Chapter 93 - 92: Delicious Mashed Potatoes

The heavy truck tore down the road, speeding all the way back to District Nine. During the journey, Sean Stark had already sorted everyone’s share of the mutated potatoes into synthetic fiber bags.

Some people chose to sell their potatoes. Compared to Nutrition Blocks, the potatoes fetched a much higher price. The Mercenary Guild offered five hundred points per kilogram for damaged ones and eight hundred for those perfectly intact. Selling today’s harvest would yield a substantial sum of money.

Most of the mercenaries’ families opted to keep the potatoes, as the Energy in the mutated crops was far higher than that of Nutrition Blocks. Moreover, they tasted infinitely better.

Sev Steele and Hayden Hanson naturally chose to keep theirs. They both had plenty of savings in their accounts, enough to handle any unexpected emergencies.

The truck’s final stop was inside the family compound in Sector A, an area designated by the Mercenary Guild. While everyone had gathered at the main gate to board that morning, the return trip thoughtfully included stops at the intersections of each sector. This made it much easier for the Scavengers from Area C and Zone B to carry their hauls home.

Sean Stark personally helped Sev and Hayden unload their harvests before waving goodbye.

The moment Sev stepped off the truck, she spotted Rusty standing beneath a dim streetlight. The little boy looked as though he had been waiting there for a long time, his frail body shivering slightly in the cold. The instant he saw her, his eyes lit up, and he broke into a sprint toward her.

Reaching her side, he looked her up and down. Only when he confirmed she had no visible, major wounds did the anxiety in his eyes finally dissipate.

"Mom, are you okay?" he choked out.

"I’m not dead yet! How is Rose? Did you remember to give her the Pain Relief Potion?" Sev asked. She had been busy all day, but during every spare second, her thoughts had drifted back to Rose, terrified that the little girl’s condition might have worsened.

"She drank the medicine, and I fed her some milk, too," Rusty replied. "She’s been sleeping the whole time. Very quiet."

Hayden told the mother and son to keep an eye on the synthetic fiber bags while he went home to grab his handcart. With the cart’s help, both of their harvests were quickly transported back to their respective homes.

During the trip, several people saw Hayden’s handcart and asked about its price with faces full of envy. In just a short time, three people placed orders for one. Hayden quoted a flat rate of five hundred points per cart. After all, chopping wood and hauling it back was no easy feat, and the wheels had to be scavenged from the junkyard. All things considered, Hayden was barely earning a meager labor fee.

Having a handcart meant one could easily bring back plenty of firewood when scavenging in the wilderness. Winter was fast approaching, and a lack of firewood was a literal death sentence.

By the time Sev returned home, it was already nine-thirty. Zephyr was still hard at work weaving cushions, and Firestone wasn’t idle either, busy twisting hemp ropes. Since the whole family was hustling to make money, Firestone had decided to take on the unskilled labor of chopping wood and making rope all by himself.

"Stop working, everyone. It’s so late. Have you had dinner?" Sev asked.

"Mom, we didn’t do any heavy lifting, so we don’t need to eat dinner," Zephyr hurriedly replied.

Sev sighed. These children’s mindsets were still stuck in the past, back when they lacked food and clothing and merely ate one meal a day just to stay alive. Without her watching over them, they simply couldn’t bear to eat twice in one day. Fortunately, they mostly ate mutated wild vegetables, which contained far more Energy than regular greens, so one meal a day wouldn’t starve them to death.

The potatoes Sev received today were all perfectly intact. Logically, she could store them away to eat slowly over the winter. But she had been allotted a whopping 862 kilograms this time. Her entire family couldn’t possibly finish them all in one winter, so there was no need to hoard them.

Of course, she had another plan in mind when she chose to bring all the potatoes home. Her head was filled with countless recipes for processing them. Making those dishes and selling them at the trading hall would definitely bring in far more profit than selling raw potatoes. Winter here lasted a full four months—a long one hundred and twenty days—during which she could make an absolute killing.

If the business went smoothly, she could even persuade Hayden to resell his leftover potatoes to her. She thought to herself, "The more I think about it, the closer I am to striking it rich!"

Mutated potatoes were divided into Levels based on weight. A single potato weighing over ten kilograms was classified as Grade A, between five and ten kilograms was Grade B, and under five kilograms was Grade C. Sev glanced at the behemoth potatoes and finally picked out three of the smallest Grade C ones, which added up to about five kilograms in total.

She washed them, diced them, and steamed them. After mashing them into a paste and adding some lemon juice, the mashed potatoes were ready. Everyone in the family got a bowl, and she specifically sent Firestone over to deliver a large serving to Hayden.

People in District Nine only had two recipes for potatoes: boiling them or slicing them into strips to roast. This was Hayden’s first time tasting mashed potatoes like this, and he found it so incredibly delicious that he simply couldn’t stop eating. Once again, he was completely blown away by Sev’s culinary skills. It was a shame she hadn’t been born in another safe zone, otherwise, she could have easily opened a small restaurant.

Over at Seven Steele House, it was the children’s first time eating mutated potatoes. The taste was so good they practically wanted to swallow their own tongues!

Sev was absolutely delighted herself. The taste of the mutated potatoes far exceeded her expectations. It was moist and fluffy, and even with just a dash of lemon juice, it somehow tasted like mousse cake. The mutated potatoes possessed a rich, natural sweetness, mixed with a refreshing crispness that regular potatoes lacked. No matter how much you ate, you would never get sick of it.

Sev felt she could happily enjoy this for the entire winter. For this level of enjoyment, all the blood and sweat she had sacrificed during today’s near-death experience was entirely worth it.

In the midst of enjoying her delicious food, she suddenly thought of another foodie—Doctor Jenkins. For some reason, not sharing with him made her feel a bit guilty. After all, the S Level Dagger he had given her had helped her slaughter several prairie dogs today.

Sev tapped her watch open, just about to send him a message, when a text suddenly popped up in their chat box:

"Jane: How is Rose? The Head of the Stone Family has already contacted me. He said he will arrive tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. To avoid drawing the attention of District Nine’s higher-ups, he wants us to meet him at a hidden location in The Murkwood."

Sev hurriedly replied, "Really? They’re actually arriving that fast? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be there on time! Oh, right, I made mashed potatoes. Do you want to come over and try some? I can bring them to you tomorrow." Thinking of how he had repeatedly helped her, Sev quickly added that last sentence.

The moment the message was sent, Doctor Jenkins immediately initiated a voice call.

"What?! Mashed potatoes? You actually abandoned Rose today and ran off to Cindervale to dig up mutated potatoes? Why the hell are you running around for no reason? Do you have a death wish?"

His rapid-fire shouting nearly deafened Sev, and she hastily turned down the volume on her watch by a few notches.

"Oh, please! Easy for you to say with a full stomach! I have four kids to feed here! Digging up potatoes is such a rare opportunity. If I missed it, I would definitely regret it for an entire year!" Sev shot back.

"You wait right there. I’m coming over!" Doctor Jenkins, veins bulging on his forehead in anger, dropped that single sentence and hung up.

She thought to herself, "What right does he have to scold me? Why is he acting like he’s my grandfather?"

In all her twenty-one years of life, no one besides her actual grandfather had ever dared to casually lecture her. However, thinking about everything Doctor Jenkins had done for her, she couldn’t help but lose her nerve.

As the old saying went: you can’t bite the hand that feeds you.

She owed him for a super expensive dagger, and she owed him for the Pain Relief Potion that Rose had taken. Most crucially, without him, she would never have been able to contact the high and mighty Head of the Stone Family.

She let out a helpless sigh. Taking advantage of the fact that the charcoal fire in the stove hadn’t completely gone out yet, she quickly added some firewood and prepared to make a pot of creamy mashed potato soup.