Chapter 53: Concocting Venom

Sure enough, before Doctor Jenkins could access the official high-level encrypted page again to adjust the Beast Tide alert level, a shrill siren echoed in his ears once more.

This time, the siren’s trailing note dragged on for a full thirty seconds, repeating three times.

Doctor Jenkins said in a deep voice, "Everyone, shift the focus of our defense to the walls. A Third Level Mutant Rat tide consists of at least a million of them.

"With so many Mutant Rats attacking simultaneously, they won’t waste time tunneling underground anymore.

"They will pile up on top of each other to form a rat mountain and climb right over the alloy walls.

"They’ve probably already breached the safety zone’s walls using this method. I believe they’ll be scaling the walls into the yard very soon."

Hearing this, Sev Steele quickly opened the metal security window just a crack. Peering through the gap, she saw a scene that made her scalp tingle with dread!

One Mutant Rat after another had already scaled the top of the wall and was sliding down the surface into the inner courtyard.

Before they could even adjust their footing upon landing, they glared with scarlet eyes and let out piercing SQUEAKS, bounding and sprinting toward her house.

The reason the metal courtyard wall could defend against Mutant Rats was that it was as sturdy and smooth as a mirror, making it difficult for them to find any footholds.

During previous small-scale Beast Tides, the Mutant Rats typically tunneled their way into the safety zone.

However, faced with such a massive population, the courtyard wall was virtually useless.

In just a few minutes, the originally empty and safe front yard was densely packed with dozens of Mutant Rats.

The teeth-setting CRUNCH CRUNCH of gnawing erupted from three sides of the house simultaneously, converging into a nerve-wracking storm of noise.

Everyone could clearly hear the sound of cement crumbling as the entire house was being eaten away bit by bit.

Sev’s heart instantly sank. She thought, "We’re doomed! The house can’t be saved. With everyone in this room, young and old, can we even survive?"

Seth Jennings had long lost her previous impatience. Her expression was solemn as an earthy-yellow halo constantly flowed from her fingertips, fiercely channeling her Ability into the front wall.

The massive output of her Ability caused bead-sized drops of sweat to form on her forehead.

She now realized that hardening the ground was completely pointless. The rat swarm had no intention of burrowing; they were clearly mounting a frontal assault.

Seeing Seth go all out without holding back, Sev’s impression of her improved significantly.

Inside the bedroom, Curly had also sensed the terrifying tide of Mutant Beasts. The tips of the little seedling trembled slightly, as if seeking comfort.

Unfortunately, since it was just a small plant, it wasn’t convenient for someone to hold it in their arms. It could only secretly envy Silvy the beast.

Under these circumstances, Sev knew that even scattering Beast Repelling Powder would be useless, but sitting idly by and awaiting death was not her style.

In her desperation, she suddenly thought of the Mutated Lemon Fruit.

Ordinary lemon fruit juice on Azure was already highly acidic, so this lemon fruit juice—which was concentrated by more than ten times—would definitely have an effect comparable to sulfuric acid!

If this juice was made into a spray, wouldn’t it be just like Anti-wolf Spray?

Although this concentrated version of the mutated lemon juice was non-toxic, spraying a super-concentrated acidic mist into the eyes would still have some lethal power, wouldn’t it?

She recalled when Hayden Hanson had used The Frozen King against the Tree Frogs and Army Ants. He had taken advantage of the brief ten-odd seconds of sluggishness the Ice Mist inflicted on the Mutant Beasts, allowing them to successfully slay the creatures.

Therefore, this Anti-wolf Spray should be able to buy a little time for those fighting.

But time was tight right now, and it would probably be too late to make a Spray Bottle from scratch.

"Hanson, did you bring that Blue Tears Spray Bottle of yours?" Sev asked.

"I have it with me, but it doesn’t have much of an effect on Mutant Beasts," Hayden Hanson replied.

"Lend it to me for a bit," Sev said.

Hayden didn’t say another word. He directly pulled two transparent resin bottles, each with a capacity of about two hundred milliliters, from his Tactical Backpack. One was empty, and the other still had half a bottle of dark blue liquid.

As soon as the bottles were brought out, the fumes were so strong that Curly curled up its entire seedling body and buried itself in the soil.

It seemed this stuff really wasn’t friendly to plants.

Sev directed the children, "Firestone, go get the vegetable washing basin and fetch a bowl of water while you’re at it! Rusty, go get the small hammer used for cracking nuts. Zephyr, help me pick all the lemon fruit."

"Mom, what should I do?" Rose hurriedly asked.

"Sweetheart, just protecting yourself and Silvy is enough." Although Sev spoke quickly, her tone was much gentler when she addressed Rose.

The people in the room didn’t understand what Sev was trying to do, but everyone was so tense at the moment that no one bothered to ask.

Seth felt even more strongly that, as an ordinary Scavenger, Sev’s combat power was definitely low. During the upcoming battle, she didn’t expect Sev to be of any help at all.

As long as she could keep the four children from running around and screaming to the point of distracting her from the fight, that would be enough.

Meanwhile, Doctor Jenkins quietly took out a transparent Spirit Crystal Core, about the size of a pigeon egg, from his Space Button.

If Hayden had seen it, his eyes would have definitely lit up with stars, because only Crystal Cores of the Fourth Tier or above were spherical or oval-shaped.

Doctor Jenkins had already prepared for the worst.

Later, if the rat swarm broke through all their defenses, he would have no choice but to risk the poison flaring up in his body and forcefully use his spiritual power to construct a super-strong Defense Barrier.

But if it really came to that, he would only be able to save Rose.

Among everyone in this house, her potential value was the highest.

Having been brainwashed with a "profits above all" mentality in a large family since childhood, Doctor Jenkins naturally chose to maximize benefits in a moment of crisis.

However, he felt a faint twinge of discomfort in his heart. It would be a real pity if he couldn’t save Sev; her cooking skills were truly exceptional.

Seth’s hardened wall was relatively harder to gnaw through, but agonizing screams were already echoing from the neighboring houses.

The Mutant Rats must have already chewed through their walls, rushed inside, and begun tearing at the residents.

These screams reached Sev’s ears, and the impact was truly immense—

The sounds didn’t even seem like something a human could produce. They were more like the agonizing wails of a dying beast tearing its throat, so sharp they almost pierced the eardrums.

Sev only felt a chill shoot straight from the soles of her feet to the top of her skull, causing all the hairs on her body to stand on end instantly.

She subconsciously clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, yet she couldn’t feel any pain.

Only her heart hammered madly in her chest, the force of it making her entire body tremble slightly.

Even though Seth had reinforced the exterior walls of the room, the ear-piercing scratching and the crisp cracks of crumbling cement still filled the air endlessly.

SCREECH—CRACK! That was the grating noise of sharp claws scraping against the hardened layer, mixed with the shattering sound of cement being violently gouged open.

This sound was like the Grim Reaper’s countdown. Mingled with the distant, agonizing screams of dying humans, it was enough to make anyone shudder.

After taking a few deep breaths, Sev decisively resumed her work.

She smashed the twenty freshly picked Mutated Lemon Fruits with a small hammer. These were all the fruits left on the tree; she hadn’t spared a single one.

After mashing the lemon fruit, she filtered it through gauze to squeeze out the juice.

She poured half into a bowl and half into the vegetable basin, creating two different concentrations of lemon juice.

Unscrewing the caps of the Spray Bottles, she filled the empty one to the brim with the highly concentrated lemon juice.

The diluted lemon juice was poured into the Spray Bottle that still contained half a bottle of Blue Tears.

She suspected that adding lemon juice to the Blue Tears might bring about an unexpected effect.

But this was only a guess, and since she couldn’t be certain, she didn’t want to waste the highly concentrated lemon juice.

After Sev finished doing this, she shoved a Spray Bottle into Rusty’s and Zephyr’s hands, giving them a simple demonstration on how to use it.

Then, with a solemn expression, she told Rusty and Zephyr, "Later, when the adults are fighting the Mutant Rats, hold your Spray Bottles and wait for the right opportunity to spray the rats in the eyes.

"But the condition is that you cannot interfere with the adults’ battle, and you must also ensure your own safety at the same time. Remember that, okay?"

"We remember, Mom!" the two nodded in unison.

"Mom, what about me?" Firestone was very anxious.

"You are stronger than both of them. Take the longest wooden stick and look for a chance to bash their heads in!" Sev said.

Saying such words made her feel cruel, but right now it was a matter of life and death, and she had to make the best use of everyone.

Hearing his mother tell him to fight, Firestone instantly perked up. He gripped a wooden stick over a meter long and as thick as an adult’s arm, ready to swing it at any moment.