Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 52: Toxic Endurance

The silence lingered far longer than it should have. Delilah’s eyes were fixed on him, wide with something that looked closer to fear than relief.

Before Gideon could prepare himself for whatever that expression meant, Freya turned around.

She saw him. For a brief second she froze, as if her mind refused to process what stood in front of her. Then she ran.

She crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him so tightly that he nearly lost his balance. Her grip was desperate, almost painful, as if she feared he would disappear if she loosened it.

"Oh my God! You are still alive?!" she screamed, her voice breaking.

"F-Freya..." He struggled to breathe under the force of her embrace.

When she finally pulled back slightly, her hands moved everywhere, touching his face, his shoulders, his chest.

His robe was half dissolved and his shirt was torn from the acid, and now her own body was smeared with the same blue blood and residue, but she did not care at all.

"Is this really you? Not a hallucination? Not a mirage? You are real. You are alive!" Tears streamed down her face as she laughed and cried at the same time.

When she noticed the fading blisters across his skin, her expression shifted into concern. "You are hurt, but it is okay. I will take care of you."

She cupped his face and leaned in to kiss him, but Gideon quickly stopped her by holding her shoulders.

"Freya. Your mother is here." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Her entire body went stiff. She slowly covered her mouth as memory returned to her. The words she had shouted earlier replayed inside her head.

"What should I tell her?" she whispered, panic flooding her voice.

Gideon opened his mouth to respond, but before he could form an answer, Delilah cleared her throat.

Freya jumped slightly.

"It is actually a baby herbivore aberrant we found earlier," Gideon said quickly. "You know the type of dove the travelers use."

Freya nodded rapidly without thinking, like a mechanical doll that could not stop moving.

Delilah stared at them for a long moment, then unexpectedly laughed and shook her head. She stepped forward, removed her outer robe, and handed it to Gideon.

"What are you two even talking about? Wipe that fluid off before you poison yourselves."

He blinked and took the robe, immediately wiping the thick blue blood and acid residue from his arms and neck. The cloth quickly turned dark from the stain.

"You too, Freya. Take off that robe. It is contaminated."

Freya hurried to remove it along with her gloves. Delilah began wiping the blue blood from her daughter’s face while speaking in a calm and steady voice.

"The Devourer’s bodily fluids are toxic. Blood, stomach acid, and internal fluids can disrupt the nervous system. First exposure can cause temporary paralysis. Severe exposure can kill within an hour."

Freya suddenly froze. "I cannot move the left side of my face."

Gideon looked closely and saw that she was right. The left side of her face barely moved, the muscles unresponsive.

"It is temporary," Delilah said while continuing to clean her carefully. "You were exposed lightly. It will fade."

Her calm explanation did not calm Gideon at all.

Both women turned their attention to him.

"Are you fine?" Freya asked urgently. "You were inside it. Covered in everything. Do you feel numb? Can you move properly?"

Gideon looked down at himself. His clothes had been partially melted. His skin had blistered badly just moments ago. He was certain that some of the acid had entered his mouth.

Yet he felt nothing unusual. The blisters were already shrinking. The raw skin was smoothing over as if his body were repairing itself on its own.

He flexed his fingers. Rolled his shoulders. Took a step forward.

No weakness. No stiffness. No numbness.

His thoughts raced. When he had been crushed by falling concrete before, his body had not healed naturally. He had needed a Healing Potion. The injury had stayed until he intervened.

So why was this different? Why was S-rank aberrant acid doing less lasting damage than a collapsing building?

"I am fine," he said slowly. "No numbness. I can move normally."

Delilah’s eyes sharpened slightly, studying him more carefully now.

"That should not be possible," she said quietly.

Gideon’s mind spiraled.

Was it because he had leveled up? Was there a hidden passive ability? Was his body reacting differently because he was not originally from this world? Or was something inside him changing without his awareness?

Gideon finally opened the system interface, hoping the answer would be there. The first thing that appeared was a flood of notifications.

[Congratulations, you killed an SSR Verdant Devourer!]

[Rewards:]

[1x SSR Ruby Core]

[15,000 EXP]

[100x Verdant Devourer’s Scales]

[75x Verdant Devourer’s Fangs]

[Rewards have been stored.]

Another window followed immediately.

[Level Up!]

[Level 17 → Level 20]

[Charisma: 180 → 210 | Strength: 175 → 205 | Endurance: 180 → 210 | Speed: 175 → 205 | Defense: 170 → 200]

[After level 20, attribute points gained per level will be doubled.]

[Passive Skill added:]

[Aberrant Slayer: Every time you fight an aberrant, all attributes increase by 50% until the opponent dies.]

—

[New area unlocked in Safe Zone: Agricultural Zone]

[New Barrier Feature:]

[Barrier Activation Lv.1: You can now view the history of visitors to the Safe Zone and ban up to five individuals temporarily or permanently.]

[Feature upgrades automatically every five levels.]

—

[Congratulations!]

[PayLater credit score upgraded: Bronze → Silver]

[Privileges:]

[Interest reduced by 5%]

[Special Offer Items unlocked]

[50% discount on all items]

—

It was a lot and none of it answered the real question.

He was still fine.

No paralysis. No nerve failure. No organ damage.

The passive skill explained part of it. Fifty percent attribute increase while fighting aberrants. That might have boosted his endurance high enough to resist the toxin. But that still did not explain the internal acid exposure. Nor why his body was repairing itself so quickly without a potion.

"Freya, go check on Jade and the others," Delilah said, her tone calm and controlled. "It looks like Gideon might need treatment. Adrenaline can mask symptoms. Will you be fine?"

Freya nodded. "Just my face. The rest of my body was covered. It should be fine."

"Good. Go."

Freya turned to Gideon one last time. Her eyes were filled with worry. "Don’t die on me. Hold on, okay? You will be fine."

She ran toward the military truck and drove off quickly, leaving him alone with Delilah.

The tension thickened immediately. Delilah’s gaze was not panicked like Freya’s had been. It was steady, analytical, and almost clinical.

And that unsettled him more than shouting ever could.

He realized he had misunderstood her expression earlier. The terror he thought was about Freya’s words might not have been that at all.

"Take off your clothes," Delilah said evenly. "All of them."

He stared at her. ’No way she meant that.’