Chapter 34: The Second Freeloader

The sky darkened the moment they left the dense forest. In her predecessor’s memories, she had never returned this late. After all, for a lone woman walking the roads after dark, even if she was lucky enough to avoid a Mutant Beast, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t run into a male Scavenger with malicious intentions. Her predecessor had a profound fear of sleeping with men because of the risk of pregnancy. No Scavenger in the wasteland was willing to spend their hard-earned money on terrifyingly expensive contraceptives, and a pregnant woman would simply starve to death unless she had family to support her. As for abortion? How could anyone from The Slums afford the exorbitant medical fees? Therefore, the best solution was to stay far away from men and absolutely deny them any opportunity.

At this moment, however, Sev Steele wasn’t the least bit worried about the man beside her. After surviving two life-and-death battles, Sev might not fully trust Hayden Hanson yet, but she had seen enough to judge his character. She believed he harbored no ill intentions toward her. Moreover, he was currently suffering from genetic collapse and didn’t have much longer to live.

Walking beneath the increasingly dark sky, the two of them returned to the silence they had shared on the way there. Hayden was not a man of many words, and right now, Sev’s mind was completely preoccupied with one thought: "The four kids must be worried sick, right?" Through their interactions over the past few days, she had noticed that they would get extremely anxious whenever she came home late.

"Such good kids," she thought. "What did my predecessor do to deserve becoming a mother to four such wonderful children without having to endure childbirth?" Granted, they later became major villains in the original novel, but in their youth, they were undeniably good children.

When the pair arrived at the Safe Zone’s main gate, Guard A and Guard B’s eyes lit up at the sight of Sev. This woman had been exceptionally lucky lately, bringing back valuable supplies every time she went out. As Guards, even if they couldn’t get a direct commission, the increased revenue for their superiors meant they would at least receive some bonuses.

"Well, well! Miss, why are you back so late today?" Guard A called out.

"We ran into a rainstorm in the woods," Sev replied.

"That’s impossible, isn’t it? We haven’t heard any of the people who returned earlier mention a rainstorm," Guard B said.

"The weather changes every few miles. It probably didn’t rain where they went," Sev said.

"No, you really encountered a rainstorm? Then how... how did you come back completely unscathed?" Guard A asked in shock. In the past, there had been unfortunate Scavengers who got caught in rainstorms; by the time they returned to the Safe Zone gates, some of their skin had already begun to fester. Of course, some appeared fine at the time, but rumor had it they soon developed various symptoms and died tragically not long after.

"I happened to bring rain ponchos and rain boots—two sets of them," Hayden finally couldn’t help but interject. Two battles had drained too much of their energy and stamina. Both he and Sev only wanted to get home as quickly as possible, yet these two Guards were completely oblivious, dragging them into endless questioning.

The two Guards finally read the obvious annoyance on Hayden’s face. They felt a degree of sympathy for Hayden, a man who had been forced to leave the Mercenary Guild due to genetic collapse. However, he had always been aloof and unapproachable in the past. Coupled with his Ice Element, they were quite intimidated by him. Even though he was just waiting to die now, they still didn’t dare act recklessly in front of him.

Since Sev and Hayden hadn’t rented a Tactical Backpack when they went out that morning, they were only deducted the standard entry and exit fee of ten points per person. The Guards then stepped aside, allowing them to pass through the Safe Zone’s main gate.

Of Sev’s three large gunny sacks, Hayden carried two, while she carried one. After all, the sacks were filled with good stuff today. If they dragged them along and accidentally wore a hole through the fabric, losing even a little bit of the contents would be a massive loss.

As they walked home, Sev belatedly realized that they hadn’t handed their day’s harvest over to the Guards for settlement. Her predecessor had been a Scavenger for years, but this was the very first time she was taking her harvest directly home.

"Hanson, does the Safe Zone allow us to take our goods to the trading hall to sell ourselves?" Sev asked.

"When you haven’t rented a Tactical Backpack, it’s naturally allowed," Hayden said.

Sev realized that since all the impoverished people going out scavenging would rent a Tactical Backpack, it was understandable that she hadn’t known this rule.

When the two returned to their residential district, Hayden offered, "Let me head to your place first so we can split the loot."

It was normally quite inappropriate for a grown man to visit a single woman’s home in the dead of night. However, their prey today had been acquired by fighting together, so they naturally needed to divide it up first. He wasn’t afraid of Sev backing out of their agreement, but he figured Sev might be worried that he would take more than his fair share.

Hearing this, Sev nodded generously. "It’s just about time for dinner anyway. Come try my cooking."

The moment the words left her mouth, she immediately wanted to slap herself. She really never learned her lesson. In the span of just a few days, she had once again invited someone over for a free meal. Still, she was perfectly willing to treat Hayden this time. He had previously lent a handcart to the kids, and today, he had stood in front of her to shield her several times. Calling it a life-saving grace wouldn’t be an exaggeration at all.

Seeing her invite him in, Hayden suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. How could he have the nerve to eat at someone’s house without bringing any ingredients? He decided he would just give her a larger share of the loot later to pay for the meal.

When Sev arrived at her front door, she used facial recognition to unlock it. After entering, she tapped the option to invite a guest, and the security system granted Hayden access. This was another feature of her home security system that Sev had learned about from Doctor Jenkins the other night. After all, there was no memory of her predecessor ever actively inviting an outsider inside.

The four little ones hadn’t gone to sleep yet, eagerly waiting for their adoptive mother to return. The eldest, Rusty, had his brows furrowed tightly in worry. When Sev walked in and saw that his little frown hadn’t relaxed yet, she didn’t even have time to comfort him before a pair of soft little hands hugged her thigh.

"Mommy, you’re finally back! I waited so long I almost fell asleep!" Rose looked up and spoke in a sweet, childish voice, her misty eyes sparkling with light.

"If I come back late next time, you should go to sleep first. Children who don’t get enough sleep won’t grow tall," Sev said gently.

Seeing the child’s eyes filled with nothing but pure affection for her, Sev couldn’t help but soften. Sure enough, a daughter really was the most heartwarming.

Adoptive parents in The Slums rarely loved their foster children. To Rose, being abused in the past had seemed completely normal. Yet in just these few short days, her adoptive mother had fed her incredibly expensive food and even given her a precious Crystal Core. The little girl felt that she was the best, most wonderful mother in the world.

When Rusty saw Hayden following behind Sev, he was quite surprised, but he immediately put on a smiling face and greeted, "Hello, Mr. Hanson!"

Firestone and Zephyr perceptively sprinted to the kitchen to start a fire and boil water.

"Mommy, are you treating Mr. Hanson to dinner tonight? He gave us bird eggs to eat before," Rose said.

Rusty immediately cast a nervous, sneaky glance at his adoptive mother. Why did his silly sister have to blurt that out too? He worried that if their adoptive mother knew they had secretly eaten bird eggs without sharing any with her, she would definitely beat them up tomorrow.

Fortunately, Sev didn’t mind at all. Right now, she was only thinking about whether she should boil a few Mutated Ant Eggs for dinner.