Chapter 27: Last Test.

She had arrayed them before a building that looked like the barracks. It was a single-story building with rows of small adjoining rooms.

Aside from her, there were two other Big Bosses. These two were both men and were not the red and green duo he was used to.

There were also Squires and Small Bosses around to see how they would perform. As usual, many seemed interested in seeing how the freaks would perform. All in all, the day looked no different from the previous six days.

Tessa pointed at the building and said, "You will each pick a room. When you enter it, you’ll find your challenge waiting for you."

"The test is simple. You’ll stay in the room for an indeterminate amount of time, making sure not to do what I’ll make you regret," she said solemnly.

"Now go."

Alex was confused by the vagueness of the test, but he didn’t think too much about it. He turned around immediately and walked unhurriedly towards the building.

On his way there, someone beside him called out, saying, "Hey, pipsqueak. Do you know what the test is about?"

"I’m not a pipsqueak," Alexander said, growling at him.

He was really angry, and it showed in the way he bared his teeth at Barnabas. But Barnabas wasn’t deterred.

Barnabas sneered and said, "You’re whatever I call you."

"I can call you bitch if I want. Don’t think that you can tell me what to do just because you’re an Apostle now. Even as an Apostle, I can still make you my bitch?"

"I can tell you what to do because I’m stronger than you," Alex said, stepping closer to Barnabas until he was in the man’s face.

With the two of them standing face to face, it was clear at a glance that he was now a head taller than Barnabas. He could even look down his nose at Barnabas.

He had all the food he had been eating these past few days to thank for his growth spurt. Every day, he ate the normal breakfast and 60% of the reward for their training. All of that food had gone into increasing his strength and height.

In comparison, Barnabas and Robert had also grown stronger. They were taller too, but because they couldn’t perform consistently well in the training, they got smaller rewards and sometimes lost 10% of their body.

The two of them dueled these past five days, taking second position one day and losing it the next. But Robert won 3 out of 2 days, helping him catch up to Barnabas in height.

So Barnabas and Robert were the same height, with Alexander being slightly taller than them, so even without the advantage of the amplification of his Life Anchors, it was clear who was the strongest among the three. Yet, Barnabas still dared to challenge him.

"Are you stupid or something? Or do you just want a beating?" Alexander asked him with disdain.

"What if I want a beating? What are you going to do about it?" Barnabas asked, roaring in his face.

Alexander stared at him for a few seconds. Then he cracked his lips and said, "I see what you’re doing."

After speaking, he turned away and resumed his journey.

Behind him, Barnabas’s face fell. Unwilling to give up, he spread his arms and said, "Here I am. I’m wide open. Come on and take your shot if you dare."

In response, Alexander said without looking back, "Now you’re just being desperate. It doesn’t look good on you."

"Run away like you always do. You always backed down from a fight as a Drone, and now it seems you haven’t changed."

"You’re still that weak miner I bullied every day. You’ll always be my bitch."

Despite the barrage of insults, Alex refused to be goaded into a fight. He only smiled as he said, "Count your days, Barnabas."

"One day, I’ll kill you. I won’t kill you easily. I’ll make you cry like a bitch. I’ll make you beg for death, but I’ll refuse to kill you. Instead, I’ll eat you alive."

"I have a lot in store for you. So I hope you survive this test," he said as he reached the door to the room he picked.

His voice was nonchalant, as if he wasn’t talking about torture, murder, and cannibalism. He spoke as if he was describing a mundane event, but Barnabas still felt a chill.

In fact, the way Alexander was nonchalant about the threat only made the chill worse. He would have liked to dismiss the threat as words. But having witnessed Alexander’s capabilities these past few days, he couldn’t disregard such a blatant threat.

As he watched Alexander walk away, he thought to himself, ’I should kill him here and now.’

He once tried and failed to stop Alexander from becoming an Apostle. So far, he was regretting that failure and didn’t want a repeat.

He had seen how fast Alexander had grown and heard Tessa compliment Alexander about his abnormal strength many times in the past few days. Therefore, he felt that the smart thing to do was to eliminate Alexander before he could become a much bigger threat.

Whether it was based on his emotions or cold logic, he felt that it was a good idea to kill Alexander now. But when he glanced back, he saw Tessa smiling at him.

That smile caused another chill to go down his spine. This time, the fear he felt was worse than what he felt about Alexander’s threat.

’Forget it. I can’t kill him quickly anyway. He will heal and allow Tessa to interfere,’ he thought, dismissing the idea.

There was also the fact that he might not be able to overpower Alexander. But he refused to admit that as a reason not to attempt killing Alexander.

’I refuse to believe that someone weak who gained muscles by eating can be stronger than me,’ he thought with a scoff as he marched towards the room on the right.