Fear of food

Chapter 142 Finding Opportunities in Both Sides
When Chen Qi arrived at the amusement park with three batteries in his hand, he immediately felt that the three amusement rides inside the park were responding to the batteries in his hand.

Chen Qi vaguely understood that the battery was used to enhance the amusement facilities in the park.

However, as it is a disposable item, Chen Qi certainly wouldn't use it for casual testing; it's enough for him to keep it in mind.

"Where can I get the next advanced Dream Source?" Chen Qi asked Meng Long directly in his mind.

He knew that although Menglong was inside his body, he still maintained contact with other Nightmare Clan members in the dream world, so he was certainly clear about the subsequent arrangements.

“No rush.” Menglong’s tone was filled with undisguised joy. “You should rest for a while. Menglu has already taken people to help you find a high-level dream world that suits you.”

For dream thieves to absorb dream fragments, simply having them isn't enough; the scene must also fit.

We must find a dream scene that perfectly matches Chen Qi's amusement park setting; otherwise, it will be a waste of Chen Qi's potential.

The Nightmare Clan knew that Chen Qi was very powerful, but when Chen Qi completed his first qualitative leap in ability, he still gave them a great surprise.

Chen Qi's safe house is ridiculously powerful, and the key is his ability to forcibly absorb people into the safe house, which is even more abnormal!
That's why Menglong was so happy, because in his view, the stronger Chen Qi was, the stronger he was.

The Nightmare Clan also placed greater emphasis on Chen Qi's choice of dream fragments.

"alright."

Chen Qi also knew that this matter could not be rushed. It was no longer just about upgrading the existing facilities in the amusement park, but about adding new amusement facilities!
The selection of each amusement ride is crucial and must be made carefully.

So Chen Qi had some free time and spent his days wandering around the interdimensional world, hoping to discover something.

However, he soon discovered that the Nightmare Clan had used some kind of illusion in the interlayered world, and he kept wandering around in the same area.

So in the end, he returned to the dream world, wandering around Chang Le City's dream world every day, as if he were playing an open-world game, with a map the size of a city for him to explore at will.

A few days later, Chen Qi's body in Jinghai City was finally successfully resurrected!

Meanwhile, in Chang Le City, the fragments of Nightmare's consciousness were finally exhausted. After giving Menglong a final greeting, it fell silent.

The same thing happened in Jinghai City. The two sides that were arguing endlessly in Chen Qi's mind suddenly went silent.

It turned out that the fragments of Menglong's consciousness had also dissipated.

Now Chen Qi no longer has to listen to the two Nightmare Clan members arguing in his head!
The world is finally quiet.

……

Jinghai City.

At the resurrection point of the Nightmare Eater Clan.

Chen Qi suddenly woke up and felt his own heartbeat again after a long time.

In fact, he had been conscious for a long time and had been waiting for his body to be revived.

Chen Qi had already figured out what to do after his resurrection. There was nothing more to say, so he just went for it!

In Chang Le City, he feigned friendship with the Nightmare Clan because he was too weak to resist.

But in Jinghai City, he had already broken ties with the Nightmare Eater Clan, and they had fought countless battles, big and small.

I believe the Nightmare Eater Clan will no longer be polite to him and will definitely do everything in their power to suppress him.

Despite being mentally prepared, Chen Qi was still startled when he opened his eyes!
The entire respawn point was swarming with parasites, completely surrounding him!

There were also a few familiar faces standing near the front.

Sun Xuechao, Huang Jihai, and some other high-level parasites whose photos have been seen in official documents...

Almost all of the Nightmare Clan's high-end combat forces in Jinghai City were mobilized.

At the respawn point, no parasites could be found respawning.

After Jinghai City entered the second stage of pollution, officials and other phantom eaters fled the city.

Even when they turned back, they were very careful and there were basically no battles.

This resulted in no parasites dying for a long time, so naturally no one needed to be resurrected.

And those parasites that were waiting to be resurrected have already been resurrected.

After all, no one's resurrection period is longer than Chen Qi's.

Therefore, it was equivalent to clearing out all the resurrection points, turning them into a cage to imprison Chen Qi. A group of high-level parasites gathered here, hoping to trap him like a turtle in a jar.

As a pagan, Chen Qi underwent two qualitative leaps in his abilities, making his powers a natural counter to the Nightmare Clan.

However, the enemy's strength has significantly improved, and their numbers have increased many times over!
After the pollution escalated, the parasites' strength increased significantly, something Chen Qi hadn't yet personally experienced.

Even if their strength hadn't improved, their sheer numbers were enough to make Chen Qi feel troubled.

Most importantly, when Chen Qi looked down at his body, he realized that his hands and feet had long been restrained.

Liquid-like flesh grew from the wall behind him, binding his hands and feet tightly to the wall.

One of the tentacles pierced through his chest and connected directly to his heart.

When Chen Qi tried to break free of his restraints, he found it difficult; the flesh and blood that imprisoned him were not only tough, but also flowed like water.

It not only removes the force he exerts, but also continuously repairs itself.

His explosive power was not enough to completely break free from all the restraints, so he could only be endlessly entangled by these confinements, with no possibility of escape.

Since he couldn't break free, Chen Qi thought of using his "absorption" ability to directly attack these parasites. However, just as he was about to exert his strength, he felt a sharp pain in his heart and a feeling of powerlessness.

It's like a machine about to start working, only to have its circuit cut off.

Chen Qi was also forcibly "interrupted from casting the spell".

Clearly, the Nightmare Eater clan had considered all aspects and was very wary of him.

Chen Qi, who had originally planned to cause a great disturbance in the Heavenly Palace, immediately became obedient.

Chen Qi adhered to the principle of "if you can't beat them, cooperate," and shook his head and sighed at Sun Xuechao, who stood in the center among the parasites:
"We're all old acquaintances, why are you so wary of me? I'm here this time to discuss cooperation with sincerity."

Sun Xuechao crossed his arms and said with great interest, "Tell me about it."

Chen Qi gritted his teeth and said, "The Nightmare Clan has gone too far! Not only did they imprison me, but they also took my father hostage, forcing me to accept their parasitism and obey their arrangements to become a Dream Thief."

“There, I had no freedom at all; I became their puppet, at their mercy.”

Sun Xuechao looked puzzled: "Why do I feel like you're subtly criticizing our Nightmare Eater clan?"

What Chen Qi said is exactly what their Nightmare Eater clan has already done and is planning to do.

"That's not important," Chen Qi shook his head. "What I want is revenge! I want to help your Nightmare Eater clan fight against the Nightmare Clan!"

"That sounds nice, but they just want to use us to deal with the Nightmare Clan!" a Nightmare-Eating Parasite exposed.

Chen Qi smiled: "Does it matter who's using whom? Aren't the Nightmare Clan our common enemy? Since we're talking about cooperation, I'll naturally show my sincerity. I believe you can't refuse the conditions I offer." "I intend to accept your previous proposal and cooperate with you to complete the parasitism. From now on, I and your first generation of Nightmare Eaters will jointly control this body, each of us having half the control!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the parasites present all changed slightly: "Really?"

The first generation of Nightmare Clan members had long since parasitized Chen Qi's body, but they had remained in the early stages of parasitism and had not yet truly merged with Chen Qi.

Without Chen Qi's cooperation, the parasitism process could not be advanced, and the Nightmare Clan even overtook them and began to merge with Chen Qi first.

Now that Chen Qi has finally relented and is willing to lower his guard and actively merge with the Nightmare Eater, it is indeed an offer they cannot refuse.

The Nightmare Eater inside Chen Qi was overjoyed and excitedly asked, "Chen Qi, you're not kidding, are you?"

"Of course, I mean what I say!" Chen Qi replied both in his heart and aloud.

Half control of the body—that's what the Nightmare Eater has always wanted. But no matter how much he threatened or bribed Chen Qi, or what conditions he was promised, Chen Qi remained unmoved.

But now, Chen Qi readily agreed.

It's simply because the situation has changed, and things are different from before.

In fact, during the days he was waiting to be resurrected, Chen Qi had already decided to hand over half of his control over his body.

For no other reason than to maintain a balance of power!

The reason we didn't cooperate before was because we didn't want to be controlled by the Nightmare Clan.

But now he has been split in two, one half in the hands of the Nightmare Eater and the other half in the hands of the Nightmare, which means that neither side can truly control him.

When he cooperated with the Nightmare Clan, he offered the same conditions, and now his body, which is far away in Chang Le City, is indeed gradually being taken over by Meng Long.

In the end, Menglong will completely merge with his soul, which is equivalent to the two of them each holding half of the body.

Therefore, Jinghai City should also make appropriate progress.

Only when both sides are evenly matched will he have room to maneuver.

This would not only gain him the trust of the Nightmare Eaters and lower their guard against him, but also balance the power between the two sides and prepare him for his subsequent escape.

Chen Qi was certainly unwilling to be a prisoner of the Nightmare Clan for the rest of his life. To regain his freedom, he had to take risks.

In fact, after his body in Jinghai City was resurrected, the Nightmare Clan in Changle City had already taken action.

After the Nightmare Eater's consciousness fragments dissipated, Monroe found him and said that the Nightmare Clan had planned to go to Jinghai City to reclaim his other half of body and soul.

Although Chen Qi now has two bodies, the soul of each body is actually incomplete.

The strength that the Nightmare Clan can unleash depends on the degree to which their souls are integrated with those of humans.

Even if half of a soul is fully integrated, it cannot truly unleash its full potential.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for the Nightmare Clan to be concerned about Chen Qi's other half of his soul.

Similarly, once the Nightmare Eaters control his body, they will also covet Chen Qi, who is in the hands of the Nightmare Eaters.

Regardless of whether the Nightmare Eater Clan ultimately prevails or the Nightmare Clan prevails, it seems that Chen Qi's two bodies eventually reuniting is an inevitable trend.

Therefore, Chen Qicai needs to prepare early, take the initiative to lower his guard, and accept the fusion of the Nightmare Eater.

This way, when the two bodies merge in the future, he will have the strength to fight against Menglong.

"It's said that it gives Nightmare Eater half of the control, but in reality it's only half of half, which is a quarter."

"It's the same with Menglong. The two of them together only have half the power, but they are mortal enemies and it's impossible for them to cooperate."

"So in the end, I am the largest 'shareholder', owning half of the shares and having the greatest say."

"After the two bodies merge, I will become the true master of this body!"

It was with this in mind that Chen Qi accepted the fusion with the Nightmare Eater.

Even if the Nightmare Eaters see through his intentions, it doesn't matter, because they can't refuse!

After Chen Qi offered these conditions, the atmosphere at the respawn point immediately eased.

However, they did not release Chen Qi immediately. Instead, they made Chen Qi fulfill his promise and begin to merge with the Nightmare Eater.

This process will also take several days. Sun Xuechao promised to let Chen Qi leave the resurrection point once the fusion progress exceeds 20%.

The happiest person was undoubtedly Chen Qinei, who was eating nightmares.

Previously, Menglong beat him to the punch, allowing him to break through his defenses. Now, he has finally succeeded in merging with Chen Qi and is about to master the true strength of the Nightmare Clan!

Otherwise, despite his noble status as a member of the Nightmare Clan, he was merely clinging to life within Chen Qi's body, unable to unleash any of his power, which was truly frustrating.

When people are in high spirits, even Shi Yan became more talkative today, taking the initiative to discuss with Chen Qi:

"I've decided on my name, how about 'Taotie'?"

"It feels very fitting for me. In your human mythology, the Taotie is known for its voracious appetite, which is very much in line with the image of our Nightmare Eater clan."

Chen Qi poured cold water on the idea: "I don't think it's very good. It doesn't sound right, it doesn't sound nice, and it's not friendly at all. Calling him Taotie is not as good as calling him Liangzi."

"Ryoko?"

"That's right, look, don't the characters for 'Taotie' both have the character 'liang' at the bottom? And the character for 'food' in your Nightmare Eater clan also has 'liang' at the bottom, doesn't it?"

"That's right! I hadn't noticed until you said it. It seems like I have a special connection with this character."

"Moreover, the word itself means 'good'."

"But I don't think 'Liangzi' sounds very good."

"Then let's call him 'A Liang'."

"Ah Liang? Okay, that sounds much better."

So, after being persuaded by Chen Qi, the name "Nightmare Eater" was decided.

Meanwhile, in Chang Le City, Chen Qi's other body, under Meng Lu's arrangement, quickly absorbed two high-level dream sources.

He has now absorbed five high-level dream sources, and only needs one more A-level dream source to undergo the second qualitative change in his ability.

Monroe had actually found these two high-level dream sources a few days ago, but she deliberately waited until the fragments of Nightmare's consciousness dissipated before letting Chen Qi absorb them.

"I've also found this sixth high-grade Dream Source for you, but it's not in our Chang Le City; you'll have to go on a long trip." Monroe's smile carried a hint of slyness.

"Where to?" Chen Qi asked.

"You know Jinghai Amusement Park in Jinghai City, right? We're going to Jinghai City anyway, so let's stop by there."

(End of this chapter)