Fear of food

Chapter 121 Make a Deal
Chen Qi ignored everything and took a bite.

Nightmare let out a scream, and his already mutilated body was further damaged, becoming even weaker.

Chen Qi knew, of course, that the Nightmare Eater wasn't so kind; he must have had ulterior motives for helping him.

However, now that the Nightmare is in his hands, it won't die even if he takes a bite, and weakening its strength will make it easier for him to control it.

“It tastes good.”

Just as Chen Qi was about to take a few more bites, Marilyn Monroe suddenly appeared out of thin air not far away.

"Little brother," she smiled sweetly, "you'll die if you eat him."

Are you threatening me?

Chen Qi grabbed Nightmare by the neck, lifted him high, and with a few slaps, gnawed him down until only his head remained.

Marilyn Monroe's expression changed drastically, and she could no longer maintain her smile.

Chen Qi held up the last head of the Nightmare, which looked exactly like his own, but it had already passed out.

He smiled and said, "Let me leave, or I'll eat him."

Come on! Let's threaten each other!

Let's see who's afraid of whom!

“Okay.” Monroe nodded cautiously, as if afraid that any action or word she made would provoke Chen Qi.

She explained, "You are now in the second dream, which is your dream within a dream. Next, I will wake you up to the first dream. Do not resist."

"Wait!" Chen Qi frowned slightly, as if remembering something. "This is only the second layer of the dream. Are the dreams you wove for me meant to be infused into the third layer of the dream?"

Marilyn Monroe nodded: "The deeper the dream, the closer it is to your subconscious, and the better it can replace your previous memories."

Chen Qi gradually sorted out his thoughts.

He is currently in the second dream, a dream within a dream, so here he can see the originally invisible nightmare appear in his form.

The perfect life he had dreamed of, the unfamiliar mother, and so on, were all part of a "dream within a dream," which sounds a bit convoluted, but it was actually a third layer of dreams.

It was something he dreamed about after falling asleep in the second layer of his dream.

Now that Marilyn Monroe is taking him back to the first layer of the dream, it's very likely he'll return to the hotel from that time.

After all, he was hypnotized by Marilyn Monroe on the hotel bed.

But in doing so, he would lose control of the Nightmare he had dealt with!

Nightmare has now begun to parasitize him, much like the previous generation of Nightmare Eater.

If Chen Qi were to return to the first layer of the dream, he would not be able to see the nightmare, because the nightmare is inside him.

Without Nightmare as a hostage, he will be put on the defensive and manipulated by the Nightmare Clan.

"Don't move!" Chen Qi warned. "If you dare to make any sudden movement, I'll devour him!"

He decided not to rush back to the first layer of the dream.

Holding a generation of Nightmare in his hands, even the Nightmare Clan dares not touch him, much less forcibly implant new memories into him.

At least in this second layer of the dream, he is safe for the time being.

He could even stay here until tomorrow, and then switch bodies with Nightmare Eater.

However... it's not a good idea to keep switching bodies like this.

After switching bodies, he regained control of another body, which indeed ensured his safety for another day.

But what happens next?

Once he's swapped back into his own body, will he still have such a good opportunity to take Nightmare hostage?

Even if it happens, what about the time after that? And the time after that?

Chen Qi knew he had to find a way to break this cycle.

What he needs to do now is calm down and think about what to do next.

By this time, Marilyn Monroe had regained her composure, and a smile returned to her face: "You can make any request you want, don't be impulsive, anything is fine."

"Shut up!" Chen Qi commanded.

A look of grievance appeared on Marilyn Monroe's face, but she obediently shut her mouth and dared not say another word.

They wanted to forcibly pull Chen Qi back to the first layer of the dream, but they were hesitant to act rashly, since if Chen Qi took another bite, he could completely devour the first generation of Nightmare in their hands.

Chen Q was pondering what Nightmare was planning when it severely injured Nightmare before leaving.
"On the surface, Nightmare Eater just doesn't want others to compete with him for my soul and body. If I eat Nightmare, he will naturally have no competitors."

"But in reality, if I were to actually consume a Nightmare of the first generation, how would the Nightmare race treat me?"

"Will they really kill me?"

Chen Qi already had the answer in his heart: a generation of Nightmare might have a noble status or be rare, but it was not irreplaceable.

And he, Chen Qi, is very likely unique!
Moreover, if he really dies, the Nightmare Eater's plan will fall through, and the Nightmare Eater is certain that the Nightmare Clan will never kill Chen Qi.

"So if I really eat this guy, the Nightmare Clan probably won't kill me. More likely, they'll arrange for a new generation Nightmare to parasitize me."

"It's unlikely that there's only one Nightmare Generation 1 in the entire polluted area of ​​Chang Le City, right?"

"Even if there is only one, there are other contaminated areas. The nightmare of the contaminated area in Corning City also has cooperation with Changle City."

“They even sent my dad to Corning City…”

"It's impossible that two contaminated areas can't create a generation of nightmares."

Chen Qi understood that even if he ate the nightmare in his hand, it would only mean welcoming the next nightmare.

Moreover, having learned from this experience, the Nightmare Clan will be even more cautious.

They might not parasitize him immediately, but rather wait until his memories are replaced and he completely loses the ability to devour the Nightmare Clan. At that point, parasitizing him would be safe.

After all, the reason this first-generation Nightmare parasitized him so early was to prevent Nightmare Eater from suddenly returning.

But now they should have figured it out: there will be a one-day cooldown period before Nightmare Eater can switch bodies with Chen Qi.

Within a day, they could completely replace Chen Qi's memories and then parasitize him.

By then, Chen Qi, whose memories have been replaced, will not only be no longer a threat, but he may also lose any will to resist, making the parasitic process much easier.

Thinking of this, Chen Qi had given up on devouring the nightmare in his hand.

Because that would only make the situation develop in a more unfavorable direction for him.

And what he could think of, Nightmare Eater could certainly think of too... "Nightmare Eater certainly doesn't want to switch back tomorrow, facing a version of me that has already been controlled by the Nightmare Clan, so my choice was probably within his expectations."

"Perhaps... even if I am parasitized by the Nightmare and my memories are replaced, the Nightmare Eater is still confident in turning the tide."

Chen Qi sat quietly on the water, and after sorting out his thoughts, he spoke:

“Monroe, do you know that I learned a lot about you from the second-generation Nightmare Eater in Jinghai City this time?”

Marilyn tilted her head, smiling to reveal two small fangs: "Really? What did you say?"

"He told me that I had to lure you nightmares into the safe house and kill you to eliminate the root of the problem."

Marilyn Monroe appeared calm on the surface, but her eyes flickered slightly as she asked, "Anything else?"

"Of course there are! For example, finding the source of your pollution in the dream, how to destroy the source of pollution, and how you hide in the gap between reality and dreams... There are too many to list in a short time."

Hearing this, Monroe was not angry. She simply sat down like Chen Qi, supporting herself with her arms behind her back. Her two long, snow-white legs playfully swung up and down, splashing on the water and creating ripples.

While playing in the water, she casually asked, "So you want me to tell you the weaknesses of the Nightmare Eater clan?"

"Actually, you don't need to say all this. Just ask me whatever you want to know. Why would I refuse you?"

Chen Qi said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I want to know how to find the Nightmare Eater Clan's resurrection point."

Monroe stopped what she was doing, deliberately putting on a troubled expression: "If I answer this question, I'll be exposing the resurrection point of our Nightmare Clan."

However, she immediately gave a "I can't do anything with you" look: "But... I just can't refuse you."

She then patiently explained it to Chen Qi.

"If we Nightmare Clan are hiding in the space between reality and dreams, then those Nightmare Eaters are pretty much the same."

"They will hide respawn points and such in the space between reality and illusion."

"However, in our territory, dreams are everywhere in the city, but they can only create illusions near high-level food sources."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi was not too surprised, or rather, he already had some vague guesses.

He had previously felt that the dreams of the Nightmare Clan and the illusions of the Nightmare Eater Clan were essentially the same thing.

Since there is a "layer" between reality and dreams, there should also be a "layer" between reality and illusion.

"So your two races' resurrection points and morgues are hidden in the interlayer, right? How do I get in?" Chen Qi asked directly.

Since Marilyn Monroe was willing to tell him such important information, she probably wouldn't mind revealing more.

Moreover, while it appears to have revealed information about both races equally, this is not actually the case.

Just as Marilyn Monroe said, the Nightmare Clan's dreams cover the entire contaminated area, exceeding the size of a city. Within such a vast area, there are so-called "interlayers," and their resurrection points could be hidden anywhere within them.

Even if Chen Qi had the ability to enter the mezzanine to search, it would be a huge undertaking, equivalent to searching an entire city.

The Edible Nightmare Clan is different; the only places that can create illusions are a few contaminated areas of grade A or higher, which immediately narrows down the search area.

Sure enough, Marilyn Monroe answered without the slightest hesitation:
"Anyone of the Nightmare Eater clan who is a fourth generation or older can directly summon a portal to the resurrection point, but if you want to enter it, you can only do so in the form of a 'dead' or a 'phantom'."

Chen Qi pondered: "The dead refer to those parasites who died and want to be resurrected, and 'illusion' refers to entering directly through the illusion, right?"

Monroe nodded: "But if you can get into the mezzanine and find the path directly to the respawn point, you won't need to worry about these restrictions."

"How do we enter the space between reality and illusion?"

A sly smile appeared on Monroe's face: "Traversing between layers is an innate talent of our Nightmare Clan, our specialty. The Nightmare Eaters can't even come close to us in this respect."

"If you want to gain the ability to enter the interdimensional space, you can cooperate with us, accept the integration of our Nightmare Clan, and master our abilities. Then you will be able to freely travel between the interdimensional worlds."

In the end, they still want to parasitize me... But this time, Chen Qi didn't rush to refuse, and continued to ask:
"What should I be careful about if I want to save someone who has been parasitized by the Nightmare Eater?"

This question once again touched upon the interests of the Nightmare Clan, and Chen Qi was unsure whether Monroe would answer.

But to everyone's surprise, Marilyn Monroe readily replied, "That depends on the progress of the parasitism. As long as the parasitism is not completely complete, it shouldn't be difficult for you."

"Eat the nightmares inside them and cleanse their bodies of pollution, and that should be enough. At most, they'll have some lack of humanity, but those are minor issues."

“If they’re completely parasitized, that’ll be troublesome. You’ll have to go to the morgue and bring out their humanity… If it’s just a regular morgue, that’s fine, but those locked morgues are not easy to open.”

Chen Qi pressed further, "Where are we going to find the key? If we don't have the key, can we force the lock open?"

Monroe shook her head: "It's difficult. At least I don't have that ability. As for the key, it's usually kept by some powerful Nightmare Clan members."

Next, Chen Qi asked some detailed questions, and Meng Lu answered them all without hesitation.

This convinced Chen Qi that she was cooperating for a reason, not just because he had taken a generation of Nightmare hostage.

Like Sun Xuechao, she believed that Chen Qi had absolutely no chance of escaping this time!
So even if Chen Qi knew a lot, he posed no threat to them, and they couldn't pass on that information.

In fact, Chen Qi gradually realized this as well; it seemed that he really had no chance of escaping.

He is currently holding a Nightmare hostage, and can temporarily ensure his safety in the second dream world. However, once he returns to the first dream world, he will be immediately put on the defensive.

Even if he could comprehend the method Sun Xuechao described for escaping the dream and returning to reality, he would still be in the polluted area of ​​Changle City.

Surrounded by nightmare parasites, including even a third-generation nightmare like Monroe, how could he escape? How could he get away?

"Stalling until tomorrow, then waiting for a body swap?"

Chen Qi had no idea what the Nightmare Eater in Jinghai City would do that day.

He could easily find a sealed place to imprison himself, or he could mobilize a large number of parasites to restrict his movements. In short, he had many ways to deal with Chen Qi.

If Chen Qiyi were to switch bodies, he might find himself unable to move an inch.

In the end, they still had to return to Changle City to face the mess in front of them.

Continuing to drag this out will not help. While he still holds some initiative, we should find a way to end things.

Chen Qi pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Monroe, I know you want to control me and master my abilities, but you should also be able to see that Nightmare Eater has a backup plan, right?"

Monroe gritted her teeth: "Isn't that guy just trying to come back and steal the fruits of our Nightmare Clan's victory?"

Chen Qi sat up straight and said solemnly, "I believe your Nightmare Clan must also have ways to defend against it, but are you 100% certain?"

Monroe gave Chen Qi a deep look and asked directly, "What do you want to say?"

Chen Qi did not answer directly, but instead asked, "Can you make that decision?"

Marilyn Monroe raised an eyebrow: "That depends on what you want."

"I want to make a deal with your Nightmare Clan."

(End of this chapter)