Fear of food

Chapter 124 I'll just eat a few more bites.
In front of several students, Chen Qi performed a skit depicting "three people and a female teacher".

After merging with Nightmare, he discovered that his abilities as a pagan were enhanced; he didn't have such a strong feeding ability before.

Seeing Chen Qi's fierce strength, the students knew they were no match for him and decided to retreat.

But Chen Qi didn't give them a chance to escape!
With just his mouth, he scared a group of parasites armed with axes and drills into running around.

Chen Qi caught up with her in a few strides, grabbed the last female parasite, picked her up, and ate her as he chased after her.

Before we'd even finished eating, we grabbed another guy, and with a combination of men and women, the food was tangy and appetizing.

A single parasite can only consume three or four people, and this group of five or six students was devoured by Chen Qi in a short time, leaving only one person.

Chen Qi chased the man all the way to the outside of the laboratory. When the man realized he couldn't escape, he turned around and attacked, his electric drill sparking as he thrust it at Chen Qi.

Chen Qi bit off the electric drill along with the hand holding it, finishing off the enemy in a few bites.

In his mind, the weak yet excited voice of a generation of nightmares kept echoing:
"Good! Good! That's it!"

"Eat them all!"

"These lowly, inferior Nightmare dare to offend the noble Nightmare Clan! They all deserve to die!"

Chen Qi let out a burp, turned around, and found that Da Bing's dad was hiding by the door, looking at him timidly.

Chen Qi didn't explain anything and returned to the laboratory to continue searching for familiar faces.

Those near the laboratory entrance are people who have only recently been parasitized and are easily awakened.

Therefore, even if they weren't familiar faces, Chen Qi didn't mind waking them up. Although it might not change much, it would still be a bit of a hassle for the Nightmare Clan.

Soon, Chen Qi spotted another familiar face: the swill-dwelling woman's wife.

"You two hide and try to stay awake," Chen Qi instructed Da Bing's father and his wife, who was also a swill-dwelling woman.

Awakening their humanity can slow down the parasitic process to some extent; the longer they remain awake, the greater the impact on the parasitic process.

Chen Qi has done his part for his teammates.

He walked deeper into the laboratory, but he still couldn't find the two people he was looking for most: his mother and coffee.

"The humanity of coffee may not be stored here."

Jinghai City has more than one human taming illusion. Within Jinghai Medical College alone, there are two locations: a laboratory and a second canteen.

Not to mention there are several other Class A and Class S contaminated areas where human taming can be carried out.

Given the immense potential of coffee itself, it would certainly be highly valued by the Nightmare Clan, so it's not surprising that no coffee was found here.

The same applies to Chen Qi's mother; because of Chen Qi's connection, she will inevitably receive special treatment.

Moreover, Chen Qi knew in his heart that his mother had most likely been completely parasitized, and the only way to find his mother's humanity was to go to the morgue.

At the end of the laboratory is the door leading to the "delivery room".

Chen Qi didn't enter it this time. He did want to enter the resurrection point, but not through the illusion!

"Next, we must break the illusion!"

The illusion serves as both a conduit between the Class A pollution sources and the resurrection point and the morgue, and a means for them to protect themselves.

Chen Qi wants to eat that bowl of golden fried rice, but he must break free from the illusion!
He had already learned the method to break free from the illusion from Marilyn Monroe.

In the polluted area of ​​Changle City, the source of pollution exists not only in reality, but also in dreams.

A source of pollution, though mostly present in reality, still partially seeps into dreams.

It is precisely because it connects reality and dreams that it can influence the dream world.

The underlying logic of the illusion world is similar to that of the dream world.

Illusions are formed by the energy of pollution sources of Grade A or above. Just like pollution sources in dreams, the energy of pollution sources also seeps into illusions.

This can be simply understood as the Class A pollution source being divided into two parts: one part in reality and the other part in the illusion.

The most direct way for Chen Qi to break free from the illusion is to find the source of the pollution within the illusion and consume it directly!
This is equivalent to cutting off the "energy" that sustains the illusion, causing the illusion to collapse on its own.

However, unlike in reality, the sources of pollution in the illusion are disguised.

The real-world source of pollution has been transformed by Chen Qi into high-grade wild food, fried rice, but the part in the illusion will not be affected. It will still exist in disguise, in the form of other items, and may not be food.

Chen Qi's food detection ability is not applicable in the illusion, which makes it more difficult for him to find the source of pollution in the illusion.

"The source of contamination will only exist within the illusionary realm and will not appear in the connected resurrection points and morgues."

"And the illusion I'm in is limited to the area around the laboratory."

When Chen Qi first explored this illusion, he thought of escaping the laboratory area to get out of the illusion, but he found that once he ran far away, he would get stuck in a "ghost wall" and actually ran to the edge of the illusion.

Therefore, the scope of his search is not too large.

At that moment, the voice of a nightmare echoed in Chen Qi's mind:
“Although you can’t sense the food source in the illusion, I should be able to identify it if you get close, within a meter. You might be able to sense it yourself as well.”

Chen Qi thought to himself, "If that's the case, then the source of the pollution is most likely not inside the laboratory, but outdoors!"

Chen Qi explored the laboratory twice, visiting almost every nook and cranny, but never found anything that could be a source of pollution.

Putting yourself in his shoes, if it were him, he would also hide the source of pollution outdoors, as it would be more concealed and less likely to be discovered.

Chen Qi ran quickly out of the laboratory, asking himself as he ran, "Nightmare, did you succeed on your end? Has my body entered the so-called interlayer?"

"Don't worry," the Nightmare replied weakly. "After merging with me, I was able to use your body to begin to utilize the talents of my Nightmare clan. I had already hidden your body in the space between reality and illusion."

"It's far easier for the Nightmare Eater clan's trash to enter the interlayered world than for us Nightmares. Even if they do get in, it will be difficult to get you out. So you don't need to worry about being forcibly taken away from the illusion in the short term."

When Chen Qi entered the illusion, his biggest worry was his own body.

It wasn't that he was afraid of any danger, but rather that the Nightmares would drag his body out of the illusion's influence, forcibly pulling him out of the illusion and disrupting his feeding plan.

Fortunately, with the help of the Nightmare Clan, the Nightmare Eater is indeed no match for the Nightmare Clan's agility when it comes to entering the "interlayer world".

Nightmare parasites have the ability to "hide in the dream," which is actually hiding in the interlayered world, but Nightmare Eater parasites do not have a similar ability.

However, there are gains and losses. While Nightmare Parasites are better at surviving and hiding, they excel at fighting within dreams. Nightmare Eater Parasites, on the other hand, are stronger in reality, possessing greater physical mutation abilities, but they lack the Nightmare Parasites' elusive and unpredictable nature.

Furthermore, entering their own illusionary realm will not only fail to strengthen them, but may even weaken them.

Within the illusion, even the domain cannot be used.

Suddenly, Nightmare said, "You can't always call me 'Nightmare.' As a noble member of the Nightmare Clan, I should have my own name."

Chen Qi asked, "What's your name?"

“I don’t have a name yet, but I can choose one now.” Nightmare pondered, “That little girl Monroe has a good name. I’ll use ‘Meng’ as my surname, as for my given name…”

He held it in for ages, but couldn't utter a single fart.

Chen Qi thought with disdain, "You Nightmare Clan members haven't received nine years of compulsory education; you're just pure pedagogical children."

Perhaps only after we deeply integrate with him and share some of his memories can we gain some cultural understanding.

But the current nightmare probably doesn't even know a few words.

Chen Qi had already run outside the laboratory and was conducting a thorough search around the area. He first circled the outer wall of the laboratory, where few people approached the corners and crevices.

After finding nothing, he began searching specifically in the green areas surrounding the laboratory.

Throughout this process, Nightmare remained silent, and Chen Qi guessed that he was still thinking about what name to give himself.

Sure enough, Nightmare couldn't hold back any longer and asked Chen Qi for help: "I don't understand your human naming habits, can you give me one?"

"It must be noble and imposing, reflecting the identity of my Nightmare Clan!"

Chen Qi thought to himself, "You shall name him 'Menglong'. The word 'dragon' perfectly matches your requirements. It is noble and domineering, and has always been a symbol of our human emperors."

"Dream Dragon?" Nightmare's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy. He pondered the name repeatedly in his heart, liking it more and more with each thought. "Alright! From now on, my name will be Dream Dragon!"

Heh... Chen Qi sneered inwardly, "I'll give you a food name and eat you up sooner or later!"

"Chen Qi, we meet again." Suddenly a familiar voice came from behind.

Chen Qi turned around and saw Sun Xuechao standing more than ten meters behind him, and next to Sun Xuechao stood a person who looked exactly like him.

Unable to bring Chen Qi out of the illusion from the interlayer, Sun Xuechao and Shiyan had no choice but to enter the illusion themselves to stop him.

Suppressing his anger, the Nightmare Eater said, "Chen Qi, you've gone astray. Since you've decided to cooperate with the Nightmare Clan, of course you should choose our Nightmare Eater Clan!"

“We’ve known each other for so long, and we’re familiar with each other. Plus, we have your mother and friends under our control. Haven’t you considered these things?”

Sun Xuechao also advised in a deep voice: "It's not too late for you to back out now. Your fusion with Nightmare has only just begun, and you can forcibly stop it."

"What the Nightmare Clan can give you, we can give you too. What they can't give, we can still give you. Come and join the Nightmare Eater Clan!"

Chen Qi continued searching for the source of the pollution, his steps never faltering, while casually replying:
"I'm sorry, but I'm petty and hold grudges. Thinking about what you did to my mother and friends, I can't forgive you, and it's impossible for me to cooperate with you."

Sun Xuechao said, "We can release your mother and your friends and restore their self-awareness. We promised them this long ago."

Chen Qi turned his head and met Sun Xuechao's gaze: "And what about you? Are you planning to commit suicide to release Brother Sun?"

Sun Xuechao was speechless.

Once the parasitic fusion begins, even if it is interrupted, the Nightmare Clan will most likely perish.

Not to mention that he has already completely parasitized Sun Xuechao, once he is separated from Sun Xuechao's body and soul, he will surely die!
As a noble second-generation Nightmare Clan member, he did not consider himself to be like the lower-ranking Nightmare Clan members who parasitized Chen Qi's mother and friends, and could be sacrificed at will.

The Nightmare Eater agreed without hesitation: "Of course! I've told you before, as long as you merge with me, what's wrong with sacrificing a mere second-generation Nightmare Clan member?"

Chen Qi remained unmoved and said, "Then let him commit suicide first, so I can see your sincerity. As long as he commits suicide, I will immediately abandon Menglong and merge with you."

"Dream Dragon?" Nightmare Eater was slightly taken aback, then realized, "You've already named him?"

"Yeah, it just started, isn't it great? We get along really well."

Nightmare was instantly enraged: "Fine! What kind of bewitching potion did the Nightmare Clan give you! Did that bitch Monroe seduce you?!"

Chen Qi was too lazy to pay attention to the two of them. In fact, he wasn't too afraid of Sun Xuechao and the Nightmare Eater in the illusion.

Because here, they are all weakened, and abilities such as domains cannot be used.

However, Chen Qi's ability to devour the Nightmare Clan is still useful, and after being strengthened by eating high-grade wild food five times, coupled with his fusion with the Nightmare, his ability to eat has become even stronger!

He'd eat them if they dared to come over!
Sun Xuechao and his companion were clearly wary of Chen Qi; otherwise, they would have attacked immediately without needing to waste time with so much talk.

As Chen Qi entered a green belt again, Sun Xuechao suddenly leaped up and pounced on Chen Qi.

The Nightmare Eater charged towards Chen Qi, laughing maniacally, "Since you're so stubborn, don't blame me!"

"I would rather destroy you than let you fall into the control of the Nightmare Clan."

Upon seeing their behavior, Chen Qi immediately understood what was going on.

"It seems I've gotten close to the source of the pollution, which is why these two suddenly reacted so strongly."

He suspected that the source of the pollution was in the green belt he had entered.

So he immediately reminded Menglong to pay attention to identification, and he himself quickened his pace, quickly shuttling through the green belt, trampling and destroying all the flowers, grass and trees blocking the way wherever he went.

The Nightmare exploded into clumps of minced meat, launching attacks on Chen Qi from all directions.

Sun Xuechao further split into numerous fission variants, with dozens of Sun Xuechao lining up to attack Chen Qi.

They all knew how powerful Chen Qi's mouth was and were afraid of being swallowed up by him, so they all chose to break themselves into smaller parts to counter Chen Qi's ability.

Chen Qi responded: I'll just eat a few more bites.

As long as anyone dares to get close, he won't hesitate to eat Sun Xuechao, whether he's a Nightmare Eater or a Nightmare Split Transformation!
The two of them were only meant to distract him; they posed no real threat to him within the illusion.

"Found it!" Menglong suddenly shouted, "That thin twig on the ground to the left front!"

Chen Qi's eyes instantly locked onto the slender, withered yellow branch hidden in the pile of fallen leaves, and he leaped toward the branch.

(End of this chapter)