Chapter 77 - 76: Great Harvest!

Part of its vines were entangled around the trunk of a nearby mutated elm tree, while the rest were wrapped around a cluster of relatively stiff shrub branches. Because the leaves were dense and the branches were entangled into a messy, chaotic clump, Sev Steele hadn’t noticed the pods hidden beneath the large leaves when she passed by earlier.

The pods looked like elongated, thickened versions of soybean pods. At least seven or eight of them were crammed tightly together in a single cluster. Each pod was about forty to fifty centimeters long, roughly the size of a large cucumber. Judging by the number of bulges on the outside, each pod contained at least six to ten beans.

The familiar enlarged pods, the familiar enlarged leaves, and the familiar color and shape of the beans... Sev was now absolutely certain: this was a mutated Dragon Claw Bean plant.

Carefully sifting through the original owner’s memories, she actually found information about this specific type of bean. Locally, it had a rather terrifying name: Poison Dragon Beans. The locals didn’t know how to remove its toxins. Before the nuclear war, supplies had been abundant, so no one had ever bothered to research how to detoxify it.

After the nuclear winter passed and Scavengers returned to the surface from underground, some, driven mad by hunger, had tried peeling the pods and boiling the beans to eat. The taste was indeed decent. However, consuming them led to dizziness, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. In more severe cases, people fell into a coma or even died. These bloody lessons prompted the management to officially classify Poison Dragon Beans as toxic and inedible.

Later Scavengers who encountered these pods would test them, only to be warned of their toxicity. Over time, everyone learned to simply ignore them.

Sev pushed aside the thorny branches, sliced off a cluster of pods with her dagger, and immediately used her Detection Knife to cut into one.

Soon, an automated voice announced, "BEEP! Toxic plant detected: Mutated Poison Dragon Beans. Radiation level: 26 (Low). Due to its high toxicity, consumption is strictly prohibited. Please discard immediately."

"Oh my god! It’s actually low radiation! BWAHAHA! I’ve hit the jackpot this time!" Sev laughed gleefully, then immediately sent a message to Hayden Hanson. "Come quick, I found something amazing!" she wrote, attaching her location coordinates.

Through his interactions with her over the past few days, Hayden knew Sev wasn’t the type to exaggerate. If she said she found something amazing, it had to be good. Worried that she might be targeted by passing Scavengers and put in danger, he snatched up a cluster of mutated purslane he had just harvested, tossed it into his Tactical Backpack, and hurried toward her location.

By the time Hayden arrived, Sev had already cut down over a dozen clusters of pods. In some spots blocked by thick thorns, she had even used her S Level Dagger. It wasn’t a waste of good equipment; after all, the vast majority of these pods were low radiation! An unlucky Scavenger in District Nine might not encounter a single edible low-radiation plant in an entire year.

Seeing her busy harvesting the mutated Poison Dragon Beans, Hayden couldn’t help but ask, "Sev, are you planning to use these to make Poison Powder?"

"Pfft! COUGH COUGH COUGH!" Sev choked on her own saliva at his question. "Stop talking nonsense and help me pick them!"

Hayden obediently rolled up his sleeves and got to work. With his help, their efficiency skyrocketed. He even climbed the tree to help her harvest all the pods entangled in the branches. They gathered over six hundred pods in total. With each pod weighing about a pound, their total haul was roughly six hundred pounds. It was an absolute bumper crop!

Hayden simply dumped all the wild vegetables out of his Tactical Backpack to make room for the pods. After all, the vegetables were much lighter. On Sev’s end, she only packed the mutated wild garlic into her backpack, leaving the rest of the wild vegetables in her sack.

The sun was already setting in the west. The two of them each dragged a sack as they headed back, making for a relatively easy trek.

On the way, Sev lowered her voice, leaning close to Hayden’s ear. "Before he died, the old gatekeeper at the orphanage secretly told me that Poison Dragon Beans are actually edible if processed correctly."

"Are you serious?" Hayden asked in shock.

Before awakening his Ability, he used to go out scavenging with his parents. Once, driven by starvation, their neighbor had picked and eaten Poison Dragon Beans in the wilderness. The man ended up in a coma for five whole days, and when he finally woke up, his mind was left somewhat addled. Because of this, his parents had repeatedly warned him, absolutely forbidding him from ever sneaking a bite of Poison Dragon Beans.

"Why didn’t that old man report this to the authorities?" Hayden asked.

"If everyone knew, do you think we’d have been able to harvest so many today?" Sev countered.

Hayden was rendered speechless. When hunger ruled one’s life, kindness had to step aside. Furthermore, Poison Dragon Beans weren’t exactly a common sight in the wild. He had seen no more than five plants in his entire life. It was only because the pods looked so meaty and filling that desperate people continuously tried to eat them, refusing to believe the warnings. Unfortunately, none of them had ultimately escaped its toxic grasp.

Now that Sev was suddenly telling him these beans were perfectly edible with the right preparation, he couldn’t help but pity his past self who had once been paralyzed by hunger. He had walked past real food time and time again, missing out on it every single time.

When Sev and Hayden returned to the safe zone’s main gates, Guard A and Guard B smiled and greeted them as usual, "Miss, quite a haul today, huh?"

"Yeah, we dug up quite a few edible wild vegetables," Sev replied openly, pointing to the sacks behind them.

The two guards were actually a bit disappointed. This girl had been incredibly lucky lately, so they thought she might have brought back some rare supplies again.

Hayden followed Sev straight into her kitchen and dumped all the pods out of his Tactical Backpack. The four children stared with wide eyes. Having no experience as Scavengers, they naturally didn’t recognize the mutated Poison Dragon Beans.

Rose was the first to speak. "Mom, is this yummy?"

"It’s delicious, but we have to wait two days before we can eat it," Sev said, smiling as she pinched the little girl’s cheek. She couldn’t be bothered to keep up the facade of a vicious adoptive mother anymore. Anyway, they had all survived the rat tide together. Even if the kids were suspicious of her sudden change in temperament, they likely wouldn’t tell outsiders.

"Hanson, stay and help me process these," Sev offered generously. "Once all the toxins are cleared, we’ll split them fifty-fifty."

She had no intention of keeping the method a secret from Hayden. Even if he told others, it didn’t matter. She planned to collect a few mature beans and have her Rose try to speed-grow them in the yard. If it worked, she could build a trellis. Not only would they have access to fresh pods whenever they wanted, but it would also provide a nice, shaded spot to cool off during the summer.

Hayden hadn’t expected her to be so selfless with him. His cold heart felt as if it had been plunged into a warm spring.