Fear of food

Chapter 109 Dream Pollution Zone

Chen Qi shared his idea with his two teammates, and Peanut pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's drive into the contaminated area and take a look."

The mirror warned, "Once you enter the contaminated area, remember one thing: do not sleep!"

"You must stay alert, you can't even take a nap!"

Just as the first rule for dream thieves entering the food-contaminated zone is not to eat, the most important thing for pica sufferers entering the dream-contaminated zone is not to sleep.

At this moment, Chen Qi couldn't help but start missing coffee again, feeling that coffee's power was simply the perfect counter to this dream pollution.

If Chen Qi drank a cup of super cola made from a second-hand coffee, he could guarantee he wouldn't sleep for at least 36 hours.

The car turned around and headed straight for the polluted area of ​​Chang Le City. While driving, Jingzi repeatedly explained the various precautions for the polluted area of ​​the dream.

"Not sleeping is only to prevent you from being contaminated, but it is not enough to guarantee your safety."

"As the pollution level in the dream contaminated zone increases, reality and dreams will become more and more intertwined. If there are parasites involved, we may be attacked by sleepwalkers."

"Some other powerful parasites have a hypnotic effect on their domains, so be careful to resist them with willpower."

"Don't panic if you can't resist being dragged into a dream. Try your best to protect yourself in the dream and wait for my rescue!"

Peanut nodded: "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. I've already reported our plan to my superiors, and the Dream Thief team stationed in Chang Le City will come to our aid as soon as possible."

While they were talking, Jingzi had already driven the car into the contaminated area.

Chen Qi looked out the window with a bit of curiosity. His first impression of the roadside scene was that it was deserted!

Although Jinghai City was polluted, there were no obvious abnormalities on the surface, and the bustling places were still bustling.

However, Chang Le City was visibly deserted, with no people to be seen outdoors and no cars on the road.

It was so quiet that the sound of Chen Qi and his companion's car seemed particularly jarring.

"Is the entire contaminated area like a ghost town?" Chen Qi couldn't help but ask.

The mirror slowed down and replied, "As pollution worsens, everyone is sleeping longer and longer. Since everyone is sleeping, there are naturally fewer people on the road."

"However, you can still see some people and cars in the downtown area, and if you look closely you will find that people are actually crammed indoors."

Chen Qi carefully observed the shops along the roadside, and through the glass windows and doors, he could see that there were people inside every single shop.

He saw the convenience store cashier dozing off on the counter, and the fruit shop owner sleeping with his head resting on a cantaloupe...

"No way, this works?" Chen Qi stared in disbelief at a barbershop.

The customer getting a haircut was fast asleep in the chair, while the barber was also cutting hair with his eyes closed.

"So, the boss can cut hair while he's asleep?"

“He’s sleepwalking,” the mirror explained. “This is what I mean by the high degree of integration between dreams and reality. In his dream, he is also running his own barbershop, and there is an exact customer in his dream barbershop right now, so there won’t be any problems.”

Chen Qi pondered: "Does everyone construct their own life scenarios in their dreams?"

"That's right. When two people's dreams intersect, the originally independent single dream becomes a shared multi-person dream. The dreams of everyone in the city are connected, forming a dream city!"

As they were talking, they saw a bus pass by them. The driver had his eyes closed and head tilted to the side, drool almost dripping from his mouth, yet he was still able to hold the steering wheel steadily, skillfully turning, accelerating, and stopping at the station.

The mirror turned around and followed the bus. Their purpose in entering the dream-contaminated area was not to explore it, so they did not go deep inside, but just looked around the perimeter.

Since I rarely saw any cars on the road, I followed and observed them for a while.

Chen Qi noticed that not everyone was sleepwalking with their eyes closed. Most of the passengers who got off the bus had their eyes open, but they all looked listless and dispirited, as if they might fall asleep at any moment.

After wandering around for a while, Chen Qi quickly became accustomed to many things in the Dream Contaminated Zone.

He saw people repairing cars while sleeping, and he also saw people sleepwalking while cooking, eating, fishing, and swimming...

And he soon discovered an even stranger phenomenon—no one was speaking!

Someone sleepwalked into a barbershop, sat down, and without any communication, the barber knew what hairstyle he wanted.

You don't need to order when you enter the restaurant; the owner will bring out the food in no time.

A young couple on a date in a coffee shop faced each other with their eyes closed, not saying a word.

“They all communicate in their dreams,” the mirror explained. “You’ve never been to school. That’s terrifying. A classroom full of people, and they all just sit there without saying a word and get through the lesson.”

Chen Qi felt that the whole city was inexplicably strange, as if everyone was playing a virtual online game and living in another world.

If things continue like this, it feels like the real world will be abandoned by them.

Peanut's words also confirmed Chen Qi's guess: "It is said that most people in Kangning City now skip the step of sleepwalking. Except for some necessary things, they do almost everything in their dreams."

The mirror nodded and said, "For example, things like going to class or going on a date can be done directly in a dream. You don't even need to sleepwalk. You can solve most things by lying in bed without leaving the house."

“If this were their own choice, that would be one thing, but in reality, after these ordinary people are corrupted, they gradually lose the ability to distinguish between dreams and reality. For example, after Corning City entered a state of eternal slumber, dreams and reality have completely merged into one world.” “They themselves cannot perceive anything is wrong, and outsiders who enter Corning City will also quickly integrate into the dream and will not feel anything unusual.”

Just then, a black sedan suddenly drove towards Chen Qi and his group.

Chen Qi immediately became alert, but then heard Peanut remind him, "They're one of us."

The window of the black sedan rolled down, and a red-haired woman leaned out and asked, "Are you friends from Jinghai City? We've received instructions from above to protect your safety."

Peanut nodded: "Thank you for your help."

There were three people in the black sedan, including the driver. A man with a buzz cut in the back seat asked, "Where are you planning to go?"

Chen Qi pondered for a moment and said, "We're going to go a little deeper and into some more populated areas."

They've been wandering around the perimeter of the contaminated area for quite a while now, but haven't seen any results.

Therefore, Chen Qi decided to move closer to the center of the pollution. If that didn't work, he would try to find a parasite in Chang Le City to practice on. If that still couldn't force out the parasite in Jing Hai City, then they would have no choice but to withdraw from Chang Le City and think of other ways.

The red-haired woman frowned slightly, but still nodded and said, "Alright, we'll lead the way, you follow."

They were more familiar with the polluted areas of Changle City and could keep a good eye on things to prevent Chen Qi and his group from plunging headlong into high-risk areas.

So Chen Qi and the other two followed the black sedan. Driving in Chang Le City was very pleasant. There were few cars on the main roads, and they didn't need to pay attention to traffic lights. There were no pedestrians or electric bikes darting around, giving them a feeling of playing a racing game.

So as I drove, my speed unconsciously increased.

Just as they were about to enter the pedestrian street commercial area of ​​Chang Le City, a voice in Chen Qi's mind suddenly warned: "Stop right now!"

Chen Qi was slightly taken aback, but he didn't make Jingzi stop the car; he just asked him to slow down a little.

When the black sedan in front saw that Chen Qi and his group had slowed down, it also slowed down.

"Don't go any further if you don't want to die!" That voice echoed in my mind once again.

Chen Qi responded in his mind with a mocking tone: "Not pretending to be dead anymore?"

He never thought he had completely gotten rid of the Nightmare Eater. Even though he had bitten off the "Nightmare Head" last time, he estimated that at most it would only have injured the Nightmare Eater a little.

“If those nightmares discover our existence, they will definitely do everything in their power to wipe us out. It’s not too late to turn back now!” Nightmare Eater said seriously, his voice low.

Chen Qi didn't even bother to say anything more to him.

However, since the Nightmare Eater has made a move, it means there must be something going on ahead.

"Remind the vehicle in front to prepare for battle!" Chen Qi's eyes were cold and sharp as he scanned his surroundings.

Without asking any further questions, Peanut immediately took out his phone and used it as a walkie-talkie to warn the car in front.

Just a few seconds later, a fist-sized eyeball suddenly appeared out of thin air, about 20 meters above the ground, less than 100 meters ahead!
"Parasite! Don't look him in the eye!" the mirror immediately warned.

Chen Qi immediately looked away, but still felt a slight double image appear in front of him.

Both cars immediately stopped on the side of the road.

"Get out of the car quickly!"

"Don't stay in enclosed spaces, or you won't even have time to react when you're dragged into a dream!"

Chen Qi and the others quickly got out of the car. At that moment, they saw the eyeball in the air shrink back, but then suddenly small cracks appeared in the air.

Each slit was only the size of a finger, and behind each slit were eyes. Hundreds of eyes suddenly appeared, blinking in unison, instantly giving Chen Qi goosebumps all over his body.

Those eyeballs looked down at them from the sky, filling the sky above them.

Chen Qi quickly lowered his head, the only way he could avoid making eye contact with those eyes.

Just then, two withered hands appeared at Peanut's feet, suddenly grabbing his ankles as if to drag him into another dimension.

Chen Qi already had the processed food he brought from Jinghai City in his hand, and immediately devoured a skewer of fried potatoes.

He instantly mastered the skill of "deep-frying hands" for frying skewers, squatted down and held those two withered hands.

A sizzling sound of frying filled the air, and the two withered hands seemed to melt in Chen Qi's palms before they were swiftly withdrawn.

However, Chen Qi did not notice that at this moment, two more hands appeared behind him, holding a huge bag, and suddenly put it over Chen Qi's head.

Chen Qi's vision went black. He quickly grabbed the darkness in front of him, tore it apart with both hands, and found himself still in the same place.

But all my teammates who were just next to me have disappeared...

The eyeballs in the sky fell like dumplings, crashing to the ground and turning into tiny black and white flowers.

The flowers that fell on him also became small flowers, and quickly took root. Those vein-like roots instantly pierced his skin, connected to the blood vessels in his body, and grew into a part of his body.

(End of this chapter)