Chapter 55: Poison
Baishi swept his gaze over the group of pirates. Everyone he looked at lowered their heads in submission.
Satisfied, Baishi nodded and then retracted his aura, saying coldly, "What are you waiting for? Set sail!"
Hearing this, the pirates felt as though they'd been granted a reprieve. They wasted no time, each manning their stations—some took the helm, others adjusted the sails—all moving with more coordination than when they were fleeing for their lives.
In less than half an hour, they returned to Moon Island.
Once all the pirates disembarked, Baishi activated his chakra, and with a cracking sound, the entire ship shattered into pieces.
The pirates' faces turned ashen as they looked at the scattered wooden fragments. Being mere mortals without a ship, they had no way of leaving Moon Island. Baishi's action destroyed any hope of escape.
At that moment, they wished they could fight him to the death, but remembering the grisly fate of their companions, they quickly gave up that thought. After all, living miserably was still better than dying. Perhaps Baishi would have a change of heart and let them go someday.
Unfortunately, that day would never come.
Baishi leaped over to the group of pirates, ignoring their dark expressions, and asked, "Those people—what did you do with them?"
He nodded toward the pirates' quarters.
Not all the pirates had tried to flee. Standing here were about thirty or so, and counting those Baishi had killed, they amounted to roughly half of their numbers.
From what he sensed, those who hadn't escaped were still alive. Since he hadn't checked on them earlier, he had no idea of their condition, hence his question.
One of the pirates, an old man, nervously stepped forward and answered in a shaky voice, "Sir, they're all poisoned."
"Poisoned?" Baishi asked with a hint of curiosity. "Where did you get the poison?"
"I made it myself," the old man replied.
At this, Baishi's eyes lit up. "What was your occupation before this?"
"Sir, I…" The old man, seeing Baishi's interest, quickly shared his story with tears in his eyes, recounting the terrible deeds of the pirates.
It turned out that he had been a physician for a noble family. About six months prior, he was on a sea voyage with his employer when they were attacked by this group of pirates.
The rest was simple: fearing retaliation from the noble family, the pirates killed everyone on board.
This man, however, was spared due to his skills as a physician, ultimately becoming the ship's doctor.
Although he claimed he'd been forced into this role, Baishi didn't entirely believe him.
The expressions of the other pirates, who looked angry yet afraid, revealed enough.
But Baishi wasn't concerned about that. He simply asked, "Do you still have that poison?"
"Yes!" The old man nodded eagerly and took a small packet from his clothing, handing it to Baishi.
Baishi opened the packet to find a pile of brown powder.
He sniffed it and asked, "What's it made from?"
"Just some plants on the island," the old man replied.
"I see."
Baishi thought for a moment, scraped a small amount of the powder with his fingernail, and put it in his mouth.
The pirates, including the old man, stared in shock, not understanding why Baishi was testing the poison himself.
"Isn't he afraid of poisoning himself?" they all wondered.
Baishi wasn't worried. A bit of poison like this wouldn't harm him, and even if he swallowed the entire packet, he was confident he could withstand it.
After all, the pirates who had been poisoned were still alive. His constitution far exceeded that of ordinary people, and with Level II [Poison Resistance], he was confident he could handle this.
As for the possibility that this poison might differ from what affected the pirates, Baishi dismissed it as unlikely. Even if it were true, he had little to fear.
While he couldn't make poisons himself, he had learned a lot about poison identification, enough to tell that this powder wasn't particularly strong.
Satisfied, Baishi smiled as he saw a quick flash of a "Poisoned" warning in the "Status Abnormalities" section of his interface.
Poison Resistance wasn't like other abilities; due to the variety of poisoning mechanisms, higher levels of resistance didn't guarantee immunity to all poisons.
For example, although this powder was relatively weak, it could still cause him some harm.
But as long as it could harm him, it could act as an "external environment" to accelerate the evolution of his Poison Resistance.
This was an unexpected bonus.
He swallowed the entire packet of powder, and soon, a warning appeared in his status bar: Warning: Unknown toxin detected. Estimated immunity time: 7 minutes, 31 seconds.
"Only seven minutes?" Baishi murmured, then immediately began channeling his Poison Resistance evolution.
Seven minutes later, the warning disappeared, and his Poison Resistance progress increased by 0.2%.
"Not bad."
Baishi stopped the evolution process and, ignoring the pirates who looked like their worlds had been turned upside down, turned to the old man and asked, "What's your name?"
"Master, I am Takashi Uemura," the old man replied with a face full of awe.
Clearly, Baishi's "suicidal" action had left him in awe.
Baishi offered no explanation for his actions. A bit of awe was good—it would prevent any rebellious thoughts in the future.
After a moment's thought, Baishi instructed, "From today, you'll be responsible for making poisons. Don't limit yourself to this type of powder, and don't be constrained by the ingredients on the island. There are plenty of poisonous substances in the ocean that can be used as materials."
At this, he turned to the other pirates. "You've spent years on the sea. You should know which creatures are poisonous, right?"
The pirates quickly nodded in agreement.
"Good. You'll assist him in making poison from now on."
Takashi Uemura, elated, responded enthusiastically, "Rest assured, sir, I'll do my best."
Earlier, Uemura had condemned the pirates' actions, earning their hatred. Without Baishi's protection, they would surely seek revenge.
But with Baishi ordering the pirates to help him make poisons, they wouldn't dare touch him while he was still useful to Baishi.
That was why Uemura was so excited.
On the other hand, the other pirates looked far from pleased by Baishi's command.
However, with Baishi watching, they didn't dare voice their dissatisfaction and could only agree reluctantly.
Baishi paid no attention to their internal conflicts. After issuing his orders, he left the area.
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