The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 275. Mesmerize Pollen

Tyler froze, staring in disbelief as Human Kyla stood over Rabbit Kyla’s lifeless body.

"W-what are you doing?" Tyler asked, his voice trembling.

"I’m waking her up," Human Kyla said calmly, as if she hadn’t just plunged her blade into Rabbit Kyla’s chest.

"What are you talking about? You just killed her!" Tyler shouted, his mind racing for answers.

"Trust me, Tyler," Human Kyla replied, her tone steady as she turned her gaze toward him.

But Tyler didn’t trust her—not when she suddenly lunged at him. Before he could react, her blade struck his chest. For a moment, there was nothing but cold. Then, his body turned to ice and shattered.

From a safe distance, the real Tyler stepped out of hiding, his expression grim. He’d been keeping his distance, suspecting something was off about Human Kyla.

"Don’t use your escaping Art." Human Kyla said.

"Did you also get affected by the Parasite Sprouts?" he asked, his tone sharp.

Human Kyla turned to him, . "No, I’m not affected. Trust me—only by ’dying’ can we escape this place."

"You mean we are in an illusion?" Tyler wasn’t convinced. With a flick of his copper ladle, he swiped at her direction. The short sword she had been holding vanished. Human Kyla was suprised.

"Come on, man... I can’t explain. If I did, it would make it harder for us to leave this place. Trust me," Kyla said again, her voice tinged with urgency.

"Trust you? Let me think about it?" Tyler asked skeptically, keeping his distance.

Human Kyla raised her hands, showing she was unarmed. "Think about it. If we don’t break free of this place, we’ll be trapped here forever. The only way out is through death. It’s the only thing that resets the mind."

Tyler narrowed his eyes. "Then kill yourself first."

Human Kyla blinked, startled by his suggestion. "Oh, yeah... that makes sense," she admitted, almost sheepishly. Then she pointed toward Brolin, who was restrained nearby, his gaze fixed on Rabbit Kyla’s motionless body. "But don’t forget to take care of him, too. If he doesn’t ’die,’ he won’t wake up either."

Tyler’s grip on his ladle tightened as he watched her calmly lie down. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Don’t forget. Kill yourself, too."

And with that, she fell silent, her body going limp.

Tyler stood there, heart pounding, staring at the scene. Rabbit Kyla, lifeless. Human Kyla, motionless. Brolin, restrained but didn’t struggle, instead he is looking at the Rabbit Kyla’s body.

"She shattered her heart with Prana." Tyler murmured. Tyler also checked if there is any parasite in her body. But he found nothing.

"Well whatever." Tyler sighed and launched a Halfbred. It plunged into Brolin’s chest, he knelt and died.

Tyler also channelled his Aura to his heart.

Then

Tyler woke up.

Tyler woke up abruptly, gasping for air.

"Thank goodness, you believed me," Human Kyla’s voice greeted him as his eyes adjusted to the dim surroundings. He looked around, his body entangled in thick vines. Concentrating, he turned the vines into ice and shattered them with a quick motion.

Getting to his feet, Tyler scanned the area. Brolin lay nearby, unconscious but breathing steadily. Rabbit Kyla knelt beside him, carefully checking his condition.

"What’s going on?" Tyler asked, still trying to make sense of what had happened.

He turned and froze. Towering before him was the Good Boy Statue, a massive figure of the Dog Mayor, now grotesquely covered in sprouting spores. Vines extended from the statue, writhing as if alive, attempting to connect to him and the others.

"What is this?" he asked, alarmed.

"If I remember correctly, this should be Mesmerize Pollen," Human Kyla replied, her tone sharp.

"Wait, so everything we just went through was... a dream?" Tyler asked, piecing it together.

Human Kyla hesitated but was about to respond when Brolin groaned and stirred.

"Brolin! You’re awake!" Rabbit Kyla exclaimed, relief evident in her voice.

"Kyla?" Brolin muttered, sitting up with a pained expression. "I... I got lost in some underground forest. A small plant entered my ear, and after that, I don’t remember anything."

"It’s okay," Rabbit Kyla reassured him, patting his shoulder. "Everything you saw was just an illusion created by this Abyss Monster."

Rabbit Kyla glanced at Tyler, a knowing look passing between them. Both of them remembered everything from the illusion but chose to stay silent about it.

Tyler broke the tense moment. "So we were trapped in this pollen-induced illusion as soon as we arrived here. Everything—the undying plants, the underground forest, the memory-hazing mist—none of it was real."

He turned toward the statue, the pollen still radiating from it. "This stuff could be valuable for research," Tyler said, stepping closer to collect the Mesmerize Pollen.

But before he could act, a shadowy figure leapt between him and the statue. With a swift motion, the figure pulled out a small glass orb and captured the pollen.

"Sorry, folks, but this one’s ours," the man in the black cloak said smugly.

"Who are you?" Tyler asked, narrowing his eyes as more cloaked figures emerged from the shadows.

"Who we are is irrelevant. What matters is what we do. We bring justice to this unjust world. We are..." the man began, only for Tyler to interrupt, rolling his eyes.

"You’re Justice Bandits, right?"

The man paused. "Tsk... You’ve heard of us?"

"Yeah, ran into some of your group in the south," Tyler said flatly.

The leader straightened. "Well then, consider yourself lucky. We’ll be leaving now."

Human Kyla moved to intercept, but Tyler held her back.

The bandits started to retreat, only to awkwardly crouch behind some debris a few feet away.

"I can still see you," Tyler said, deadpan.

"Oh... our bad. Justice prevails!" one of them shouted before they finally vanished.

Tyler sighed. "This time, they’re actually gone."

Human Kyla crossed her arms. "Why did you let them take the pollen? That stuff could’ve been priceless for research."

Tyler shrugged. "We’re outnumbered, Brolin’s in no condition to fight, and Justice Bandits are just plain annoying. They probably even have a mana-restraining device or something. Not worth it."

She frowned but didn’t argue.

"Let’s head back. Mission’s done," Tyler said, turning to leave.

As they walked away, Tyler’s gaze caught something odd. Human Kyla and Rabbit Kyla’s clothes—they were wearing his T-shirts, the ones he’d handed out in the illusion.

He froze, his heart skipping a beat. Quickly, he checked his storage device. Sure enough, a vial of corrosive liquid he had collected in the illusion was sitting there.

His eyes darted to Rabbit Kyla, who noticed his look and blushed, quickly turning away.

Brolin, oblivious, simply followed them in silence. Tyler decided not to press the matter.

---

On the journey back, Tyler walked alongside Human Kyla, keeping some distance from Rabbit Kyla and Brolin. Once they were far enough, he leaned in and asked, "So... was it all an illusion or not?"

Human Kyla smirked, her tone dropping to a whisper. "It’s a little of both. Our Rabbit girl wants to keep some things that happened between you two secret, so let’s keep it that way."

Tyler nodded, not particularly interested in Rabbit Kyla. He had enough on his plate without adding romantic drama to the mix.

"Fair enough," he said.

Human Kyla turned around and gave a thumbs up, her gesture casual yet reassuring.

Rabbit Kyla exhaled deeply, relief washing over her. She had been nervous that Tyler might bring up those intimate moments they had shared in the ’illusion’, especially in front of Brolin. But it seemed like Tyler didn’t care or simply chose to ignore it.

She felt a mix of emotions—gratitude, for his discretion, and a hint of disappointment. Maybe she should try one last time to gauge his feelings.

"What are you thinking about?" Brolin’s voice broke through her thoughts. He walked beside her, his gaze soft with concern.

"I was thinking about... tails," Rabbit Kyla blurted out without realizing.

"Tails? Is your tail hurting?" Brolin asked, his tone laced with worry.

Rabbit Kyla’s small, barely noticeable tail twitched slightly, a subconscious reaction to his question.

"Huh... No," she said quickly, flustered. Under her breath, she muttered, "I’ll eat your tail tonight."

Brolin, oblivious to her murmurs, walked beside her with an innocent smile, completely unaware of what she meant.

As she watched his carefree expression, a wave of guilt washed over her. His innocence and kindness were too pure for her to take advantage of. Resolving herself, she pushed away all thoughts of Tyler and the fleeting idea of "one last try."

With a deep breath, she decided to remain faithful to Brolin. What happened with Tyler was just accident. Though she enjoyed it, if she choose lust then she have to give up on this innocent smile.

Meanwhile, Tyler and Human Kyla led the way back to their camp. The group’s footsteps grew lighter as the familiar sight of the camp came into view.

When they reached the perimeter, Tyler and the others took out their identity tokens and handed them to the scouts stationed at the entrance.

"Welcome back," one of the scouts said warmly.