Mr. Death in the Steam World

Moen, of course, was not going to sit idly by and wait to die.

He held Clara tightly with one arm, drew his Webley revolver with the other, and turned to fire a shot.

Gunshots ripped through the night sky.

The bullet struck an incoming vine squarely, the bullet exploded, and the vine snapped in two, making a hissing, corroding sound.

The Flower of the Other Shore let out a muffled groan, its attack slowing slightly.

Taking advantage of the moment, Moen leaped onto a barge with a few quick bounds.

He looked back and, by the moonlight, noticed a detail—

The movement of the spider lily was much slower than in the morning.

Although the vines still covered the sky, their lashing force and speed were far less than before.

The tips of some vines had even withered, turning a grayish color.

His guess was right; it really was nearing its end.

This discovery put Moen at ease.

He put Clara down, let her sit against a mast, and turned to face the approaching spider lily.

"How long do you think you can hold out?"

The voice of the other shore flower carried a hint of exasperation.

"An insect, holding a broken gun—"

Before it could finish speaking, Moen raised his hand and fired another shot.

The shot was aimed at its main body—the faintly visible blood-red flower bud on Professor Leonard's chest.

The bullet whizzed through the air, and the flower dodged to the side, but was still grazed by the edge of its petals.

A drop of crystal-clear liquid seeped from the wound, gleaming eerily in the moonlight.

A rich floral fragrance emanated from the liquid, instantly refreshing the mind and body.

That must be the elixir!

Moen's eyes lit up as he recalled the words from the ancient texts: "The elixir is the essence of the spirit and the manifestation of power."

When the body's fluids are depleted, strength is exhausted!

The Flower of the Other Shore, in pain, launched an even fiercer attack, with three vines simultaneously lashing out from different directions, blocking all of Moen's escape routes.

Moen took a deep breath and activated "Mouse's Clever Hands" at full power.

With a flick of his fingers at his waist, a test tube was precisely extracted; his thumb snapped off the stopper, and with a flick of his wrist—

The concentrated holy water drew an arc and splashed right onto the vine in front of it.

"laugh--!"

The vines convulsed violently as if they were being burned, with large amounts of white smoke billowing from their surface before rapidly withering.

Moen sidestepped the vines on his left, raised his gun in his right hand, and fired another armor-piercing round, snapping the vines on his right in half.

Three vines, all dealt with within three seconds.

But the other shore flower did not give him a chance to catch his breath.

More vines surged out of the darkness, this time not with simple lashes, but by weaving a large net that gathered from all directions.

Moen's eyes narrowed.

He reloaded with one hand; three of the six bullets had already been fired, leaving three remaining.

He quickly assessed the situation—a direct confrontation with firepower wouldn't be enough; he needed to use skill.

His fingers reached for his waist again, this time pulling out the potent anesthetic.

The moment the vine net tightened, Moen suddenly crouched down, his body as agile as a cat.

He slid off the deck and plunged the anesthetic into a thick vine.

The glass tube shattered, and pale blue liquid splattered everywhere.

The anesthetic quickly seeped into the vine, which visibly slowed down, stiffened, and eventually drooped down like a dead tree.

A gap has appeared in the vine netting.

Moen rolled out of the gap, turned around and fired two more shots, splattering the juices of the two pursuing vines.

Of the six specially made bullets the professor gave me, only one remains.

The flower of the other shore also had several wounds, with spiritual liquid constantly seeping out, leaving long silver trails in the moonlight.

Although most of its vines have been destroyed, seven or eight are still waving.

"Give me—the thing!"

The other shore flower roared madly.

Despite being badly wounded and much weaker than before, its eyes were still fixed on Moen, like two burning will-o'-the-wisps.

Moen stepped back in front of Clara, his hand holding the gun trembling slightly.

It wasn't that he was scared; he was just really exhausted.

Both "Meow's Swiftness" and "Mouse's Clever Hands" are abilities that consume stamina.

Despite being a dead man, the original owner was already at his limit, being a malnourished and sickly person in his previous life.

Before his eyes, prompts from the Death Note kept flashing:

[Warning: Your strenuous activity has depleted your vitality]

[Remaining Time: 00:15:18]

He only had fifteen minutes left, not enough, far from enough.

At this point, Moen had run out of ammunition and supplies.

He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes in front of the other shore flower, and sank his consciousness into his mind.

"Death Note, I know you're here, please help me."

My mind went completely silent.

"I know you can harvest it. Didn't you say you would harvest death and bring good fortune? It's right in front of me. It's dying, just a little bit more."

"Help me, I am your master!"

Silence, a long silence.

Just when Moen was about to despair, a voice finally rang in his mind.

The voice was light and airy, with a hint of languor.

My dear master, I thought you were going to tough it out on your own.

Moen was overjoyed. He was desperate and grasped at straws, but he didn't expect that the Death Note would actually have a solution!

"It's an emergency, what should I do!?"

Throw the notes into its elixir, and leave the rest to me.

The red spider lily is still approaching, its vines swaying slowly beside it, like a venomous snake poised to strike.

"Last chance."

The voice of the other shore flower was no longer filled with anger, but with naked killing intent.

"Hand over the contained items, and I'll leave you with your bodies intact."

Moen did not answer.

He silently pulled out the real Death Note from his pocket; its black cover gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

The eyes of the other shore flower lit up instantly.

Unlike the previous book, this one exudes such a strong aura of death... This is exactly what it has been dreaming of!

"Yes...that's it..."

The red spider lily murmured to itself, its vines unconsciously reaching forward.

"Give it to me...give it to me..."

Moen looked at it, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He held the Death Note up to his eyes, and then—

Throw it forcefully in the direction behind the flower of the other shore.

"Since you want it so badly—" he shouted, "then I'll give it to you!"

The Death Note traced an arc as it flew toward the edge of the dock.

Without a second thought, all the vines of the other shore changed direction at the same time, frantically chasing after the book.

It's now!

Moen suddenly rushed out, pushing his "Meow Swiftness" to its limit, his body almost flying close to the ground.

He pulled the last test tube from his waist with his right hand—it contained concentrated holy water.

The flower of the other shore sensed something was wrong, but it was too late.

Moen rushed to it, his left hand, with its "mouse-like skillful hand," precisely reaching out and firmly pinching the edge of the blood-red flower bud—

He poured the concentrated holy water all over it with his right hand.