Mindless Beasts

The little omega took the tiny pill from Verde’s outstretched hand and immediately swallowed it.

Verde felt some relief even though a part of him still thought Sly was too naive and trusting of others.

Behind them the mutated manchineel tree’s notoriously toxic, apple-like fruit could glow with a faint, mesmerizing alien luminescence.

This light was what kept Sly going, fascinated to get to the surface out of the underground tunnel so much that he mistook it for the sun.

This particular manchineel hybrid plant was so corrupting it could also lure curious humans or animals in the dark.

That was how the Queen had been deceived; she ate the fruit and her body was internally cannibalized by this alien parasitic plant.

During wars with aliens this plant had killed many soldiers so his uncle had been working on an antivenom that can neutralize its toxins and any other animal or plant that had similar toxicity.

Sly Foxx didn’t understand. "Posionous?" What’s poisonous, certainly not these sweet fruits, they are so delicious. It’s a shame to see them all go to waste like this, I should have a talk with your uncle and scold him."

It was a wonder Sly Foxx could still talk after munching on the manchineel fruit.

The average human after the initial sweet tasting bite would now be experiencing a strange peppery tingling sensation in the mouth.

That weird sensation would quickly escalate into an excruciating, tearing, and burning pain as the mouth and tongue start to feel blistered and swollen.

Victims of the manchineel fruit normally reported a feeling akin to a massive, obstructing lump in their throat.

Making it nearly impossible to swallow even their own saliva or seek relief through solid food.

Yet Verde had caught Sly munching away without any of the usual allergic symptoms.

It was mindblowing and frustrating.

This particular Manchineel tree was not the usual variety grown on earth; it was taken from another planet and cultivated with tender care.

A mutated hybrid tree combined with alien DNA and the manchineel tree to create a toxic, highly adaptive biohazard.

The only creature that was able to eat its fruit and survive was the Queen of the Yellow Jackets.

She nearly died but after recovering she evolved into S+ tier and was under observation by his uncle when his subordinate accidentally let her escape and then all hell broke loose.

g at the same time, was Sly really human?

If a normal human accidentally ingested the manchineel also known as the "death apple" fruit, the alien DNA might prevent the stomach acid from destroying the seeds.

Instead, the seeds could rapidly germinate inside the host, using human biology as a living incubator.

He would recommend that his uncle let him and the spirit guardians burn this orchard down before they risked a catastrophe of epic proportions.

No burning would be a bad idea on second thought, idiots like Sly and his uncle’s assistant would foolishly inhale the smoke from a burning manchineel tree which could lead to blindness.

Burning this particular hybrid could potentially release psychoactive alien neurotoxins into the air of the surrounding labs.

Victims breathing in those toxic fumes would experience horrific, waking hallucinations alongside blindness, attacking their own central nervous system.

Verde thought that was a problem for his uncle to solve, not him.

He lowered his gaze and signalled to Sly, "Follow me."

"Okay," Sly happily followed Verde, feeling pleased that his secret stash had yet to be discovered.

Every step the pair took crushed the carcasses of the Yellow Jackets beneath their heels.

This should have been Sly’s first time witnessing such a devastating and deadly insect infestation, not to mention the outcome was worse than a murder scene.

It was a large-scale annihilation scene, burnt and butchered carcasses lay everywhere in sight.

Straight out of one of those apocalyptic movies that were so popular with the people of the Ephedra empire nowadays.

Verde wanted to say something comforting to the little omega, but he almost choked on the words before they could escape his lips.

For Sly didn’t look frightened, much less fazed by the grizzly macabre sight at all.

When they came over to where the squad was resting, one of the members got up and said, "Verde you saved that student. He is so lucky to be alive!"

Before Verde could correct him and said Sly was doing fine on his own even before he found him.

The spirit guardian and a few others that were still able to move and were mostly fans of this popular sentinel.

They all rushed up to Verde, praising him and crowding him adoringly with puppy dog eyes.

Verde barely paid them any attention and ignoring their cheesy lines, he was too busy watching Sly from the corner of his eyes.

Any minute now the little omega who had been following obediently behind Verde all this time should be reacting to the manchineel fruit.

Sly saw Verde’s dejected look and wanted to ask him about him even though he still felt some guilt for the fruit hidden deep in his pockets.

Just then the captain who found himself suddenly abandoned by his squad as he lay dying from the venomous toxins surging through his body groaned loudly.

Sly, ignoring the others, brushed past them and ran to the team leader’s side.

The squad members all felt guilty, it wasn’t that they didn’t care, they were out of antivenoms and healing potions.

It was an agonizing wait for the captain and his life hung in the balance but it was out of their hands none of them had any healing abilities.

This was supposed to be a simple mission, none of them had envisioned it turning into an S- ranked mission.

They already called for help and were waiting for the ambulance to arrive to rush the captain to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Verde said, "Stay away from him Sly, there is nothing you can do to help him, just touching his skin which is very sensitive right now will only bring the team leader more pain."

The Captain’s expression wasn’t improving, just getting worse.

As Sly approached the captain’s pain-wracked body that contorted in agony, the captain could barely breathe, continuously gasping and gulping for mouthfuls of air.

His body felt like it was on fire, heat radiated from his pores and tears continuously streamed down the Captain’s face.

Right now he was hallucinating because in his eyes, Sly leaning over his inert body looked like an angel straight out of heaven.

The captain cried out to Sly, "Please, save my life.."

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