Chapter 38: Dog Nose

Hayden Hanson had successively dug out three Crystal Cores from the mutated male frogs, but their color was murky and their texture was clearly subpar. Additionally, their surfaces were all gray, indicating they had likely been burned.

Sev Steele looked at the three pinky-sized Crystal Cores in curiosity. "Hanson, these male frogs are already Second Tier. Why do their Crystal Cores look about the same size as the First Tier Crystal Core you took out earlier?"

"They aren’t strong enough," Hayden Hanson replied. "This area is officially designated for the poor to scavenge, so they issued missions to exterminate the Mutant Beasts in advance.

"The powerful Mutant Beasts from back then were all wiped out. The ones that slipped through the net are mostly the pathetically weak kind."

"Since they’re all the same species, why are their Crystal Cores different colors?" Sev Steele asked, pointing at the red, green, and blue Crystal Cores.

"Even within the same species, their attributes differ, just like how human Ability users have different attributes," Hayden Hanson continued explaining to her. "Red represents the Fire Attribute, green is the Wood attribute, blue is the Water Attribute, yellow is the Earth Attribute, and gold is the Gold attribute.

"There are also rarer mutated attributes. For example, the Wind Attribute has colorless and transparent Crystal Cores, while the Thunder Attribute has purple Crystal Cores."

The two of them worked for over half an hour, processing nearly ninety percent of their spoils.

Suddenly, Sev Steele’s watch lit up. She tapped it open and found that someone with the nickname "Jane" had sent her a message:

Jane: I’m hungry. I’ll be at your place for a free meal in fifteen minutes.

Sev Steele opened her mouth, wanting to curse him out. She thought, "Who the hell are you? Are you crazy, sending this so late at night?" But just as she opened her mouth, she covered it with her hand.

Since transmigrating here, she had only ever invited two people over for a meal. One of them was currently sitting right across from her, and the other... Well, he was someone she couldn’t afford to offend!

Sev Steele: Are you... Doctor Jenkins?

She carefully replied with a voice message. Her tone was soft, carrying a hint of flattery.

Hayden Hanson was dumbfounded as he watched from the side. This woman used to love losing her temper and beating the kids, but after fighting alongside him all day, she seemed to have a bright and generous personality. He hadn’t expected her to have such a gentle and submissive side.

A reply quickly came through:

Jane: That’s right, I’m Jared Jenkins. Can’t you see my nickname?

The tone was clearly a bit impatient.

Sev Steele couldn’t help but complain wildly in her mind, "Who the hell knows your name is Jared Jenkins? Speaking of which, when did I even add his contact number? Why didn’t I know?"

But she didn’t dare to ask that out loud. She could only give a perfunctory reply:

Sev Steele: You’re in for a treat. I made a delicious egg and milk custard tonight. Hurry over and try it, or you’ll regret missing out for a hundred years!

For this sentence, she used the kind of bewitching voice seen in sales promotions—a tone that anyone who heard it wouldn’t be able to resist taking the bait.

Hayden Hanson wondered, "Is this person a chameleon? Why does she change faces and tones every other second?"

The other side replied instantly:

Jane: It better be as delicious as you say. Otherwise, I won’t give you the ingredients I prepared.

Sev Steele was immediately overjoyed. She had thought this guy was just coming over to freeload again, but to her surprise, he actually took the initiative to bring her ingredients. The last time, he had shown up empty-handed. It was only when her Silvy got hungry midway that he casually pulled out a pack of biscuits. She had assumed he had no self-awareness that freeloading was wrong, but it seemed he finally had a moment of enlightenment.

Sev Steele couldn’t be bothered to dwell on it and went back to processing the corpse of the final Army Ant queen. This time, she actually dug out a thumb-sized green Crystal Core! It was of premium quality, with no gray on its surface.

Before she even had time to share this with Hayden Hanson, she heard a noise from outside—Doctor Jenkins had arrived. Instead of knocking, he simply took out his work ID and swiped himself in.

At that moment, Hayden Hanson had just finished his tasks and was busy washing his hands at the sink. Sev Steele had also finished sorting everything. Rusty was helping out by holding the vacuum bags open, and once she stuffed the items inside, he would seal the strip. The mother and son were happily busy. When Doctor Jenkins entered the kitchen, Rusty had just sealed the final vacuum bag.

With a single glance, he saw Sev Steele’s bloody hands.

Doctor Jenkins subconsciously frowned. Sev Steele looked up at him and said, "I’ve finished processing everything on my end. Once I wash my hands, I’ll go heat up the food for you."

"This kitchen of yours reeks of blood mixed with the stench of Army Ants and smelly toads. Are you trying to suffocate me?" Doctor Jenkins grumbled.

With just that one sentence, Hayden Hanson felt a deep sense of admiration for him. He had only just walked through the door, yet he could accurately distinguish what kind of animals had been processed here. This was not a skill that the Appraisers at the special counters of the Ninth Security Zone possessed. It seemed that Sev Steele had befriended quite a remarkable figure!

"WOW! Doctor Jenkins, do you have a dog’s nose? How can you distinguish so many smells all at once?" Sev Steele asked in shock, looking at him with starry eyes.

"You’re the dog! Your whole family are dogs!" Doctor Jenkins retorted angrily.

"Oh my! Don’t be mad, I’m not cursing you. I truly admire you from the bottom of my heart!" Sev Steele hurriedly smiled apologetically. "If you didn’t have a sharp sense of smell and vast experience, how could you identify scents so accurately?"

"Hmph! At least you have a good eye," Doctor Jenkins said with a haughty expression.

He still sported his usual sloppy look today—messy hair and uneven stubble that looked as if it had been gnawed on by a dog. Sev Steele was long used to this. The three boys greeted him in unison, "Hello, Mr. Jenkins!"

"Eh? Where’s the little girl?" Doctor Jenkins asked, unable to hold back his question after scanning the room and failing to spot Rose.

"Rose was tired, so she went to sleep already," Sev Steele replied.

"The smell in this kitchen is too awful. I’m going to check on your Silvy first to see if it’s lost weight from starvation these past few days. Call me when the food is heated up."

Doctor Jenkins acted entirely at home. He didn’t seem like a semi-acquaintance visiting for only the second time; rather, he behaved like an old friend she had known for years. Hayden Hanson internally criticized this behavior a bit, but since Sev Steele, the host, didn’t show any dissatisfaction, it wasn’t his place to say anything.

Doctor Jenkins pushed open the door to Sev Steele’s bedroom and immediately sniffed the air. His eyes gleamed sharply as he immediately scanned the person and the beast lying on the bed.

Rose was already sound asleep. Wisps of green light radiated from her body. Silvy was resting its small head in the crook of her shoulder, subconsciously breathing it in even while asleep. It seemed this cub naturally possessed incredibly strong five senses, having already detected the dense Vitality radiating from the little girl.

He then looked at the wooden box placed on the floor by the bed, which originally housed an inconspicuous little seedling. Now, that seedling had grown several times taller and was covered in small, bright yellow fruits. Beside it, there was also a new Mutated Quillwort seedling.

Sensing the rich Vitality emanating from Rose, he formulated a general conclusion. She had awakened a Wood Ability, and an incredibly powerful one at that. Thus, her body unconsciously radiated motes of Vitality during her sleep. The fruits growing on that little seedling were precisely the result of her intentional or unintentional stimulation.

At this moment, Doctor Jenkins felt a deep sense of curiosity about this fruit he had never seen before. He was someone who always did things his own way, so he directly took out a needle-shaped detector and pierced the skin of one of the fruits.