Chapter 63 - 62: Concocting Venom for the Cannon Fodder Big Boss

Doctor Jenkins didn’t ask Sev Steele what kind of snacks she had given Rick Kaye when they returned to the house, and naturally, Hayden Hanson and Seth Jennings didn’t dare to ask either.

The rat tide outside had retreated, so Hayden had no reason to stay any longer. He needed to head home to check on things. Seth had also received a summons from the Mercenary Guild. He could only reluctantly leave with Hayden, rushing back to help with the cleanup operations.

Only Doctor Jenkins and Rick remained as guests in the house.

Sev left the two of them to catch up at the dining table while she went to the second bedroom. Rose was fast asleep on the bed. Her little face was rosy and fair, and her entire body emitted a faint green glow. It seemed the Ability she had overdrawn had mostly recovered. Steeling herself, Sev picked the child up and carried her to the master bedroom.

"Wake up, Rose. Wake up!" she called softly, leaning close to her ear.

Rose was finally roused from her sleep, rubbing her eyes vigorously with her two little hands. The moment she saw Sev clearly, she instinctively sat up, her face filled with terror. "Mommy, don’t hit me! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep in."

Although Sev’s attitude toward the children had improved significantly over the past few days, the prolonged abuse by her adoptive mother had ingrained a conditioned reflex in the little girl.

Sev felt a pang of heartache and quickly comforted her, "I won’t hit you. Mommy wants to ask for your help."

For the sake of their family securing a powerful backer in the future, she had no choice but to trouble the little girl.

Rose finally woke up completely. Remembering what had happened earlier, she felt a little embarrassed.

"Mommy, what do you need me to do?" The little girl’s soft, sweet voice was still laced with drowsiness, melting Sev’s heart. If it weren’t a matter of life and death, she absolutely wouldn’t have had the heart to wake the little girl up in the middle of the night.

"It’s like this. There’s a very powerful man who led people to chase away all the bad rats.

"To thank him, Mommy wants to prepare some venom for him to use against even stronger Mutant Beasts in his future battles.

"But to make the venom, I need some Coco Holdens. Can you help Mommy ripen some?" Sev explained.

"Mhm, I can do it, but it will take some time.

"I wanted to grow some more Coco Holdens earlier, but there wasn’t enough time.

"So, I gave all my green light to Curly instead. That’s why it grew so much and became so strong," the little girl said earnestly.

Sev finally understood why Curly had suddenly grown so tall and could defend an entire wall by itself. So it had all been Rose’s doing.

"My daughter is amazing!" Sev praised.

Rose’s little face grew even redder, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. She had been praised by her mommy. She was a very useful little girl who could help adults now.

The commotion between the mother and daughter naturally didn’t escape the notice of Doctor Jenkins and Rick in the kitchen.

"What kind of fruit is she planning to have the little girl grow?" Rick asked.

"Mutated Lemon Fruits," Doctor Jenkins replied.

"She woke the little girl up in the middle of the night just to grow fruits? She really doesn’t care for her at all since she isn’t her biological child," Rick complained. If such a genius little girl had been born into a prominent family, she would probably be pampered like a princess. Instead, she had been adopted by an ignorant, ordinary commoner. She was scrawny, dressed in rags, and clearly hadn’t been well taken care of.

"If I’m not mistaken, she’s having those lemon fruits grown specifically for you," Doctor Jenkins said.

"What? She’s rushing to grow a batch of lemon fruits to curry favor with me? There’s no need for that," Rick said, still displeased.

"Wrong! She’s not doing it to curry favor with you. She’s doing it to prepare a highly lethal venom for you," Doctor Jenkins said, glaring at him. He then recounted how Sev had made the lemon juice spray during the previous battle, and how, through a twist of fate, it had mixed with the Blue Tears to create an incredibly toxic venom.

"Oh, no wonder she asked me earlier if I carried Blue Tears Spray with me. So it was to help me make venom." A sudden look of realization washed over Rick, followed by a wave of deep guilt.

She was kindly making a life-saving venom for him, yet he had completely misunderstood her intentions, thinking she just wanted to suck up to him. However, because of this, he believed a little more in her prophetic dream. If she hadn’t clearly seen his death in her dream, she would never have woken her youngest daughter up in the middle of the night to grow Mutated Lemon Fruits and prepare venom for him.

Rick had dropped by the Ninth Security Zone to save people not only because he couldn’t bear to see the zone destroyed by the rat tide, but also because the higher-ups of the Ninth Security Zone had promised him a handsome reward. And the only reason Sev’s family had survived was that they had managed to hold out until he arrived to rescue them.

If there really was a life-saving debt to be repaid, it should be borne by the zone’s higher-ups or the entire security zone as a whole. Treating him to a delicious meal was already more than enough. Telling him about her prophetic dream carried a huge risk for her. Now that she was going out of her way to prepare a life-saving venom for him, it was actually him who owed her an enormous favor.

Rick had lived a difficult life in his youth. Apart from Lana Florian, who had depended on him for survival, he had never experienced much warmth or affection. After awakening his Ability, he gradually became the strongest person among those around him. It had always been others relying on him. He was used to shielding Lana and his subordinates from the wind and rain, saving them from danger time and time again. At first, they had been grateful, but over time, they gladly accepted it as a given. No one felt they owed him their lives anymore.

But today, in this Ninth Security Zone, the most remote place on the globe, an ordinary Scavenger was showing him profound gratitude. She was even going out of her way, racking her brains for his safety, doing everything in her power to keep him alive.

This reminded him of his own mother. She had also been an ordinary person. When he was young, his mother had fought with all her might to keep him safe. Even up until the moment she died, her eyes had remained fixed on him, unwilling to close. Since his mother passed away, no one else in the world had ever wanted to protect him with everything they had, just like she did.

At that thought, Rick couldn’t help but feel his eyes well up with tears. Miss Steele was younger than him, yet he could see the radiant glow of maternal love in her.

"Jared, after I leave, please help me protect Sev and her children. When I return, I will take them away from here to the Second Security Zone," Rick finally said after a long silence.

"Are you serious? Why?" Doctor Jenkins stared at him.

"I’m serious. Don’t ask for a reason. Just consider it a favor I owe you," Rick said.

"You aren’t coveting her little girl’s talent, are you?" Doctor Jenkins suddenly asked, frowning.

"You could say that, but more importantly, I love the delicious food Sev makes," Rick said with a wicked grin.

He wouldn’t tell anyone about Sev’s prophetic dream. He couldn’t even tell Jared Jenkins, someone he had always trusted.

Hearing this, Doctor Jenkins’s mood instantly soured. Sure enough, it was great not being burdened by a family. One could do whatever they wanted. If he were also a lone wolf, he could drag Sev to register their marriage the moment the sun came up. That way, he could openly and justifiably take care of her and her children from then on, and he could eat the delicious food Sev made every single day.