Fear of food

Chapter 113 is finished! I've become a parasite.
Successfully separating the Nightmare from the dream and returning to reality is a double blessing.

Chen Qi should be happy.

But something still felt off to him.

But now is not the time to think about these things. The most important thing is to get out of here!

Chen Qiguang ran naked through the streets, but fortunately, the streets of Chang Le City were deserted, and even if someone occasionally passed by, they didn't bother to give him a second glance.

He slipped into a narrow alley and kept running, not daring to stop.

He knew the Nightmare Clan wanted him, so they would definitely come looking for him.

But as he ran, he felt that about ten minutes had passed, and he gradually realized that something was wrong.

He ran at full speed for so long and didn't feel tired at all!
There was no panting, no gasping for breath, and the speed didn't even slow down!
This made him even more certain of his vague suspicion: This is not my body!
Passing by a house, Chen Qi saw that the gate was wide open and clothes were hanging out to dry in the yard, so he went in and took a few pieces of clothing to put on.

As for shoes... he saw some very clean sneakers next to him, and the size was about the same as his feet.

But after trying them on, he took them off immediately.

He found that running barefoot all the way felt quite comfortable, but wearing shoes made him feel uncomfortable; he felt restricted even when walking, let alone running.

After determining the direction, Chen Qi ran towards the edge of the contaminated area, pondering what had happened to him as he ran.

“Monroe separated me from Nightmare Eater, probably wanting to keep me here, but in the end I was the one who left, without seeing Nightmare Eater.”

"And the fact that Marilyn Monroe didn't immediately leave the dream to chase me in reality means that the Nightmare Eater remained in the dream!"

Considering the peculiarity of his current body, Chen Qi had reason to suspect that he and Nightmare Eater had swapped bodies!
The Nightmare Devourer possessed his body and remained in his dreams.

He separated from the dream through the body that grew from his back.

"Monroe probably didn't realize I'd been switched by the Nightmare Eater at first, which is why she didn't chase after me."

"But how long can the Nightmare Eater remain hidden? Will it even be concealed? These are all uncertain, so I still need to get out of the contaminated area as soon as possible."

Chen Qi didn't know whether the current situation was the result of the Nightmare Eater's deliberate actions or a coincidence.

But it must be related to the Nightmare Eater's last crazy move.

"Strictly speaking, this body I have now is also grown from my original body, so why should it be called the body of the Nightmare Eater?"

"I feel like this body is stronger than my original body. It seems like I have inexhaustible stamina. If there are no other side effects, it's not a bad thing."

Chen Qi was more worried that long-term use of this body might have unknown adverse effects, such as being gradually assimilated by the Nightmare Clan, or having his mind affected.

Furthermore, he doesn't know if he still has his original abilities.

As he ran, with the boundary of the contaminated area almost in front of him, Chen Qi suddenly stopped.

Two people were walking towards him.

Chen Qi had seen those two people in the files; they were parasites from Jinghai City who had disappeared along with Huang Jihai some time ago. Their appearance here now clearly indicated that they came with Huang Jihai.

He looked around but didn't see Huang Jihai, which relieved him slightly, but he remained on guard and prepared for battle.

Although their strength is unknown, they are undoubtedly domain-level parasites.

If he cannot use his abilities, he will likely have little power to resist these two parasites.

But at that moment, the two men suddenly lowered their heads and respectfully called out, "My lord."

Chen Qi was taken aback, realizing that they had mistaken him for a Nightmare Eater. The Nightmare Clan had a strict hierarchy, and the Nightmare Eater within him was of noble status, calling itself "a first-generation Nightmare Clan member," and had the power of life and death over lower-ranking Nightmare Clan members.

"Hmm." Chen Qi responded casually, nodded arrogantly, ignored the two, and continued walking forward.

He actually wanted to take the opportunity to ask some questions, but he also knew that saying too much would lead to mistakes.

Any casual remark could reveal a flaw.

So he could only continue to pretend to be profound and aloof.

He remained silent, but the two men behind him spoke up, asking, "Should we wait for Professor Huang?"

Chen Qi turned around, frowned, and asked, "Where did he go?"

He said he would need to re-establish your location and then find another opportunity to rescue you.

"I need him to save me?" Chen Qi sneered. "You can wait if you want."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

The two parasites looked at each other, but in the end they followed.

One of them asked cautiously, "My lord, have you successfully merged with that human?"

Chen Qi's eyes turned cold: "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

"Yes." The man trembled with fear and dared not say another word.

The two parasites followed Chen Qi cautiously like quails, not daring to even raise their heads.

Chen Qi felt helpless. He wanted to shake off the two but was afraid of exposing himself. If a fight broke out, he was afraid that he would not be able to use his abilities and would be no match for the two.

He could only lead the two of them out of the contaminated area.

They had only taken a couple of steps when one of them suddenly had his phone ring. He answered it, said a few words, and then respectfully handed the phone to Chen Qi.

Professor Huang said he would come over right away and would like to say a few words to you.

Chen Qi picked up his phone expressionlessly.

Huang Jihai's voice came from the other end of the phone: "My lord, did you succeed?"

Chen Qi hesitated for a moment, then said, "No."

"Then... there must have been a 'secret door' left behind, right?"

A hidden door? What hidden door?
Chen Qi was slightly startled, but still casually replied, "Mm."

"That's good!" Huang Jihai's voice relaxed. "Then we won't rush. We'll just wait for the right time, and you can directly reap the fruits of victory."

"By then, all the Nightmare Clan's efforts will have benefited us, and you may become the first and strongest Nightmare Clan member to possess dual-system abilities!"

To put it more clearly, what exactly are you planning?
Chen Qi was curious, but he didn't want to ask directly.

Does the dual-system ability refer to the abilities of the pagans and dream thieves?
Chen Qi knew that he was the focus of the struggle between the Nightmare and Nightmare Eater races. The Nightmare Eater clung to him and refused to leave because it wanted to parasitize him and control him.

Therefore, the Nightmare Eater ultimately refused to give up his body and soul, and wanted to use him as the final vessel.

So how can he simultaneously possess dual-system capabilities?
Chen Qi had already mastered the ability of the alien eater, which was equivalent to playing a game and having already determined his career path. He didn't know if he could switch careers, but it was unlikely that he could cultivate two careers at the same time.

Because he had too little information, Chen Qi couldn't deduce much.

Huang Jihai on the other end of the phone said, "My lord, please wait for me a moment. I will come to meet you immediately."

Chen Qi responded and then hung up the phone.

However, he knew in his heart that he couldn't just wait here foolishly.

He can fool the two parasites behind him for now, but when Huang Jihai arrives, he'll probably be exposed in just a few words.

We need to find a way to get out of here quickly.

He used the simplest and most direct method, instructing, "You two wait here, I have something to take care of."

"When...when will you be back?" one of them asked, mustering his courage.

Do I need to explain my itinerary to you?

The man's face changed in fright, and he said in a panic, "I wouldn't dare, I'm afraid Professor Huang will come and ask you about it later."

Chen Qi snorted coldly, offered no explanation, and walked away.

The two men dared not ask any more questions, nor did they dare to follow. They could only watch helplessly as Chen Qi walked away.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Qi was out of their sight, but he maintained a normal pace, pondering to himself:
“These two parasites, and Huang Jihai, all thought I was the Nightmare Eater, which means that in the original plan, the Nightmare Eater was intended to break free.”

"It's just that some reason led to an accident. The Nightmare didn't come out; instead, I did."

Unexpected events are a good thing; at least it shows that not everything is going according to the Nightmare Eater's plan.

"I'll go find Peanut and the others first."

Chen Qi understood that ensuring his own safety and finding teammates was the most urgent task at hand, and that he could then slowly study the changes in his body.

Just then, his ears twitched slightly, and he vaguely caught a sound coming from behind him.

When he turned around, he found that the two parasites he had abandoned earlier had somehow caught up with him.

Upon being discovered by Chen Qi, the two men's faces turned grim, their previous cautious demeanor vanishing. They roared, "You are not our master!" "Damn it, you lowly human! How dare you impersonate the esteemed Nightmare Clan!"

The two seemed to have suffered a great humiliation, their bodies instantly transforming into indescribable monsters, with no symmetry or regular shape, as they lunged at Chen Qi.

Chen Qi vaguely sensed the power of the domain, but it did not affect him in any way.

The two did not possess a visible domain; this was the first time Chen Qi had sensed the existence of a domain through instinct.

He understood that this might be the ability that this body had given him.

Chen Qi leaped forward and took the initiative, pouncing on one of the parasites.

As the wriggling, irregular, and unidentified organs on the parasite's body wrapped around him, Chen Qi opened his mouth and bit down.

When I took a bite, I couldn't bite it open...

He was startled... Had his abilities really disappeared?

At least his ability to devour the Nightmare Clan has disappeared.

In the past, taking a bite like that would have definitely severed that unknown organ, and there would have been no real sensation in the mouth.

But this time, it bit into a wriggling, tough mass of flesh.

Chen Qi's heart sank. Without his abilities, how could he fight against the parasites?
As the flesh and organs tightened around him, Chen Qi gradually felt some difficulty breathing. He instinctively tried to save himself, struggling with his hands to pull away the organs that were entangled around him.

The next second, sharp bone spurs suddenly burst from his hands, slicing through flesh and organs like blades.

He immediately broke free from his restraints.

Looking at his hands covered in sharp bone spurs, each finger like a thorn, he suddenly swung his arm at one of the parasites, making a flicking motion.

The next moment, his arm suddenly grew longer, becoming a thorny whip covered in bone spurs, which lashed fiercely at the parasite.

Bone spurs pierced the parasite's body, and those spurs seemed to be alive, frantically absorbing the parasite's blood.

Chen Qi immediately felt a warm current that made him feel happy and relaxed coming from his arm.

The two parasites' expressions changed, and they began to consider retreating.

But Chen Qi wasn't about to let them escape. With a thought, his thorny arm covered in bone spurs grew like a tree branch, becoming longer and thicker.

In the blink of an eye, it bound the parasite and frantically devoured the blood in his body.

The parasite struggled but was powerless to break free. It was constantly plundered and absorbed by the bone spurs, becoming weaker and weaker, and its struggles gradually diminished.

Seeing that things were not going well, the other parasite grew two fleshy legs from its buttocks, like the hind legs of a frog, strong and powerful, full of bright red bare muscles.

He leaped into the air, soaring dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye, almost like flying.

But Chen Qi's other hand suddenly exploded, transforming into countless strands of blood vessels and muscle fibers, weaving into a large net that chased after the man in mid-air and swung down on him.

This feeling is very similar to when Chen Qi was a child catching cicadas. He would make a circle with wire, stick it on a long stick, wrap the circle with a dense spider web, and then catch the cicada on the tree with a scoop, trapping it so it couldn't escape.

The large net woven from his arm quickly ensnared another parasite and pulled it back to his side.

Those blood vessels were like needles piercing into the host's body, frantically absorbing the host's energy.

In the blink of an eye, the two parasites were drained of their life force and became skin and bones, completely silent.

The abnormality in Chen Qi's arms subsided quickly, and he returned to normal. He went forward to check on the two parasites and confirmed that they were completely dead.

However, it's unclear whether it died completely or was resurrected.

"They must have gone back to revive. Directly devouring the Nightmare Clan and preventing them from reviving is my ability, and this ability must be quite precious."

Chen Qi understood that if his abilities were so easily replaceable, he wouldn't have attracted such covetousness from both races.

Although he drained the two parasites dry and killed them directly, it was still significantly different from when he devoured the Nightmare Clan.

This ability seems more like simply "vampire".

"Have I mastered the abilities of the Nightmare Clan?"

Chen Qi guessed that he had essentially swapped bodies with the Nightmare Eater in his body, losing his ability to devour the Nightmare Clan, but seemingly gaining some of the Nightmare Clan's combat power.

Combat through physical mutation is a hallmark of the Nightmare Eater clan.

Or rather, it's the common fighting style of Nightmare Parasites.

Nightmare Eaters themselves have no physical form, so their combat power is zero, but when they combine with humans, they can unleash tremendous power.

"Only after the Nightmare Eater has fully integrated with the human soul and body can it unleash its true power."

"I obviously haven't merged with the Nightmare Eater's soul yet, so is my body now considered merged?"

Chen Qi guessed that his physical body had exploded earlier, and it had fused with the Nightmare Eater's body on his back, which caused him to inexplicably gain some of the Nightmare Clan's abilities.

Strictly speaking, his current state is equivalent to that of a parasite.

It possesses the basic ability of a parasite—flesh mutation, which, although basic, is very powerful.

However, he lost his original ability as a pagan.

Chen Qi wasn't particularly disappointed, because he realized that, at least for now, he seemed to have become even stronger!

Those two domain-level parasites were completely powerless against him and were easily killed.

"So, my ability as a Pagan has been temporarily inherited by the Nightmare Eater?"

What Chen Qi was really worried about was whether the Nightmare Eater had any other intentions in using his ability as a Peerless Eater.

From Huang Jihai's previous words, we can infer that the Nightmare Eater wants to simultaneously master the abilities of both the Pestilent Eater and the Dream Thief.

If Chen Qi's abilities have been inherited by Nightmare Eater, then Nightmare Eater has already succeeded halfway.

However, Chen Qi could not understand that the ability of the alien eaters was "idealistic," meaning they should follow their own consciousness.

Previously, when he possessed a dog, he had the ability to detect food. Why did his ability disappear now that he has swapped bodies with the Nightmare Eater?

Chen Qi thought for a while but still couldn't figure it out, so he had to suppress his doubts for the time being.

After understanding his current strength, the tension and unease in his heart immediately dissipated, and he instantly felt much more at ease.

However, just to be on the safe side, he quickly left the spot.

Huang Jihai is likely to come looking for us soon, so we can't get too cocky.

Having never fought a parasite of Huang Jihai's caliber before, and unsure if he could defeat him, Chen Qi dared not be overconfident.

He had no means of transportation, and the area around the contaminated zone had been cleared of people, so he walked for a long time without seeing a single person.

Chen Qi discovered that although his combat power had increased rather than decreased, he still had to rely on his two legs to travel.

Fortunately, he managed to retrieve two cell phones from the two parasites he had just killed. After getting away from the battlefield, Chen Qi took out one of the phones and tried to make a call.

Because he left in a hurry, Chen Qi didn't have time to unlock the phone with the fingerprints of the two parasites, so he could only use the emergency call function on his phone to dial the police.

"Hello, this is the Chang Le City Police Station. How can I help you?"

"Which district's alarm center in Changle City are you from?"

After asking around and confirming that the other party was outside the contaminated area, Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief and briefly explained his situation.

"I'm from the official special operations team, codename Biscuit. I've just escaped from Chang Le City. You can report the situation to them and let them find me using this phone's location."

The dispatcher on the other end seemed to know something, and without asking any further questions, simply agreed solemnly.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Qi continued on his way. By this time, it was already dark, and the moon was shrouded in dark clouds. He walked through the desolate ruins of the city, where he could not see his hand in front of his face.

Silence, darkness, with only the occasional chirping of insects and croaking of frogs.

Chen Qi could even hear his own strong, powerful heartbeat.

As he subconsciously followed the rhythm of his heartbeat, he suddenly felt his heartbeat quicken.

Thump, thump...

One sound faster than the next.

Until it reached its peak, becoming a continuous flow, and no rhythm could be discerned, Chen Qi's vision suddenly went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing on the roof of a house.

He looked around and saw some familiar streets in the distance, and a pedestrian street bustling with people...

(End of this chapter)