"There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." — Mahatma Gandhi.
The first thing he noticed after leaving the small cell was the cool breeze on his face. The breeze was barely existent because he was underground, but it was there, and it was cool. It made him feel refreshed and free.
He wanted to take some time to relish the cool breeze, but the worm was still urging him for food, and Tessa was still marching ahead like a bull. So he had to give up on enjoying his freedom, if only briefly, and run after her.
Her legs were long and mighty, and she was using them to full effect. Even though she was not exerting herself, she was crossing too much ground for him to keep up with her easily. He had to jog after her to keep up.
She didn’t take him straight to a bathhouse, as he thought. Instead, she visited some of the nearby cells.
She visited three more cells and released Robert, Barnabas, and one other miner. Robert and Barnabas looked haggard and thinner than usual.
The looks in their eyes weren’t normal either. They looked like their minds had been stretched taut, and their eyes were constantly glancing about, looking for something.
As for what they could be looking for, Alex didn’t need to guess. He knew exactly what they were trying to find.
When they opened the last cell to release the last miner, a growl came from within the dark room.
Upon hearing the growl, Tessa glanced at him and said, "It looks like I was wrong."
"You aren’t the one most likely to lose control. In fact, you look the most composed."
While she was speaking, something rushed out from the dark room and pounced at her. She glanced at the beast and casually punched at it.
Her fist collided with the skull of the incoming beast, creating a popping sound. The beast’s skull exploded like a tomato, splashing the room and walls with red paint and flesh that squirmed like maggots.
The body of the humanoid beast was still moving forward because of its momentum, though. It continued its pounce at her, but she stepped to the side, dodging the beast.
A headless body flew past her and fell in front of the three miners and the four Squires behind her. The lamplight revealed its neck, where tentacles and maggots squirmed.
The Squires weren’t affected by this sight. Their eyes were calm, and their facial expressions were cool. Only the three new Apostles reacted to the sight of the dead or dying miner.
Robert and Barnabas were fixated on the corpse for a few moments. Then they rushed at the corpse to ravage it.
They could restrain their hunger when they were surrounded by people who could fight back. But when they saw the first thing that couldn’t fight and only required them to bend to eat, they lost their grip on their hunger.
On the other hand, Alex felt a mix of hunger and disgust at the sight. The sight of the tentacles squirming and waving around like big maggots was just too much for him. He had to look away for fear of vomiting.
Just as he turned his head aside, he saw Robert and Barnabas fly past him. The two of them flew backward for quite a while before they landed, crashing across the dirt floor.
When they landed, he saw that their chests were caved in. Some of their ribs were peeking out of the confines of their chest like peeping toms.
Then he heard Tessa say, "You don’t eat what you’re not given."
In response, their tongues lashed out of their mouths, hissing at her in protest.
But the two of them didn’t do anything more than that. In fact, the look in their two normal eyes was one of fear, not the look of anger in their extra pair of eyes.
Their fear and anger clashed within them for a while, making them struggle. But eventually, they stood up and came to stand beside Alex while the flesh around their chest moved and twisted, knitting their broken body together.
"I’m sorry, Miss Tessa," Robert said apologetically.
"I’m sorry too," Barnabas quickly said, catching up with his apology.
"Call me Boss Tessa or Big Boss Tessa," she said in a stern voice.
"Yes, Boss Tessa," they called out like obedient children.
"And straighten yourself," she snapped at them.
"Yes, Boss Tessa," they called out again.
This time, even Alex obeyed.
He didn’t know if she was talking to him. He only knew that her voice was too strict and his body obeyed instinctively. The corpse on the ground and the ease with which she had brought it to this state was extra motivation for him to obey her.
When she was satisfied with their posture, she nodded imperceptibly. Then she said to Squire Roy, "Go and store the body."
After that, she turned and began walking away. The three new Apostles didn’t need her to tell them to follow before they rushed after her, jogging to keep pace.
Behind them, Roy picked up the corpse, placed it over his shoulder, and jogged after them. The other three Squires jogged to keep up with her. The difference between them and the new Apostles was that they were not exerting themselves as much.
However, one thing stood out from the group. It was that Alex wasn’t exerting himself as much as the Squires. Apparently, he was the exception to the rule that the new Apostles created from miners had to be weaker than the Squires.
When he noticed this, he smiled inwardly and thought to himself, ’Life Amplification for the Win.’