"Everything in this world has its own strengths and weaknesses. The more obvious the strength, the more obvious the weakness will be," Nostradamus said calmly, "Take this plague for example. Its fast rate of infection and how hard it is to cure after infection are both its strengths."
"But if you want to drive it away, all you need is the simplest thing, sunlight."
"That's probably its most irreparable weakness!"
"Only…"
As he spoke, Nostradamus raised his head again to look at the thick clouds above and said, "Who would've thought that after so many years of development in the Land of Plague, something like this massive cloud barrier would appear, allowing plague knights to hide within it and come out of the Land of Plague once again."
"It looks like the world is about to fall into chaos again."
"Whether the world falls into chaos or not isn't what I care about right now," Ethan cut off Nostradamus's lament, "Master, I just want to ask you one thing. As long as the sun comes out, will the plague on them heal on its own?"
"Yes."
Nostradamus nodded seriously, "But driving away clouds hundreds of meters thick, let alone you, even I can't do that easily."
"You might as well give up on them sooner."
"Although…"
"Your master here may not have the ability to clear that vast stretch of cloud in the sky, but clearing away this bit of filth on the ground, I can still manage."
"No," Ethan shook his head repeatedly, "Master, wait! I have a way!"
"You have a way?"
A trace of surprise flashed through Nostradamus's eyes.
But Ethan didn't have time to explain. He simply hurried off toward the Pet Park.
Watching his back, Nostradamus shook his head helplessly, "Even I don't have a solution. What could a little brat like you possibly do?"
"If you wait any longer and the plague spreads beyond a hundred meters, even your master here won't be able to do anything."
"But… forget it."
"I've lived long enough anyway. Today, this old man will go crazy with you for once."
———
[Pet Park]
The moment Ethan pushed the door open, a foul stench hit him straight in the face.
On top of that, the Pet Park already contained fire-element beast cores, so it was heated inside. The warmth made the rotten smell even stronger. The scent was like steamed durian flesh.
One breath of it almost knocked him out cold.
After finally managing to recover… Ethan looked inside the Pet Park and saw that Poker Face no longer even looked human. Pus-filled blisters had burst open all over his body, and from inside crawled long, semi-transparent worms with bright red veins running through them.
After breaking through Poker Face's skin, those worms didn't leave immediately. Instead, they clung to his body, and with their mouthparts…
They continuously gnawed at the flesh around his pus-covered wounds.
In no time, Poker Face's wounds were chewed into a bloody, mangled mess.
Yet wounds that would make anyone faint from pain at a glance didn't seem to affect him at all. He kept desperately devouring the red dragon meat covered in magma peppers, along with other meats.
This was all something Ethan had instructed Cook Four to prepare. Once Poker Face finished eating, it had to be replenished immediately.
He could eat as much as he wanted.
Poker Face sat on the ground with hollow, numb eyes, mechanically grabbing piece after piece of meat from the large basin in front of him and stuffing it into his mouth, chewing without feeling.
His hands had already been burned red by the peppers, even peeling, yet he didn't care at all.
He just kept eating, while being eaten at the same time.
["Master, you're here!"]
The Queen Bee's voice sounded in Ethan's ear.
Ethan had been so focused on Poker Face that he almost forgot to ask, "Queen Bee, how much longer until these sun worms become adults? I need to save people urgently!"
["Don't worry, Master,"] the Queen Bee said, ["It'll take about another hour."]
"Still another hour?"
Hearing this, Ethan frowned deeply, "Is there any other way to speed up their growth?"
["There is, but it requires something relatively rare."]
"What is it? Tell me."
["Spring of Life."]
"Spring of Life," Ethan's eyes lit up immediately. He then took out some crystallized Spring of Life from his tail ring and said, "Will this work?"
["O-of course it will!"]
The Queen Bee quickly flew out of the hive, circling around Ethan's palm, ["If I had known Master had something this good, he wouldn't have had to suffer so much."]
"Heh! He's already suffered enough. Looking at him now, there's probably no going back anyway."
Ethan shrugged, feeling a bit of sympathy for Poker Face.
Then he asked the Queen Bee, "So how do I use these life crystals?"
["It's very simple. Just sprinkle them into his food,"] the Queen Bee explained, ["These life crystals will quickly pass through his digestive system and flow throughout his body. Then the sun worms parasitizing him will naturally absorb the energy evenly."]
"Alright!"
Ethan quickly walked toward the large basin of food in front of Poker Face. After taking a couple of steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "Then how much should I use?"
["If it's just to make them mature immediately, one portion is enough,"] the Queen Bee continued, ["But if you want them to evolve further, then anywhere from ten to a hundred portions will work. The more you give, the faster they evolve."]
"Alright then, I'll splurge this time and give it a try."
If he hadn't learned about the plague land before, even if Ethan fed the sun worms life crystals, he would've been extremely stingy.
After all, this stuff was too precious. Back then, he had to kill a large number of tree spirits just to get a few hundred portions of the Spring of Life.
Who knew when he'd ever get more again.
But ever since he learned that the true enemy they might face could be the plague army from the other side of the world, Ethan could no longer afford to be frugal with these life crystals.
After all, these sun worms might be the only thing capable of fighting the plague.
So, ge naturally had to spare no effort in breeding them.
Taking out a hundred portions of life crystals, Ethan raised his hand high and sprinkled them down like the Salt Bae, scattering all hundred portions over the food.
And the moment Poker Face sensed their presence—
He suddenly lifted his head.
His originally numb and lifeless eyes actually gained a faint trace of light at that moment.
It was a look of longing.
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