Fear of food

Chapter 108 Defecting to the Enemy
The father, who had been claiming to be on a business trip out of town, had actually returned to Jinghai City a week ago.

Why did Dad hide his whereabouts?

Chen Qi's gaze fell on the boy next to his father in the photo.

Who is he?

Baozi quickly provided an answer to this.

Baozi: The boy in the photo is named Pan Jianing. He is a domain-level parasite in Kangning City, possessing immense power and control over a wide-ranging visible domain.
Chen Qi didn't have much of a concept of sheer strength, but when it came to a wide-ranging visible area, he immediately had a comparison.

Of the parasites he has encountered so far, only two have used the visible field: one is Professor Huang Jihai of Jinghai Medical College, and the other is himself, or rather, the Nightmare Eater within him.

Previously, Nightmare Eater had used a red visible area at Jingquan Elementary School, but the range was not large.

The Nightmare Eaters within Chen Qi and Sun Xuechao may hold a higher status than Huang Jihai within the Nightmare Clan, but because they haven't fully integrated, their strength is inferior to Huang Jihai's.

The strongest parasite Chen Qi has ever seen is Huang Jihai, who controls a wide-ranging visible domain and can directly control ordinary people within that domain.

"So the boy next to Dad is a parasite with similar strength to Huang Jihai?"

Chen Qi: Even if my father was contaminated or even parasitized in Changle City, how did he get involved with the parasites in Kangning City?
Chen Qi: Aren't different polluted areas supposed to be territorial and in competition with each other? How come they're cooperating?
Baozi: Chang Le City and Kang Ning City both fall under the category of dream pollution, so the possibility of cooperation between the two for some reason cannot be ruled out.

Baozi: Generally speaking, different types of Nightmare Clan are more hostile to each other.
Baozi then sent several more photos, which showed Chen Qi's father, Pan Jianing, and several other unfamiliar faces.

Based on the time and location marked on the photo, it can be determined that Chen Qi's father left Jinghai City in the early morning of September 8th.

Pan Jianing also left, and among the other strangers who accompanied them, some appeared to be injured.

Baozi: Of the other people in the photo, two have been confirmed as parasites from Changle City and Kangning City, respectively. Based on this, it is inferred that the others are also likely parasites.

Baozi: Although they didn't enter Jinghai City with your father, they left together.

Baozi: That night, several domain-level parasites in Jinghai City, including Huang Jihai, also showed unusual activity. Judging from the injured parasites in the photos, a conflict must have broken out between the two sides.

"Let me sort this out..." Chen Qi thought to himself, "My dad and a bunch of parasites returned to Jinghai City on September 7th, then had a fight with Huang Jihai and his group, and left in disgrace in the early morning of September 8th."

"It feels like a group of people came to someone else's turf to cause trouble, but ended up getting beaten up."

Chen Qi put down his phone and asked Jing Zi, who was driving:

"Do you think we phantom eaters and you dream thieves are the same? We have different abilities, but it's just because the cities we live in suffer from different levels of pollution."

The mirror retorted, "That's right, but what exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm wondering, if someone is an ordinary person in Jinghai City, what if they suddenly become a dream thief in Kangning City?"

"It's impossible. Whether they are phantom eaters or dream thieves, they are essentially born with special physical constitutions. People with such special constitutions will awaken special abilities regardless of the type of pollution they are exposed to."

Chen Qi nodded, a new guess forming in his mind.

His father was undoubtedly an ordinary person and did not possess the special physique to become an ability user.

Otherwise, when Chen Qi first discovered the food was abnormal, his father would have seen the same scene as him.

Even if such an ordinary person went to another polluted area, he would only become an unremarkable member among the many polluted people.

To put it bluntly, even if his father were parasitized, he would only be the lowest-ranking target of the Nightmare Clan.

Why are they able to act alongside a powerful parasite like Pan Jianing? They're also accompanied by a group of other domain-level parasites!
The answer is obvious: the only thing that made his father special was that he had a son.

"So, just like my mother, my father was targeted by the Nightmare Clan because of me?"

"Has my reputation already spread to other contaminated areas?"

Chen Qi could not have imagined that he, who was still in a mental hospital at the time, had already attracted the attention and importance of other contaminated areas, and might even have caused a major war between domain-level parasites.

It is even more likely to have facilitated cooperation between the two major polluted areas of Corning City and Chang Le City!

But even if he is really that special, how did Chang Le City and Kang Ning City, which are thousands of miles away, know about his existence?

Why were only these two contaminated areas targeted? Why weren't the other contaminated areas informed?
After careful consideration, Chen Qi concluded that his uniqueness was likely passed down to the polluted area of ​​Chang Le City through his father.

His father knew about his condition, that the food he was looking at had become abnormal, and that he was stealing wild food... It was probably this information that attracted the parasites from Changle City and Kangning City.

"Won't my trip bring the parasites from Chang Le City and Kang Ning City here as well?"
-
Chen Qi, Jingzi, and Huasheng took turns driving the vehicle, and after a day and a night of travel, they finally arrived in Lukang City on the morning of September 15.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened along the way, and Lin Ning behaved well and sensibly, not causing any trouble for the three grown men who had no experience in taking care of children.

Upon entering Lukang City, Chen Qi immediately sensed the increased security compared to other cities; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say there were guards every three steps and sentries every five. Chen Qi and his group were only allowed to pass after undergoing multiple checks and identity verifications.

"Ningning!"

A young couple, probably not even thirty years old, picked Lin Ning up and hugged her tightly, their faces a mixture of joy and guilt.

Lin Ning seemed a little awkward around her suddenly appearing parents, but in the end she took the initiative to hug her father's neck.

The family left by car, accompanied by local officials. As they left, Lin Ning turned around and waved to Chen Qi and the others.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Chen Qi waved back, knowing in his heart that "never again" might be the best blessing he could give.

"Let's go." Peanut patted Chen Qi on the shoulder. "We can't stay in Lukang City for long, lest we bring danger here."

Chen Qi nodded. Lukang City was a safe haven created by the government for the disaster victims, and it was indeed inappropriate to bring disputes here.

The three of them drove away from Lukang City without stopping.

"Where to next?" the mirror asked. "Are we going to Chang Le City?"

Chen Qi thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "We can take a stroll around Chang Le City; there's no rush to go in."

Based on the information he currently has, his father is either in Changle City or Kangning City.

Peanut reminded, "After leaving the Lukang City area, I will have Baozi cancel all the information security measures on Biscuits, so that the Nightmare Clan can quickly track down our whereabouts."

"This also means that danger could strike at any time, and we must remain vigilant at all times. The next route should avoid downtown areas and all densely populated areas."

"Our superiors will also keep track of our route and deploy protection forces nearby."

Chen Qi understood that the real hunt was about to begin. Whether they would be hunted by the parasites or hunt the parasites would depend on the strength of both sides.

That noon, Baozi sent a message saying that the parasites in Jinghai City had made a move!
Professor Huang Jihai of Jinghai Medical College took a long leave of absence, canceled all his courses and all his clinic plans at Jinghai Medical College, and just disappeared.

Although Huang Jihai's movements were not detected, there is ample reason to suspect that he has left Jinghai City to track down Chen Qi and his group.

"They really value you, even sending out old guys like that!" Mirror exclaimed. "Unlike me, nobody pays any attention to me even after I've been away from Corning City for so long."

Peanut looked serious. They wanted to catch a big fish, but the fish they caught this time was the biggest they could imagine.

"Dealing with parasites of this level is very troublesome even outside the contaminated area; their domain covers an enormous area!"

The area covered is vast, which means that dealing with him will mainly rely on the Peculiar Eaters and Dream Thieves.

If an ordinary person is armed with a gun, they can be subdued before the target even enters the effective firing range.

Chen Qi and his team then became extremely vigilant, even slowing down their driving speed, which allowed the authorities to set up a tight net at the next few service areas.

We're just waiting for Huang Jihai to show up!
They spent two days leisurely arriving in Changle City, even driving around the city again and again, but still couldn't find the parasite that was tracking them.

"That shouldn't be the case. We've slowed down, they should have caught up by now." Mirror said, somewhat bored.

These past few days have been really boring, just wandering around in the middle of nowhere without being able to go to any lively places.

"They probably realized something was wrong, and knew it was a trap for them," Peanut said.

“There’s probably no rush,” Chen Qi said. “The reason we’re capturing the other alien eaters is because we know they won’t go back once they’ve left, but they know I’ll definitely return to Jinghai City, so there’s no need for them to risk their lives to capture me.”

"Since you knew you would go back, why did you rush to follow me?" Mirror asked, puzzled.

Although Huang Jihai's whereabouts are still unknown, none of the parasites, including Huang Jihai, have shown up in Jinghai City in the past few days.

Chen Qi's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "They're probably afraid I'll be kidnapped by someone else."

If the parasites from Changle City and Kangning City really went to Jinghai City for him, then he is now a hot commodity that several contaminated areas are vying for!

How about putting some pressure on the parasites?

It would be simple to verify his guess: just go to Changle City.

You're afraid I'll be snatched away by your competitors? Well then, I'll defect to the enemy and see if you'll come out!
"Mirror, drive the car straight into the polluted area of ​​Changle City!"

(End of this chapter)