Fear of food

Chapter 125 Rice!

Just as Chen Qi made a move, the dead branch suddenly started moving, crawling rapidly across the pile of fallen leaves.

Chen Qi then realized that it wasn't a dead tree branch, but a stick insect!

"Double disguise!"

Even Menglong couldn't help but curse, "How insidious!"

The source of pollution disguises itself as a stick insect, and then as a twig.

Chen Qi was caught off guard and his lunge missed.

After all, no one expected that a tree branch would suddenly start moving.

At this moment, several Sun Xuechao rushed over and held Chen Qi back tightly, causing Chen Qi to be covered in sweat.

Chen Qi turned his head and made a series of loud bangs, biting off several hands. He immediately broke free of his restraints, aimed at the rapidly moving stick insect, predicted its movement trajectory, and pounced to capture it.

Grabbing the stick insect in one hand, Chen Qi didn't even glance at it before stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing it whole.

In an instant, everything around seemed to be stirred up like a lake, with ripples spreading across it, and the whole world was full of wrinkles.

The wrinkles and ripples grew larger and larger until the surrounding scenery could no longer be seen, and the entire illusion finally shattered with a crash.

"Be careful, prepare to enter the mezzanine!" Menglong warned.

Chen Qi consumed the source of pollution in the illusion, which was equivalent to cutting off the illusion's energy supply. Naturally, the illusion constructed by the Class A pollution source collapsed.

His consciousness, along with that of Sun Xuechao, Shiyan, and others, would also leave the illusion and return to their own bodies.

However, Chen Qi's body had already been hidden in the interlayered world, so when his consciousness returned to his body, it would directly arrive in the interlayer.

Chen Qi had long been curious about the so-called "mezzanine" and harbored a secret expectation in his heart.

His vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared again, all he saw was a vast expanse of white, nothing at all.

Why is this place so empty?

"Wait, why can't I even see my own body?"

Chen Qineng could clearly feel his body, but he couldn't see anything.

"Crouch down and look at it," Menglong reminded Chen Qi in his mind.

Chen Qi was stunned for a moment, then squatted down, and finally he could see his own body.

He touched his pocket and found that all three ghost face cookies were still there, which was enough to show that he had escaped the illusion.

Previously, he was unable to bring some special items into the illusion.

Chen Qi then looked around, and everything he saw could be summed up in one word: chaos!

This is a very narrow space, where everything is randomly interspersed and upside down.

Chen Qi could only see a world a little over a meter high, and within that space, there were scenes from the real laboratory as well as various scenes from the "morgue" in the illusion.

In a real laboratory, there is plenty of light.

The morgue in the illusion is dark and gloomy.

These two scenes intertwine in a disorderly manner, dividing everything in Chen Qi's field of vision into two chaotic images of light and darkness.

It's as if two worlds were shattered and pieced together.

The assembly was a mess, completely disorganized, with even the top and bottom parts reversed. Chen Qi could even see half of a toilet upside down in mid-air.

But everything in this world is hazy and indistinct, as if filtered through an "illusion filter".

As it turned out, it wasn't just a filter; when Chen Qi reached out to touch those upside-down things, he found nothing.

Menglong's voice rang out at the right moment: "Here, you don't need to worry about anything else, just focus on yourself."

Chen Qi asked curiously, "Is the dream interlayer like this too?"

"The difference is huge! How can the trashy illusions of the Nightmare Eaters compare to our Nightmare Dreams! Our dream layers are the most perfect works of art!"

Chen Qi expressed his doubts, believing that both the Nightmare Eater and the Nightmare had some degree of racial prejudice against each other.

At this moment, Chen Qi noticed that the "dark" parts in his field of vision were gradually disappearing.

The reason is simple; Chen Qi could understand it without even asking Menglong: the illusionary world had already been destroyed.

The scenes from the illusory world slowly disappeared.

Logically, once the illusion is shattered, the layer between reality and illusion should also disappear.

But this is Jinghai Medical College, an S-level contaminated area!

It has an S-level pollution source that can cover the entire medical school.

Even if one layer of illusion is broken, there is still another layer of illusion, but that layer of illusion has not yet pulled Chen Qi into it.

Therefore, the entire medical school is shrouded in another, more advanced illusion, and this "interlayer" will naturally not disappear.

Chen Qi glanced up and suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Where is my skull?

Chen Qi discovered that the world was so narrow that even when he squatted down, it could not fully contain him; the area above his forehead was directly "molded through".

The skull is still there, but you can touch it but not see it; it has already penetrated this interlayered world.

But he immediately sensed something was wrong, so he slowly stood up.

It turned out that the world was slowly rising as he stood up.

"Is the size of this world adjusted according to my height?"

Finally, he stood up completely and found that his eyes had also been clipped through, and his vision returned to the blank whiteness he had been in before.

He crouched down slightly, his gaze returning to the interlayered world.

Chen Qi is a little over 1.8 meters tall, which means the maximum height in this world is about 1.7 meters.

Menglong explained, "The interlayered world is inherently half real and half illusory, with a thousand different perspectives for a thousand people. Everyone sees something different. No matter how high you are, a part of you will always be exposed. This is equivalent to your anchor point in the outside world, which is caused by the rules of the world."

Chen Qi realized: "So, no matter what position I maintain, part of my body will be exposed outside the interlayer?"

“That’s right, but this exposure is two-way; both reality and the illusion will have a part of your body. It’s just that the illusion has been destroyed now… otherwise you probably wouldn’t be able to see your own feet.”

In this respect, dreams and illusions are the same. Being in the interlayer leaves so-called anchor points in both worlds, which can also be seen as "weaknesses" that prevent him from safely hiding in the interlayer.

"Then am I in great danger?"

The thought of sticking his head out in the open and potentially getting his head blown off at any moment made Chen Qi realize that it would be safer to return to the real world.

"Don't worry, our Nightmare Clan excels at hiding our anchor points, so we're not that easy to find."

Menglong said smugly, "What others see won't be your head. It might be something unintentional. For example, right now, I've disguised your head as some dusty instrument in the laboratory."

“Furthermore, when you move within the interlayer, your anchor point in reality doesn’t move with you.” Chen Qi thought for a moment and said, “What if I lie down? Would that prevent my vital organs from being exposed?”

Menglong said, "Of course, that's possible. The world's rules will expose the highest part of your body as an anchor point."

"The highest part?"

Chen Qi imagined in his mind, if he lay flat, what would be the highest part of him?

“No!” He shook his head, abandoning the idea of ​​trying it out, as it would expose another vital point to the outside and make it an anchor point.

"Then what should I do if I want to observe the situation in the real world?" Chen Qi asked again.

“You can stand on your tiptoes,” Menglong replied, “but be careful, it will increase the risk of exposing your anchor point.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi first stood up straight, and then carefully tiptoed.

His gaze passed through the white expanse, and the scene before him suddenly became richer; he saw the real world!

At this moment, his perspective was from the top of a cabinet in the laboratory, overlooking the entire laboratory, and the view was quite good.

It felt like a thief hiding on a roof beam, spying on someone.

Chen Qi just saw the surging crowd rushing into the laboratory. This familiar scene made him pause for a moment, then he realized what was going on.

These people are hoarding their food!
"I ate the source of pollution in the illusion, which is equivalent to being part of the source of pollution in reality."

"In other words, although I haven't eaten the fried rice yet, I've actually already taken a bite."

The laboratory was already packed with people, both inside and out, and more and more people were constantly arriving.

The entire Jinghai Medical College was drawn in and converged on this side.

However, these people guarding the food obviously posed no threat to Chen Qi, who was hiding in the mezzanine. Even if Chen Qi openly peeked, these people would not be able to see through his disguise.

Chen Qi looked at the egg fried rice in the corner. The bowl of golden egg fried rice was still sitting there, steaming hot.

Just then, the blue field spread out, covering the entire laboratory.

Inside the packed laboratory, the crowd suddenly parted to make way for them.

Upon seeing the blue area, Chen Qi knew that Sun Xuechao was coming.

These people guarding their food posed no threat to Chen Qigou; they could neither attack him hiding in the compartment nor take away his golden fried rice.

However, Sun Xuechao and Shiyan are different. The two of them may see through Chen Qi's disguise, or they may directly transfer the golden fried rice.

Chen Qi called Menglong almost without hesitation, asking him to help him escape from the mezzanine.

Chen Qi originally intended to search for the resurrection point and morgue in the mezzanine, but it now seems that there is not enough time.

But it doesn't matter. After merging with Menglong, entering the interlayer world won't be difficult for him. He should deal with Sun Xuechao and the Nightmare Eater first.

"get ready!"

Menglong shouted, and Chen Qi felt a force pushing him, making him emerge from the gap like a fish.

Chen Qi's goal was to make golden fried rice. He rushed to the lab table and picked up two long, thin pieces of experimental equipment.

Then, with a quick roll, it jumped to the side of the golden fried rice.

As soon as Chen Qi appeared, the bewildered food-guarding team immediately found their target and rushed towards Chen Qi like madmen.

But things are different now. At this moment, Chen Qi is no longer afraid of these ordinary food protectors.

The crimson domain, centered on Chen Qi, covered an area of ​​several meters around him.

At this moment, the domineering nature of Chen Qi's crimson domain became apparent, as it directly covered Sun Xuechao's blue domain within its range.

This is the suppression at the level of the Nightmare Clan, the fundamental reason for the hierarchy within the Nightmare Clan.

The first-generation Nightmare Clan's crimson domain can completely overwhelm the second-generation Nightmare Clan's blue domain in terms of level!
Chen Qi tried briefly to use the power of his domain to control the surrounding guardians, but it had no effect.

He wasn't surprised. The food protection mechanism had a high priority, and when ordinary people were controlled by it, the power of the domain often couldn't be effective.

However... the face cookies take higher priority!
Chen Qi took out a cookie with a ghost face on it and swallowed it.

The next moment, the food protectors who had pounced on his face suddenly turned around and changed their target, rushing towards Sun Xuechao and the Nightmare Eater who had just reached the door.

These people pose no threat to Sun Xuechao and the Nightmare Eater, but it would be enough if they could slightly hinder their progress.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Chen Qi picked up the fried rice on the ground and inserted the two long strips of experimental equipment that he had just picked up from the lab table into the rice.

He was holding a thermometer and a pipette.

That's right, he was planning to use these two things as chopsticks.

As a traditional Chinese person who has used chopsticks for over twenty years, Chen Qi says that when it comes to eating, there is no more suitable tool than chopsticks.

If you want to eat quickly, you still need chopsticks!
Spoons and spatulas have to take a backseat. Even if you grab food directly with your hands, it's impossible to be faster than chopsticks, and you might even drop rice grains.

Without any cutlery, he had to find it himself.

These two pieces of experimental equipment are passable and usable.

Chen Qi took a deep breath, held the bowl in one hand and the "chopsticks" in the other, and began to eat!
His hands moved quickly, the chopsticks flashing in the air, and his mouth opened wide to catch all the rice grains that the chopsticks swept out of the bowl.

In the blink of an eye, his mouth was filled with golden rice grains. Chen Qi quickly chewed a few bites, his mouth full of the aroma of rice.

The golden egg yolk coats the rice grains, and with each bite, the texture of each grain of rice is distinct.

The egg mixture gives the rice a crispy outer layer, while the rice inside is cooked to perfection—not dry or hard, but soft and chewy without being dry.

The overall texture is bouncy yet crispy, with a crispy exterior and a chewy interior.

After swallowing the rice in his mouth, Chen Qi seamlessly continued eating, opening his mouth again and bringing it to the edge of the bowl to shovel rice into his mouth!

At this moment, Sun Xuechao and the Nightmare finally broke through the encirclement of the food protection team and charged towards Chen Qi.

But Chen Qi didn't fight them head-on; he chose to take his food and run.

He moved through the laboratory, leaping across the lab tables, maneuvering alongside Sun Xuechao, and using the power of the Ghost Face Cookie to constantly summon more food protectors to stop the two.

Throughout this process, he never forgot to cook!

Chen Qi ate with all his might, his speed increasing rapidly, his chopsticks moving so fast that they were completely invisible.

He twirled his chopsticks, creating a whirlwind as he swept the rice from the bowl into his mouth.

Chen Qi's eating ability was enhanced; his mouth was like an abyss, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of rice.

The whirlwind chopstick spatula mouthpiece is shoveling in big mouthfuls!
eat!
Under such intense eating, a large bowl of fried rice was completely consumed by Chen Qi in the blink of an eye.

The bowl was completely empty; not a single grain of rice remained.

Chen Qi licked his lips, still wanting more.

And he could vaguely sense a power accumulating within his body, searching for a breakthrough.

He understood that his abilities were about to undergo a second qualitative leap!
(End of this chapter)