157 The Capital - A Bone to Pick With (1/2)
When Daniel removed the barrier around the now deserted area, a large number of powerful cultivators started to appear on the spot.
These cultivators arrived from various different parts of the capital, and only now were they able to notice that something had happened in this particular part of the city.
The area of the city where Daniel had appeared, was one of the less populated and poor areas of the entire capital, and if it wasn't for the still functioning teleporting platform present in it, people would have completely abandoned the place long ago.
The experiment from the group 'The Poisonous Rose' had been well thought, and prepared.
In an area like this, even if people suddenly stopped arriving out of the blue, people would not put too much attention in the matter. It was more likely that they would think that, after being left without maintenance for so long, the formation would have simply stopped working.
Around the area, a spatial illusion that showed a minimal and yet present population had been activated. Daniel had noticed it when he was forced to take over the burden of keeping the people stuck inside.
He had had to hold the spatial barrier and the illusion long enough for the infected people stuck inside the barrier to die, for him and Der to recover, and to purify their clothes and bodies from the virus.
Another reason why he did that, aside from wanting to keep the infected in, was to avoid people in the outside from noticing what had happened too soon.
If a nosy cultivator arrived while the people were still on the verge of dying, they could have broken through the barrier with the intention of helping, and let the virus spread through the entire city instead.
He really had no other choice.. He had to cut the finger in order to save the hand.
”What the hell happened here?!” Shouted one of the cultivators that had arrived first. She was a middle aged woman dressed in a loose brown and green robe, and appeared to hold a higher position than others, as the others kept quiet while she talked.
It didn't take long for the cultivators to notice Daniel and Der.
They approached them, and while looking at Der, the middle aged woman asked in a domineering tone ”You. Start talking.”
Der turned to look at Daniel, and then back towards the middle aged woman. He then said ”It's better if you ask him. He knows way more than I do.”
The various cultivators turned to look at Daniel, and one of them aid ”Start with who the two of you are.”
”We are merchants. We have been teleported about half a day ago from another city, after we've received a permission to expand our company in the region. When we arrived here, there was a spatial blockade in the area. Later we found out that an experiment on the toxicity of a new sort of highly contagious poison-like substance was being held in it..” Responded Daniel patiently. He could see that this woman had a temper, so he decided to cut to the chase.
The brows of the woman narrowed as she heard Daniel's words. She then asked ”Do you have any proof? And why is there your mark in the spatial essence within this area?”
”I have no physical proof, as I had to destroy everything which could have been infected for safety reasons.. I had some means that I've used to threaten the culprits into leaving.. Unfortunately, they weren't kind enough to leave a cure behind. I've recreated the blockade the very moment they released it.. Aside from me and him, nobody survived.” Said Daniel with a plain tone which became slightly broken as he reached the end of the phrase.
”That's quite the story.. Do you have anything that can convince me that you two aren't the culprits yourself?” Said the woman coldly. She didn't seem to be wanting to be cold, but that that was her usual demeanor.
”We only have a few names..” Responded Daniel right away.
”I am listening..”
”The Poisonous Rose, and the Transparent Thorn.” Said Daniel as clearly as possible.
After hearing these two names, the face of the middle aged woman twisted in a hateful expression that sent shivers down Daniel's back. ”Describe him to me.”
”Late sixties, bald with white hair on the sides and the back, around a hundred and seventy-five centimeters in height with a slightly bent back,short temper, he believes that researching poison is like researching any other kind of alchemical compost..”
The more Daniel spoke, the more visible the anger of the woman became.
Unable to hold back anymore, she burst out saying ”Why did he leave you alive? Why did he tell you his name, and the group he is part of?”
”I assume his ego is at fault. He was so sure that his virus would have killed us, that he had no problems in telling us about it.” Responded Daniel while shrugging his shoulders. ”He also mentioned that his creation kills in twelve hours, which meant that according to him, I didn't have more than an hour or so left to live.”
Daniel's words made sense. It seemed like he had prepared himself for this kind of interrogation, and in fact, he had. He had distracted himself from the sound of the people dropping dead on the ground, and desperate crying, by preparing the explanation he would be required to give soon.
”Is that why the area is in this state?” Asked the woman with a confused tone.
Daniel nodded slightly, and said ”Yes, the virus was airborne, and if I didn't purge the area entirely, it would have definitely spread around, once one of you would have tried to push through my spatial blockade.. Everything that might be carrying the virus, is now floating in the void inside of a pocket dimension with no connection to this world.”
”This is the first lie you've told me so far..” Said the woman while looking sternly at Daniel.
She had seen right through him. The truth, was that Daniel had kept a sample of each type of methods of infection. He had kept a deceased person's blood, saliva, corpse, clothes, and a few cubic meters of infected air.