As soon as Bugs Bunny appeared, he quickly reached out to cover his nose and mouth, cautiously surveying his surroundings, then looked at Leyton in confusion, his bright red eyes seeming to say:
"Boss, aren't we going to the Future? Why are we on the Mushroom?"
Leyton raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and a whimpering wind suddenly rose, blowing in all directions, dispersing the light green, mist-like spores and fine white mycelia in the air, creating a safe zone around them.
On the deck, by the ship's rail, and on the sails, mushrooms of varying sizes stubbornly rooted themselves to the ship, continuously spewing out white, thread-like mycelia that drifted outwards with the whimpering wind, forming a giant white curtain in mid-air that slowly pressed down against the howling gale.
"Wow, these mushrooms are so clever!" Bugs Bunny blinked, looking around, and quietly exclaimed.
Ignoring Bugs Bunny's exclamation, Leyton carefully observed the surrounding mushrooms, his deep blue, almost purple, glow in his eyes outlining one mysterious symbol after another, rapidly analyzing the information contained within the mushrooms.
On these rapidly reproducing mushrooms, he vaguely saw wriggling flesh, crimson moonlight, and a frantic desire to reproduce, all interwoven into an abstract, distorted tree that tightly entwined the Future, permeating and rooting itself little by little.
"The reproductive desire of these mushrooms is abnormally strong, and they are constantly evolving. What did Frank use to cultivate them?"
After muttering to himself for a moment, Leyton extended his right hand, covered by a mechanical glove, and pressed it downwards. A light, neither brilliant nor clear, burst forth from the glove, rapidly spreading outwards.
Silently, the rampant mushrooms around them lost their color, gradually weathered and disintegrated, turning into a grayish-white "dust." The spores and mycelia in the air also quickly lost their activity, becoming ordinary dust that drifted into the air with the wind and disappeared into the sea.
The deck, completely covered by mushrooms, was soon covered with a layer of grayish-white "sand dust" that swirled on the deck with the sea breeze.
In the gaps of the deck and at the entrance to the cabin, many mushrooms were still growing outwards, trying to re-cover the entire ship.
Leyton glanced into the cabin before stepping forward.
A hazy glow, seemingly composed of countless illusory objects, burst forth from his body, like a scroll made of countless mottled light and shadow, gently covering the Future, clearly illuminating every mushroom rooted on the ship.
These mushrooms were large or small, dark or pure white, or covered in patterns. Without exception, they all pulsed like living hearts, continuously spewing out white mycelia and light green spores, reproducing wantonly.
Their methods of reproduction were not singular; they both self-divided and interbred with other surrounding mushrooms, sea fish, plants, brown bears, and even pirates, producing new species of mushrooms.
Some of these mushrooms secreted white milk, some flowed with crimson blood, and others produced red wine with a strong alcoholic scent. Some bore pumpkins, some grew into the shape of fish, and others grew human reproductive organs.
My eyes are polluted. This thought flashed through Leyton's mind. He then raised his hand and gripped it forcefully in mid-air, and the surrounding mottled light and shadow suddenly swayed.
On the Future, enveloped by the mottled light and shadow, physical laws were altered to a certain extent. The temperature rose, the air became sticky and salty, becoming unsuitable for mushroom growth and reproduction.
The mushrooms, which were spewing spores and mycelia and interbreeding with all living creatures around them, suddenly slowed their movements. Deep wrinkles appeared on their taut skins, secreting liquids of complex taste and color, gradually shriveling.
In the ship's dining room, which was not occupied by mushrooms, deep blue, almost purple, light suddenly filled Cattleya's eyes, outlining one mysterious symbol after another.
One star after another emerged around her, densely packed and dazzling.
These stars cast down beams of light, enveloping the entire dining room in a hazy starlight, isolating it from the effects of the swaying mottled light and shadow.
After doing this, she turned her head to her second mate, Heath Doyle, and simply ordered, "Drag Frank back."
Heath nodded, his body covered in a layer of dark black, like liquid, merging into the shadows of the floor, swimming towards the pile of mushrooms that had submerged Frank.
The mushrooms that were frantically interbreeding with Frank also slowed their movements, quickly covered by the shadows manipulated by Heath. The surrounding shadows rapidly wriggled, solidifying into illusory but solid dark shackles, dragging Frank, who was buried beneath, out and pulling him into the starlight created by Cattleya.
Heath's figure emerged from the shadows. He looked down at Frank, who had changed from his brown bear form back to his human body, and silently moved to the side.
Frank's eyes were slightly unfocused, and his mouth was slightly agape. Because he had transformed into a giant bear earlier, his clothes were completely ruined, and he lay naked on the floor, covered in a sticky, complex-smelling liquid, his body still trembling slightly, emitting faint drops of liquid.
On his body, his once thick body hair looked as if it had been scraped by a sharp blade, revealing palm-sized patches of baldness and fine bloody marks on his skin.
Cattleya glanced at him, and after confirming Frank's physical condition, she averted her gaze, no longer looking at him.
Beside her, Nina looked Frank up and down for a while, then snorted disdainfully and turned to look at the mushrooms isolated by the starlight.
Those mushrooms were visibly dying, gradually shriveling and turning yellow, as if some entity was drawing their life force from a distance, finally turning into flakes of debris that fell to the ground.
This situation lasted less than a minute, and basically all visible mushrooms on the ship, and anything left behind by the mushrooms, had disappeared.
Nina looked at Cattleya beside her in disbelief, asking in confusion:
"Is that it? Solved?"
"Captain, did you foresee this scene and ask someone to come and help?"
Cattleya nodded gently, then shook her head, saying:
"I originally wanted him to take Frank's work away and give Frank some normal research projects that wouldn't harm others."
In the dining room, a faint blue light flashed, and Leyton directly teleported into the cabin with Bugs Bunny. His gaze swept over Frank, who was lying on the ground, and he gestured for Bugs Bunny to go and treat the exhausted First Mate.
Then he turned to Cattleya and nodded gently:
"Long time no see. It seems I arrived just in time."
Cattleya looked at Leyton in confusion. As a Mysticologist, she could easily tell that Leyton's current face was concealed by an illusion.
Leyton smiled at Cattleya and simply explained:
"I've assimilated a somewhat problematic characteristic of the Knowledge Emperor, so my condition isn't too good temporarily."
"Temporarily not good" means that he will be able to resolve it after some time and become a true Knowledge Emperor. This rate of advancement, even for a Blessed, is a bit too frightening.
As thoughts flickered, she nodded gently to Leyton, then proactively explained the situation on the Future:
"Frank told us this morning that his experiment was successful, and he even brought out those mushrooms with different flavors to share with the crew."
"Originally, everything was normal, but after the lunch break, those mushrooms suddenly went out of control, reproducing frantically, and quickly filled the entire Future."
"The agents and spells Frank prepared to eliminate plant activity were not effective on these mushrooms and failed to suppress their spread in time, eventually leading to the situation you see."
Madam, although this was an accident, there must have been an element of your deliberate indulgence; otherwise, how could a demigod not detect the problem and deal with these mushrooms? Well, except for demigods like Warrior and Fate who lack the necessary means. Are you trying to teach Frank a lesson to make him restrain himself in the Future? This price seems a bit high...
While he was thinking, Bugs Bunny had already alleviated Frank's condition and led him over.
Noticing the gazes sweeping towards him, Frank scratched his head a little sheepishly, then tore off a tablecloth from the dining table and wrapped it around his waist.
Looking at Cattleya's gaze, Frank lowered his head helplessly and apologized sincerely:
"Sorry, Captain, I've messed up the ship again."
Cattleya sighed with a complex expression, her voice calm:
"Your salary for the next six months will be used to compensate for the damage caused to the Future and some crew members."
"Pack up your things in your laboratory. The Future will dock for supplies later, and you will put them at the stronghold on shore. In the Future, do not conduct such dangerous experiments directly on the ship."
Hearing Cattleya's announcement, Frank breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded:
"I understand, Captain."
"You scared me to death. I almost thought you were going to kick me off the ship just now."
After exclaiming, Frank looked at the "dust" left behind after the mushrooms outside the dining room disintegrated and whispered:
"They were fine before, so why did they mutate?"
"Are you sure there was no problem before?" Cattleya looked at Frank, pressing him with a serious tone.
She had observed these mushrooms before; their activity, evolutionary ability, and reproduction speed were all clearly abnormal, somewhat similar to the changes that occurred when they encountered the lingering aura of the Earth Mother in the Sea of Ruins, which evolved from the Sea of Ruins.
Is there something wrong with this sea area, or were Frank's materials problematic, or did something happen nearby during that time that affected Frank's mushrooms, causing them to mutate?