Direct Delivery From Naples (4)

Unfolding an eye trick to dismantle an enemy’s forms is directly connected to victory in a life-and-death duel.
-Mantis Fist Emperor Jean-Henri Fabre, while unfolding the Great Compound Eye Art.-

“There is something the Kung-Fuists of Capri, its place of origin, do not know? Is that even possible?”

Watson was looking at me with an expression that said her doubts had still not gone away.

If there was one thing different from when we had first met, it was that now, when she asked me something, there was no trace of distrust in her eyes at all.

A question asked out of pure curiosity, premised upon trust and respect toward me.

For that reason, there was nothing difficult about answering it.

“Of course. You can tell as much simply from how newly arrived immigrants and travelers find Italian restaurants that native Londoners do not know. In the first place, those looking from outside a forest can grasp its whole shape more easily than those living inside it.”

To be honest, I did not think Watson would be convinced.

After all, there was an insurmountable wall between a local cuisine restaurant and Mita Holy Water.

But whether Watson believed it or not, what I had just said was the truth, without the slightest error.

“Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying all underworld men are ignorant louts. On the contrary, I believe that, for better or worse, unorthodox Duelists often train themselves in ways more efficient than orthodox martial artists.”
“True. Since most of them do not pursue chivalry, the underworld way is rather to prioritize one’s own profit and seek shortcuts.”
“But as far as Capri’s Mita Holy Water is concerned, it has not even been a full one hundred and fifty years since its existence became known, and not only is its yield small, it has rarely leaked outside, so it is true that proper research has not progressed.”
“Now that I hear it, that does make sense…….”

Only then did Watson nod repeatedly, as if she understood.

However, since it seemed faster to show her directly than to explain at length the facts I had discovered while studying under my master, I decided to begin processing the Mita Holy Water at once.

“Well, the amusing part starts now. Watch closely.”

I immediately converted a small portion of the energy in my elixir field into Yin Qi and wrapped it around my hand.

-Hwaak!

My internal energy, which normally had an ashen hue, was changing into a pale gray according to my Intent.

The Essence cultivated through the Lionheart Method leaned slightly more toward one side of yin and yang in order to suppress the false personality, but that did not mean I had no idea how to handle Yin Qi.

I had already learned at the age of twelve something on the level of the Emei Sister’s Great Stillness Meditation Art, which Watson had trained in to efficiently control the Yin Qi filling her body due to her meridian blockage disorder.

“Is there anything you cannot do……!”

Watson, recognizing the nature of the energy wrapped around my right hand, let out an exclamation.

And understandably so, since most Kung-Fuists inevitably struggled to change the nature of the Essence circulating inside their bodies.

It must have seemed wondrous that I, who usually unfolded Kung-fu classified mainly as Yang Arts, could casually wrap stable Yin Qi around not my entire body, but only one hand.

“It is still too early to be surprised.”

The Great Stillness Meditation Art was merely one of the many internal energy methods I had trained in during childhood, when my curiosity had been stirred.

Though I never dreamed I would end up using it like this.

Separately, seeing her admire me over something of only this degree made me look forward to how Watson would react next.

-Plop!

I calmly dipped my hand into the Mita Holy Water where Yin Qi surged.

“Wh-what are you trying to do?”
“You will know soon enough.”

When I lifted my hand again, the Mita Holy Water emerged from the Morning Star, hardened solid around my hand as it was.

“How fascinating…… To think the Mita Holy Water I had only heard about would have such an ability.”
“Non-Newtonian fluid elixirs become solid in response to Essence, which makes them easy to handle. The reason Pietro Venucci’s staff art showed movements that ignored the laws of Kung-Fu was entirely because the Mita Holy Water reacted to his energy, circulated here and there inside the staff, and caused changes in its center of gravity.”

Energy cultivated through the Great Stillness Meditation Art moves precisely according to Intent.

The Yin Qi remained only in my palm and fulfilled its purpose without touching the seal that existed in my Mind Palace.

And Mita Holy Water is a non-Newtonian fluid elixir that reacts with internal energy and turns solid, and on top of that, it is not absorbed through the skin.

In other words, there was no problem at all with transporting it in this manner.

-Kwadeuk.

The sight of all the Mita Holy Water hidden inside the blunt weapon gathered into a single lump resembled blue clay.

I transferred it into a ceramic bowl I had prepared nearby, then withdrew the internal energy wrapped around my hand.

-Squelch!

The Mita Holy Water that had fallen into the bowl like pizza dough dyed with blue pigment quickly regained its liquid form.

“……I have no child-rearing experience, so I cannot be certain, but I feel children would quite like this.”

Watson offered a plain appraisal while looking at the elixir, which was a deep blue like the sea.

After witnessing the special properties of Mita Holy Water, she seemed to want to touch it herself, but afraid that an attack of her meridian blockage disorder might occur, she was still keeping her distance from the bowl.

“Why not touch it yourself, if you are curious?”
“Me? Ah. It is fine. I am worried I might stir up trouble for no reason.”
“Mita Holy Water is a liquid in which pure Yin Qi has dissolved. It will not be easily absorbed through the skin simply because a human hand touches it, so do not worry. As long as you properly wrap internal energy around your hand, you should be able to move it freely.”
“R-really……?”

Watson ultimately could not suppress her curiosity and carefully brought her finger to the Mita Holy Water contained in the bowl.

-Pong!

Reacting to the internal energy dwelling in Watson’s finger, a drop of Mita Holy Water sprang into the air, then fell again and produced a crown splash.

“Oh.”

Perhaps liking the sensation, Watson grew reassured, put both hands into the Mita Holy Water, and drew up her energy.

The Mita Holy Water hardened like clay followed Watson’s precise control of internal energy, changed into a shape like a round bead atop her palm, and rolled about freely.

“It is just as you said……!”
“Do not hold it for too long. It is true that the pure Yin Qi dwelling in the elixir obeys commands without distinguishing the owner of the Intent, but if by some chance it is absorbed through a mucous membrane such as the nose or mouth, it could truly be fatal.”
“Hiiik!”

Watson flinched in fright, yet without dropping the solidified Mita Holy Water, she carefully returned it into the bowl.

“You could have told me that a little earlier…….”
“I thought you would know enough, since you are a medical student.”
“Being a medical student does not mean I go around memorizing the effects of every elixir that exists in the world. I get the feeling you know more about poisons and medicines than my colleagues working at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.”
“As my occupation is consulting detective, how could I solve cases unless I possessed proper knowledge of medicines and poisons?”
“Now that I hear it, that is true.”

Since Watson no longer feared the Mita Holy Water more than necessary, it was time to move on to the next step.

“As I said earlier, considering the condition of both our bodies, it is impossible for us to consume the Mita Holy Water as it is.”
“And that is why you said it needed to be processed.”
“Correct.”

For Watson and me to take a large quantity of Yin Qi into our bodies right now would be no different from drinking a deadly poison.

Above all, to absorb the energy of Mita Holy Water, one must learn the secret internal energy method transmitted only to executives of the Camorra.

Not only that, those who intend to consume the Mita Holy Water over a long period of time need it to react with their own internal energy and increase their affinity.

The reason Pietro Venucci had kept Mita Holy Water inside his beloved weapon, the Morning Star, was not simply to make the trajectories of his staff art ever-changing.

He was scheduled to be promoted to executive, so he had always kept it at his side in order to tame in advance the Mita Holy Water he would drink.

“……If that is true, the Italian underworld seems to be cleverer than I had imagined.”
“I told you. There are plenty of them whose wits turn faster than those of orthodox Kung-Fuists.”

Unfortunately, the two of us had never learned their Ultimate Kung-fu handed down in the Camorra, and we also had no leisure to spend a long time becoming familiar with the Mita Holy Water.

Therefore, the only way for us to drink the Mita Holy Water was to neutralize the Extreme Yin Energy possessed by the elixir.

“Ah, I will tell you in advance, even after the processing is finished, we will not be drinking this.”

However, putting it into one’s mouth is not the only way to use an elixir.

After processing the Mita Holy Water, I intended to make use of it in a way entirely different from the underworld’s.

“Then what exactly are you trying to do?”
“Why, I intend to breathe Yang Qi into the Mita Holy Water.”
“Nonsense! If you do such a thing, the Yin Primal Qi contained in the elixir will simply volatilize!!”

I thought the natural thing to ask would be why I was trying to neutralize the Yin Qi when we were not going to drink it anyway, but Watson seemed to be bothered by something else.

“A valid point.”

Of course, Watson’s words had a point.

All energy circulating through the world, regardless of yin or yang, bears the nature of waves.

This is why Natural Qi cannot easily be held in one place.

Then what of the Yin Qi of Mita Holy Water, born from the accumulation of the energy of island and sea?

Dense Yin Qi existing in a natural state, when it comes into contact with Yang Qi exceeding a certain intensity, soon undergoes neutralization and scatters into the air.

The reason mist clears when the sun rises, and the reason one must harvest thousand-year snow ginseng on a shadowed night, are all the same principle.

It is only natural to collect Mita Holy Water, which can be called an aggregate of pure Yin Qi, at dawn and store it in a dark place before daybreak.

Therefore, it was entirely understandable that Watson would react so violently the moment I said I would react the Mita Holy Water with Yang Qi.

Even textbooks listed infusing an elixir containing Extreme Yin or Extreme Yang Primal Qi with energy of the exact opposite nature and causing the Primal Qi to evaporate as one of the most common mistakes made by alchemists.

But I, who had continued Kung-fu chemistry experiments using special elixirs others could not access ever since I stayed at my master’s estate, knew the truth.

The phenomenon of Primal Qi scattering in all directions occurred because the balance of yin and yang had not been matched.

“If one uses ordinary experimental tools, it would happen as you say.”

If the Yin Qi of Mita Holy Water scattered while attempting neutralization by breathing in Yang Qi, let us consider whether the Yang Qi had perhaps been insufficient.

After all, most of the problems we encounter in life tend to occur because of insufficient internal strength.

In theory, if one could infuse at once a large quantity of Yang Qi comparable to the Yin Qi contained by the Mita Holy Water, the Mita Holy Water would regain the balance of yin and yang and be reborn as an elixir of the Middle Way, possessing the qualities of neither existence nor emptiness, neither yin nor yang.

This was the miraculous recipe countless alchemists of Europe had dreamed of without cease, and my master and I had once succeeded in perfectly processing Mita Holy Water through this method.

“But if I use this, it will be different.”

I opened the bedroom safe and took out a large, transparent glass bottle.

“What is this……?”
“This is the first time I am showing it to you. It is an item I used when I was studying under my master. It was made by carving Danube Steel.”
“Ah. Danube Steel, as in that……?!”

Watson struck her left palm with her fist, as if she had grasped at least a little of my intent.

The Danube was originally ordinary river water in the world I had lived in, but in this world, because the energy of the Schwarzwald had dissolved into it, it flowed at a speed of one inch per year in the form of something like hard, transparent glass.

An object between liquid and solid, rather than ordinary river water.

The Schwarzwald, known as the most dangerous place even among Europe’s forbidden zones.

Danube Steel, completed when Natural Qi of dense concentration that flowed from that place dissolved into the water, was famous even in Britain as the material of Elder Newton’s beloved weapon, the Prism Sword.

Danube Steel was famous for its hardness and high processing difficulty, but the ability that deserved the most attention was that it repelled every energy except Essence of a specific nature.

“I have seen Danube Steel shaped into a sword, but to make a sealed container for Kung-fu chemistry experiments…….”
“My master went through no small amount of trouble to indulge his young disciple’s ideas. As long as I have this, I should be able to trap all of the Mita Holy Water’s energy inside without losing any of it.”

I opened the Danube Steel container, poured the Mita Holy Water inside, and sealed it.

Then I walked to the window, drew back the curtains, and flung the window wide open.

“There is still quite some time left. Sit down somewhere suitable.”
“What on earth are you trying to do……?”
“You will know when the time comes.”

I checked the time with my pocket watch.

Thinking that this watch, too, like my pipe, would soon be replaced by Zhuge Yuli’s gift made me feel strange.

“Huh…….”

In the silent, windy dawn, Watson was still watching me and the Mita Holy Water contained in the Danube Steel vessel with a face that said she did not understand what was going on.

After quite some time had passed like that.

“Wait. Danube Steel possesses the ability to repel most energy, does it not? Then how do you intend to react it with Yang Qi―”
“Mm. It has begun just in time.”

Before Watson could even finish speaking, a whitish light began to pour in from afar.

I lifted the Danube Steel vessel with both hands and carefully placed it on the windowsill.

“You cannot mean…….”
“Do you remember how Elder Newton once unfolded his life-defining ultimate technique with a sword made of Danube Steel?”

That was right.

We had already witnessed that Danube Steel allowed Elder Newton’s Optical Energy Release to pass through it.

The only energy that could pass through Danube Steel was Yang Qi, and among that, energy using light as its medium.

The arrows of light shot by the sun, the most powerful aggregate of Yang Qi in the universe, crossed a tremendous distance and infused heat into the Mita Holy Water contained in the sealed vessel.

The blue elixir, which began boiling in an instant, vaporized before even three seconds had passed, and blue vapor filled the inside of the vessel.

If this had been an ordinary glass vessel unable to trap energy, the Yin Qi contained within would have scattered in every direction.

Even if it had been a dedicated elixir flask made of expensive materials, the terrifying Essence pressure of the expanded Yin Qi would have shattered the vessel.

But this was a sealed Danube Steel vessel that I had personally designed, and that my master, an expert of the Unrestrained Realm, had shaped with Sword Aura.

“Perhaps because human Intent has seeped into it, it is holding out longer than Mita Holy Water in a natural state.”

In order to calm the rampaging Yin Qi that rejected being neutralized by Yang Qi, I had to concentrate even more Yang Qi.

“In that case, I have a method too.”

-Tzzzt!

When I unfolded Indra Net, the moisture in the air reacted with Essence and began taking the form of countless lenses.

Strength and weakness alike, all things are placed in relative relationships and exist by relying upon one another.

According to the law of dependent origination emphasized by Buddhist Kung-fu, the sunlight shining down at the darkest dawn is precisely the most intense light.

“Since London’s sun is not more dazzling than the Mediterranean sunlight, I have no choice but to fill in the lacking parts myself.”

The lenses created by unfolding Indra Net gathered that light into one place, neutralizing the Mita Holy Water’s Yin Qi at a speed that could not even be compared to before.

-Kwaaaaaa!!!!!

The sealed vessel roared.

Inside it, the Kung-fu-based union of Yin Qi and Yang Qi was taking place without cease.

Everything that exists under heaven and in the heavens was born from the mysterious harmony of yin and yang.

No matter how extreme-yin an elixir may be, if high-grade Yang Qi is added to it, escaping imperfection is the principle of the world.

-Pong.

In the place where the blue mist disappeared, a transparent emerald liquid remained.

An elixir that had achieved perfect balance without leaning toward either yin or yang. A Yin-Yang Cocktail.

The miracle of nature born from the gathering of the Primal Qi of island and sea became one with sunlight and finally became whole.

Inside the bottle, where no wind could possibly blow, white spray rose endlessly on the surface of the elixir pooled within.

“……My master called this elixir by this name. Capri Sun.”

Watson was gazing at the sight with a dazed expression.

“……Indeed, it is dazzling, just as its name suggests.”

At the small, blue Mediterranean, surging in waves inside the bottle.