Chapter 143 – Wanted Florida Man Dressing in Among Us Suit Terrorizes Towns. FBI Warns Children Not to Trust Any Man in Among Us Cosplay.
"Nom-Nom Meow Meow <3"
Cat giggled as she deeply inhaled the mushroom spores. To her, the sweet scent smelled like a freshly cooked wagyu steak.
The living mushrooms entered her bloodstream. However, they were instantly devoured by transparent blood cells, which Cat inherited from Leo.
The more the cells absorbed the mushroom spores, the livelier Cat became. As if Cat got injected with a chicken's blood, she sprinted around the infected area and sucked in as much spore as she could.
Her existence became an air filter. Pink gas entered her mouth whenever she inhaled. But when she exhaled, only her bad breath came out.
The expanding pink spore also reacted to her actions. As they moved by their instinct, they traveled closer to the closest lifeform to infect her. As a result, the fog chased after her while she ran around.
The torrent of gas filter gradually cleaned the area, stopping the spread from the north to the south.
Unfortunately, Cat's action wasn't enough to remove all pink spores from the area. As the fully grown mushrooms and zombies from Dragon Mantis City never stopped producing new spores, the disappeared fog was replaced.
"Nom Nom-Nom, Nom-Nom, Meow <3"
After running around for an hour, Cat noticed the traits of the mushroom fog. Instead of chasing the spores, she planted her roots in the soil and spread her thorn vines. Then, she mumbled.
PLOP
PLOP
Black stems slowly grew from her thorn vines. Soon, they became new branches and leaves. The small leaves produced sticky liquid, which trapped the mushroom spores on her. The parasitic mushrooms melted upon touch and got absorbed into her leaves and vines.
As Cat digested more mushrooms, her life force and her strength increased.
RUMBLE
Dark clouds slowly gathered above Cat as she was about to naturally break through to the 8th stage. She looked up and noticed the flashing purple and yellow lightning in the sky.
Cat's lips curved down. She hated thunder and lightning.
Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightened her.
BANG!
Thunder roared as the tribulation clouds warned Cat about her pending trial by fire.
Cat bore her teeth in anger. She plunged her vines and new branches into the ground, getting ready to endure the punishment from heaven.
BOOM
BOOM
Purple and Yellow lightning bolts slammed at her without mercy. At the same time, the extreme heat burnt the pink spores and all surrounding trees.
Getting hit by yellow lightning bolts, Cat's vines and roots slowly turned into stone. However, her transparent blood cells rushed to the petrified parts to cure the curse.
Cat's innate ability was also active. She summoned the DNA of the cockatrices that she had been storing inside her and digested it. As the new DNA contained instinctive programs that the cockatrices had inherited from their ancestors, Cat took in some of their natural traits.
One of them was the power of petrification and the ability to resist the stone curse.
After assimilating with the DNA, her petrified parts rapidly healed and reverted back to normal.
BOOM
Although the yellow lightning bolts could no longer turn her into stone, their extreme temperature still burnt her vines and roots. Her body was lightened on fire along with the surrounding iron pine trees and mushroom spore.
Cat's eyes gleamed as she imagined what Leo would do in this situation. She came up with a few solutions, but most of them were impossible for her.
Still, she remembered one thing that he and she could do in common.
"NOM-NOM MEOW!"
Opening her mouth wide, she taunted the tribulation clouds to strike her again.
Replying to Cat's taunt, a yellow and purple lightning bolt descended and descended into her mouth.
BOOM
Cat shut her mouth and trapped the intense energy inside. The scorching light burnt her tongue and melted her teeth. But a few seconds later, she gulped the air in her mouth into her tree trunk.
BURP
After letting out some gas, Cat's burnt wounds and her innards were instantly healed. She could feel her life force rising. At the same time, her humanoid body on top of the plant physique also grew bigger.
From a child-like upper torso and face, Cat gained the body of a middle-school teenager. Her dao avatar behind her also transformed into a refined black elf in her adult form.
Yellow electric sparks leaked from her vines and head as Cat stole a portion of lightning Qi to herself.
RUMBLE
The lightning tribulation was far from over. 30 consecutive yellow lightning bolts kept coming, punishing Cat for stealing heaven's energy.
Cat welcomed the lightning bolts with an open mouth. Her humanoid body laughed while the corner of her chomper mouth curved upward.
"NOM-NOM MEOW!"
...
That day, Cat broke through her bottleneck and became an official 8th-stage monster on her own.
The tribulation ended before the sunset. However, Cat didn't return to Leo's domain. She gazed toward the north as she smelled something nicer than the pink gas.
She smelled corpses and bigger mushrooms.
.
.
Imperial Palace
Sitting in front of the throne room was Ouyang Ke. He reported the incident to Emperor Yan Xiang and the officials.
"Sweet Dream Mushrooms?!"
The court officials murmured and looked around in panic. As for Yan Xiang, he stood as this incident reminded him of the calamity 500 years ago.
Last time, Situ Nantian sacrificed a portion of the continent and forcefully broke through to summon yellow tribulation lightning.
Only yellow lightning bolts could burn the mushrooms and stop them from growing. However, to summon such a tribulation, they required a talented soul transformation cultivator who could withstand the punishing attacks from heaven.
Many good cultivators died during the mystic realm expedition. The second prince's party was wiped out while the Situ Clan suffered a major blow. In short, their manpower was crippled.
The officials in the thorn room looked around to find the right candidates. Some sneaked glances at Tang Xuan while weaker cultivators thought of the first prince and the third prince.
While everybody was lost for words, a representative from the Situ Clan took a step forward.
The man was Situ Bai. He was an elder of the Cauldron Gnosis Sect, which was a part of the Pill Union. Although he was from the union, he had been working here to coordinate between the imperial court and his clan.
Situ Bai was like other court officials here. He kept his blue robes clean and spotless. His long hair was hidden inside his headwear, and he carried no weapon with him.
Bowing to the emperor, Situ Bai offered his insight.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to panic. From the information, the new sweet dream mushroom lair is the Dragon Mantis City south of here. Thanks to Elder Ouyang's quick wits, the wind is temporarily blowing south."
"And…?" Yan Xiang deeply frowned as he wanted the mushrooms contained, not spreading elsewhere.
"This is the best solution we have at the moment. Since Daoist Florida Man is rumored to reside near the Magpie City, he would be the first to face the spreading of the mushrooms."
Everybody in the room murmured again. As Leo had just been marked as a criminal due to his recent deed, Yan Xiang and the backers of the imperial family hated him. Hearing that he would run into the deadly mushrooms first, some of the men secretly smirked.
But there was an issue.
Yan Luo, the first prince, also attended the meeting. He pointed out the loopholes of their vague goal.
"What if Florida Man escapes? He can just avoid the mushrooms and flee to the other continents, right?"
Situ Bai grinned, "That won't be possible. Our spies have discovered that the people of Life Sword Sect and Amazonian Sanctuary are now working for him."
The listeners nodded as they got the same information as well. Although they didn't get this information from Tang Xuan, they once sent spies to check Leo's movements from time to time. Although they failed to infiltrate his domain, observing everybody from afar was enough to get that piece of information.
Situ Bai continued, "We believe that the criminal has taken both groups as his vessels. Since the commoners of the Magpie City can't move as fast as cultivators, I don't think Florida Man's subordinates will abandon their hometown. They will surely force Florida Man to either protect them or abandon them."
"And you're certain that Florida Man will protect those people?" Yan Luo raised his brows in amusement.
"Yes. He has no choice if he wishes to stay on this continent for a long time. If he ditches his subordinates, his reputation will take a huge hit. After that, he will be isolated among all sects, which is not ideal for someone who randomly opens a shop in the wild. He needs customers, and he needs us."
"…"
Yan Xiang glared at Situ Bai. He disliked the idea of relying on Leo. He deeply inhaled and voiced his thoughts.
"What if Florida Man fails to remove the mushrooms?"
Situ Bai shook his head, "Then, he is incompetent, and he deserves to die from the mushroom poisoning."
"Right. What about the mushroom suppression?"
Situ Bai widely grinned. He revealed the existence of his clan's ancestor.
"One of our ancestors is coming home to spectate the upcoming youth tournament. Once he arrives, we will ask him to help us remove the deadly mushrooms."
"…"
Yan Xiang nodded. He also contacted his father, but he never told anybody. He kept this piece of information a secret to himself for now as he planned to use his father to kill Leo in case everybody failed.
"Alright. Then, what about the jiangshis? Hua Guanhai and his Death Sword Sect's people got infected, right? How do we deal with those men?"
Situ Bai affirmed, "Of course, we'll pit them against Florida Man."
"How do we do it?"
Situ Bai confidently brought out a cyan pill from his pocket. As soon as it came out, the pill hovered over his palm. It also emitted a strong presence of a rare elemental Qi.
"This is my new creation, the Garuda Tornado Pill! If I crush this pill, a strong tornado will be summoned, and I can manipulate it at will because I have mastered the wind element. I can trap Hua Guanhai and jiangshi of the Death Sword Sect with this and send them to Florida Man's doorsteps!"
The crowd was astonished. Some of them praised Situ Bai out loud.
"Brilliant!"
"Such insight! As expected of the Situ Clan!"
Yan Xiang and Yan Luo also approved the idea. The former quickly permitted him to put his idea into action.
"Situ Bai, since you've proposed the idea, you will be in charge of sending Hua Guanhai to that criminal's store. Also, if anything goes wrong, you will take full responsibility!"
Situ Bai smirked. He bowed 90 degrees, "This servant will not fail you."
.
.
= Meanwhile =
Leo was bored. After the incident with Esen and the waterfall, he had been helping the mannequins chop iron pine lumbers as nobody could do it.
One of the alchemy workshops also changed its priority. Leo stopped making more tea as he assigned it to make sacred wood instead.
After the alchemy workshop turned the useless lumber into blocks of sacred wood, Leo transferred them to the gunsmith and ordered the automatons to make new bullets and guns, using the materials.
The gun production proceeded nicely. Even though the mannequins could only make outdated matchlock rifles, they were enough to arm more men or be used as spare guns.
While Leo was busy working as a carpenter, his sensitive nose caught a scent of something sweet. He stopped working and looked north.
"…"
Leo had long forgotten about this scent. But as soon as he smelled it, he finally remembered where he last saw the source of this odor.
Sweet Dream Mushrooms!
"Ah, those things. I haven't used them in alchemy yet because of Hua Jiashan. I wonder if I can make a secret workshop in the mall or a basement somewhere to experiment with the new recipes."
.
[Pill Recipe – Hope and Dream Pill]
One Sweet Dream Mushroom
Ten Yang Catalysts
Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, and Wood Essence
[Pill Recipe – Determination Pill]
One Sweet Dream Mushroom
Ten Yin Catalysts
Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, and Wood Essence
[Traits]
Increase Lifespan by one year per gram (Consumption)
.
Leo never forgot about it. These recipes had been his regrets since Hua Jiashan and Wu Buyi forced him to remove the mushrooms from his workshop.
Since a new source of mushrooms appeared, it would have been a waste for Leo not to check it out. He put aside his job and put on a new hazmat suit. He also purchased 10 4-foot-tall plastic barrels to store the ingredients.
POOF
Ten plastic barrels came out. However, they weren't safe enough for a chemical weapon, such as the zombie mushrooms.
Leo used the same old trick by touching the new plastic barrels and thought about upgrading these containers.
DING
<Will you upgrade Plastic Barrel to Level 2?>
<Upgrading it will consume 1,000 years of your lifespan.>
The barrel itself only cost Leo one year of lifespan, but upgrading it required a lot more.
As Leo had no issue with lifespan at the moment, he ordered the system.
"Upgrade it to level 9!"
<Affirmative!>
The barrel shapeshifted as its material drastically changed. As if the system understood Leo's purposes, it changed the barrel to suit the future ingredients.
The barrels turned into a cubic metal tank while it retained the same height. Its surface glowed in rainbow light, similar to Leo's aura. However, it had no lid or a way to open it.
"Huh?"
Looking at the cubic tank, Leo scratched his head. He flipped it around, but he couldn't find a way to open it. But then, his imagination taught him how to use the new artifact.
"Like this?"
Leo thought outside the box and injected his Qi into it.
CREAK
The cubic tank opened a hole on top, revealing the empty space inside.
"…"
As childish as he was, Leo jumped into the container and hugged his knees. Then, he touched the surface of the cube.
"Close it!"
WHOOSH
The square hole was closed.
Leo looked up and widely grinned. He found himself trapped inside a completely sealed cubic tank.
"NOICE! Now, open!"
WHOOSH
As Leo commanded, the box moved like a slime, opening a hole for Leo to come out.
Unfortunately, Leo's ADHD and his internal thoughts acted up. He touched the bottom of the cube and designed it.
"Open here, here, and here. Oh, open this, too. Make room for me! Oh, you're too tall. Can you shrink?"
Again, the cubic tank shrank and reshaped according to Leo's will. Soon, it became a smaller square box. As for Leo, he inserted his legs through the two bottom holes while the cube remained covering his legs as a layer of suit.
Leo's head remained inside the new peanut-like container. In front of him, a small area turned transparent, allowing Leo to see the outside. From the outside, Leo's suit looked like a bulky spacesuit with a square backpack. However, it had no arms.
PLOP-PLOP
Leo moved his legs, and the container moved as well. He laughed as he got the cosplay suit that he dreamt of.
"Hehehehe. I am the new imposter! Where are my crewmates?"
