The next day.
Game time: 06:49.
Mida City, Holy Church United Chapel.
"Although I don't know why he lost consciousness, his body is very healthy." Luna looked at Mo Tan lying on the bed and slowly said to the three people beside her, "Both the divine spell and the Awakening Flower worked, but neither could wake him up. He's not poisoned or sick, which is strange, isn't it...?"
Tairo, who hadn't rested well since noon the day before, frowned and quietly asked the hazy Alchemist, "Then what exactly is wrong with Black Vatican?"
Ai Mang, the Elf Druid beside him, also looked eagerly at Luna.
"I can't tell either." The young Alchemist girl shook her head slightly and, without looking up, opened the notebook she always carried, muttering distractedly, "Let him stay in this state for now. Maybe he'll wake up on his own in a little while... After all, there's really nothing wrong with his physical condition right now."
Tairo sighed deeply, then turned to Yu Cheng, who was lost in thought, and asked, "Holy Maiden, should we find a few more apothecaries to take a look? Black Vatican has been unconscious for most of the day; if this continues..."
"Huh? Oh, I don't think so." Yu Cheng shook her head weakly and whispered, "Didn't Miss Luna say Mo... Black Vatican's body is fine? So let's not trouble anyone else, okay?"
Ai Mang couldn't help but interject, "But Black Vatican..."
"Alright." Tairo, however, nodded, not letting Ai Mang finish his sentence. He just said to Yu Cheng in a low voice, "Then I'll head back to the outpost for now. Call me anytime if anything happens."
Yu Cheng smiled softly, "Okay, Mr. Tairo, you go back and rest. I'll watch over him. Oh, speaking of which..."
She opened her mouth, looking at the resolute, scarred, blood-stained, and completely soot-faced Paladin in front of her, as if he had just run out of a coal mine, seemingly hesitant about whether to speak a certain thought.
"Holy Maiden?" Tairo blinked in confusion, curious, "Is there a problem?"
Yu Cheng pursed her lips and shook her head, "No, it's not exactly a problem... I'm just curious, those black marks on you don't seem to be from setting fires..."
"Uh, that." Tairo subconsciously wiped his face, then looked at the layer of 'mysterious black substance' on his palm and gave a wry smile, "This really wasn't from us setting fires, and certainly not the Mutants. It should be considered a small accident."
Yu Cheng tilted her head, "A small accident?"
Ai Mang also asked with considerable curiosity, "I've been wondering since I arrived in the village yesterday, how did you Paladins manage to get yourselves like this?"
"It was me."
Luna, who was engrossed in her book, suddenly said without looking up, then pulled out a dark red rhomboid crystal from her pocket and shook it at the three of them, "I had someone throw this kind of fire-starting magic crystal out of the workshop... and then they, who had just arrived, were affected. That's pretty much what happened. Oh, don't worry, the chronic toxins included as an additive have no lethality. Only more than double the standard amount would cause dizziness, suffocation, and unconsciousness..."
Bang!
Tairo, who hadn't closed his eyes for over twenty hours and had been swaying precariously, collapsed to the ground at that perfectly timed moment.
Yu Cheng and Ai Mang were stunned.
Luna also froze for a moment, then continued slowly, "Oh, right, I seem to have... no, I definitely accidentally added three extra poison glands, so it's already more than double the standard amount, but the toxins seem to be taking effect a bit late..."
"Huh?"
"Miss Luna?"
The two people beside her were already panicking. Yu Cheng frantically cast several healing divine spells on Tairo, while Ai Mang, utterly bewildered, tried to scratch his ear with his foot, forgetting he was currently in human form.
"Is it because of his physique...? Or is it because of the faint divine power caused by faith that delayed the toxin's effect...?" Luna, however, continued to mumble to herself by Mo Tan's bed, flipping through her notebook rapidly, and after a long while, she looked up at the two and said leisurely, "Don't worry, that bit of toxin is fine even if left alone. It will dissipate on its own in a few hours. While healing with divine spells would be more effective, it would leave him feeling weak for the next half-day, probably..."
Yu Cheng immediately stopped her skill upon hearing this and asked in a flustered tone, "Then what's the best thing to do now?"
"Hmm, you, big cat, take him and find a place to lie down." Luna said casually, then pulled half a bag of rotten leaves from her pocket and threw it to Ai Mang, "Give him five of these, then divide the rest among the other three..."
"I'm not a big cat." Ai Mang bit into the dirty little bag, then immediately transformed back into human form (still holding the bag in his mouth), helped Tairo up, mumbled his goodbyes to the two, and then quickly left (still holding the bag).
Although he cared about Mo Tan's condition, Ai Mang wasn't particularly worried. After all, in terms of healing, both the Holy Maiden and the Alchemist, who was also quite knowledgeable in pharmacy, were much better than him. There wasn't much point in him, a combat-focused Druid, staying there.
And from a male perspective, being cared for by only two girls would probably be more enjoyable, right?
A moment later...
Yu Cheng stretched a little, then slowly walked over to Luna and gently broke the silence, "Um, Miss Luna... I heard you've been working very hard these past few days. Do you want to rest? There are many empty rooms on this floor."
"It's fine." The latter merely shook her head lightly, pointing to her necklace with a stopper embedded in it, "There are two small enchantments on this that can keep the wearer awake. I want to watch him for a bit longer..."
Yu Cheng was stunned, "Watch him for a bit longer?!"
"Yes." Luna yawned, then leaned down to listen to Mo Tan's heartbeat, and pulled open his eyelids, whispering, "He abruptly fell into a coma, or perhaps a deep sleep, when his bodily functions were completely normal. Hmm, his physique is very interesting."
Yu Cheng gave an awkward smile. She knew very well that the reason Mo Tan 'lost consciousness' was probably just that he went offline, but she couldn't explain it directly to the NPC girl in front of her, so she just nodded lightly, "Then I'll go out for a moment, I'll be back soon..."
With that, she hurried out of the room, then pushed the door open and walked back in less than five minutes.
"Oh?" Luna, who was leaning over Mo Tan with her notebook, subconsciously looked back at Yu Cheng, then let out a surprised gasp, curious, "How long were you out?"
Yu Cheng hesitated, then whispered, "Just... four or five minutes?"
"Four or five minutes?" Luna gently tapped her thin, slightly pale lower lip with her index finger, muttering softly, "So I wasn't distracted... Hmm, but why does it feel a bit off?"
Yu Cheng, whose psychological fortitude was genuinely average when dealing with people, was startled several times. Although she maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, she was panicking inside. She had indeed been gone for more than four or five minutes, or to be precise, she had left this world for twelve hours shortly after going out. But how did Luna know?!
To her, as an NPC, she should have truly only been gone for about four or five minutes!
"Your complexion looks a bit off, like you just drank two bottles of life-and-death water but still couldn't fall asleep. It's very strange, in short." Luna nodded seriously, then slowly stood up and walked towards Yu Cheng, "If you don't mind, can I examine you?"
The latter froze on the spot, then immediately waved her small hands vigorously and stammered, "Ah, um... no need, I'm fine... fine... Ugh!"
But Luna seemed not to hear her, reaching out both small hands to cup Yu Cheng's cheeks and began to examine her closely, muttering softly, "Feels very normal, no potion reactions either, but why..."
"Why do I wake up to such a scene?"
A helpless voice came from behind. The two turned around and saw Mo Tan, who had regained consciousness at some point, sitting upright and staring wide-eyed at the two girls by the door, clicking his tongue, "A blooming lily..."
Then he was pressed down by Luna, who had scurried back, and received the same treatment Yu Cheng had just experienced, with the curious Alchemist girl cupping his face.
"He woke up inexplicably, and after being unconscious for so long, there's no weakness at all. How amazing." Luna stared into Mo Tan's eyes for a long time, then, muttering to herself, pulled out a blue lantern and shone it at him. Her pale face was flushed with excitement, and her misty eyes sparkled. "Just as I thought, no magic or toxin residue in his body. It seems to be due to a cause unrelated to external forces. Hmm... I was present the whole time, but I didn't discover anything..."
Facing Mo Tan's searching and bewildered gaze, Yu Cheng shook her head slightly at him over Luna's slender shoulder, then quickly sent Mo Tan a few messages explaining the situation.
Simply put, he had gone offline yesterday on the way back from Erbazi Village, and then Ai Mang had tied him to a horse's back and brought him back to Mida City first. Luna was also with them, as she was the only one in the party at the time who had dabbled in the medical field. Another reason was that the young girl was very interested in what had happened to Mo Tan.
So they returned to Mida City first (Mo Tan and Luna on horseback, Ai Mang transformed and ran alongside, biting the reins) and immediately rushed to the chapel to find Yu Cheng.
Yu Cheng, who knew Mo Tan had definitely gone offline, was naturally not overly worried, but...
Luna, however, was particularly invested in the matter. Not only did she stay by unconscious Mo Tan's side the entire time, but she also repeatedly tried to force various strangely colored and flavored potions down his throat. And because she had no ill intentions, the system did not stop her. So Yu Cheng, who had originally planned to leave the city to continue treating the wounded, hesitated repeatedly and decided to stay, intending to help after Luna rested. However, she didn't expect the latter to 'observe and research' by Mo Tan's side for an entire night!
Even when Tairo and the villagers returned, the seemingly perpetually sleepy-eyed girl showed no sign of wanting to sleep!
"Alright, I think I understand what happened." Mo Tan nodded wryly, then raised his arm to gently block Luna's constantly probing small hands, shrugging, "Actually, I was just sleepy, and I couldn't resist and fell into a dead sleep as soon as I relaxed."
Luna frowned, "Sleepy?"
"Yes." Mo Tan nodded vigorously, improvising, "It's just that I hadn't slept for a long time, so I was incredibly sleepy, and as soon as I relaxed, I fell asleep."
The young Alchemist girl pondered for a moment, then slowly stood up, her eyes instantly returning to their previous hazy state, and nodded, "Oh, then I'm going to sleep..."
She actually believed him!
"Wait a moment." Mo Tan, however, softly called out to Luna, saying seriously, "There are a few things I'm curious about, and I hope you can help me answer them if possible."
Luna nodded, "Tell me."
"I remember you said before." Mo Tan narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered, "You analyzed for a long time before determining the characteristics of those undead creatures... right?"
Yu Cheng, who had just walked over, immediately widened her eyes upon hearing this, "Undead creatures?"
"Yes, undead creatures." Luna, however, nodded as if it were obvious, and sat back down in the chair listlessly, "What's wrong?"
Mo Tan spread his hands, "We've always called them Mutants or monsters, but we've never understood the essence of those things, so I wanted you to help analyze them."
"Undead creatures are just undead creatures." Luna, however, distractedly flipped through her notebook and said lightly, "Mutants, hmm, a very apt name. Those people were indeed alive before they were infected, but after 'mutating,' they are completely different. Even if they are still 'alive,' they are thoroughly undead creatures. That's how it is."
Yu Cheng shook her head very honestly, "I don't understand..."
"Because their nature of existence has changed." Luna mumbled hazily, quickly entering a pre-sleep daze, yawning as she explained, "It's like Mudkachu are alive, and Frost Roots are also alive, but they are animals and plants respectively. Those Mutants are also alive, but they are undead creatures... That's probably how it can be explained... Hmph~ So sleepy..."
Mo Tan looked at Yu Cheng, who was as bewildered as he was, and said to Luna with a wry smile, "That explanation feels a bit abstract."
"Is it...? Anyway, it's the same kind of thing. Mutants, Skeleton Soldiers, will-o'-the-wisps, this Plague, whatever, their nature is all undead..."
"Wait a moment! You just said Plague!?"
"Yes, I said Plague... Hmm... and Skeleton Soldiers..."
Chapter 202: End
