Chapter 142 - 140: The "Tumor" on the Tree

"Then let’s dig up its roots and take a look," Sev Steele said.

If they left even a single seedling of this dangerous Mutated plant, another deadly Bloodthorn Vine might grow back next year.

The two of them leaned closer to the small seedling. They could finally see it clearly: it consisted of four frail vines, each about fifteen centimeters long and as thick as a charging cable, twisted into an entanglement.

Transparent, tender soft thorns that hadn’t yet lignified grew along the branches.

Seeing that it was indeed a Bloodthorn Vine seedling, Sev pulled out her dagger, intending to chop it to pieces on the spot.

However, Rusty reached out to touch the soft thorns. To her surprise, the thorns automatically retracted and hid beneath the leaves, fully displaying a timid and panicked state.

Looking at this thing, Sev was reminded of a sensitive plant. Yet its main body was clearly a ferocious monster. If she and her son hadn’t reacted quickly enough, they would have probably lost their lives here today.

"Mom, should we take it back to my sister?" Rusty asked. "If she can communicate with this seedling, we wouldn’t have to kill it, right?"

He wasn’t acting out of the kindness of his heart. Rather, he knew how vicious this thing could be once fully grown. If his sister could tame it, it might become her helper in the future.

Sev had clearly been thinking the exact same thing, so she nodded in agreement.

Following its branches, Rusty dug into the ground and soon unearthed a spherical nodule wrapped in a knotted mass of hairy roots. It looked similar in shape to the main root system they had extracted the Crystal Core from, only countless times smaller.

Sev scooped up some surrounding soil to cover its roots, then stuffed the entire seedling into a vacuum bag.

The mother and son looked around once more. Finding no other edible wild vegetables, they retraced their steps along the path they had cleared earlier.

Sev recalled the spot where she and Hayden Hanson had dug up mutated carrots. Although there were no edible wild vegetables left there, there were still unharvested mutated eucalyptus leaves.

The smoke produced by burning eucalyptus branches served as a natural mosquito repellent. The wasteland summers were swarming with mutated mosquitoes. Although the officials sprayed repellent around the perimeter walls, a few stragglers still managed to slip into the safe zone. There was once a baby who, after being bitten by a mutated mosquito, contracted an unknown fever and eventually died.

While such cases were rare, stocking up on eucalyptus branches was a good precaution.

Hearing his mother say they were going to chop some mosquito-repellent branches, Rusty was full of enthusiasm, constantly looking around as he followed her.

This path was another area Scavengers disdained to visit. Sev led Rusty through the curtain of thorny vines and arrived at the bottom of the steep slope.

"Wow! How did you guys find this place, Mom?" Rusty gasped softly.

"I accidentally tripped and rolled down here, and that’s how I found it," Sev replied.

"I wish I could trip and find a bunch of wild vegetables and fat bugs too," Rusty said enviously.

Passing by the area where they had dug up all the mutated carrots, Sev was surprised to see that the few frail carrot tops she had intentionally left behind had actually grown much larger and plumper, brimming with Vitality.

It seemed that by clearing out their competitors, she had given them the opportunity to freely stretch their roots and absorb ample nutrients from the soil. That was how they had transformed from pitiful little sprouts into flourishing beauties in just a few days.

Sev wasn’t one to show tender affection for plants. Since they had grown, why wouldn’t she dig them up? Was she supposed to save them for the New Year?

As for whether digging them up would wipe out their lineage, she wasn’t worried at all. Since this patch of carrots had managed to survive the intense radiation following the nuclear war, they had surely left some seeds behind in the soil. When spring arrived next year, the seeds would sprout, and a large patch of carrots would grow again. She firmly believed this.

Sev and Rusty dug up the carrots and found that they weren’t very big; the largest one was only about half a kilogram. Rusty picked two small ones and dug them out perfectly intact, being careful not to damage their roots. He even kept the dirt on them, planning to take them back to his sister.

The mother and son then went to chop eucalyptus branches. Rusty was agile and quickly climbed a tree, using a small hatchet to chop the branches. Sev stayed below, tying the branches together with hemp rope. She dragged them to the handcart parked outside the curtain of thorny vines, then returned to continue.

"Mom, there are a ton of bumps on this branch!" Rusty shouted to Sev as he dropped it down.

Sev picked up the branch to take a look, and nearly peed her pants in terror.

The branch, which was as thick as an adult’s arm, was covered in colorful oval and spherical bulges, each the size of a ping-pong ball. For something like this to grow on a branch, there was absolutely a parasite inside. But this was the wasteland, and mutated eucalyptus branches were inherently toxic. How could any bug that parasitized them be harmless?

"Son, come down right now!" Sev shouted immediately.

But Rusty had already chopped down another branch covered in "tumors" and tossed it at her feet. Upon hearing her words, Rusty obediently slid down the tree and asked nervously, "What’s wrong?"

"There are parasites inside these bulges, and they’re definitely highly venomous," Sev said.

"Then wouldn’t it be fine if we just kill them first?" Rusty asked.

The next second, he summoned his golden Ability hands and conjured a gleaming needle as thick as a pen refill, mimicking the shape of the needle-shaped detector. He controlled the needle and fiercely plunged it into a purplish-red "tumor" on the branch, repeatedly stabbing it in and pulling it out.

With a SQUELCH, SQUELCH sound, jets of dark red liquid spurted out from inside. Judging solely by its color, it looked extremely toxic.

Fortunately, neither of them were standing too close, so they weren’t splattered by the venom.

"Son, when we stab them, can we do it a little slower?" Sev asked. "Like... try not to let its venom splatter."

"Sure thing," Rusty said.

While her son controlled the golden needle to stab the venomous bugs, Sev pierced the needle-shaped detector into the body of the first bug they had killed.

Soon, the automated voice broadcast sounded:

"BEEP! Mutated Yinfu Bee Larva detected. Radiation level 18, classified as low radiation.

"The larva contains a special alkaloid that induces paralysis and hallucinations. Skin contact will cause a burning sensation, and eye contact will lead to temporary blindness.

"Direct inhalation at close range will cause a burning pain in the nasal cavity and throat, triggering violent coughing and breathing difficulties.

"After killing the larva, please sell it to a Pharmacist as soon as possible, as its bodily fluids can be used to produce poison.

"If it cannot be sold in time, the dried and ground corpse of the larva can also be used as a raw material for poison."

Sev broke out in a cold sweat after being educated by the detector. Ignorance really could get someone killed!

If she had known that such lethal weapons were hidden on the eucalyptus branches, she wouldn’t have let Rusty climb the tree even if it killed her. She would firmly remember this lesson. From now on, she had to be ten thousand times more careful. You could never be too careful!

Finally, Sev held open a vacuum fresh-keeping bag. Rusty manipulated his golden Ability hands to pluck the string of "poisonous tumors" from the branches one by one and dropped them inside. She sealed the bag and stuffed it into a torn sack.

Now that she had these "poisonous tumors," she lost all desire to continue foraging. She haphazardly chopped some non-toxic branches, loaded them onto the handcart, and headed back with her son.

As they neared the safe zone gate, Rusty climbed back into an empty sack. Sev even placed two thin branches on top of him. Since she had chosen to smuggle him in, she couldn’t let the guards discover Rusty’s presence under any circumstances.

Guard A and Guard B saw her pushing a cart full of firewood, with a few mutated dandelion leaves poking out of the torn sack. They simply waved her through.

It wasn’t until they entered their own courtyard that Rusty dared to crawl out of the torn sack. He bared his teeth at Sev in a wide grin. "Mom, the guards didn’t spot me today! We saved ten points on the entry fee!"

Looking at her good boy’s brilliant smile, Sev felt that being poor actually had one advantage that the rich could never match—happiness was so cheap!