"Where did you find out about this?" Lord Bella asked again.
Isaac simply smiled instead of answering this time.
The mists around her churned violently. They spread through the air like a living storm, growing larger and thicker until her entire body had expanded into a massive cloud surrounding Isaac from every direction.
"Where did you find out this information?" Lord Bella repeated, her voice colder this time. "If you don’t answer, then don’t blame me for what happens next."
Threatening Isaac inside his own City was dangerous, but Lord Bella clearly believed she had the advantage.
His strongest combat power, the Water Elemental Spirit, was still inside the Great Dungeon. Meanwhile, Lord Bella herself was among the strongest Mistborns alive. She was even stronger than Serisa and Kael despite both of them being Apex Overlords.
Her Physique had reached a terrifying Level 3, allowing her to survive without Steam Suits entirely, and every one of her abilities had already reached their limits.
She was confident.
Confident enough to think she could crush Isaac before he had the chance to retaliate.
The information regarding the [Ten Thousand Year Ginseng] and [Breath of Life] was the greatest secret of the Mistborns. If outsiders learned about it, every major power would target them immediately.
"I understand why Lord Bella is angry. The Ten Thousand Life Ginseng is so valuable that even Ascenders would fight over it. If the Mistborns lose it, your race will slowly disappear," Isaac said calmly.
"You dare—"
"But I already told you. I came here to form a partnership," Isaac interrupted before she could finish.
The mana in the air continued rising. Her mists had nearly swallowed Isaac completely, but he remained standing there without moving.
He was not worried.
Alice, with all her Titles, Stats, and skills, could already fight Apex Overlords for short periods of time.
Isaac possessed all of Alice’s abilities.
He also had Emily’s Titles and skills. He could get the Mini Boss summon anytime. He had terrifying combat skills of Professor Catherine, and Celia’s monstrous Physique skills after her recent upgrade.
Lord Bella seemed to believe that because they were inside a Mirror Dimension, nobody would know if she killed him here.
But the truth was the opposite.
Isaac had brought her into the Mirror Dimension precisely because he expected this possibility. If she attacked him, he could retaliate without damaging the City.
Of course, he still hoped it would not come to violence. If news leaked that he fought a Lord during negotiations, every other Lord would immediately become wary of him. It would damage his crop trade and future partnerships.
Still, not wanting a fight did not mean he feared one. If Lord Bella crossed the line, Isaac would not hesitate to put her down.
At this moment, Isaac himself did not realize something strange.
Normally, he always preferred peaceful solutions first. But ever since Alice had been injured, a part of him had been hoping someone would give him an excuse to fight.
"You know my Class already. You used Inspect on me. I’m a Farmer with the SSS+ rank Class, Genetic Harvester. I can alter the genes of plants themselves. If you allow me to use my skills on the Ten Thousand Life Ginseng, then I can modify it so future Mistborns won’t have bodies that destroy themselves—by dissipating into the air—as they grow older or stronger," Isaac said.
Lord Bella froze.
For the first time since entering the Mirror Dimension, the violent mana fluctuations around her stopped.
Isaac smiled faintly.
"You probably think I might tamper with the plant itself and try to sabotage your race. But that’s an easy problem to solve. We can use a Contract. As for whether I can actually do what I’m claiming..." He shrugged lightly. "I can prove it."
Several seconds passed.
The mist around Lord Bella slowly shrank until it returned to a human-sized form.
"How will you prove it?" she finally asked.
"Come with me."
Isaac turned and began walking.
Lord Bella followed behind him quietly.
The two exited the building and stepped outside. Bright sunlight covered the empty streets. Since this area existed inside the Mirror Dimension, there were no civilians, no guards, and no Great Dungeon entrance.
The entire place felt abandoned.
Isaac stopped walking and turned toward Lord Bella.
"You should have some Vitality Grain seeds on you. Give me two. If you have pots with soil, I’ll need those too. Otherwise, I can just plant them directly into the ground," he said.
Two spatial rings floated out from within Lord Bella’s misty body.
She took out two seeds and two clay pots filled with soil and handed them to Isaac.
Isaac placed the pots carefully on the ground.
"Since these are your own items, you can be sure I’m not using anything fake," he said while holding up the seeds.
He activated Sovereign of Land.
The mud inside both pots trembled slightly as the skill strengthened the quality of the soil. With the skill already at SSS+ Rank and Level 10, the improvement was immediate.
The mana density inside the soil rose sharply.
Then Isaac focused on one of the Vitality Grain seeds.
He carefully inserted the livestock gene [Robut], obtained from the Plasma Ox, into the seed. Since Vitality Grain was only Tier 0, it could currently handle only a single additional gene.
As he worked, Isaac found himself staring at the tiny grain thoughtfully.
Back when he first used his Talent skills, these grains had only seemed like ordinary rations to him.
Now he realized how terrifying they truly were.
Vitality Grain was a masterpiece of biological engineering created by Florathi.
Anyone could consume it.
Humans could eat it normally, but even Mistborns, beings without flesh, could absorb its energy. They placed the grains into their mist bodies where internal winds shredded them apart and slowly absorbed the released vitality.
That alone was enough to prove how absurd the grain really was.
It made perfect sense now why harvesting them granted EXP potions through his Talent.
These simple-looking grains were treasures.
Florathi had most likely spent unimaginable amounts of resources and experimentation to create them.
"I’ve altered one seed while leaving the other untouched," Isaac said.
He planted both grains into separate pots. Then he activated Seed of Providence.
Because the skill had already reached Transcendent Rank, he could grow multiple plants simultaneously as long as they belonged to the same type.
Mana surged through the air. Both pots trembled. Tiny sprouts burst through the soil before rapidly growing upward into full stalks covered in hanging grains.
Lord Bella watched the process silently.
She already knew Isaac’s crops were unusual. Reports from Serisa had confirmed that his produce contained far greater nutrition and mana than normal.
But seeing him instantly grow mature crops with her own eyes was still shocking.
The two Vitality Grain stalks were noticeably larger than ordinary ones. Thick mana circulated through the plants, making even the air around them feel heavier.
Then Lord Bella noticed something strange.
One of the stalks was almost twice as thick as the other. Its grains were covered by a hard outer shell resembling armor.
This was the stalk that had grown from the seed altered by Isaac.
Lord Bella stared at it silently for several seconds before finally speaking.
"...Is it really this easy for you to alter genes?"