Fear of food

Chapter 100: A Review of the Story of Coffee
"Momo!"

Big Pancake, who had been looking rather listless, couldn't help but show a look of surprise when he saw the burly man.

The burly man in camouflage was over two meters tall, with a robust and powerful physique, resembling a human bunker, leaving a deep impression at first glance.

"What Momo? That's our captain!" Fried Skewers corrected.

The burly man who got into the car frowned slightly: "Stop talking nonsense, get in the car!"

Chen Qi and his group originally arrived in a minivan, and the SUV that the burly man brought also only had two people, including the driver, which was just enough to fit them all.

However, considering the cognitive distortion that Lin Ning is experiencing, it would be best if Chen Qi were the driver for the car Lin Ning is riding in.

So in the end, the female driver from the SUV was moved to the minivan to lead the way, while Chen Qi was in charge of driving the SUV.

The "captain" was sitting in the passenger seat, while Lin Ning, Zha Chuan, and the unconscious Ramen were sitting in the back.

After the car successfully drove away from Jingquan School, Zha Chuan couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Captain, how did you get here so quickly?"

The burly man in camouflage looked at Chen Qi, who was driving, and asked, "Was it you who messaged Momo for help?"

Chen Qi nodded. When he escaped from Jingquan School, he took the opportunity to send two messages to Momo, but before he could get a reply, he was caught and brought back.

There is always an invisible force interfering within the Jingquan School area, making it impossible to contact the outside world.

In retrospect, the distress message sent out at the time did have some effect.

Otherwise, they might have had to fight the old man who arrived last, and it's uncertain whether other parasites will arrive later.

However, judging from what the burly man said, he was not Momo. Why would Dabing mistake him for Momo?

Big Pancake is supposedly the only person in the group who has ever met the group owner.

The burly man said, "As soon as I received the news, I rushed here from Jinghai Medical College. I managed to get here before Huang Jihai."

Huang Jihai, the old man who just took a hit from a rocket, is a professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at Jinghai Medical College.

The fried food vendor exclaimed in surprise, "Captain, you came from Jinghai Medical College? Did you take action there tonight?"

The captain glanced at him: "It's all to save you guys. We issued a holiday notice at the last minute, clearing out the teachers and students from the school under the guise of a fire drill, preparing to bombard Jinghai Medical College tonight."

"Just as we were exchanging blows with the parasites over there, we received a message from Momo and found out that you were at Jingquan School."

Chen Qi suddenly remembered the holiday notice he had seen in the Jingquan School newspaper. Sure enough, it was just a holiday excuse that the authorities had made up to cooperate with the operation.

He asked, "So, you guys didn't have any tracking devices implanted in your bodies? Captain, you've always thought you and the others were still at Jinghai Medical College?"

“Our phones have strong built-in location tracking capabilities,” Fried Skewers said, shaking his head. “And no matter how you track it, it all becomes ineffective once you enter the parasite’s territory. It’s useless.”

So the previous claims about positioning were indeed just nonsense from Chili and her team.

The car drove along the small roads of the towns surrounding Jinghai City. When they passed a farmhouse, the "team leader" told Chen Qi to stop the car.

He took Lin Ning out of the car and into the yard.

Back in the car, the captain explained, "That girl is in danger. We can only isolate her temporarily. We will have dedicated personnel to observe her and provide her with psychological counseling. We'll make further decisions once we understand her situation."

Chen Qi nodded. This was indeed the best way to handle it. Otherwise, Lin Ning would have too much influence on the people around her, and the harm she could cause would be unimaginable.

The car continued driving for a few more kilometers and finally arrived at its destination, stopping in front of a somewhat abandoned self-built house by the roadside.

After parking the car, the "captain" introduced himself to everyone: "I am the captain of the Jinghai City Special Operations Team under the 'Nightmare Extermination' organization. You can call me 'Peanut'."

Nightmare Extermination Organization?

What a simple and unpretentious way of naming... Chen Qi and the others couldn't help but think to themselves.

Another official, a woman with short hair, also introduced herself simply: "My name is 'Baozi' (steamed bun)."

Chen Qi and the others gave brief self-introductions. At this moment, Da Bing stared at Hua Sheng with some disbelief: "You're really not Momo? Didn't you test me to join the group before?"

Peanut said expressionlessly, "I just went to help Momo confirm your identity as a Pagan."

After thinking about it carefully, Dabing realized that Peanut had indeed never admitted that he was Momo; it was all just his own imagination.

This made Momo even more mysterious in the eyes of the "Jinghai Foraging Group" members.

Gan Shui asked directly, "Is Momo an official member of your organization?"

Peanut shook his head: "No, but if you really want to count, he could be considered an unofficial intelligence officer. He provided us with a lot of useful intelligence in the early stages of the disaster and established a deep friendship with our organization."

"The earliest names for pica and parasites came from him."

Chen Qi and the others exchanged bewildered glances: "Have you ever seen Momo?"

"I met him once." Peanut seemed to remember something, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his strong, square face. "But don't be curious about him. He's probably very busy and doesn't have time to see you."

He looked Chen Qi and the others over and said, "Given that you just escaped from the contaminated area, and especially since some of you seem to be in bad shape..."

At this point, his gaze fell on Chen Qi's half-body and skeletal arm on his back, and he continued, "I think we should at least confirm your current condition before we can continue with more in-depth communication."

He led Chen Qi and the others into the self-built house, where they sat down around a large round table.

Peanut said in a deep voice, "First, we need to find out whether you have been contaminated or parasitized." At this moment, Pancake and Wind Chaser raised their hands in unison and said, "I have been parasitized."

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Zhuifeng explained, "After Binggan ate the candied hawthorn, I gained a new memory."

Big Pancake nodded repeatedly: "Me too!"

According to the two, they were parasitized in Zhui Feng's rented room.

In order to monitor whether Xia Huiyun would track down the large syringe, they placed it in Zhui Feng's rented room yesterday morning before going back to rest, and installed a camera.

The camera was taken from the pancake shop, and the rental house was where Zhui Feng had previously lived. Coffee was worried that the two of them were unreliable, so he went in to give instructions.

Therefore, the entire process of installing the camera was completed by the three of them, and only the three of them entered the rented house at that time.

“Not only us, but coffee was probably parasitized around that time too!” Big Pancake said through gritted teeth.

The mention of coffee immediately sombered everyone's mood.

Baozi frowned and said, "Being parasitized requires being contaminated. Were you already contaminated back then?"

"This... I don't think so?" Zhui Feng asked uncertainly.

Chen Qi seemed to have thought of something and asked, "After you entered Jinghai Medical College yesterday, did you eat anything? Including after you came out, did you eat anything near the large syringe?"

“You mean cognitive distortion…” Xu An’an understood what Chen Qi meant.

Since Lin Ning and the large syringe both possess the ability to distort cognition, they can completely transform bizarre food into their own special food, causing them to unknowingly consume it without even realizing when they were contaminated.

“I don’t have any,” Gan Guo said decisively. He usually didn’t carry his own special food around because he would be looked down upon.

“I don’t have any either,” Xu An’an said definitively.

Zhui Feng scratched his head: "When I was in medical school, I did eat something, but I was mainly exhausted from carrying a big pancake around everywhere..."

Big Pancake said helplessly, "I've eaten several times just to use the 'human-dog fusion' ability."

Chen Qi added, "She definitely eats while drinking coffee; she always has a habit of taking a sip of coffee every now and then."

The large syringe was obtained from the medical school, and after entering the medical school, Zhui Feng and his companions may have had their perceptions distorted, unknowingly consuming bizarre food.

The terrifying aspect of this cognitive distortion is that it is difficult to realize one has been contaminated.

It can disguise bizarre food as normal food, and it can also distort normal food into bizarre food in their eyes.

Afterwards, Chen Qi and his teammates checked the accounts and found that their experiences yesterday were completely different from what he knew.

He slept until the afternoon yesterday and found that everyone except Coffee was gone.

The coffee explanation is that everyone went out to find fancy food.

In reality, only Xu An'an and Gan Shui woke up around noon, and then they did go to farm high-level food. They didn't reunite until the evening.

Zhuifeng and Dabing woke up later than Chen Qi, which means that when Chen Qi went out to meet Chili, Zhuifeng and Dabing were still sleeping in the villa.

After they woke up, Coffee arranged for them to go to the rented house to retrieve the syringes, saying it was to prepare for the operation that night.

Big Pancake suddenly realized, "So it seems we were already affected by the Nightmare Clan within us back then, otherwise how could we have slept for so long!"

Zhui Feng also felt a little regretful: "I thought it was because I was too tired in the early morning. I should have been more vigilant then."

Baozi comforted him, "The three of you were contaminated when you were in medical school, and you were always with Class B contaminants. After that, you were parasitized. It's good that you can distinguish between friend and foe."

"Although the pollution source does not have the ability to directly contaminate us alien eaters, it can accelerate the process of contamination and parasitism. In particular, the Class B pollution source is already considered a high-level pollution source, and its effect is quite significant."

Chen Qi frowned and said, "Since Coffee was contaminated and parasitized at about the same time as you, why is she more affected, and even... she can no longer distinguish between friend and foe?"

Coffee took Chen Qi to meet Chili and the others who were being controlled, and even tipped Chili off in advance. This was no longer just being influenced; it felt more like being controlled by the Nightmare within his body.

Peanut, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "Everyone's situation is different. The most important thing in fighting parasites is humanity and willpower. Some people have weak willpower and are naturally weak, while others are indifferent to humanity. When these people are parasitized, their progress will be accelerated."

"Some people have a strong will to resist and a strong desire to survive. Even with a source of pollution accelerating the process, the Nightmare Clan often needs a long time to complete the parasitism."

Chen Qi immediately thought of Sun Xuechao.

Sun Xuechao was the kind of person who didn't have much of a will to live. After parting ways at the hospital, Chen Qi saw his complete humanity in the morgue the next day.

When they parted ways for the last time, Sun Xuechao promised the old man that he would give up resistance and complete the final parasitism, on the condition that Chen Qi and the others be allowed to leave.

Zhui Feng sighed and said, "Coffee has a hole in her heart. The Nightmare Clan must have grasped her weakness to be able to control her so quickly."

When Chen Qi saw the lock screen of the coffee-themed phone, he already guessed something and said, "It's related to her child, isn't it?"

Zhui Feng nodded: "She probably only told me about this. She has a son, who is about six or seven years old, and he was parasitized."

"That day, after she celebrated her son's birthday, her son suddenly changed in the car and tried to force her to eat strange food. At the last moment, she ate the derivative food whose effects were unknown at the time."

"After that, she entered a state of absolute rationality, lost all emotion, picked up a pen from the car, and stabbed her child to death..."

"However, she always believed that her son could be resurrected like other parasites."

(End of this chapter)