Vegetables exposed to radiation and those that had mutated weren't exactly healthy. No wonder Eiffel had been having constant nosebleeds lately; no wonder Xiao Dou kept recoiling from the mutated veggies with sharp clucks of alarm; and no wonder Jing Shu kept hearing those odd, sobbing waves of frequency coming from the plants themselves. This eerie castle was basically a wall built by hidden viruses, sucking in harmful substances day after day while the citizens cheered for the light. And these people hadn't even noticed the slow rot.
The food only gave them a temporary, chemical illusion of strength.
It was all a scam. That explained why she hadn't heard of such a miraculous material in her previous life. These two weren't some kind of time travelers at all. Just as they had said in their frantic whispers, they were nothing more than a bunch of clever con artists.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
If everyone here had eyes on the resources of Austin Castle, maybe it was possible to cooperate. Everyone could get what they wanted, and the mission would be much easier to finish. They were all stuck, trapped inside the glowing shell of Austin with no easy way out. Taking anything by force would be nearly impossible against the security forces, but if they played the con right, letting the enemy willingly deliver the supplies themselves, that would be perfect.
Jing Shu's mind started spinning with ideas, her thoughts racing through potential scenarios.
At that moment, Dr. B spoke up, his voice echoing in the windowless room. "You have to trust in human greed and desire. Humans aren't tricked by others; they trick themselves. They live in their own lies. No one can wake them from what they already believe. Once we introduce the castle walls into the mix, they will believe us first. Then, after a series of checks, they will become addicted to their daily dreams of getting rich."
"So? How do we get the supplies out? And how do we escape the perimeter?" Mrs. C asked.
Dr. B paced the floor, swirling a test tube filled with a glowing, viscous liquid. "I plan to do all of it outside the castle, unnoticed by the main sensors. We will switch the supplies secretly, and we will escape along the way. But it has to be gradual. We might even have to make them beg us to perform the ritual outside the walls. To do that, the materials have to be rare, and obtaining them has to be unheard of. Let me think. How do we pull off this act?"
"Bit, besides the three of us, maybe we should find some powerful allies. Ones we can trust, because escaping won't be easy."
"Are you crazy? No one in Austin Castle is trustworthy. They are all minions of that man, lost in their decadent lives. If anyone figures out this is all a conspiracy, we will die horribly!"
"Clap, clap, clap." Jing Shu stepped out from the deep shadows of the equipment racks, her hands coming together in a slow, rhythmic applause. She couldn't help but admire the sheer scale of Dr. B's plan. This man really understood the essence of deception.
"Who is there?!"
"Damn, how did she get in here?!"
Jing Shu's figure appeared in the dim light of the lab. Mrs. C panicked, her hand diving into her suit to instantly pull a gun on her. The fact that anyone could carry a gun in this supposedly gun-free castle showed just how much authority Dr. B commanded over his personal space. Even Jing Shu had been fooled by the public rules.
"Ma'am, don't get excited, or—" Jing Shu's lips curved into a faint smile. With a slight gesture, a dozen small snakes slithered up from the floorboards silently. They coiled around Dr. B and Mrs. C's feet and raced up toward their necks, their forked tongues flicking in the stale air.
Mrs. C froze, her hand gripping the pistol, her eyes wide with terror as she felt the cool scales against her skin. The snakes were only a few dozen centimeters long, but they were clearly venomous. She didn't have any serum or antidote available.
Dr. B raised his hands, his posture surprisingly relaxed. "Don't panic, my dear beautiful lady. I'm just wondering what I can do for you."
Jing Shu strolled in slowly, her bulky bulletproof coat making her look casual despite the tension. Xiao Hei followed a step behind, translating the conversation into English for the pair.
"Bit, it's her. This Chinese woman—she is the one who cultivated the herbs!"
Dr. B squinted through his round glasses, rubbing his red-tipped nose and shrugging. "Ah, this clever lady must have discovered something. You heard something, didn't you?"
Jing Shu dusted off the soot from her coat. "Crawled in through your chimney. It wasn't easy, but I had heard everything you said. I think I know the secret of the Luminite now."
"Oh? That's unfortunate news, isn't it, my beautiful lady? What is your plan? Threaten us? Report us? Though honestly, neither seems likely." Dr. B looked calm, fully embodying the con artist's maximum skill: he was always confident.
Jing Shu nodded, her gaze moving over the lab equipment. "Actually, I want to cooperate with you."
"You want the supplies too?" Mrs. C asked warily, her voice tight.
Jing Shu shook her head. Most of the food here was irradiated and unsafe for her family. "Honestly, what I came to Austin Castle for was the full set of dehydrated vegetable equipment. Of course, a well-stocked seed bank would be great, and if there's extra minerals, that would be nice too."
Dr. B smirked, looking amused as if he didn't believe her simple request.
Mrs. C was blunt. She stared at Jing Shu like she had lost her mind. "Forget China. Food and supplies are scarce here. You're risking so much for this? Or is this some kind of trap, trying to pull a sucker trick on us?"
"Recently, a wealthy slave owner came to Austin. He offered a huge reward for a group of Asians. You heard about that, right?" Jing Shu asked.
Dr. B nodded, raising an eyebrow. "So he is after your group? But how did you get past so many checkpoints and into the castle?"
Jing Shu smiled faintly. "There's always a way in. Do you know why he is paying so much? Because we stole supplies from twenty of their cargo ships. For now, we don't need more food. What we need is equipment to process and dehydrate vegetables."
Dr. B's expression shifted from amusement to understanding, then he laughed heartily. "Looks like we are all on the same side. Beautiful lady, could you please call your little pets off? We can discuss the next steps properly."
At a wave of her hand, the snakes slithered back like a receding tide until they vanished into the shadows of the floor. Mrs. C exhaled, the color returning to her face. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, an obvious signal to a hidden guard, but nothing happened.
She snapped again, and then again. There was still nothing but the hum of the air purifiers.
Jing Shu quietly snapped her own fingers and stepped slightly to the side, bringing forth a half-human, half-ghost figure wrapped tightly in white bandages. The figure was slumped and motionless.
She teased, "Are you looking for this person?"