Chapter 25 - 24: The Guinea Pigs Taste-Testing the Mutated Milk

Hearing this, the gratitude that had just welled up in Firestone’s heart vanished into thin air.

He had actually thought the wicked woman had turned over a new leaf and was willing to let them eat and drink their fill. He hadn’t expected her to just want them to awaken Abilities so they could make more money for her.

Zephyr, on the other hand, figured that regardless of her reasons, getting to digest such high-level food like milk was a massive win!

Although Sev Steele had repeatedly confirmed with Skinny that ordinary people would have no issues drinking this Mutated Milk, how could Skinny bear to let ordinary people taste-test something as expensive as milk? Therefore, Sev decided to be the first guinea pig herself.

After the milk boiled, she took the first sip. She didn’t dare take a big gulp, opting for a tiny taste.

As the milk hit her tongue, she couldn’t help but frown. While this Mutated Milk smelled incredibly fragrant when boiling, it tasted rather gamey. It was nowhere near as delicious as the milk on Azure. However, once it settled in her stomach, a warm sensation spread through her entire body, making her feel as though she were soaking in a hot spring.

After finishing about 200 milliliters in one go, her cheeks burned, her body grew hot, and she felt completely lightheaded.

Sev didn’t know that this was because the milk produced by a Mutant Beast contained special Energy. Although the milk from a mother beast contained far milder Energy than the flesh and blood of the Mutant Beast itself, an ordinary person drinking it for the first time would still experience a sensation akin to drunkenness.

Sev had no idea how long this process would last or if the symptoms would worsen later. She could only make the children wait half an hour before drinking. She would act as the guinea pig to test its effects.

Catching the scent of the milk, Silvy kicked up a fuss in the bedroom. It squealed incessantly—SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK—clearly telling her, "Mom, Baby is hungry!"

Sev reasoned that since Silvy was the cub of a Mutant Beast, drinking Mutant Beast milk shouldn’t be a problem for it. She decided to let Silvy be the second guinea pig.

Pouring a small half-bowl—roughly 100 milliliters—she held Silvy and brought it close to the rim. This time, Silvy didn’t need to be fed. It shoved its head straight into the bowl and drank. GLUG GLUG GLUG.

Sev felt quite relieved. Animal cubs were indeed much easier to raise than human babies. It was only on its second day of life, yet it could already drink milk by itself.

The four little ones gathered around to watch Silvy drink. Though they all swallowed hard, none of them voiced any complaints.

Firestone even looked worried. "Mom, it’s so small. Will its tummy burst from drinking so much?"

Reminded by his words, Sev belatedly realized that Silvy was indeed too small and shouldn’t be given so much all at once. To Silvy, the milk was vastly superior to the biscuit paste. If Sev hadn’t been afraid of potential side effects from the Mutated Milk and restricted the portion to around 100 milliliters, the little creature likely would have gorged itself until its tiny belly actually burst!

Sev carefully observed the reaction of her second guinea pig. She soon discovered that Silvy truly lived up to its status as a Mutant Beast cub. Drinking the Mutated Milk was like drinking plain water to it; aside from a bulging round belly, it showed absolutely no signs of discomfort.

Well, it seemed Doctor Jenkins was absolutely right. This little creature was meant to drink Mutated Milk.

Given her own reaction, she decided to give the four little ones 100 milliliters each to prevent them from experiencing any intense discomfort.

Rose was the first to start drinking. Having spent quite a while smelling the rich aroma of the milk and watching Silvy eagerly lap it up, she was already drooling with uncontrollable craving. As soon as Sev told them they could drink, Rose couldn’t hold back and downed her 100 milliliters in one breath.

Among the three boys, Firestone was just like Rose. Without bothering to savor the taste, he gulped the milk down like a thirsty mule. Rusty and Zephyr, on the other hand, took tiny sips, slowly savoring the flavor.

After Rose finished her portion, she licked her lips, still craving more. Seeing this, Rusty couldn’t help but pour half of his bowl into hers. Before Sev could stop them, Rose had already lifted her bowl. GLUG GLUG GLUG. She polished it off in the blink of an eye.

Usually, she had pretty good self-control. In the past, whenever her brothers shared their food with her, she would refuse, afraid they would go hungry. But over the last two days, their foster mother had kept them all well-fed, so she figured her brother wouldn’t go hungry now either.

Today’s milk seemed to hold a magical allure for her. Try as she might, she simply couldn’t resist it. She wished she could chug the entire pot in one go. However, out of fear that her foster mother would get angry, she only dared to drink what was in her own bowl. Now that her brother had shared his with her, she figured her foster mother wouldn’t be mad.

Since Rose had drunk nearly 150 milliliters of the Mutated Milk, Sev was very worried. A few minutes later, she noticed Rose’s little face flushing bright red. Even more shockingly, a faint layer of green light seemed to swirl around the girl’s body.

Rusty was terrified. He had only given his sister half of his portion because she loved the milk so much. He hadn’t expected her to look as though she had a fever after drinking it, with her cheeks flushed and her eyes slightly glazed over. She looked exactly like she did the last time she had fallen ill.

"Mom, did I do something wrong? I shouldn’t have given her so much. Is she sick?" Rusty’s voice trembled with tears.

For the slum dwellers of Safe Zone Nine, falling ill usually meant enduring it on their own, as medical expenses were astronomically high.

"Don’t worry, she’s not sick," Sev comforted him. "It’s probably just that the Energy in this milk is too much for her to digest all at once. She’ll be fine in a little while."

In her mind, Sev harbored a bold guess. Could the little girl be awakening her Ability early?

To test this theory, Sev asked Firestone to bring over the wooden box where they had previously transplanted the Mutated Lemon Fruit. She then retrieved the Wood Element Crystal Core gifted by Silvy’s mother from her inner clothes and carefully tucked it into Rose’s sweaty little hand.

"Don’t be afraid, Rose. Listen to me," Sev said, her voice soft, slow, and tinged with a dreamlike cadence.

"Right now, there must be a lot of Energy darting around inside your body. Don’t resist it. Try to feel it and guide it.

"Imagine it like water from a faucet, slowly, slowly flowing through your entire body—

"Flowing through every tiny blood vessel, every little bone, every inch of your skin and muscle...

"Let it go where it needs to go to nourish you and protect you."

Sev knew that awakening an Ability ultimately relied on the individual. However, Rose was only a four-year-old child; she had no idea what to do. As her mother, the best she could do was explain the process using language a child could understand.

In reality, Sev was a complete novice when it came to Abilities herself. Fortunately, she had read enough fiction of this genre to understand the general process.

The green light gradually deepened, swirling thick around Rose.

Although the three brothers were frightened, they also had a vague feeling that their sister might be awakening an Ability. They had heard people say that during an awakening, the body would be enveloped by a certain color of light. If a person could command this light, they would successfully awaken their Ability. If they failed to control it, the light would slowly dissipate, and the awakening would fail.