"So this is the Flower of Luck... A petal?"
Shakun reached out and picked up an ordinary-looking petal from Loran's hands.
Other than being whiter and larger than normal petals, there didn't seem to be anything special about it.
"Uh... yes, General."
Loran also hadn't expected there to be only a petal inside the sealing cloth. He had thought it was a whole flower. Luckily, Ethan had said before that once this flower was removed from the sealing cloth, it could no longer be stored back into the backpack.
So using the backpack to confirm the item's properties was absolutely impossible. To complete the mission now, he had to rely entirely on his acting skills.
So... Loran quickly thought on his feet and said, "This flower originally had many petals, but every time I encountered danger, I had to use one petal to resolve it. And because I had to return and report everything to you, General, along the way."
"General, please punish me."
As he spoke, Loran immediately knelt to the ground.
But the reason he did this was actually to stop the adjutant from seeing the expression on his face.
Rumor had it, the adjutant had the ability to see through people's hearts.
It was said he could tell whether someone was lying through micro-expressions. Even if it was just a rumor, Loran didn't dare take the risk.
Not to mention General Shakun already had a violent temper, and now he himself was a double agent. If he got exposed, death would probably be the least of it.
There was even a good chance Shakun would capture and interrogate him. By then, whether he talked or not, his ending would definitely be miserable.
His only way out now was to complete the task Ethan gave him, then hope Ethan would take him in.
Even if he could never rise again in the future, at least it wouldn't be too miserable.
"Forget it! This isn't your fault either," Shakun waved his hand and said, "But is there any more of this Flower of Luck? If there is, sending people to pick more wouldn't be impossible."
"Yes, General."
Loran quickly made up another lie, "The place where I picked the flower had a whole field of them growing there, but most were inside thorn bushes. So I only picked the one on the outside."
"Thorns aren't a problem. Just cut them down," General Shakun was delighted when he heard this, but then he questioned him again, "But how did you know the petals had this kind of ability? Picking a flower from inside a pile of thorns is pretty strange, isn't it?"
Seeing Shakun already half convinced, Loran immediately started making up another story.
The thing about stories was that the more details there were, the more real they sounded. The key was to add motives too.
And if possible, he should use this chance to complete the task Ethan gave him.
What Ethan said back then was, the mission would only count as complete if the petal was placed on Shakun's body.
In other words, the trigger condition for this petal probably required contact with a specific person. Maybe he could use this made-up story to conveniently complete Ethan's second task too.
"Reporting to General, I was just greedy at the time. I heard that large flowers usually have nectar in their stems. I saw this big white flower was large and white, so I picked one to try it," Loran continued, "Unexpectedly, it was actually pretty sweet."
"While chewing it, I accidentally swallowed one petal, and unexpectedly escaped disaster because of it."
"At first, I actually didn't realize the petal had such an effect."
"But later, after running for my life until I was starving and exhausted, I ate another petal. Then I luckily avoided another attack from the giant bugs, while the comrade standing beside me got into trouble instead. That's when I guessed the flower might have some special effect."
"But at the time, I still wasn't sure. It wasn't until the Eternal Night arrived..."
"At that time, the comrades were either dead or separated. Listening to those strange howls in the forest, I almost thought I was definitely going to die."
"At that moment, I thought, if I'm going to die anyway."
"I might as well eat something good before dying. This flower tastes so good. If I died and left it for those monsters, wouldn't that be a waste."
"But who would've thought, when I ate the third-to-last petal, a faint light suddenly appeared not far away. Then I followed the light and found it was actually a player's wooden cabin."
"Only then was I basically certain this flower definitely had special effects."
"Then while the owner of the cabin wasn't paying attention, I stabbed him in the back and killed him. I ate a full meal and rested at his house for a night."
"And that player just happened to have a Sun Worm, so I relied on the Sun Worm's light to make my way back here."
"Oh... right!"
"Something else happened on the way too. That's the reason I became one hundred percent sure this flower is the Flower of Luck."
"General, you don't know!"
"At that time, I was hurrying too much while traveling and accidentally entered a swamp. I almost thought I was dead for sure. Then I ate another petal of the Flower of Luck."
"Guess what happened?"
Loran became so emotional while making up the story that he almost believed it himself.
And seeing the vivid way Loran spoke, Shakun naturally believed him too. He even felt Loran's journey back to the territory had really been rough.
But seeing this brat suddenly start keeping him in suspense, Shakun immediately became unhappy, "Concealing military information is a crime!"
"Sorry, General!", Loran hurriedly apologized, "I got too emotional while talking! I shouldn't hide anything from you, General!"
"After eating the second-to-last petal of the Flower of Luck, unexpectedly, a wild deer ran into the swamp."
"I don't know what was chasing it, but the deer got startled and jumped directly into the swamp."
"Then I held onto the deer and relied on it..."
"That's how I climbed back onto shore."
"So, General, I can guarantee one hundred percent that this Flower of Luck truly has this kind of special effect."
"So that's how it is!"
Shakun nodded repeatedly. Then, somewhat curious, he put the so-called Flower of Luck petal into his mouth, preparing to take a bite and see if it was really that tasty.
But the adjutant quickly stopped him from the side, "General, you must not!"
"Why must I not?", Shakun frowned at the adjutant and said, "I've already been unlucky enough today. Do you want me to keep being unlucky? This thing from 0927 can just happen to balance out my bad luck! Why not?"
"There are too many coincidences in 0927's story. As the saying goes, if there are too many coincidences, then it probably isn't coincidence anymore," The adjutant knelt on the ground and repeatedly tried to persuade him, "What if the thing 0927 brought back is actually a poisonous plant? If something happens after you eat it, General, what are we supposed to do?"
"You suspect him?"
After hearing this, Shakun glanced at Loran.
Meanwhile, Loran simply knelt respectfully on the ground and said, "General, if you suspect me, I can eat it in front of everyone to prove my loyalty to you!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 40 advance chapter through P@treon.