premium-grade Kram Cigarettes. Every two kilograms of mushrooms would be exchanged for one cigarette, and any remainder would be paid in ration cards.
Just like that, the two arrived at a mutually satisfying trading arrangement.
Lino headed home carrying the ration cards and the fungal sample Lai Ya had provided.
In order to complete his grand goal of buying a house as soon as possible, he increased the amount of mushrooms for their next trade to eighty kilograms.
After deducting his planting costs, the amount of ration cards he would possess by the night after tomorrow should be enough to cover the down payment on the house.
Of course, the most critical issue right now was still surviving the lethal mortality rate of the enhancement serum.
Every day when he received his injection, Lino was on pins and needles, terrified that his eyes would simply roll back into his head, abruptly ending his life as a transmigrator.
