Chapter 33: Eat Your Vegetables.

As for the Big Bosses, they didn’t think there was anything noteworthy or funny about his circumstances. Besides, they were busy punishing Robert and Barnabas.

Robert and Barnabas had both passed the test, but they didn’t do as well as he did. Robert ate some normal meat from the table, while Barnabas ate everything on the table except the fruit.

No one wanted to touch the fruit because it tasted awful. So their first punishment was being forced to eat the orange and vegetables.

Each time they took a bite of a vegetable, their stomach rioted, threatening to vomit. They felt queasy as if they had a stomach bug and were suffering from diarrhea.

It was an extremely unpleasant experience akin to forcing a normal human to eat feces. But the worst part was being beaten with sticks and whips during the process.

Apparently, the beating would end when they finished eating the vegetables. So the sooner they ate, the sooner the beating would end. Unfortunately, eating vegetables was an activity they couldn’t rush.

They had to take a bite at a time, swallow without chewing, and wait patiently for it to go through their system. The vegetable had to pass out the other end before they stuffed more into their bodies.

Once they didn’t let the first piece of vegetable leave their body before putting more in it, their body would be forced to vomit it to clear it from the system.

Vomiting it was bad because a Big Boss was behind them, striking them with a whip and saying, "You’ll swallow that vomit, you know that? Since you like eating so much, let’s see how well you do eating this."

The whole experience left a dark shadow on their hearts, poised to haunt them forever. It was so bad that Robert swore, saying, "I will never eat again."

The beating wasn’t the main problem here. Sure, being whipped until their body bled like a blood-soaked rag was bad and painful. But the worst part of the ordeal was being forced to eat plant matter.

Their bodies instinctively rejected plant matter like it was poison. They could touch it and didn’t mind sniffing it, but they couldn’t put it in their mouth or eat it without feeling immense repulsion.

Tessa oversaw the punishment with a stern face that looked as cold as ice. But once in a while, she thought about Alexander’s performance and became a bit distracted.

While Barnabas was wailing, saying, "No more. I’ll do anything else. Please boil me in a pot. You can even set me on fire. I’ll do anything else."

She was thinking, ’Is it me, or is that boy strong?’

The question invoked the resistance she felt in her foot as she stomped on his body. The resistance was more than what she expected from her new Apostle.

Because of this, she thought, ’To think he grew so much in six days. It looks like he has a lot of potential. No wonder he was so cocky.’

Then she glanced at Alexander. She saw that he had recovered enough to stand behind her. His face was calm, and he was looking straight ahead.

She nodded inwardly and thought, ’It seems he does have the potential to challenge me.’

’How thrilling! I can’t wait,’ she thought, grinning ferociously.

She caught herself grinning and immediately coughed. Then her face became stern and cold once again as she glared at Robert and Barnabas.

After the punishment, the three of them were taken to bathe. Then Tessa took them to the main building.

On the way, she said, "I will advise you to be on your best behavior."

"I have done my part in training you, and you have performed well enough to receive my recommendation. But it is only a recommendation. This is still one person who has to give their permission before you can become true members of the Meat Brute Order."

"In a normal situation, even if they don’t want you, they will let you go to find another master. But your situation is special. If this person decides they don’t like you, today will be your last day alive."

After dropping that bombshell, she walked ahead into the elevator. Her face was calm, as if she hadn’t just mentioned that there was a possibility that they would die on this trip.

Even though they had a lot of questions, the three of them kept their mouth shut and hurriedly followed her into the elevator. She pressed some knobs, allowing the elevator to rise.

’How did they manage this?’ Alex thought, eyes gleaming. ’Is it the power source, steam, or do they use a series of weights and pulleys? Or do they use both?’

He was intrigued by the elevator, as it was the first piece of technology he came in contact with in the Obsidian Maw. Unfortunately, he couldn’t dwell too much because of the possible impending doom.

He had seen the building from outside and knew that it had four floors. So as the elevator was rising, he knew how close he was to the possible end of his life, and the more anxious he became.

Finally, the elevator stopped at the last floor. The absence of a roof caught Alexander off guard for a moment, but he didn’t let the strange development distract him from keeping up with Tessa.

Tessa took the three of them to the large door at the end of the hallway. Then she knelt down and bowed her head. The other three copied her without being told.

Just as they bowed, they heard a voice in their head that said, "Three out of three survived. I’m impressed with your performance once again, Tessa. It seems your training methods for them were impeccable."

"I only did my best. I’m glad it was enough," Tessa said modestly.

Alexander didn’t hear what Tessa said because she had thought it. Then again, even if she had said it out loud, he wouldn’t have heard her because his mind was preoccupied.