Chapter 61 - 60: Mutated Seven-Star Grass

"I’ll help you figure something out and have Lana ask him for the antidote," Rick Kaye said.

"Give it a rest. Your girlfriend loves her brother like her own life. If she knew I was here, she’d definitely take advantage of my condition to kill me." Doctor Jenkins rolled his eyes.

Rick Kaye was momentarily speechless; he knew Doctor Jenkins was right.

"Forget it, let’s not bring up these buzzkills. Hurry up and try this delicious food," Doctor Jenkins said with a smile.

Rick Kaye didn’t press the matter. On one side was his sweetheart, and on the other was his friend. It was truly a hard choice for him to make.

He had eaten ant eggs and Mutated Aphids before, so he reached for the dried wild yam first. Taking a bite, it was sweet, crisp, and delicious, accompanied by a certain sharp, fruity aroma.

"What kind of fruit is this? How come I’ve never tasted it before?" As a fellow foodie, Rick Kaye instantly recognized its uniqueness.

"Speaking of this fruit, I actually want to ask you for a treasure, but I don’t know if you’re willing to part with it," Doctor Jenkins said.

"Other than Lana and my own life, what wouldn’t I give you?" Rick Kaye replied.

"I want the box of seeds you found in the old city ruins last month."

"How did you know I got a box of seeds?" Rick Kaye asked, but he quickly realized the answer. "The people with me at the time either died or fled. Nightingale Knightley was the only survivor. She’s never been the gossipy type, so she’d have no reason to spill the secret.

"Oh, I get it now. She works for you!

"You’re really something, aren’t you? You even planted your eyes and ears within the family!" Rick Kaye exclaimed.

"If I didn’t have my wits about me, I would’ve died countless times already," Doctor Jenkins replied.

"Fair enough. But I’m curious. Why does someone with the Spirit Element like you want those seeds?

"Besides, the labels on the box are all corroded. There’s absolutely no way to determine what kind of seeds are inside," Rick Kaye noted.

He had originally planned to find an old expert from the agricultural research institute to appraise them when he had free time, and then auction them off on the black market. Once they sold for a good price, he would use the money to get some treasures to upgrade his Lana’s Ability. To give Lana a surprise, he hadn’t even told her about it.

"It’s exactly because we don’t know what kind of seeds are inside that there are endless possibilities.

"Even though I don’t possess the Wood Element, my friend has an incredible Wood Element genius at home.

"Didn’t you just ask me what kind of fruit this was? Let me tell you, it’s a Mutated Lemon Fruit.

"And this fruit was cultivated by that incredible Wood Element genius.

"The main point is: this fruit has low radiation!" Doctor Jenkins winked smugly as he delivered the final line.

"Are you serious? Then hurry up and introduce us! Who knows, maybe one day when I’m heavily injured, I’ll need her to save my life." Rick Kaye instantly grew excited.

"Stop right there! You are a Seventh Tier Ability User, yet you want a child who just awakened her Ability to save your life? Are you planning to drain her dry?" Doctor Jenkins grumbled.

"What?! A child actually cultivated a low-radiation fruit?! What kind of jackpot did you hit?

"If you ask me, you’d better hurry up and adopt her or something. Otherwise, this great treasure will be snatched away by someone else sooner or later," Rick Kaye suggested.

"Now that you mention it, that’s a good point. If push comes to shove, I could just marry the kid’s mother. Wouldn’t that make me her stepdad?" Doctor Jenkins suddenly had an epiphany.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that marrying Sev Steele wouldn’t be a bad deal. First of all, her cooking skills were superb. Secondly, she didn’t look bad at all. The only downside was that she was just an ordinary person; his family would likely never agree to him marrying a woman like her.

Sigh! If only he were like Rick Kaye. As an orphan, nobody could dictate what he wanted to do.

However, thinking about the greedy elders in his family, he felt he couldn’t marry Sev Steele and bring her home. Otherwise, they would definitely squeeze every last drop of value out of Rose.

Rick Kaye straightforwardly retrieved an Alloy Box from his Space Button. Doctor Jenkins accepted it without standing on ceremony and stowed it into his own Space Button.

"By the way, why did you come to such a remote place this time?" Doctor Jenkins asked seriously.

"Is it so hard to believe I came here specifically to do a good deed?" Rick Kaye cast a sidelong glance at him.

"Come on! The Second Security Zone is at least ten thousand kilometers away from the Ninth Security Zone. Would you really wander all the way over here with nothing better to do?" Doctor Jenkins retorted.

"Uh, actually, I received a long-distance message from Lana. She said she found a precious medicinal plant she desperately needs—Mutated Seven-Star Grass—near the Ninth Security Zone.

"However, this herb contains incredibly strong Vitality. Because of this, a Sixth Tier Two-headed Lizard has been guarding it, just waiting for it to mature so it can swallow it whole.

"Lana’s Power Level is only at the Sixth Tier right now. The mutated Two-headed Lizard has thick skin, tough flesh, and super strong defenses. She and her teammates can’t deal with it at all," Rick Kaye explained.

"So you, the giant sucker, traveled thousands of miles to act as the vanguard for your sweetheart?

"Don’t think that just because you’re at the Seventh Tier, you have absolute certainty in dealing with a Sixth Tier Two-headed Lizard. I’ll have you know that unless you have me at my peak to support you, your win rate won’t even reach seventy percent." Doctor Jenkins’s expression was solemn.

"It can’t be as tough as you make it sound, can it?" Rick Kaye was somewhat dismissive.

"Do you know why that scumbag Jett Florian successfully schemed against me this time?

"It was because he first tricked my younger cousin into a Fourth Tier Two-headed Lizard’s territory. Even though my cousin has a Fifth Tier Gold Element Ability, he was chased all over the place by that beast.

"I hurried over after receiving his call for help and used ninety percent of my Ability to help trap the beast, giving him the chance to turn the tables and kill it.

"But because I had used ninety percent of my Ability, my defense and Perception dropped to their lowest point.

"That scumbag Jett took the opportunity to get close and ambushed me with a Poison Needle," Doctor Jenkins said.

"That bastard! Next time Lana asks me to help him, I’ll definitely find a chance to screw him over and avenge you!" Rick Kaye angrily clenched his fists.

Because of his anger, the Thunder Power in his body uncontrollably surged out, his armor emitting a crackling ZZT ZZT of electrical sparks.

This frightened Curly in the wooden box so much that it curled into a tight ball. It thought, "This human is so scary!"

On the large bed in the guest bedroom next door, the sleeping Rose sensed her Contracted Plant’s fear. A green light unconsciously flowed toward Curly in an attempt to soothe its emotions.

Doctor Jenkins and Rick Kaye simultaneously sensed a dense Wood Ability flowing into the room.

"Could that Wood Element genius you mentioned be right next door?" Rick Kaye asked excitedly.

Without waiting for Doctor Jenkins to speak, he used Instant Teleportation to pass straight through the wall into the next room. At a glance, he saw a little girl whose body was emitting a faint green glow.

"She’s actually this young? She can’t even be three years old, right?" Rick Kaye was so shocked his eyes almost popped out of his head.

Doctor Jenkins had told him it was a child, but he thought she would be at least ten years old. He never expected she would be a toddler!

Doctor Jenkins couldn’t phase through walls, so he hurriedly walked over, pushed the door open, grabbed Rick Kaye, and dragged him out into the hallway.

"Where are your manners? Don’t think that just because you have a Space Element ability you can intrude into other people’s private spaces whenever and wherever you want. Keep this up, and sooner or later you’ll become universally despised!" Doctor Jenkins lowered his voice in displeasure.

"Sorry, I just got excited for a moment and couldn’t hold back." Rick Kaye looked like a schoolboy who had made a mistake.

In the hallway, Seth Jennings had just poked her head out when she caught sight of the two grown men grabbing and pulling at each other. She instantly trembled in shock.

She wondered if she had just stumbled upon some earth-shattering gossip and if she would be silenced to keep the secret.

In her panic, Seth quickly stood up straight and tried her best to control the steadiness of her voice. "Doctor Jenkins, Lord Judge, Sev Steele has finished making the soup and asked me to invite you over to eat."

The two men, now suspected of having an unconventional relationship, were completely oblivious to the misunderstanding they had caused.

Hearing that the soup was ready, both pairs of eyes shot out a sharp gleam. Ignoring Seth’s strange look, they strode into the kitchen.

Seth took several deep breaths behind them before calming her emotions. She swore she really didn’t mean to pry into the privacy of these big shots.

Male-on-male relationships and the like weren’t exactly rare in the wasteland nowadays. It was just that the subject was the god-like Judge she revered; for a moment, it was still a bit hard to accept.