"When did he get here?"
Harriet was shocked. She quickly looked at Charlie, who was sitting facing Ethan, asking with her eyes because Charlie could see in Ethan's direction.
But Charlie shook his head in panic and said, "I... I don't know either. It's like he suddenly appeared. I didn't even see him a second ago."
"Nothing," Only then did Harriet relax a little. She turned to Ethan and smiled, "I was just saying there's still some soup left and wondering whether your servants wanted any."
"They like meat. They don't like soup," Ethan looked at the two of them with a smile and said, "What about you? Not drinking any?"
"I already drank. I'm full."
Harriet rubbed her stomach.
But her stomach gave her no face at all and immediately growled.
She was so embarrassed that she wished she could dig a house out of the sand with her toes.
Fortunately, everyone acted as if they hadn't heard it.
One could act, and one could play along.
"Oh, since you're both full, then I won't be polite."
Ethan poured the last bowl of soup into his own bowl and smiled.
"Perfect. I just went to the bathroom, and now I'm hungry again."
"Then drink it! Go ahead and drink it!"
Hearing that Ethan was still willing to drink the poisoned soup, Harriet finally let out a long sigh of relief.
After all, who would continue drinking soup after learning it had been poisoned?
So, Harriet was certain that Ethan hadn't heard their conversation earlier.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
Ethan finished the last of the soup, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said, "So good! Miss Harriet, do you have any more of this soup? If you do, I'm willing to buy it. I can trade materials too."
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +15]
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +10]
[One Kiss, One Poison...]
After two more bowls, Ethan's One Kiss, One Poison skill had already reached: [EXP 666/1000]
Unfortunately, the soup was gone.
Otherwise, he might have gained another level.
"N-No more."
Harriet stared with her mouth open.
She couldn't tell whether Ethan was truly immune to poison or whether he had taken an antidote.
At this point, she was completely confused.
After everyone finished eating, the sky gradually grew dark.
Charlie informed everyone, "The next wave of attacks won't arrive for another seven hours or so, so everyone can rest without worry."
"The final wave won't come for another seven hours? Then I can get some sleep."
After hearing that, Ethan simply found a comfortable spot on the sand.
He spread out a self-heating coat beneath him, covered himself with another self-heating coat, and closed his eyes.
Bird One and the others didn't have Ethan's conditions.
But fortunately, each of them also had a self-heating coat issued through logistics.
The three discussed it and decided to take out all three coats.
One would be used as bedding, while the other two would serve as blankets.
Everyone agreed.
As for Daji, she immediately crawled into Ethan's arms and went to sleep.
Watching them from the side, Harriet felt her teeth clench.
These people had practically turned the mission of protecting the desert tree into a camping trip in a park.
Especially the way they used self-heating coats as bedding and blankets.
'Isn't that a little too extravagant?'
As for her and Charlie, they had only received one self-heating coat each because they held relatively high positions in the territory.
Even then, she only dared wear hers when going out.
Back in the territory, she still wore ordinary fur clothing.
Yet Ethan's extravagance was unbelievable.
[Jealousy Critical Hit from Player Harriet: +35]
[Jealousy Critical Hit from Player Harriet: +20]
[Jealousy Critical Hit from Player Harriet...]
Accompanied by the sound of Harriet's Jealousy Critical Hits, Ethan gradually fell asleep.
Then, sometime in the middle of the night...
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +155]
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +130]
[One Kiss, One Poison...]
"Hm?"
Half-asleep, Ethan was awakened by the system notifications.
'Why am I receiving EXP in the middle of the night?'
'Could it be...'
'Someone is releasing poison at us?'
Ethan immediately sat up.
Then he spotted a small red glow flickering in the darkness not far away.
[Netherworld Incense: This incense is made from the pollen of the highly poisonous Netherworld Flower. It is extremely toxic. A single breath is enough to make someone sleep forever, until eternity.]
[PS: Netherworld Flowers are extremely rare, making this incense very valuable. It is the most prized assassination tool on the black market. With one stick, you can become a top assassin. With two sticks, you become the king of assassins.]
'Netherworld Incense?'
'Interesting!'
Ethan was about to walk over and take a few more breaths when he suddenly realized something.
"Crap!"
He might possess a poison-resistant body and be immune to all toxins.
But Bird One and Daji didn't have that ability.
Ethan quickly reached out and nudged Daji, trying to wake her up or at least check her condition.
Only to discover... Daji had completely turned into stone.
This meant her body had sensed danger and entered a petrified state to avoid it.
In other words, Daji had indeed been poisoned.
"Bird One, Bird Two..."
Ethan hurried over and shook Bird One, Bird Two, and Bird Three.
But none of them responded.
If he hadn't seen their chests still rising and falling, he would have suspected they had already been sent to the Netherworld.
"Damn you, Harriet!"
This time, Ethan was truly angry.
Earlier, she only wanted to kill him alone.
Now she wanted to kill everyone.
She was asking for death.
At that moment, Ethan even considered giving up the hidden treasure and simply stabbing Harriet to death with one sword.
But right now, saving Bird One and the others came first.
Whoosh!
Ethan directly used the Strange Sword Technique and cut the Netherworld Incense in half.
Unfortunately, incense didn't go out just because it was broken.
The burning tip remained on the ground, continuing to glow and fade while releasing wisps of poisonous smoke.
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +78]
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +65]
[One Kiss, One Poison...]
"Huff~"
As they continued breathing in the poisonous smoke, Bird One and the others grew weaker and weaker.
This made Ethan panic.
"This won't work!"
"I have to find a way to completely put out the incense!"
He didn't even have time to think.
He rushed forward, picked up the burning tip from the ground, and tossed it into his mouth.
He had considered stepping on it.
But doing that would release even more poisonous smoke.
So the best option was to extinguish it with liquid.
And do it inside an enclosed space.
"Urgh!"
Ethan immediately secreted a large mouthful of poison fluid from his poison sac and poured it over the incense in his mouth, extinguishing it.
Just as he was about to spit it out—
[One Kiss, One Poison: EXP +500]
[Poison Release Skill Level 4 — One Kiss, One Poison: EXP 1365/1000]
[Poison Release Skill Level 4 → Poison Release Skill Level 5: Poison Dispersion]
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