Chapter 28: Plenty Of Food.

Behind them, Tessa watched intently, a smile on her face. She was also fiddling with the spikes on the black club. As her fingers traced the sharp edges, white scratches appeared across her fingers.

The spike edges were so sharp they managed to break her formidable defense. But as the spikes cut into her flesh, there was no blood. There was only hard metallic flesh.

The cuts also healed quickly, leaving no trace of the scratches. So the only sign she was cutting herself was the dulling of the spikes’ edges.

As the friction between her metallic flesh and the spike produced a low hum, she said, "Not bad."

"Oh," exclaimed the Big Boss beside her. "What’s great about two people talking and not fighting?"

In response, she said, "I’m not surprised that the biggest one could hold back. He has always shown restraint in confrontations like this."

"I’m impressed with the other one. He is a big fool. I always thought he was stupid and greedy, but it seems he knows a few smart moves."

"Usually, he would use his fist directly. But today, he decided to use his words to fight and weaken his enemy. That’s a lot of progress in my opinion,’ he said, nodding her head in satisfaction.

"I see. So the fight was a trap,’ the Big Boss said in understanding.

Nodding in agreement, she said, "If that big fellow had taken the bait and struck first, I would have injured him."

The Big Boss smiled and said, "Once he is injured, he will become hungry, making the test more difficult."

"Exactly," Tessa said, snapping her fingers.

The third Big Boss heard their conversation and asked, "Who do you think will fail the test, and who do you think will fail first?"

Tessa asked in return, "Why do you ask? Do you want to bet?"

So they began betting on who would fail. They didn’t bet on who would pass because winning was boring.

The test was graded with pass and fail. Those who passed would live on and become official members of the order. But those who failed would die today, making it more interesting to bet on who would fail.

On the other end, Alexander had entered the room. The lamplight filled the room, revealing it was mostly empty. As his eyes roamed around, he saw a table and a chair. He also saw the food on the table.

There was a plate of beef. There were plates of chicken, mutton, and more. There was also bread, oranges, carrots, and some more fruits.

But the most impressive sight on the table was the thick human leg placed in one corner. The cut on the leg showed silky tentacles, indicating it had been cut from a flesh titan like him.

His four eyes went straight to the leg. He ignored the other items around him and focused on it with eyes filled with greed.

"Eat it!" the worm cried out.

"No!" he said without hesitation.

"It will be good," it promised.

But Alexander ignored it. Instead, he turned away from the sight.

His upper eyes left the leg first. Then his neck followed.

But his neck was slow to follow because it refused to turn. Because of the worm’s resistance, it felt as if he was turning a mountain around, not his neck.

Eventually, he managed to turn his head away completely. But the two lower eyes were still fixed on the leg.

While the worm lingered on the leg, he continued to examine the room. He saw something in the far corner.

From what he could tell, it was a mould on a mat. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, so he stepped forward for a better look.

Whatever was on the mat stirred as soon as his footsteps rang out. It straightened and sat up, letting Alexander get a better look.

He saw a young girl. She was tiny and looked to be 12 years old. Her face was dirty, and she was looking at him with fear in her eyes. She was even trembling, with her skinny arms wrapped around her body.

All in all, she was the picture of a dirty beggar. It looked like she was siblings with dirt, soot, and germs, but the worm didn’t care.

"Eat her. Then kill her," it called out.

But it quickly changed its mind and said, "No. Kill her. Then eat her."

It changed its mind again, saying, "No. No. No. Kill her by eating her."

In response, Alexander snorted and said, "She is clearly the test. Or at least a part of it. If we eat her, we’ll die."

"Just a little bite then. Not enough to kill her. I’m sure Tessa won’t mind," it said, encouraging Alexander.

But Alexander thought the suggestion was stupid and refused to justify it. He turned to leave, but his body stood frozen and unresponsive.

This time, no matter how he pressed, his body refused to budge. Apparently, he had become a statue.

Since he couldn’t move, he decided to do something else to take his mind off the food. He said to the girl, "What are you doing here?"

She said, "They told me to stay here, and I can become a maid."

"Who told you?" he asked.

She pointed to the door and said, "Someone out there."

"Hmmm. What’s your name?"

"Jessy," she replied.

"Where is your family? Where are your parents? Do they know that you’re here? Were you kidnapped?" he asked, wondering how she had managed to become test material.

"My parents are dead. I have no family," she said, burying her head in her arms and sobbing.

"I see. So how did you get here exactly?" he asked again.

But she didn’t reply. Apparently, she was too busy shedding tears about her dead family to answer him.

Being ignored like that seemed to trigger the worm as it roared and raged in Alexander’s mind, saying, "Look at her. So disrespectful. Kill her to teach her a lesson."