"What do you think about eating mutated beast meat?"

Hearing Selene’s question, they all paused eating and carefully considered it.

"That... might actually make sense." Reymond nodded slowly, "I mean, if a pig mutated, then it doesn’t automatically turn poisonous, right?"

Samson frowned, then felt like it was indeed plausible. "Hmm. But we can’t risk it yet. We need someone to test it."

It was then that Selene spoke again. "I’ll test it. If it’s going to cause any internal problems, I am strong enough to withstand it."

"Eh? Selene, you must be be kidding." Reymond exclaimed in surprise.

Gwen also rejected the proposal. "It’s too dangerous. What if something happens to you? I don’t want to lose you."

The silver-haired girl frowned and looked at the two of them.

"Why are you both acting like it’s something extremely dangerous? Isn’t it just eating?"

Reymond’s lips twitched. "Selene, look. Zombies are out there, and we can’t be sure of what other thing could be infectious out there. Eating mutated meat is risky."

Her attention turned to him, "Then do you suggest we go back to the restaurant, with the possibility of being bombarded by a zombie horde again?"

This finally made everyone fall silent, as they were unable to refute her words. Returning to that restaurant was going to be a great ordeal, and they weren’t sure they were ready for it.

"If my skin wasn’t tough enough that day, I’d have been turned to a zombie." Samson mumbled with a faint, wry smile.

"Alright, fine. We’ll all eat it together. If we perish, we perish."

Selene turned to look at Gwen in surprise. "What nonsense are you saying? I’m the only one who’s going to eat it."

Reymond decided to join in. "No, Selene. If you want to eat it, then we’ll eat it too."

This made the girl frown, but she found it hard to find a reason to disagree.

’These two dummies... I have no qualms with going. But you two still have families you want to see.’

She sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Fine. We’ll eat it together."

That was when they noticed Leon stand up from his seat some distance away and return the plate to the kitchen.

When he returned, he didn’t go into his room as usual. Instead, he went towards the door.

Selene’s watchful stare turned to a glare. "Where are you off to, again?"

Her voice reached his ears, and he turned his head slightly. "I’ll be back in 15. No need to be nosy."

The girl’s jaws clenched, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned around and continued eating like nothing happened.

"Um, sorry about that. Leon is a bit..." Gwen smiled and said apologetically.

Selene just nodded. It was his personality. Always rejecting those who were around him. ’Tch.’

"Selene, if he doesn’t come back in 15 minutes, don’t disappear without telling us. It’s getting late already and it would be dangerous outside." Reymond said seriously, surprising her for a moment.

Selene paused, and gave a short nod. "I know."

Outside, Leon embraced the cold evening wind. The sky had darkened considerably, and only a few solar streetlights still worked properly.

The campus looked like a ghost town.

"Hm. Perfect for some spooky monster to attack you!"

Thyra joked as she nudged him, causing him to shoot her an exasperated glare.

"You know I’m still injured. Don’t jinx it for me." He said in a slightly displeased tone.

Thyra merely laughed. "Alright, alright. I won’t jinx it for you."

Leon rolled his eyes and walked into the darkness. Although it was nighttime, he could still see his surroundings well enough.

And even though it wasn’t as clear as daytime, it was still enough.

He stealthily returned to the forested road that led to the East gate, careful to avoid the attention of any beast lingering around.

’I don’t want to imagine what the lions and tigers have mutated into. Sabertooth Tigers?’

Shaking his head, he passed by the corpse of the lizard Selene had killed. As he looked, he noticed that it was missing several large chunks of flesh. Like something large had feasted on it until it was satisfied, then left quietly.

"That... is definitely not a pet animal."

Whispering to himself, he continued down the road. It was then that he realized that the corpse of the mutated buffalo they had killed earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Only its blood still remained on the streets. Its body had been dragged into the forest and probably devoured until it remained bone.

"Thyra. About mutated beast meat. Is it safe to eat them?"

The demon who was quietly following him nodded and answered.

"Sure. Mana that causes mutation in beasts isn’t corrupted mana, so all mutated beasts are safe to eat—except the ones that are specially poisonous or were poisoned before death."

Leon had already guessed this, but he was still relieved to hear confirmation from her.

’That means I don’t have to worry about raising farm animals just to satisfy Clara when I find her.’

He sighed, then continued on his journey to find the gorilla’s corpse.

Hopefully, something strong and powerful hadn’t dragged it away.

He was relieved to find the corpse still there. Untouched and unmoved.

"Is there no one watching?" He asked, causing Thyra to look around and scan the vicinity with her senses in a single second.

"Nope. Only a few beasts that aren’t paying attention to you."

"Alright." Leon crouched beside the corpse, feeling one of his traits activate automatically.

—Trait: Silverback Hide. Extract?

’Yes.’

His hand turned gold, and he reached out to the silver orb of light inside the corpse. Just like before, his hand passed through it, and he pulled out that trait.

It transformed into a scroll in his hand, and he immediately checked its information.

[Trait: Silverback Hide - Turns the user’s skin to something akin to metal. Completely impenetrable by normal zombie claws and random sharp objects]

Thyra leaned over and asked. "What ability is it?"

Leon answered calmly as he learned it. "It’s not an ability. It’s a trait."

The woman was surprised, her eyes widening. "A trait? Not even an ability?"

Suddenly, she felt like something was wrong. Was Leon actually an incarnation of the Star Stream?