Stunning the Experts

Several men and women gathered around Noir by the time the hotel staff appeared with two small tubs, each carrying a lively fish.

Noir donned a pair of surgical gloves he pulled from his pocket. He expertly cut thin slices of the mushrooms and put a few slices in one of the glasses of water. He tore up a couple of mint leaves and threw them in the glass as well, and then added a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Then he poured a spoon of the water on the fish which was more active.

The fish's movements slowed down immediately.

"This is the neurotoxin," Noir said. "Today, if anyone has come in contact with any member of Solis's family…I'd recommend wiping your skin with alcohol before taking a bath. And avoid bath salts, especially those with mint or lavender."

Before mass panic could break out in the room, Noir announced, "There's no need to worry right away. This is a long-term neurotoxin – even if it does enter your bloodstream today, it will dissipate naturally within a few months. Ideally, it needs to be administered every two months to be kept fully potent. Solis was poisoned regularly for over five years."

"No wonder he doesn't want to touch anyone at all," someone muttered.

"I remember Boss Solis being mysophobic…but it was never as extreme as we saw today." Someone else piped up.

Noir nodded. "As someone who has been familiar with these things for a long time, I am worse than Solis when it comes to mysophobia," he said. He turned to Solis and smiled. "I'm grateful to Solis for tolerating my quirks and pandering to my strange wishes."

Solis smiled back and a lot of people gasped in shock.

"If any of the experts would like to take a sample and test it in their laboratory, there are plenty of samples here. Salt and mint are the quickest catalysts for activating this particular neurotoxin, and it is not destroyed by heat," Solis said.

"What is the antidote to this?" someone asked.

"There are no antidotes," Noir said ruefully. "You need to wash it out of your bloodstream. That's why Solis and I have been cooped up for all these months. I needed to use every technique at my disposal to speed up his blood production and circulation, and keep his muscles from atrophying."

"Which is why we would be very grateful if the experts could take samples and synthesise antidotes," Solis said.

Noir nodded. "I'm not a doctor or an expert. I was able to help Solis simply because of a coincidence…but if there are others who have been affected by this poison…I won't be able to help at all," he said.

Many people, who had been planning to ask Noir to take a look at their ailments or some ill people they knew, shut up at that. If the man himself publicly admitted that he couldn't do anything…taken together with the fierce way Boss Solis and Noir protected each other…it was unlikely anyone would be get hold of Noir for anything at all.

Noir looked down at the stalk of celery he had taken from the basket and sighed. "We knew about the neurotoxin for a few months…but this…this is new, and it is incredibly vicious. I find it difficult that anyone could bear to use such a thing on a child they personally raised, even if the child was not their own…"

"What is it?" someone asked.

"I'll show you," Noir said. He picked up the stalk of celery, and cut a thin slice from the middle. He chopped up a slice of tomato into small bits. He threw the slice of the celery into the other glass of water and added a spoonful of tomato to it, followed by a pinch of salt. Then he poured two spoons of the water on a live fish.

The fish stopped moving immediately, causing many people to gasp in horror.

"Is it dead?" someone asked.

Noir shook his head. "If it died, that would be a mercy," he said quietly. "The fish is alive. Its brain is active and its senses are heightened, but it is paralysed. It can see everything. It can hear everything. Even its skin is more sensitive than before…but it can't move a single millimetre. If this was used on a human…this is the cruellest poison I have ever seen. It keeps you alive, able to see, hear and feel everything, but unable to move. With the dosage I estimate to be in the baskets…it would heighten our perception, and make our skin so sensitive that even a draught of air would be painful. This…this is living death."

Even Jovis looked shocked. As for other people, they quickly moved as far as possible from Auntie Ela, as if afraid to breathe the same air as her.

Noir looked at the woman standing with her arms crossed. "I had not expected you to be such a toxin expert," he said softly. "What grudge could you possibly bear towards Solis that would make you act like this?"

Auntie Ela laughed manically. "I underestimated you," she told Noir. "You've managed to upset all my plans."

"Arrest her!" someone cried.

But no one dared to approach her.

Auntie Ela chuckled, her lovely face twisted into a malicious smirk. "If you were Martis's partner…I would have taken you as my apprentice, you know," she told Noir. "Unfortunately, you chose to stand with Solis." She shook her head sadly. "It's a pity. Really…such a pity that your rare talent must go to waste."

Several things happened at once.

She tore off a button from her sleeve and threw it at Noir.

"Mother, no! Don't!" Jovis cried, trying to grab her and pull her back before the button left her hand. He failed to stop her.

Solis was rushing towards Noir with a panicked look on his face, but he couldn't get to him in time.

Teacher Artemis rapidly threw the crockery near her hands to deflect the trajectory of the button and stop it from hitting Noir…but it was too late.