Chapter 37: Dug Up the First Crystal Core

Hearing Hayden Hanson’s words, Sev Steele couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of dread.

It was a good thing she had returned early when she brought back that Mutant Snake she had scavenged last time. Aside from the Guards, no one else had been at the gate. Later, when she went to the special window to trade, the person she dealt with happened to be Doctor Jenkins. Although he was a bit eccentric, his character wasn’t bad.

Thinking of this, she tentatively asked, "Hanson, do you know Doctor Jenkins from the special window?"

"No, I don’t," Hayden replied.

"How... how could you not know the staff at the special window?" Sev asked in confusion.

"Among the staff in the Ninth Security Zone, some are exceptionally talented kids from The Slums. They caught the eye of the higher-ups and were given these jobs.

"Another portion consists of kids from The Gilded Ward who haven’t awakened any Abilities. They rely on their parents’ connections to become civil servants.

"There’s also a group that comes from other security zones. Among them are those who offended the wrong people in their original zones and couldn’t survive there anymore. A very small minority are descendants of major families from other zones, sent here to gain experience.

"I haven’t heard of this Doctor Jenkins you mentioned, but the most likely scenario is that he recently transferred from another security zone. As for whether he was exiled here or sent here for training, it’s hard to say," Hayden earnestly explained.

"Then I’ll contact Doctor Jenkins right now and ask for his help in selling these things," Sev said decisively.

"Is this person you’re talking about reliable?" Hayden asked, somewhat worried.

After all, as an ordinary person, Sev had probably rarely come into contact with highly valuable resources in the past. She didn’t understand how greed could twist people’s hearts. Even civil servants might sell out their information for a large sum of money, or even collude with others to ambush them and steal their supplies on the road.

Although armed conflicts were forbidden within the security zone, there were always blind spots where the surveillance cameras couldn’t reach. For Ability users, killing ordinary people to snatch their supplies was the easiest thing in the world. All the laws and regulations were only binding on the poor.

"Hanson, don’t worry. Doctor Jenkins is a very fair and upright person. I’ve traded some special supplies with him before, and the prices he offered were always very reasonable," Sev assured him.

She didn’t go into specific details, but having just gone through life-and-death situations with her, Hayden had a high level of trust in her. He figured that even if Sev had trusted the wrong person, he would fight to the death to get justice for her. Death, to him, was actually a form of release. He wasn’t afraid of it at all.

"By the way, Hanson, I want to ask a presumptuous question, so please don’t be mad! Um, given your current condition, can you eat Mutant beast meat?" Sev asked, slightly embarrassed.

"It’s fine. Ever since my genetic collapse, this body can no longer withstand the violent surges of energy. So, just like an ordinary person, I can’t eat Mutant beast meat." Hayden’s expression was open and candid, showing not a hint of hurt.

"Since ordinary people can eat these ant eggs, and neither of us can eat Mutant beast meat, why don’t we keep them for ourselves?" Sev suggested.

"Sure, we’ll split them half and half," Hayden readily agreed. "But before contacting this Doctor Jenkins of yours, we’d better sort and organize today’s spoils. Processed materials will fetch a better price."

Knowing he was definitely highly experienced in this area, Sev nodded in agreement.

The two adults buried their heads in their work while the three boys watched excitedly from the sidelines. Sev’s Blunt Dagger was simply too dull, so the task of skinning the Mutant Tree Frog was entirely handed over to Hayden.

Of course, she couldn’t just sit idle either. According to Hayden, the most valuable part of those Mutant Army Ants was their sickle-shaped mandibles. Though called mandibles, they had actually evolved into razor-sharp weapons. Their hard texture made them ideal for forging into small concealed weapons, or they could be inlaid into other weapons as natural serrations or piercing materials. Their vocal sacs contained venom glands, which could be extracted to produce neurotoxins or anesthetics. Their lightweight and sturdy exoskeletons could be processed into armor plating to create High Level armor. When ground into a powder and mixed with polymers, they could form high-strength hardening materials. The Gilded Ward would use this to reinforce floors and walls, ensuring no Mutant Rats would suddenly burrow into their rooms. As for their muscles, they possessed an extremely high energy density and could be converted into efficient biofuels for small engines or emergency power. In short, these creatures were treasures from head to toe. It was just a pity that they weren’t big enough, so the amount of useful materials that could be extracted was limited.

What Sev needed to do now was dissect their bodies into various parts and collect them by category. Only then would buyers offer a higher price.

While Sev was dismembering the giant ants, she unexpectedly discovered a crystal. It was a hexagonal prism, only the size of a fingertip, with a murky color and a grayish hue around its edges. If she hadn’t been dissecting the carcass so meticulously just now, she probably would have missed it.

She hurriedly picked out the crystal and showed it to Hayden. "Hanson, look. Is this a Crystal Core?"

"Uh, I suppose. But this one is obviously a burnt-out Crystal Core. It’s practically a defective product. At most, you can take it to the Agricultural Research Institute as fertilizer. It won’t sell for much," Hayden replied with little interest.

"What do you mean by a burnt-out Crystal Core?" Sev asked.

"During combat, if a Mutant Beast faces a life-or-death crisis, it will burn its own Crystal Core to release a powerful Ability that far exceeds its normal limits," Hayden explained. "Mutant Beasts at the Fifth Tier or above can even self-destruct their Crystal Cores when their lives are threatened, taking their enemies down with them. Because of this, the number of Crystal Cores we can harvest from Mutant Beasts is incredibly small. The gray surface on this Crystal Core is the mark of it having been burned.

"The Frozen King can freeze Mutant Beasts in an instant, preventing them from completely burning their Crystal Cores, which gives us a chance to harvest them. This is also why Ice Crystal Cores are relatively expensive. Even though the two I took out were of very ordinary quality, their value still far exceeds Crystal Cores of other elements."

"Does every Mutant Beast have a Crystal Core inside them?" Sev’s eyes burned with brightness. The quality of this one was poor, but maybe the next one would be better.

Seeing her eyes shining with hope, Hayden offered a faint smile. "Crystal Cores aren’t something every Mutant Beast possesses. Only those with robust bodies can condense a Crystal Core. And only the Mutant Beasts that have condensed a Crystal Core have the potential to advance in tiers."

Hayden’s explanation brought a sudden realization to Sev. No wonder she hadn’t found a Crystal Core in the corpse of the Mutant Snake she had obtained earlier. It turned out that it was because it and Silvy’s Mom had fought to the death for so long. The two of them had probably both burned their Crystal Cores to exhaustion.

It seemed that it was truly not easy for Mutant Beasts to advance. But thinking about it, it made sense. For a species with a super reproductive capacity like the Army Ant, if every single one of them could advance, the entire planet would probably be completely overrun by them in just a few short decades.

Having finally found a Crystal Core only for it to be worthless, Sev felt a little dejected as she buried her head back into dismembering the giant ants.

On the other side, while skinning the Mutant Tree Frog, Hayden explained to the three boys watching:

"The most valuable part of a Mutant Tree Frog is its skin; its defensive capabilities are incredibly strong. If it weren’t for the fact that I happened to have this A Level Alloy Knife that could counter it, I wouldn’t have been able to even injure it, let alone kill it.

"As for your mother, managing to kill the female frog was completely a stroke of luck. At that time, in order to shake off the entanglement of the Mutated Quillwort, it had just used its Ability—Wart Burst Poison Rain. After using this Ability, there is a brief refractory period in its physical defense mechanisms. Furthermore, its vocal sac is the most vulnerable part of its entire body. Otherwise, relying on this Blunt Dagger of hers, piercing it would have been utterly impossible."

As Hayden spoke, he shot a reproachful glance at Sev. The implication was clear: he was saying she was too impulsive and acted without considering the consequences.

Sev had already been scared half to death earlier when he mentioned that the vocal sacs contained neurotoxins. But even if she had to do it all over again, she believed she would make the exact same choice. The window of opportunity to kill the female frog was only a fleeting moment. If they had missed it, they likely would have been hunted down by it instead.

Over on Sev’s side, she gradually dug out five or six more Crystal Cores. They were of various colors, but all roughly the same size and of very poor quality. Moreover, their surfaces were all gray, clearly indicating they were the burnt-out Crystal Cores that Hayden had described.

There was only one green one that was lustrous and translucent, looking somewhat like jade. This one had to be a complete Crystal Core.