Chapter 1125: Continuous Poisoning
After telling Uncle Guan and the others that he needed to rest for a while, Xu Huo entered Shelter 101, took out a piece of paper, placed it on the table, and began using his extended trait, "Script."
"Script" could record everything he saw, heard, and experienced, including things he considered important or unimportant. This trait could even determine what information was important to him based on the sequence of records and would deliberately write it out, even for things he had only glanced at.
Of course, this trait could not predict the future or describe things beyond his cognitive scope. For example, if someone used a prop or trait on him, "Script" could record it, but before he knew the relevant information about the prop or trait, the script could not write it out.
After activating the trait, lines of text quickly appeared on the paper. The earlier parts could be ignored, but the significant entries started from the underground nest:
"...If Xu Huo had been attentive and careful enough, he would have noticed that among the fungi in the underground nest, there was a type he had seen in a book before. This fungus might not be noteworthy in daily life, but it could serve as food for other fungi and was highly nutritious... Given Xu Huo's consumption of the King Fungus, he shouldn't need any special reminders from anyone..."
...
"...In the sealed space of Mr. Kang, a trace amount of toxin permeated the air. Xu Huo, confident in his defensive preparations, paid it no mind. However, due to multiple wounds on his body, the toxin quickly entered through the injuries and began a fierce battle with the King Fungus..."
"...Because his body had detoxification capabilities, the poison temporarily did not affect Xu Huo, which was nothing short of a miracle. But as he coughed up the first batch of dead King Fungus, it signaled an imbalance in his internal environment... If he had been more careful, he should have provided sufficient nutrients to the King Fungus at this point..."
Xu Huo could feel the mockery emanating from the piece of paper... Earlier, when Uncle Guan reminded him that the antidote he had was useless against Mr. Kang's poison, he wasn't too worried. The antidotes he gave Uncle Guan and the others were diluted from King Fungus liquid—simple antidotes that couldn't replicate the King Fungus's ability to multiply infinitely and automatically neutralize toxins.
However, during the fight with Mr. Kang, he had still taken sufficient protective measures. It was just that under the strain, he couldn't completely avoid high exposure.
The King Fungus could parasitize the human body, but it didn't grow indefinitely. After a period of growth, it would automatically die. The reason Xu Huo could maintain continuous growth of the King Fungus in his body was the same as Xin Lang, who had originally given him the King Fungus—he used the Nuwa Stone, a stone he suspected was a type of Primordial Stone.
So he didn't need any fungal nutrients.
Items like the Nuwa Stone and super props were not something he wore at all times. First, he was worried about being targeted by advanced players, and second, he feared they might be stolen. After all, there were many props in the game specifically designed for theft, and he had two in his possession.
At that moment, new text appeared on the paper:
"...Without timely replenishment of nutrients for the King Fungus, Xu Huo still possessed the Nuwa Stone gifted by a friend, so he wasn't overly concerned about his safety. However, the King Fungus could not completely neutralize the toxin quickly, posing a significant threat to his life..."
During this period, the paper described numerous instances of others using props to ambush him, but these were of little value and were skipped. The key points were only two:
"...Xu Huo did not know that while picking up the Cube Space, a player wearing a hat picked up a piece of Mr. Kang's arm flesh, extracted a blue bead from it, and happily pocketed it... He did not rush to leave Xiaohe City but instead avoided other gazes and hid at the city's edge, using an old monitor to watch the situation outside the bar..."
"...Similarly, he did not know that while picking up the Cube Space, in the debris thirty centimeters beneath his feet, there was a golden metal playing card that had flown out along with the cube..."
A metal playing card... During the fight, he hadn't seen Mr. Kang use a similar prop. But since it was blasted out, it was likely a prop he hadn't had time to put away... Could it be another prop with an owner?
Xu Huo felt an itch in his throat. He turned his head and coughed, spitting out another clump of dead fungal threads.
He put it in a container and tested the toxin level. Grade A.
The King Fungus could perfectly detoxify even seven types of S-grade toxins. For an A-grade toxin, even if it couldn't be neutralized quickly, it shouldn't be a major problem. Otherwise, he wouldn't have only now felt something wrong with his body.
Still, he couldn't be blindly confident. He opened his personal panel and began purchasing large quantities of antidotes from the bounty channel and Under Dimension, conducting simple experiments in the shelter.
After five hours, only three types of antidotes showed some effect. However, in a simulated human body environment, the virus still replicated rapidly and could not be completely eradicated.
After taking the antidotes at intervals, Xu Huo coughed up more fungal threads, but he still didn't feel any significant discomfort in his body.
However, when he walked out of the shelter, Chi Minghong took one look at him and blurted out, "You've been poisoned?"
As she spoke, she pulled out a mirror and held it up to his face. "Look for yourself!"
Xu Huo was well aware of his current appearance—his lips were slightly blackened, and faint blue-purple vein patterns appeared on both sides of his neck.
"I've already used antidotes," he said.
Uncle Guan and the others looked at him with concern. Upon learning that Mr. Kang was responsible, they fell silent for a moment. They had already witnessed the potency of that poison.
"There might be antidotes at his residence," Uncle Guan said. "We'll go out and look for them."
Xu Huo thanked them, saying he was fine. "I still have some things to take care of outside."
With that, he left the bar and instantly arrived at the spot where he had picked up the Cube Space. From under a pile of rubble, he retrieved the golden metal playing card.
The metal playing card, one millimeter thick, featured a colorful gift box pattern. Except for a rectangular border along the edge, it didn't have numbers or other game markings like a regular playing card.
He stored it in his item slot:
[Magician's Gift: A precious gift from the Magician, but precious gifts often aren't good gifts. It is said that the Magician usually gives this to the next target of his performance. As an important role in the magic show, if the recipient fails to appear at the performance venue on time after receiving the gift, they will be permanently blacklisted by the Magician. Unless they die, a magic show will eventually be performed on them.]
[In magic, suddenly disappearing or being neatly cut in half is quite common, isn't it?]
[Note: This gift is single-use, non-transferable, non-tradeable, and must not be lost or discarded.]
(End of Chapter)