Chapter 55: Dragged Down by Neighbors

A moment later, Rusty once again heard the same miserable shriek from before—the pitch dragged out long and shrill, echoing one after another. He wondered why there were still such screams when there weren’t even any Mutant Rats gnawing at the wall near his hole anymore.

Meanwhile, a third hole broke through the front wall. The three holes were spaced about a meter apart, making it practically impossible for someone to guard them all at once. Seth Jennings had overdrawn her Ability. Right now, her combat strength was only slightly better than an ordinary person’s, leaving her unable to move fast enough to guard two holes simultaneously.

Seizing the opportunity, Zephyr raised the spray bottle in his hand and sprayed it at the third hole. The Mutant Rat gnawing at the opening let out a shrill scream and rolled aside. The backup rat behind it quickly stepped up to continue gnawing, but Zephyr sprayed the acid mist again, taking down another one.

Only then did Seth realize that the concoction Sev Steele had been tinkering with earlier actually worked. At the time, she had thought Sev was just messing around blindly. After all, Sev was just an ordinary Scavenger. If she could really invent a spray capable of dealing with Mutant Rats, the higher-ups in the Safe Zone would have heavily promoted it ages ago.

Seeing that a five- or six-year-old child like Zephyr could easily take down Mutant Rats using this spray, she was utterly shocked! If they could bring a few bottles of this stuff on future missions to hunt Mutant Beasts, it would absolutely yield unexpected results at critical moments. How was she just an ordinary Scavenger? She was clearly a hidden Pharmacist—she had to cling tightly to this golden ticket!

Figuring this out, Seth quickly found a spare moment to pull the four bottles of Blue Tears she had received this month from her tactical backpack. She kicked herself for having casually tossed all her empty, used bottles into the drawer earlier. She tossed all four bottles of Blue Tears onto the kitchen counter and shouted to Rose, "Little girl, I’ll give all these bottles to you. Go help me fill them up with that juice your mom made."

Rose was feeling frustrated at the moment. Her brothers were all helping the adults, while she was the only one who couldn’t do anything, left holding Silvy and watching helplessly from the sidelines. She even had to trouble Mr. Jenkins to protect her. Without her, Mr. Jenkins might have been busy killing Mutant Rats too.

Doctor Jenkins, however, would beg to differ! He was a scholarly doctor. Aside from his Spirit Ability, he was physically fragile; fighting and killing just weren’t his forte.

Finally receiving a task, Rose hurriedly put Silvy down and eagerly scrambled to grab the four spray bottles. She had seen how her mom poured lemon juice into the spray bottles earlier. However, out of the four bottles Ms. Jennings had given her, three were full of blue liquid, and only one was half-full. Rose thought it would be a waste to pour out the liquid inside, so she first filled the half-empty bottle with lemon juice. Of course, she used diluted lemon juice. There was very little concentrated lemon juice. If she gave it all to Ms. Jennings, her mom and the others definitely wouldn’t have enough.

Rose filled one bottle, trotted over, and handed it to Seth first. Then she ran back, found a small bowl, and poured out half of the blue liquid from the remaining three full bottles. Afraid the smell would irritate Coco Holden and Curly, she specifically covered the bowl with a plate. Rose filled the three half-bottles with diluted lemon juice, handed one to Mr. Hanson, and then ran to the master bedroom, planning to press a bottle into the hands of both her mom and her second oldest brother.

Sev was busy fighting off attacks from both sides when she suddenly noticed the little girl beside her.

"Mom, this is for you. It works really well!" Rose said in her sweet, milky voice.

Sev had actually realized by now that the lemon juice was quite effective. At the very least, there hadn’t been any movement from Mutant Rats at the hole her Rusty was guarding for a long time. Taking the spray bottle, Sev smiled and praised her, "My Rose is so capable!"

With a PATTER PATTER of her short legs, the little girl blushed at the compliment and scurried over to Firestone’s side.

At this moment, Firestone’s hands were aching. The stick in his hand was clearly no match for a dagger. Although he used all his strength to thrust the stick into the hole every time, some of the more agile Mutant Rats simply dodged it. He often needed several strikes just to kill a single Mutant Rat. Despite his great strength, he was still just a six-year-old child. As time dragged on, he was starting to feel the strain.

Rose saw a Mutant Rat poke its head out of the hole, opening its jaws to gnaw at the jagged edge of the opening. With quick reflexes, she raised the spray bottle and sprayed it right at the rat.

"SQUEAK—SQUEAK—"

A prolonged, miserable shriek echoed out, startling the little girl. The bottle slipped from her hands and dropped to the ground. Fortunately, the bottle was sturdy and didn’t break. She hurriedly bent down to pick it up and offered the bottle to Firestone like presenting a precious treasure.

"Second Brother, use this to spray the bad rats. It’s really useful!"

Firestone, having witnessed what just happened, quickly took the bottle and didn’t forget to warn Rose, "Hide yourself well, and whatever you do, don’t run around!"

"Mhm, I know," Rose nodded in agreement.

She felt very satisfied; she was now a capable child who could help the adults!

With the help of the spray bottles, when the fifth hole was gnawed through on Sev’s side, the mother and her two sons managed to hold the wall, despite being a bit frantic. However, a hole was soon broken through the side wall of the guest bedroom as well. Seth had no choice but to leave Hayden Hanson to guard the front wall of the kitchen while she rushed to cover the guest bedroom. The kitchen, master bedroom, and guest bedroom were guarded by Hayden Hanson, Sev, and Seth respectively. The three boys—Zephyr, Firestone, and Rusty—also split up. Each took a spray bottle to assist an adult in guarding one room.

Doctor Jenkins’s eyes hadn’t left Rose from start to finish. He watched her bustling back and forth. Whenever she noticed someone’s bottle was empty, she quickly took it, filled it with diluted lemon juice, and delivered it back.

To his surprise, the mixture of lemon juice and Blue Tears was incredibly effective. Not only could it poison the Mutant Rats to death, but it also caused secondary poisoning in any Mutant Rats that ate their corpses. Unfortunately, the toxicity was noticeably weaker after the secondary poisoning, so the Mutant Rats wouldn’t die on the spot. When they were subsequently devoured by other Mutant Rats, the tertiary poisoning was even weaker. It only caused stomachaches and a slight drop in combat power, essentially losing its lethality entirely. Meanwhile, the concentrated lemon juice could only corrode the Mutant Rats’ eyes; spraying it on any other part of their bodies was completely ineffective.

Mutant Rats continued to swarm in endlessly. After the first batch of toxic mixture made with Blue Tears spray was used up, the little girl had grown smarter. Rose poured all the remaining Blue Tears into the concentrated lemon juice, added more water to dilute it, and filled the bottles one by one for everyone to use. The effects of the diluted mixture were diminished. Although it couldn’t poison the Mutant Rats to death, it was enough to make them roll on the floor in agony, stripping them of their combat power.

The battle against the Mutant Rats had lasted for over an hour. Doctor Jenkins, who had been observing the whole time, made a rough count—more than three hundred Mutant Rats had died in this courtyard!

Fortunately, the Mutant Rats would immediately devour the corpses of their own kind; otherwise, the dead rats in the courtyard would have piled up into a small mountain. Even though the corpses were disposed of, the lingering stench of blood was exceptionally pungent. Wild beasts knew to seek advantages and avoid danger, so fewer and fewer Mutant Rats were gathering toward their small courtyard. It seemed they were planning to give up their attack on this place.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could even rejoice, his face fell once again.

"Everyone, attention! Guard the back wall!" he shouted.