Chapter 158: Quality

"How about it? Worth a strawberry cake?"

"Ethan is just too kind, meow~"

Ethan ignored the bickering between Pearl and the Human-Faced Spider, falling deep into thought, right now, they still didn’t know what exactly the Children of Chaos were planning to do, they could only take things one step at a time.

"If the Children of Chaos truly intend to harm humans, it’s best we prepare more Doll Grass, however... the Blood Rabbit is a problem."

"Blood Rabbit? What about it?"

"The curse cast by the Doppelganger requires the liver of a Blood Rabbit and Doll Grass to break."

"A Blood Rabbit is easy enough to get."

"...You can get a Blood Rabbit?"

"You know that when monsters devour Chaos Fragments, they turn into high-tier monsters, right? With just a little control, we can create the specific high-tier monster we want."

This was the first time Ethan had ever heard of such a thing.

Seeing his expression, the Human-Faced Spider covered her mouth and laughed.

"Ohohohoho, you are truly too ignorant, fine, fine — next time I get my hands on some Chaos Fragments, I’ll help you create some Blood Rabbits, however, there is nothing free in this world." She winked at Ethan and added, "You’ll have to make me some sweet, crispy pastries that leave an endless aftertaste."

"Looks like I’ll have to make some cookies." Ethan already knew what he needed to make, since the Blood Rabbit problem was solved, lifting the Doppelganger’s curse shouldn’t be a problem either.

He smiled, extended his hand toward the Human-Faced Spider, and said, "A pleasure doing business with you."

"A pleasure."

...

Ethan decided to open a small herb field near the cabin dedicated to cultivating Doll Grass.

He had originally wanted to plant the Doll Grass in his existing fields, but the Human-Faced Spider told him that wouldn’t work. "My aura is highly toxic to other plants."

"Is that so?"

"Exactly, the only reason Doll Grass can grow into its current form is by absorbing my aura, everything else would wither."

"Then, Human-Faced Spider, you..."

"Hold on, hold on — what did you call me?"

"Human-Faced Spider? That’s what everyone calls you."

"I have a name, you know, my name is Mirelle, would you like to just be called Human?"

"I don’t really mind..."

"I mind, call me Mirelle from now on."

"Alright, understood, Mirelle, a good name, who gave it to you?"

"Hahaha, I gave it to myself, of course." Mirelle placed her hands on her hips and laughed loudly, just like an arrogant young lady.

Today she was wearing a red dress, and her tone matched that of an aristocratic lady, coupled with her delicate features, she really did possess the air of a high-society lady.

"Do you see the pattern on my head? Only the head is purple."

"It really is." Ethan looked down at the Doll Grass in his hand, true to its name, the Doll Grass was shaped very much like a small human, however, it was said that mature Doll Grass looked even more human-like.

Following Mirelle’s instructions, he carefully examined the head of the Doll Grass.

"Ahhh..." Just then, the Doll Grass suddenly let out a shrill, piercing scream.

Pearl was so scared its fur stood on end. "What is that sound, meow?"

"It’s the cry of the Doll Grass, Doll Grass will let out this terrifying sound whenever it is pulled up."

"How fascinating — it’s just like a Mandrake."

"Mandrake? What’s that?"

"A legendary plant from my homeland."

"What a strange name, anyway, you must be careful from now on, don’t touch the head of the Doll Grass carelessly, otherwise it will let out this sound, this sound will affect other plants."

"Will it have any negative effects?"

"Of course, if there are other plants nearby, they will be killed by this sound."

"Truly unbelievable, to think that a plant grown by absorbing deadly poison isn’t a toxic weed, but a medicinal herb."

"There is actually only a thin line between medicine and poison, good medicine can become poison, and poison can also become good medicine."

"You seem to understand pharmacology very well."

"My understanding of medicines and poisons is deeper than anyone else’s."

"Then if I ever get sick in the future, can I come find you?"

"There is nothing free in this world." Mirelle smiled arrogantly.

Ethan smiled and walked over to her.

Mirelle stared straight at him, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly. "What? Do you think I’m very cool?"

"If you really want to act cool, you’d best wipe the cream off your face first."

Ethan took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the cream off Mirelle’s face.

Liora snickered softly beside them.

Ethan then helped wipe Liora’s face before turning his attention back to the Doll Grass. "So, how do we cultivate Doll Grass?"

"There’s no real difference from other herbs, just scatter the Doll Grass seeds onto toxin-filled soil."

Ethan took the Doll Grass seeds handed over by Mirelle and examined them closely, the seeds looked ordinary, with nothing particularly special about them, he scattered the seeds across the newly opened herb field.

Seeing this, Mirelle hopped down from the crate she was sitting on and said, "You all back up a bit, I’m going to release my toxins."

Ethan, Liora, and Pearl hurried to a safe distance.

Once they were clear, a purple aura began to radiate from Mirelle, rapidly spreading out and enveloping the entire herb field.

Ethan extended his hand and commanded, "Growth Acceleration."

He activated his ability, true to his command, the soil began to churn, and purple seedlings broke through the earth one after another.

Mirelle watched the scene curiously, then hopped over to Ethan’s side and said, "Your ability is really interesting."

"And very useful."

"Not only can you cook delicious food, but you also possess such magical abilities, you really don’t seem like a human at all."

"Yet I am indeed human."

As they chatted, the Doll Grass grew rapidly, before long, the Doll Grass bloomed.

Liora extended her hand and used her ability to help pollinate the Doll Grass, the pollen drifted in the wind, landing on the flowers, the flowers withered and began to bear fruit.

"The fruit of the Doll Grass is highly toxic, don’t eat it," Mirelle warned.

"Can I touch it?"

"Its toxin isn’t absorbed through the skin, but it’s best not to touch it anyway, if you don’t need them, you can give them to me."

"Then I’ll harvest all the fruits before they finish ripening."

Ethan put on a pair of gloves and plucked the Doll Grass fruits, these fruits were only the size of blueberries and looked quite ordinary, once he had picked all the fruits, he picked up a stalk of Doll Grass and asked, "Do I just pull it straight out?"

"Yeah."

"Ah..."

Accompanied by a shrill, miserable shriek, the Doll Grass was pulled out of the soil by Ethan, Pearl shivered in fright.

Ethan inspected the Doll Grass closely and asked, "How is the quality of this Doll Grass?"

"Very good, practically the best. It’s rare to see Doll Grass grow to look this much like a human."