Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

"Dr. Talina, the samples from the third time period have been collected. There are no further visible changes, and the increase is about three-tenths."

"Okay, place the sample on the extraction table."

A clear, melodious voice, as gentle as sunshine, came from the room. Then, a flat wooden board suddenly collapsed outward from the door, secured on both sides with long leather locks to prevent it from tipping over completely. It was just the right size to put things on.

The scholar carefully placed the wooden tray he was carrying before slowly turning to leave. The wooden tray was quickly taken inside, and the boards were then securely closed.

………………

Tarina had been working intently for a long time, and now she could finally draw a conclusion—this fungus completely lacked spores, regardless of the observation methods used. Its reproduction and spread did not rely on the wind-borne structure of spores, but rather—

In the completely sealed observation box on the left, a mouse had been living with a wine glass-shaped fungus for several hours, but showed no signs of infection... During this time, it even licked the bright liquid inside the fungus, but showed no abnormalities; on the contrary, it seemed to be quite energetic.

The observation box on the left presents a different picture—the laboratory mice were fed upright hyphae growing near the fungus. Within minutes of ingesting the food, the mice developed infections, with thumb-sized, goblet-shaped fungi growing on their bodies. Their bodies were partially immobilized, having become a complete breeding ground for the fungus.

It is worth noting that the size of the fungus can vary greatly depending on the host. The fungus that grows on a strong bull is as big as a beer mug, while the fungus that grows on a mouse is only the size of a little finger. The liquid inside looks like only a few drops, but it is still bright red and has a kind of magical attraction.

In the samples sent in the third time period, an even more disturbing change appeared—some of the upright mycelia began to exhibit a special shape, becoming thinner and longer, and turning a tender green color. In the blink of an eye, it even grew the texture and veins characteristic of grass leaves.

Now, a small patch of green grass has appeared in the incubator, and no herbivore could resist such temptation. Especially in the dead of winter, finding these tender blades of grass is extremely difficult... If such tender grass were right in front of them, who could resist taking a bite?

This basically explains why it's mostly herbivores that get infected...

However, the origin of this liquid remains a mystery. Perhaps I should analyze its composition carefully... After all, logically speaking, an organism that produces this structure and secretes this liquid must have some function. It's impossible for it to waste precious energy on meaningless things.

Tarina frowned, deep in thought, while making notes on the parchment in front of her. She only put down her brass pen when a noise from the side drew her attention.

The still-living rat was frantically tearing at the remaining fungus, ripping it apart with its yellowed little teeth. In no time, it had shredded the remaining milky-white stalks into pieces, scattering them everywhere. Its little eyes were bloodshot, and it was incredibly agitated, desperately gnawing at everything around it that it could bite.

Tarina stared at the creature in surprise, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the bacterial strain she had just collected beside her, and a bold conjecture formed in her mind…

………………

Why should the Empire be feared? The surrounding kings and nobles could probably come up with a whole host of reasons: its powerful military, its vast and fertile lands, its large population, its wealth as boundless as rivers and seas, its impregnable cities and powerful engineering machines, and even the country's tolerance and encouragement of knowledge...

If Yoros were to answer, he would say that what the Empire fears most is not any of the above... or rather, that it is not profound or direct enough.

What is truly terrifying about this country is their terrifying organizational and mobilization capabilities. Apart from them, every country has nobles who can bargain with the king, armies controlled by the nobles, and enormous power they wield in their own territories. No monarch can have such a profound grasp of their country as the emperor of an empire, nor can any monarch possess such unquestionable and immense power.

Power in this country is so centralized that there are no nobles who can act with impunity, nor is there a second army that does not belong to the empire. A huge institution composed of officials manages every aspect of the country. As long as the emperor's order is issued and approved by the Senate, the entire country will be mobilized in a very short time. The large population will be tightly bound together like muscle fibers in an instant, and under effective organization and management, it will unleash a terrifying power.

For this reason, there will never be another country in the world that has so greatly damaged their cause, made it so difficult for them to move forward, and is such a terrible threat that they must face.

There cannot be such a powerful nation on earth, such a terrifying country... Otherwise, he couldn't imagine how they could possibly fulfill their ultimate ambition! The repeated failures of the plan only proved the truth of this...

The bottles and jars on the table were swept away by the heavy blow, instantly leaving the table empty. Broken glass and porcelain created a large, sharp, and dangerous area on the floor, the sharp edges pointing blankly and helplessly to the ceiling, awaiting some possible destined person to offer their blood.

Yoros gritted his teeth, not even caring about the precious medicine and experimental samples he had just destroyed. At this moment, he could hardly suppress the anger in his heart.

The experiment failed once again, no matter how careful he was... The lack of the necessary catalyst rendered all his previous efforts futile in an instant—the larvae wriggling in the glass jar in front of him were gradually losing their activity, turning pale and stiff under the ravages of the drug, and soon relaxed into a lump of dead flesh.

As the insect master in charge of breeding, he couldn't help but feel despair at the stupidity of his colleagues... and he didn't know when the new catalyst would be delivered to him, but time was running out. No one knew when the imperial army would appear before the city, and his remaining chances were pitifully small...

Chapter 285 Unexpected Discovery (2)

The place was remarkably clean, but this cleanliness carried an unsettling, eerie quality. The ground was covered with smooth, fine stone slabs, each with tiny, sesame-seed-like protrusions to prevent it from being too slippery. The seams were filled and repaired with a fine, fine clay paste, so that not a single drop of water could penetrate. Everything was shiny and white, spotless, without a single gap connecting it to the outside world, which evoked a subconscious sense of unease.

The most eye-catching thing here is several huge glass jars, each as tall as two people. On both sides are brass end mechanisms, which are connected to leather tubes that continuously supply nutrients and medicines into them, allowing the fleshy chunks writhing in the purple solution to develop and specialize according to the creator's will, growing black tentacles and nerve bundles.

The huge pool next to it was completely dry, filled only with a horrific sight of mangled flesh piled up—a hand still twitching, its skin torn open, marked by the cuts of a thin, sharp knife, with a brass ring still on its knuckles.

A strong and robust arm, labeled as "inferior" because of a scar on it, was separated from its owner and abandoned here. The cut at the shoulder joint was smooth and clean, revealing a mixture of milky white cartilage, blood-red muscle, and yellowish fat.

Amidst the dismembered and scattered flesh, half of a woman's face peeked out, her eyes wide open, half of her skin hanging down from her forehead like a curtain, struggling desperately in decay.

The convulsing limbs and internal organs were piled up together; these were all deemed unfit and superfluous parts. They remained there, lifeless, until the mechanism was pulled and they were dumped directly out of the hole under the pool, where they would rot in the dark underground and become food for rats.

Suppressed and desperate screams echoed throughout the pool. Every now and then, men in black, completely covered up, would bring fresh "waste" and dump it into the pool, waiting for it to be disposed of once there was enough space.

Julius entered this place under such circumstances. The once vigorous king now had a full head of white hair, wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and a furrowed brow, as if he had suddenly gained more than a decade of experience. Only his straight back remained unchanged from beginning to end, as straight as a sword drawn from its sheath.

A sharp, inhuman scream rang in his ears. It contained the ultimate pain and despair, causing him to grip the sword at his waist for a moment, almost unable to control his urge to kill these guys, but in the end he did nothing... He walked around with a cold, hard expression, letting the black-clad men who came to greet him introduce him.

“I hope you won’t make such demands again. You should know that my tolerance for you has its limits… You broke your promise to me, and I did everything I was supposed to do, but you still got nothing, and now you’re still greedily demanding more from me… I’m starting to wonder if my support for you has been enough to get a fair return?”

Faced with the king's veiled insults, Yoros merely let out a low laugh, seemingly unconcerned:

“Your Majesty, I admit that our previous actions did indeed fail and did not achieve the results we all wanted to see... But don’t you also know very well how difficult it was to achieve that result? All our efforts were in vain, and the losses we suffered were no less than those of Your Majesty’s country.”

"Don't make me laugh, sir. The vast majority of the price you've paid is still borne by me, and I haven't seen a single thing you promised. Tersolius is still driving his legions to conquer cities and territories. In just the past month, I've lost four cities in the north, and Duke Onk has become a prisoner of the Empire. If this continues, I, this so-called king, will probably become a laughingstock hiding in the southern corner, and you can only watch as the Empire devours our fertile land and becomes even stronger."

Julius continued walking without changing his expression, doing his best to ignore the screams beside him and suppressing the urge to draw his sword and tear the man next to him to pieces.

“Every nobleman is against me, every dignitary is harboring resentment towards me. They are gossiping about my foolish decisions, inciting the kingdom's soldiers and people… I know exactly what they want to do, and the only reason they don't is because the imperial army is approaching. They dare not turn against me now, and I can't guarantee this situation will continue indefinitely, do you understand? What if it really comes to that…”

He turned his head and stared at Yoros with the look one would give a corpse:

"Whether it's me or you, all our efforts will be in vain."

Yoros did not reply with his usual smile; his expression turned serious, carrying a certain firmness and sharpness.

"We are well aware of this, which is why we are increasing our investment. Please take a look at this... you will definitely be satisfied with our new product, which we call—the Violent Bear."

They finally reached the end, and the curtain in front of them was slowly lifted, revealing a tall iron cage stained with blood. A huge figure used its shadow to block out the surrounding light source. The armor plates it was wearing rustled, and sharp teeth as thick as fingers gnashed and bit. The heavy limbs slammed into the ground, causing it to vibrate slightly. A huge spiked chain hammer that was being dragged rubbed and collided on the floor.

"It's finally starting to look like something."

....................................

The raging fire ignited the wood, sweeping away the rotting flesh and blood, leaving only a strong, acrid smell. But for the workers, even this stench was much better than the putrid stench of the previous two days, and many breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that their unbearable days had finally returned to normal.

That terrible place was finally burned to the ground today. Barrels of kerosene were poured in from the top, and then a torch was thrown in. In no time, the raging flames destroyed everything inside, leaving only a strong stench of burning and billowing smoke rising into the sky.

Today was also the day they could start working. In just a few days, many people felt as if they had been in another world—even the things they were working on had a strange sense of familiarity. Under the foreman's orders, they continued digging in the same direction they had been working on, using wheelbarrows to transport the soil to both banks. After breaking up the rocks, several big men worked together to slowly carry them out. There was no other way; their cattle and horses had all died or been injured, and it would be difficult to replenish them at least in the short term. They would have to rely on themselves for the next few days.

Although the small hut where Tarina had been working wasn't demolished, it had been renovated by several workers, and its contents had long since been moved out. Now it was just a hut; two windows had been cut out with an axe and saw, and the door had been enlarged to make it habitable. It was also very waterproof and quite warm when the door was closed.

Of course, no matter how busy the workers were, the silent spot next to them still made them a little reserved, and they didn't dare to look up at it—on that high slope stood a black double eagle banner, and countless other magnificent and imposing banners surrounded it. Densely arranged armored soldiers filled the entire slope, and at a glance, it was all silver and gleaming with swords, spears, and halberds.

Tersolius stood beneath the banner, within the circle formed by his guards, listening to Talina report her findings.

"So this fungus isn't contagious? The reason the livestock and deer looked like that is because it sheds a part of itself into fresh grass?"

“That’s right, sir. I’m certain that as long as you don’t ingest any of it, there’s no risk of infection from this fungus. Their only mode of transmission is this—spreading by taking advantage of herbivores’ craving for fresh food. However, because the host is killed in a very short time, their range of transmission is destined to be limited. Yet, we haven’t been able to detect any more colonies in this area, so if I’m not mistaken—”

Tarina intently manipulated her parchment book, using the data within to solidify her conviction:

"This fungus is not native to this area; it was accidentally left here, which is why it has such an extreme distribution—growing only in a small area here, and it has just begun to reproduce."

"I think the reason why the livestock used by the workers were infected in such a concentrated period of time is because the canal was dug into this forest. When the workers were clearing the forest, they put up livestock enclosures next to the construction site, which allowed the livestock to ingest the disguised strain of bacteria... Fortunately, although this fungus is extremely dangerous to our warhorses and livestock, the threat is not particularly great. This is because it is very easy to control, its transmission route is too simple, its range is very narrow, and its speed is pitifully slow. It can be confirmed that it has not spread from here, and it is easy to control it."

"Of course, what's even more valuable is the liquid produced by this strain..."

Thesolius's eyes lit up, clearly he was already thinking about something, and he gestured for Talina to continue. Talina also turned a page, examined it carefully again, and only after confirming that her train of thought was correct did she continue:

"The blood-red liquid produced within the goblet-shaped fungus, which I will temporarily call 'wine,' will undoubtedly stimulate the drinker's nerves, and it is a very strong stimulation that will make any creature frantic and aggressive, enough to make some docile animals more ferocious than wolves... And the most peculiar thing is that it seems to increase the user's physical tolerance, physiological strength, and tolerance to toxins and drugs will be greatly enhanced."

"After a mouse drinks this liquid, it can even resist snake venom for a short time. Although it is killed by the remaining toxins after the venom wears off, its performance is still unparalleled. Normally, a creature of this size would die instantly from just a drop of venom the size of a pinhead."

At this point, a hint of excitement appeared on Tarina's face:

"To date, I have not discovered any more serious side effects. Apart from death due to excessive nerve excitation caused by drinking a dose that is disproportionate to body weight, all the test subjects have recovered to normal after a period of time, without physical exhaustion or lethargy, and have survived to this day without any abnormalities."

"It's certain that this liquid has many more amazing uses, and its catalytic effect on the potion's efficacy is also very obvious. As long as we study and utilize it properly, it will definitely be of great use. Just by thinking about it, I can already think of many uses."

Thesolius nodded repeatedly, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips, surprised by this unexpected delight:

"It seems that fate is truly on our side. We will need your wisdom and knowledge once again, Talina."

"I am honored, sir."

The blush on Tarina's face had not yet faded as she slowly closed her parchment book and nodded firmly.

........................

Karila has been the talk of the town in the army these past two days. Almost everyone in the tens of thousands of soldiers has heard of her name. Even the grooms and the supply soldiers know the illustrious reputation of this imperial champion, especially after she captured a Holstein duke...

This was the highest-ranking imperial noble captured by the imperial army since the start of the war, second only to the king of Hols, wielding significant influence over the entire nation. Now, however, he was a prisoner. As she dragged the richly dressed, bruised, and broken-limbed duke from the castle palace with iron chains, the cheers and screams of the imperial soldiers nearly lifted the roof off… The poor duke had even lost five front teeth—when he arrogantly uttered some condescending and foul language, a battle axe was ruthlessly smashed into his mouth, bringing out broken teeth and splattering blood, and he was mercilessly beaten until he could no longer walk before being dragged out with iron chains.

Having made such a great contribution, it's easy to imagine that she's destined for a meteoric rise in her career. This has made many officers and generals who are eager to make a name for themselves envious and furious. In the past few days, their conquest of the remaining castles and lands of the Hols has become increasingly fierce, and the entire plains in the heartland are almost completely wiped out.

After escorting the duke back, they suddenly learned that something had happened at construction site number 27. Tersolius and Tarina had both arrived there, so she impulsively rushed over as well. As she approached the forest, she suddenly noticed thick smoke rising into the air…

Chapter 286 Afterglow (1)

"Isn't this the Blood of the Beast? How come it's growing here?"

Tarina could barely contain her expression; surprise filled her features, even her delicate eyebrows arched high.

"What are you saying, Kana?"

Karila reached out in surprise to pick up the slightly swaying, goblet-shaped fungus in the glass case on the table, but was stopped by Talina's hand. She then scratched her head.

“It’s something from my hometown! You often see it in those dark caves. Long-haired sheep go into the caves and eat the grass that grows there, and they die right there. Shepherds sometimes find these things.”

"Then why is it called the Cup of Beast Blood? What's the reason?"

"It's very simple."

Carila then tried to poke at the blades of grass growing beside her.

"Because this thing looks a lot like a cup! And the liquid inside will drive people mad, making them indiscriminately hack and slash indiscriminately, like a starving bear. Some of our warriors would drink this liquid when they were fighting desperately to forget their pain. They believed it was a blessing from the beast god Khazar."

"Of course, people only drink this when they're desperate. Nobody wants to go crazy normally, and if you drink too much of this stuff, you really will go crazy and never recover. You might even die from bleeding in your eyes. So there aren't many people who actually dare to use this."

"Of course, another point is that although this stuff gives you endless energy, it makes you indiscriminate in your dealings with friend or foe. Nobody knows whether you'll cut off your own people or the enemy's head first. We'll kick the guy who drinks this stuff onto the enemy's ship first, and then let him do whatever he wants."

Talina was dumbfounded. She never expected that the fungus she had spent several days researching and putting in so much effort was actually produced in Karila's hometown. Moreover, the other party had already conducted human experiments on it and clearly knew the specific effects of this liquid... For a moment, she was speechless, deeply realizing the absurdity of fate and the surprises of life.

The two had become quite close, and she had even been referring to her as "Kana" lately. So, without any reservations, she pressed for details:

"What are the growth conditions for this fungus? Does it thrive in cold environments? Are there really no side effects after drinking it?"

"Don't rush, don't rush, I'll tell you one by one..." Karila was taken aback by Talina's enthusiasm and quickly began to recall the contents of her memory:

“Growing conditions? You mean where it can grow, right? I’m not quite sure about that, but it’s most commonly found in caves, especially caves near the sea. Some silly goats always go there because moss and a little grass sprouts can grow there.”

"It's not cold there. The cave is much warmer than the outside. Sometimes when we encounter a blizzard, we would hide in the cave, kill the bears inside, and then we would have both food and a place to stay. Sometimes there were no bears inside, so we would just light a fire, and it would warm up quickly."

"As for the aftereffects? I've never heard of any. Most people who drank this stuff died, but not because the water in the mushrooms was poisonous. It's because they drank it when they were fighting desperately. Generally, when you're fighting desperately, you're already out of ammunition and supplies. You just want to replace a few more of the enemy's men, and you basically don't survive... As for those who survived, I haven't heard of any problems with them. They still eat and drink well, and they are even respected as warriors because of their heroic deeds."

Tarina nodded repeatedly, took out her parchment booklet from her bosom, and listened while taking notes. Her hands moved incredibly fast, and her eyes shone like stars.

They pressed her for a long time, until Karila's mind started to lapse. Just when she wasn't sure if she'd finished, Talina finally cheered and gave her friend a warm hug: