Chapter 127 - 125: Keeping the Secret

"Don’t you think there’s something extraordinary about Miss Steele?" Rick Kaye asked suddenly.

"Indeed. Lately, her luck seems to have been exceptionally good. But before this, she was clearly just like any other Scavenger. Life was tough for her, and she rarely brought back much of a haul from her excursions," Doctor Jenkins said.

Ever since he discovered that Rose’s Ability talent far exceeded that of ordinary people, he had worried that her adoptive mother, Sev, might sell the child out for profit. Consequently, he had investigated her. The results showed she was just an ordinary wasteland orphan. She was mistreated by her own adoptive parents in her youth, broke free from their control as an adult, and subsequently adopted four orphans of her own. In the past, she hadn’t treated these children well, often beating or scolding them at the drop of a hat. It wasn’t until her luck recently took a turn for the better that her attitude toward them gradually improved. This change might have been brought about by improved living conditions, but that reason felt a bit far-fetched.

Could a person’s fundamental nature really change so easily?

Rick was equally puzzled. Recalling Sev’s prophetic dream, he felt an indescribable sensation in his heart. He felt she couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary Scavenger; there had to be some hidden Ability he didn’t know about. However, since he had promised to keep it a secret, he naturally wouldn’t mention it to his friend, Jared Jenkins. Of course, Jared wouldn’t reveal to him that a formidable entity might be hiding inside that bizarre box, either. The fewer people who knew a secret, the better.

Rick listened as Jared continued, "Both you and I have benefited from Sev, whether directly or indirectly. Without this seemingly ordinary Scavenger, I would still be suffering from toxins, and you would likely be six feet under. Luck is an ethereal concept, but that woman seems to have been favored by the goddess of fortune lately. Not only has she reaped unexpected rewards herself, but she has also influenced everyone close to her. In just a short period, first Rose, then Rusty, and now Firestone—three children under the age of eight have awakened an Ability one after another. Such an unbelievable sequence of events wouldn’t even happen in the great aristocratic families. If the higher-ups were to learn of this, who knows what kind of massive uproar it would cause!"

"I absolutely will not tell a third soul about what happened today," Rick said, nodding with a solemn expression. He knew Jared’s purpose in having this conversation was to ensure the secret of two children awakening an Ability at the same time was kept safe.

"Good! Mr. Fuller is also someone who knows his limits. Even if it’s just for the sake of his prized apprentice, Firestone, he won’t easily leak the secret," Doctor Jenkins said. He then rummaged through his Space Button and pulled out two inconspicuous copper pendants—one shaped like a star, the other like a cloud. He hung the pendants around Firestone and Rusty’s necks, tucking them beneath the collars of their shirts.

"Could these be..." Rick’s eyes widened.

"That’s right. They are my homemade Ability Concealing Devices, containing a Shielding Barrier I condensed using my spiritual power. While wearing them, no Ability user below the Fifth Tier will be able to sense the Ability unconsciously radiating from their bodies," Doctor Jenkins explained.

He had given one to Rose previously. Since his Ability had just recovered over the past two days, he had conveniently made two more on the side. He hadn’t expected to put them to use so quickly.

"You’re certainly generous to Sev’s family. She definitely doesn’t know that one of these Ability Concealing Devices of yours starts at a minimum bid of one million points, does she?" Rick laughed.

"There’s no need for her to know. All she needs to do is cook more delicious food for me, and that will be enough," Doctor Jenkins replied calmly.

That night, Rick and Doctor Jenkins sat across from each other playing chess while keeping watch over Sev’s family of five, worried that some uncontrollable accident might occur midway. Doctor Jenkins periodically scanned the surroundings with his spiritual power, but fortunately, no anomalies appeared from dusk till dawn. At daybreak, he finally put his mind at ease and left, while Rick yawned and instantly fell fast asleep.

By the time Sev opened her eyes again, it was already past noon the next day.

She stretched, feeling refreshed and entirely comfortable. Overeating high-Energy food might induce a drunken state at the time, but waking up from it felt completely different from a hangover. There was no headache, nor was there any stomach nausea; instead, it felt like she had just gotten a spa treatment. Her muscles and bones felt relaxed and light, and her skin radiated a gentle warmth, as if the lingering afterglow of last night’s pleasant dreams remained on her very fingertips.

It was a pity that the fat worms were a precious ingredient that could only be found by chance, not sought out. Otherwise, she could have a meal of braised radishes with cracklings every few days this winter.

Thinking of the cracklings and fat, Sev’s heart couldn’t help but bleed again. That big shot in the box was way too gluttonous—it had swallowed three huge pots of her food in total! Setting the radishes aside, it had gone through over five pounds of rendered fat and more than three pounds of cracklings. Originally, she had planned to stretch it out, relying on those dozen or so pounds of fat and thirty-odd pounds of cracklings to improve their meals throughout the entire winter. Now her stockpile was suddenly depleted by so much. How was she going to get by in the days to come!

However, thinking about her two sons successfully awakening their Abilities made her feel the cost was well worth it. The only thing that troubled her was what she was going to feed the big shot in the box moving forward. She truly couldn’t afford to provide for an ancestor like this! Yet she had to. If she didn’t burn incense regularly, how could she expect it to protect her family in critical moments? No, she still needed to go out into the wild and gather more ingredients, striving to fill up this ancestor’s bottomless pit as soon as possible!

But it was already late today. She would just rest for a day and go tomorrow.

Sev went into the kitchen. First, she took the marinated half of the mutated quail out to the yard and hung it up. She lit some eucalyptus branches to slowly smoke it—the final step in making smoked meat. Then, she boiled two days’ worth of milk, added lemon juice to make fresh cheese, and fried up a large basin of shredded potato pancakes. This would be enough for the family to eat for two days.

Firestone had woken up bright and early and hurried off to work. Although he had awakened an Ability, after completely waking up, aside from feeling a bit stronger, the only addition was the function of conjuring a small Fireball at will. He was somewhat disappointed. It turned out Abilities weren’t as formidable as he had imagined, and if he wasn’t careful, he might even start a fire. Most crucially, he was still under eight years old and unqualified to go scavenging in the wild, so he absolutely had to keep his job with Mr. Fuller.

Just like usual, Rusty helped his mother in the kitchen, washing vegetables and peeling potatoes. Zephyr obediently helped build the fire and add firewood, trying his best to minimize his presence. He had been crestfallen all day. His eldest and second older brothers had both awakened their Abilities after eating the diced meat and braised radishes yesterday, whereas he had just dozed off into a deep sleep and had no reaction at all.

He was now the biggest weakling in the entire family.

Rose was still sleeping. Yesterday, she had overdrawn her Ability for her eldest brother. Although she had subsequently absorbed a Second Tier Wood Element Crystal Core to replenish her Energy, her body’s self-repair process still required ample sleep.

Today, Sev planned to go to The Gilded Ward to return the tricycle she had borrowed from Ms. Artie Sawyer, the lady who had sold her the Arhat Bed. She had been so busy these past two days that she had completely forgotten about it. Before leaving, she sent a message to apologize and arranged a time to return the tricycle. Artie was very polite and told her she could come by anytime.

Feeling guilty, Sev specifically used the food box Mr. Fuller had given her to pack a few shredded potato pancakes and a bowl of fresh cheese. This amount of food might have seemed like an excessive repayment just for borrowing a vehicle, but the Arhat Bed and dressing table Artie had sold her were worth far more than the price she had paid. She sincerely wanted to thank her.

Before heading out, seeing how deeply struck Zephyr was by his lack of progress, Sev decided to take her third son out for a stroll.