By the next day, I had managed to significantly increase the yield of the Mycnoid's fungi by supplying them with several animal carcasses which they decomposed to nourish their fungi and greatly hasten the speed of the growth.

There were so many mushrooms that they all wouldn't fit in our one duffle bag, meaning I'd have to find something larger to transport them in or make multiple trips...

Luckily, I've been practicing and I could somewhat control three Carriers at once, so, this time I loaded all of the mushrooms in wooden boxes and strapped them to the backs of two of the Carriers, it was heavy, but the carriers would be able to bear with the burden.

While I had those two Carriers wait near the entrance, I informed AIlwin where I'd be staying and where he needed to lead Julie Farkas.

I chose a relatively safe location that was also somewhat protected from the elements that the Mojave Wasteland was known for.

It was the Northern Passage, the same cave where the Courier would have to go to start the Honest Hearts DLC, the same DLC that led the player to Zion.

It was the best place I could think of, everywhere else was too open for my tastes, and if I needed to, I could always escape further into the passage.

Call me paranoid, but it always pays to be prepared.

Sure, based on her character in the game, I could tell she was a good person, but would that really be enough when interacting with a creature such as me? Not to mention that this world was now 'real' and not a game anymore, at least not to me.

If there's one thing you can be sure of, is that people can be both predictable and unpredictable, some are sheep, and some are horrifying wolves or cunning foxes.

Or, perhaps I am overthinking.

With about an hour until sunrise, I got moving, traveling toward the passage.

...

Meanwhile, Ailwin also began making his way toward New Vegas and Old Mormon Fort.

It didn't take long to reach Westside, he didn't even have to use Clayrvoiance since he still remembered the path he took.

Unsurprisingly, most were asleep due to how early in the morning it was, leaving the streets mostly empty with only the beggars sleeping on the streets and the occasionally early riser.

It seemed to be safer to walk down the street so early, sure, Ailwin still felt a few gazes still following him, but it was far less than it was when he last walked through these streets.

Of course, it was a bit harder to lose those following him, but it didn't matter, all it took was taking a few turns through alleyways and streets before he lost whoever was following him.

It was only a matter of time before he reached the Old Mormon Fort.

It seemed there were still some 'Doctors' walking around entering and exiting various tents, but most were probably still asleep.

Walking up to a young man with glasses and blond hair, Ailwin spoke up.

"Excuse me, but do you happen to know where I can find a Miss Julie Farkas?"

The Man glanced up, before examining Ailwin from head to toe, "Hmm...wearing a strange hooded robe, clearly educated, yet calm, too calm, who is asking?" the man asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Sorry, it appears I forgot to introduce myself, My name is Ailwin Ianrona, and I came in yesterday to discuss a potential deal with Miss Farkas," Ailwin explained, giving the man a slight bow.

"Hmm...my name is Arcade Gannon, are you the one who brought in all of those unknown Fungi?"

"I am, yes," Ailwin confirmed.

"I see. Well, the Boss Lady is not up yet, I suggest you come back in around an hour or so until she wakes up," Arcade suggested.

"If you don't mind, how exactly did you grow the Fungi? They are unlike anything I've seen," Arcade asked, curious.

"I wouldn't know, I am simply a middleman working for my Employer," Ailwin shrugged, expertly avoiding the man's question.

...

Meanwhile, I soon made it to the Northern Passage, where I found myself waiting...for two hours.

I was starting to get worried, I figured Ailwin would either be getting close or something happened.

Sighing, I decided to quickly switch to my Big MT colony and summon grass and another Spore Plant Seed which I planted along the cliff in a somewhat defensible position.

I planted the rest of the grass seeds as quickly as possible before switching to my Zion Colony to check on the Yao Gui that I infected days ago.

Its progress was steady, and I noticed the spore count had greatly increased within its body, and my spores had already begun spreading through its body, starting tomorrow I would actually try to direct the infection, and see if I could control the infection, if possible.

When I switched back to my carriers waiting in the Northern Passage, I decided to wait, sooner or later they should show up.

And show up they did, arriving three hours after I had left the vault.

I doubt it would take Ailwin long to find the location of the passage with his Clayrvoiance spell and all, so I could only assume the reason I had to wait so long was on Julie's side.

Ailwin was the first to walk into the cave, with a woman covered in a sheen of sweat with a Mohawk walking in after him, clearly worried she might be walking into a trap.

...

[Julie Farkas's POV]

Julie was feeling a myriad of emotions, just the previous day a man approached her with a potential deal of a constant supply of raw medical fungi that could be refined into medicine.

Not only that but after a thorough examination, all of the Fungi were of unknown species! Finding such a large number of unknown species of fungi hasn't been seen by the Followers of the Apocalypse since its founding and expansion!

Not only that, but all of the fungi seemed to have potent effects, and the few her doctors managed to test in the little time that has passed revealed so far, that one species acted as a potent painkiller, and another was found to be a potent natural coagulant!

Both would be invaluable to her camp!

Especially with the NCR's official separation from the Followers of the Apocalypse and the subsequent loss of a tremendous amount of funding and supplies, they were getting from the NCR, as well as their political power in the NCR Government, the Followers of the Apocalypse were having a hard time.

For the last couple of months, supplies have been sparse, funding has been drastically reduced, and now the Followers were losing staff left right, and center, meaning that she didn't have enough hands to keep up with the demand.

So, getting her hands on a constant supply of just some of these fungi would be a great help, and she had yet to even discover what the three other species of fungi would be able to do.

She spent a great deal of the night working overtime with some of her fellow doctors to test and examine the Fungi, and before she knew it, she eventually passed out from exhaustion.

She probably would have stayed asleep for the entire morning if it were not for Arcade Gannon waking her up and informing her that the man offering the trade was waiting for her.

So, she as any sane person, drank three cups of coffee and told Arcade to let him in.

Ailwin took one look at her and smirked, "Did you have a long night, Miss Farkas?"

"You have no idea," She chuckled, bags under her eyes and drinking Coffee from a cup in hand.

"Are you willing to meet my Master?" Ailwin suddenly asked.

"Master..? Are you a slave...?" Julie asked, concerned.

"Slave? No," Ailwin answered, smiling.

"Then wha-" She started only to be interrupted, "My Master is still waiting, do you wish to meet him, or stay here?"

"Stay? What do you mean? Is he not here?" Julie asked, confused.

"Of course not, do you not recall what I have mentioned about my employer? It's best we do not meet him within the bounds of the city, and I know it sounds suspicious, so, if you do not trust us, you can have a companion or two accompany us so long as they swear to secrecy for anything they are witness to," Ailwin explained and offered.

"I...see," Julie replied.

She did consider it suspicious, so the offer was certainly appealing, but was she really willing to risk the lives of two others?

Of her peers, she knew only one man who could actually fight and defend themselves if something went wrong, Arcade Gannon whose past remained a mystery from before he joined the Followers.

She turned to Ailwin and said, "Alright, I'll gather two people I trust, please wait outside the gate, I'll meet you out there when I am ready."

'That's if I can actually convince Arcade and someone else to come with me,' She thought to herself.