Chapter 64: The Boy Who Endures Hardship

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Boy Who Endures Hardship

Gotta admit, Zara Chapman was right, but so what? If Renee Morgan ever went out of her way to pamper them, she wouldn’t be called Renee Morgan.

"You call this a little bitter? This is bitter as hell." Zara Chapman couldn’t hold back and threw the wild greens away, her face darkened.

Seeing her flip out, the other team members, Miles Yates, Kyle Beckett, and Lynn Miller, all jumped in.

Lynn Miller: "Eat it if you want, if you don’t, stop whining about being hungry. ’Never abandon, never give up,’ yeah, we’re teammates, we should have that spirit. Life is equal, sure. But what do you call what you’re doing? We’re out in the wild, digging up wild greens for you, and you’re still picky as hell. If you can’t take this, fine, but why make everyone else suffer?"

Kyle Beckett just grabbed a bunch and took a bite. Man, so bitter, but whatever, he forced himself to swallow—his eyes shining, and he spat snarkily, "This bit of bitterness? We’re here to train, it’s all about dealing with hard stuff. If you keep nitpicking, that’s not gonna work."

Normally mild-mannered Miles Yates stared at them, his handsome face serious: "No one’s forcing you to eat, but you can’t talk to your teammates like that. You got no right to blame anyone else."

Zayed’s eyes locked onto them like a wild animal, hitting them with the harshest verdict: "You two are honestly the most... classless women I’ve ever seen. Bar none."

The rest of the squad didn’t say a word, but their disgusted looks were all backing up their leader.

Zara Chapman’s angry face froze right there—so all these people are siding with Renee Morgan to gang up on her, huh?

Wendy Aldridge felt wronged and panicked—she hadn’t even said anything, so how did she get roped in?

Both of them felt stuck, really wanted to just get up and walk out, but thinking of the base access pass, the highest competition points, and the S+ heroine script they’d get... they couldn’t quit yet.

If they gave up, all this might go to Renee Morgan, and then she’d shine and probably stomp them into the dirt.

After a serious inner struggle, Zara Chapman and Wendy Aldridge swallowed the rest of the wild greens and tearfully apologized to Renee Morgan.

Zara Chapman muttered a sorry and ran off—Renee’s group didn’t see, but the viewers in the livestream did. She went off to puke, even threw up bile, nearly suffocated.

Wendy Aldridge wasn’t that dramatic, but she also threw up.

The livestream audience started wondering just how nasty these wild greens really were, when the camera cut back to Lynn Miller’s eyes shining as she asked Kyle Beckett, "How’s the taste? Is it yummy? Better than morels?"

Kyle Beckett: "..." Bitter. Mouth, throat, even feels like his stomach’s bitter now.

But for Renee Morgan’s sake, and his own male pride, he put on an easygoing air: "Eh, it’s fine, I’ve always been tough since I was a kid."

Lynn Miller shot him a look full of envy—she wanted to try a bite too.

Renee Morgan couldn’t help but glance at Kyle Beckett, silent. Guess eating bitter stuff really depends on the person; she’s never been good at it since she was little.

The livestream chat went off, flaming Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman for being dramatic, and gleefully nicknaming Kyle Beckett:

[Our little Kyle really is a treasure boy, found out today he’s got this skill too. Alright, I’m naming you Tough-Guy Kyle! Here, one thousand pounds of wild bitter greens, please eat it all within a month, kneel in gratitude!]

[LOL, Kyle Beckett comes back from the show, fans: Welcome home, Tough-Guy Kyle! Kyle: Who the hell is Tough-Guy Kyle? Fans: Here’s the thousand pounds of bitter greens we all pooled together, please finish it in a month. Kyle: ...What the hell, Tough-Guy Kyle? Not me, that’s not me!]

[Honestly, Kyle Beckett’s reaction is normal. These bitter greens aren’t even that bad, when I was a kid and money was tight, we’d always go pick them in spring and summer to eat.]

[Wild southern bitter greens really are damn bitter, but some folks don’t mind—some even love it. I personally don’t get the taste, but it’s true that the old generations used it as famine food. Zara Chapman and Wendy Aldridge are starving and still picky? Ridiculous, so spoiled.]

[Renee Morgan really is the backbone of the team. Even with Zara Chapman firing up, she still keeps her cool. If it were me, honestly, I’d have decked her. Spoiled brat.]

[Renee Morgan knows martial arts, her family’s been passing it down for generations. Martial artists like her are legit, upright people. Can’t fault her character.]

[Did y’all hear Zayed’s comment? Ugh, Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman embarrassed themselves all the way abroad.]

[If you put it like that, those two are literally embarrassing us on the international stage. The show’s broadcast worldwide, every country’s watching.]

[No worries, we’ve still got Renee Morgan as our frontman. Only Renee can really represent us.]

Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman were already starving and now have a stomach full of bitter greens, puked it all up. Their mouths are so bitter they don’t even have the energy to cry about being hungry anymore.

As night fell, they made a few more small campfires. In case The Stingers strike at night, everyone can grab a torch to save their life. Since they collected plenty of dry wood at dusk, they’re not worried about running out.

While they were building the fire, loud noises came from across the river—seems like those people came back.

Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman huddled in the crowd, still scared. To them, in this forest, The Stingers are the biggest fear, and those big dudes come second.

"They robbed our food last night. Will they come back tonight?" Kyle Beckett voiced his concern.

Lynn Miller was puzzled: "We don’t have any food now, what’s there to come back for?"

Kyle made a throat-slitting gesture: "You don’t read the news much, huh? A lot of desperate people act out in the dead of night, can’t control themselves..."

"Ah!" Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman couldn’t help screaming, clutching each other.

Lynn Miller smacked Kyle’s arm, about to scold him for talking nonsense, when suddenly, a scream echoed from across the river.

The group thought they’d misheard, but all strained to listen closely—yup, sound came from the other side, and it really did sound like someone shrieking.

Everyone exchanged nervous looks, not sure what to do next.

Kyle Beckett seemed to remember something and stared wide-eyed at Renee Morgan: "I remember Renee Morgan threw that stick with the beehive over to the other side... Could it be The Stingers?"

The squad’s eyes all landed on Renee Morgan, silent respect in their gaze.

Renee Morgan: "..." She only wanted to throw it as far as possible, pretty much used all her strength. She really didn’t expect something like this to happen.