A Saint?

After a simple inventory, Arthur saw that most of the items were still piled on the floor in their packages and went straight back to his room to rest, while Yinsen began sorting through what he had gained in Resident Evil.

He had already transformed the Virus Stock Solution into Liquid Medicine that enhanced Mental Power. This medicine was not easy to make, and material limitations meant he could not produce much of it right now. Still, that would not be a problem for the time being.

He had made quite a lot of cigarettes in the first batch. As long as the tobacco made from grass leaves could keep up, he could quickly produce another large batch, so there was no need to worry about running out.

He had only made a few cigars with a certain degree of physical healing ability. He stored them in specially made cigar tubes, saving them for critical moments when they could save his life.

Since they were life-saving items, he had made some further adjustments to their effects. Besides smoking them, he could also chew them up and swallow them in an emergency.

The first method restored him relatively slowly, but its effects were mild and placed less strain on the body. After using one, he only needed a brief rest before he could use another. At the same time, this method had a relatively high recovery "cap."

The second method was simple and brutal, with much stronger effects. It could stimulate the body to recover from injuries in a very short time, but it placed a heavier burden on the body and had a lower recovery "cap." The strain was also severe enough that after using one, he would need to wait quite a long time before having another.

Overall, one of these tobacco products was purely a blue potion, while the other was a mixed blue-and-red potion. Their effects were barely passable, but enough for Yinsen at his current stage.

He casually took out a cigarette, lit it with the lighter he had brought back from Biohazard World, and began counting packet after packet of Firearms.

There were not many of them, and when selecting them, he had tried to choose models that used common ammunition. For example, the pistols were mostly chambered for 9mm Ammunition.

He had also specifically learned firearm disassembly, maintenance, and basic shooting knowledge from Alice.

The rest could only be learned through practice. However, these things were consumables. If he could not replenish them, they would probably become a pile of scrap metal before long.

"Could I modify them somehow?"

He had considered making a firearm powered by magic from the very beginning, but he knew nothing about gun construction, so he had abandoned the idea.

Now, that was no longer a problem. He was not a real firearms designer, but he did not need to design an entirely new gun. He only needed to make some Magic Modifications to existing structures, change the ammunition feed into a magic supply, and fire Magic Bullets—or perhaps directly cast a fixed spell.

"Magic... I can use magic stones as the power supply. Then I need to consider equipment for replacing magic stones, or equipment that absorbs and stores them."

Compared with a tool that simply held magic stones, Yinsen preferred the latter. Magic stones came in all shapes and sizes, with no standard whatsoever. If he only used stones of fixed sizes, he could not guarantee their quality or source. No matter how he looked at it, the latter was the more reliable choice.

"I'll study it slowly. No rush."

After finishing the cigarette in his hand, Yinsen lay down to rest. The Mental Power increase provided by the tobacco was so slight that he could barely feel himself getting stronger. It would only show obvious effects through steady accumulation over time, so for quite a while to come, Yinsen would have to be a heavy smoker.

"I barely smoked in my previous life. Looks like I'm going to smoke enough for two lifetimes in this one."

Over the next few days, Yinsen and Arthur continued living very regular lives. Every day, they read, trained, and quietly waited for their prey, Gino.

A trip to Resident Evil had not been enough to make Yinsen forget his biggest reason for staying on Stat Island.

Until he eliminated that hidden danger, he had no mood to set sail, so he remained on the island for an extended period.

Naturally, this attracted the guild's attention.

The guild generally provided adventurers with several days of free food and lodging. Especially after an adventure brought back a huge haul of supplies, that period could be extended appropriately.

However, the guild did not encourage adventurers to sit around on the island and waste away their supplies, waiting until they had eaten through everything before embarking on another adventure. They worried that young Yinsen had lost his drive and become slack, so they subtly reminded him that he had rested long enough and should head out to sea for his next adventure.

Left with no choice, Yinsen clearly stated his intentions. He even hired the guild to keep an eye on the docks and notify him immediately if Gino appeared.

Only then did the guild understand why Yinsen had remained on the island: he intended to get rid of Gino, who had just earned the title Hand of Flame.

The guild had always remained neutral when it came to conflicts between adventurers. Even if people fought openly in the Guild Hall, the guild would not interfere, provided no guild property was damaged.

Of course, even if someone damaged something belonging to the guild, the guild would not make trouble for them as long as they compensated it at full price.

Thus, they did not care whom Yinsen wanted to trouble. Once they confirmed that he had not truly become lazy, they stopped deliberately urging him to set sail. Instead, at Yinsen's request, they provided quite a bit of information about Gino—many adventurers had encountered him recently, and there was no shortage of reports brought back to the island.

As the information accumulated, Yinsen gradually realized that Gino could not hold out at sea for much longer. Even if he could obtain food and water, could he and his crew endure drifting at sea for so long? His ship might not be able to. With every battle, Lord of Flame suffered increasingly severe damage. If he did not want his ship to be scrapped entirely, he would have to return to Stat Island.

Things turned out exactly as Yinsen expected. Only four days later, Gino's Lord of Flame docked at Stat Island's harbor.

After receiving the news, Yinsen and Arthur, fully armed, waited in a lounge not far from the Guild Hall. As soon as Gino appeared, the two of them could kill him right there.

There was only one small complication. Another ship had docked at Stat Island alongside Gino's, and a middle-aged man who seemed to be the captain of that large ship was traveling with Gino toward the Guild Hall.

"Who is that man?"

Sitting in the lounge with Yinsen was a guild employee sent to notify him. He looked about twenty-four or twenty-five and was named John. He was an utterly ordinary young man, the sort who would disappear into a crowd and leave you unable to remember what he looked like.

Yet despite looking ordinary, John possessed the expected professional qualities. He could answer almost any question immediately, including Yinsen's.

"That man is Brent, captain of the Braveheart. He used to be a very famous adventurer on the Sea of Tranquility."

"Used to be?"

John nodded. "Brent crossed the Sea of Storms five years ago and reached the ocean on the other side. I've heard from some people in the guild who have been to the waters beyond the Sea of Storms that Brent has done quite well over there too. He has quite a reputation. I just don't know why he suddenly came back to the Sea of Tranquility."

Yinsen looked at Brent several more times. He appeared to be only a little over thirty. If he had crossed the Sea of Storms five years ago, then he had only been in his twenties back then. At that age, many people on the Sea of Tranquility were still rookies, yet he had already stood at the peak of these waters.

"What kind of reputation does he have?" Yinsen found it strange that someone like that would be associating with Gino. Could he be another person like Gino?

"His reputation is excellent. Back then, the entire Sea of Tranquility praised Brent's character."

It was obvious that John, the young man, admired Brent greatly. He casually began recounting many of Brent's glorious deeds.

For example, whenever Brent encountered people in distress at sea, he would rush in to rescue them, even if it meant walking into a trap himself. He would also properly arrange for those he saved, even giving them supplies so they had a chance to survive and perhaps turn their lives around.

Whenever he saw people bullying the weak or robbing adventurers, he would immediately step in to stop them and try to persuade those people not to do such things again. Thanks to his reputation and the many people who had benefited from his kindness, many sailors who made a living as bandits would give him face.

There had even been several people whom he had persuaded to turn over a new leaf. They stopped doing evil and honestly became sea adventurers.

By this point, even Arthur had a look on his face that suggested he wanted to make Brent's acquaintance. Only Yinsen's expression had turned rather unpleasant.

He understood now. Brent was probably a good person, but the kind with a saintly personality—someone who believed everything in the world was beautiful, and that even if it was not beautiful for the moment, it could become so.

Even when dealing with bad people, he believed in laying down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot, giving them a chance to reform.

At the same time, whenever anyone came to him for help, he would lend a hand, treating good people and evil people alike.

Then the reason Gino was standing with him became very clear. Compared with Sean, who had no brains and relied solely on brute force, Gino was obviously much smarter.

He must have learned that Yinsen was waiting on the island for his return, which was why he had refused to come back. Then, upon discovering Brent—the former top figure of the Sea of Tranquility and its greatest saint—he immediately went over and latched onto the man's thigh.

He would not even need to waste many words. He only needed to say that he had once been forced by evil people to become a bad person, but now wanted to be good, and this saintly fellow would definitely help him solve all his troubles.

And that man's biggest trouble was Yinsen, wasn't it?

"So, Gino found himself a powerful backer!" Having figured this out, Yinsen curled his lip disdainfully. "No matter who he brings, Gino dies today!"