Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 77: Boiled Gideon

After that, Gideon began pulling the meat slime-covered scales out one by one. His body showed no serious reaction to the toxin.

Still, he eventually put on the Anti-Aberrant Toxin Protective Gear he bought from the Infinite Store. It was equipment designed to resist the corrosive slime longer than ordinary suits.

Even that gear could only last about five minutes before the material started melting.

Of course, he eventually had to stop. Freya kept yelling at him the entire time, and the final straw came when a drop of the slime nearly splashed onto her because she refused to stay back.

More importantly, another reason appeared right in front of his eyes.

A system notification.

[Because of prolonged exposure to the Verdant Devourer toxin, your body has adapted faster.]

[Passive Skill Acquired: Accelerated Adaptation]

[Your adaptation to toxins, poisons, and venoms produced by aberrants will speed up. Body regeneration increases by 20%. Immunity increases by 10%.]

’Nice,’ Gideon thought. ’I didn’t expect buffs from something like this. So this is how I get passive skills? If I stayed longer, would it evolve... or would I unlock another one?’

In the end, he still stopped. Freya’s stubbornness made sure of that. She practically dragged him back toward the vehicles and forced him to return to the tent.

Even so, Gideon managed to collect around fifty scales. That was not a bad number, especially since he had taken all of them from the sections the workers avoided.

Apparently, the fangs had already been removed earlier, sometime during the chaos of rescuing the travelers and the party afterward, before the corpse melted.

Gideon sighed.

"I’m fine, Freya. I’m still alive, and I don’t feel anything wrong."

"That’s exactly what makes it worse!" Freya argued while they sat inside the resting tent. "What if the effect isn’t immediate? What if it shows up two weeks later?"

Gideon chuckled. "This isn’t radiation poisoning. I’m not going to die of ARS."

He sat down on the tent floor and started removing his boots. They had become uncomfortable, and his body felt strangely hot.

"You can’t be sure," Freya insisted. "My parents’ reports never included the long-term effects of workers exposed to aberrant corpses for extended periods, even with protective suits."

She crossed her arms. "So stop being stubborn."

Gideon removed the first layer of protective clothing. The heat inside the suit had become unbearable. Sweat soaked his clothes, and the burning sensation across his skin kept growing stronger.

Freya noticed immediately. "What’s wrong with you?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Gideon replied. "You insisted I wear five layers of protective gear. Of course I’m overheating."

He continued peeling off the layers. The urge to remove the gas mask became stronger with every second.

Freya narrowed her eyes. "Your face is red." Then her eyes widened. "Wait... don’t tell me the toxin has the same effect as radiation poisoning!"

Gideon waved the idea away. "If that’s the case, then your mother and the rest of society should thank me for my heroic sacrifice."

"You—!"

Freya grabbed his hand. The moment she touched him, she recoiled and grimaced.

"What?" Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Scared you might become radioactive too?" he joked.

"Stop joking!" Freya snapped.

She held up her palm, now bright red. "You’re burning. Literally!" Her voice rose in panic. "What do we do? Your brain is going to melt!"

Gideon finally understood why his body felt so hot. Delilah’s theory had been correct. The heat came from the healing effect itself, his metabolism working far harder than any normal human body could manage. The faster his body regenerated, the more heat it produced.

He could endure it, but lowering the temperature would still help. The problem was that he had no idea whether fever medicine would even work on him.

The only solution that came to his mind, and apparently Freya’s as well, was simple.

"The water! We need to submerge your body!"

Normally, pouring water over someone with a fever would make things worse because the sudden temperature change would cause the body to shiver. But this situation was far from normal. Gideon simply nodded and followed her plan.

Freya rushed to the Freebound workers inside the tent and told them to pour water over him from the tank.

Soon Gideon found himself sitting awkwardly on the ground while several men showered him with water like he was a plant being watered in a garden.

Except that the moment the water touched his skin, it turned into steam. He looked less like someone cooling down and more like a man sitting in a sauna.

Luckily he managed to stop Freya before she stripped away every layer of protective gear, making him naked and look like a skinned chicken.

In the end, she only removed most of it, leaving him with a single layer.

Gideon then pulled off his gas mask as well, which immediately alarmed the workers nearby. He ignored their reaction and breathed in the open air.

Fresh air hit his face immediately.

Along with the rotten smell of the corpse and the strange metallic taste carried by the water that had come from an aberrant.

Still, the heat around his face finally faded. He held his breath whenever the smell became too strong, breathing only when necessary.

Meanwhile, Freya was on the verge of losing her mind.

Her thoughts raced wildly. She tried to recall every medical book she had ever read, every report she had seen in her mother’s office, even the medical manuals Elaine kept in her clinic.

Nothing explained what was happening to Gideon.

The thought that he might melt like the Devourer’s corpse made her stomach twist.

"What’s wrong with him?"

Jade’s voice came from behind them. She had just returned from the field and now stood there with one eyebrow raised, watching Gideon with a calm but slightly judgmental expression.

"Ugh! He’s like this because he kept digging scales out of that disgusting slime!" Freya grabbed Jade’s arm. "Have you ever seen anything like this before? Do you think he’s going to die?"

"Relax," Jade replied. "I have no idea what’s wrong with him either. All I see is a guy sitting there with red skin while people pour water over him like a chicken about to be cooked."

She snorted, barely holding her laughter. "And where is all that steam coming from?"

"His body!" Freya shouted. "He’s so hot that the water turns into steam!"

That explanation only made Jade laugh harder.

"Oh hell," she said, shaking her head. "If we heat him a bit more, maybe we can recreate the steam engine and restart the industrial revolution all over again."

"Stop joking!" Freya snapped, shaking Jade’s arm in frustration. "What if he’s melting?!"

Before Jade could answer, Gideon stood up and put on his gas mask again. He walked toward the two women as if nothing had happened.

"Oh? The chicken is finally done boiling?" Jade teased.

"Aren’t I supposed to be the steam engine?" Gideon shrugged. "Anyway, let’s head to Climber Rift and exchange those aberrant cores for coins."

Freya immediately frowned. "Are you insane? You’re sick! You should go back and rest!"

She grabbed his hand to stop him, but then paused, her expression shifting.

"You’re... not that hot anymore," she murmured, confused. "Did the water actually work?"

"It worked perfectly," Gideon replied calmly. "Now let’s go to Climber Rift."

Freya still looked uncertain, though Gideon had already turned toward Jade.

"I trust you now," he said. "Don’t make me regret it. You did a good job."

"You know that sounds more like an insult than praise, right?" Jade crossed her arms. "I already told you I’m not going to cheat you."

"Let’s hope that attitude stays the same throughout our agreement," Gideon said with a grin.

Jade only rolled her eyes.

Soon after that, they prepared to leave. This time Freya took the driver’s seat of the military truck, guiding the vehicle forward as they continued their journey.