Fear of food

Chapter 145 Haunted House
Sun Ya Shan is just an inconspicuous little mountain in the countryside of Jinghai City, located right on the border with the neighboring city.

If Chen Qi hadn't seen the road sign before coming in, he wouldn't even have known the name of this mountain.

However, this desolate mountain is no longer recognizable as it once was. It is covered with various weed-like fleshy sprouts, and at a glance, it looks like a mountain full of reddish-brown fungi.

These are all changes that have occurred after the pollution escalated. Fortunately, this is just a barren mountain with not much vegetation to begin with. If it were a densely forested area, who knows how it would have been transformed.

Monroe linked arms with Chen Qi, and the two strolled leisurely up the mountain. Chen Qi could only follow Monroe's pace, knowing that she wasn't in a hurry and probably wanted to wait until things settled down before heading over.

Not long after, the two of them looked up at the same time, looking at a drone overhead.

Immediately afterwards, one drone after another flew overhead...

Chen Qi immediately understood that his teammates must have received his distress call.

"Looks like we've been found out." Monroe smiled amusedly, tilting her head to look at Chen Qi. "Did you tip us off, Master?"

Chen Qi, expressionless, retorted, "Do you think I have a chance?"

He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was on high alert, secretly preparing for battle.

The drone hovered overhead for a moment before leaving, but Chen Qi was certain they had located his position.

Because Sun Yat Mountain is bare, the two of them were quite conspicuous walking on the mountain.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Chen Qi suddenly heard a loud noise behind him.

boom!
A wave of heat came from behind. Chen Qi turned around and saw two figures appear in the flames of the explosion.

Two second-generation Nightmare Parasites!
This must be the person who was actually escorting him, who had been hiding behind them the whole time.

However, it seems their location was detected by a drone.

Faced with the sudden attack, Chen Qi instantly understood what had happened, decisively distanced himself from Monroe, and ran forward.

At the foot of the mountain, behind abandoned houses, a group of people who had been hiding finally revealed themselves.

"biscuit!"

Chasing Wind and Big Pancake waved to Chen Qi, Coffee, Peanut and others nodded to him, and there were many other unfamiliar faces that Chen Qi did not recognize...

Unexpectedly, more people came to rescue him than he had imagined.

Monroe leaped into the air and chased after Chen Qi. Xu An'an suddenly appeared from some corner and fired a rocket at Monroe.

Another loud bang, and Marilyn Monroe was engulfed in flames.

But Chen Qi hadn't run far when he stumbled and fell to the ground.

At this moment, the roar of the dragon kept echoing in his mind: "You actually betrayed us!"

Having already gained partial control over his body, Menglong could completely interfere with Chen Qi's actions.

For example, if one of his legs suddenly stopped working while he was running, it would be enough to make Chen Qi fall.

Chen Qi only felt a blur before his eyes, and Zhui Feng had already run up to him, picked him up, and returned to the crowd.

At this moment, the speed of the wind chasing was a level higher than before.

The three nightmare parasites, including Marilyn Monroe, had their bodies blown to pieces, but they began to rapidly regenerate.

Clearly, firearms alone are unlikely to pose a threat to parasites of their caliber.

The others also raised their guns and opened fire.

But from that point on, the bullets all missed their mark and ended up in the surrounding soil.

"The Nightmare Clan's illusionary interference makes it impossible to target them!"

However, at this moment, Coffee raised his pistol and fired three shots in quick succession, hitting each of the three men. Their reconstructed bodies trembled violently, as if they had been interrupted for a moment.

Not only is coffee unaffected by hallucinations, but it can also directly harm the Nightmare Clan's true form.

This made the three of them, including Marilyn Monroe, look wary.

The official ability users were well-trained and had silently surrounded Monroe and her two companions to prevent their escape.

Although firearms cannot be aimed, those who appear here are all ability users. Once they use their abilities to fight, or are bombarded with firearms, they will be a headache for the enemy.

An attack involving coffee, in particular, could pose a significant threat to their lives.

If this were in the Dream Contaminated Zone, Monroe and the others would have plenty of ways to escape or even fight back. But unfortunately, this is the territory of the Nightmare Eaters, which not only cannot help them, but also weakens their strength to some extent.

"Biscuit, how are you? Are you alright?" Big Pancake came over and asked with concern.

Chen Qi shook his head, trying to get up, but failed several times.

He finally understood what it felt like when your body wouldn't obey you.

No matter what action he wants to take, as long as the key parts of his body don't obey him, he can be stopped from moving.

They can't even do something as simple as getting up.

Chen Qi understood that he had to have a serious talk with Meng Long and find a way to calm him down first.

Otherwise, he can only lie there and do nothing; not attacking his teammates is probably the limit he can manage.

"Cease fire!" Chen Qi shouted.

At his signal, the people around him stopped firing, though they couldn't have hit them anyway. The only one who could pose a threat to the Nightmare Clan with firearms was Coffee.

The two sides faced off, but Marilyn Monroe showed no other emotion, remaining calm as she said:
“You can take him away, but he’s out of control now and is just a ticking time bomb for you.”

What she said made sense; Chen Qi was indeed gradually losing control of his body.

In the end, he only had half control over his body. If Menglong intended to harm the people around him, he certainly couldn't be completely foolproof.

Among the officials around, some clearly showed signs of wariness.

Chen Qi did not respond to Marilyn Monroe, but instead negotiated with Monroe.

“I’m not doing this to your Nightmare Clan. I just want to regain my freedom. But there’s no point in us dragging this out.”

"Think about it, even if you had half control over my body, if I kept making things difficult for you like you are now, what could you possibly accomplish?"

"Therefore, there is only one path before us, and that is cooperation!"

Menglong suppressed his anger and said, "We have already shown our sincerity in cooperating with you, but now you have betrayed us first."

"You call that cooperation?" Chen Qi scoffed. "Using my father as a hostage and imprisoning me, is that cooperation? Is this your sincerity?"

"Cooperation is based on fairness, but your Nightmare Clan has never treated me or the entire human race as equals."

Menglong was silent for a moment before asking, "What do you want to do?"

“It’s very simple. I have no intention of being an enemy of your Nightmare Clan. I just want to gain my freedom and rescue my parents. For this, I can even accept coexisting with you.”

“I could easily kill Monroe and the others right now. You should be able to tell that my teammates have the ability to do so. But to show my sincerity, I can let them go.”

"What I want is for you to stop causing me trouble and cooperate with my actions." Menglong didn't agree immediately, but said, "You need to tell me what you plan to do before I can consider whether to agree."

Chen Qi promised, "Don't worry, I won't rush into the battle between your two races. My next step is to complete my second qualitative leap in ability!"

Menglong was taken aback, not expecting that this was the first thing Chen Qi wanted to do.

"Your Nightmare Clan promised to bring me to Jinghai City to find the source of pollution so that I could undergo a qualitative change in my abilities, but after we arrived, you kept making excuses, so I had no choice but to do it myself."

“Okay, I can cooperate with you on this,” Menglong agreed.

This was something they had planned to do.

“But…” Menglong changed the subject, “After your ability undergoes its second qualitative change, you won’t use it to deal with my people, will you?”

Chen Qi smiled and said, "I wish more people from your Nightmare Clan and Nightmare Eater Clan would die. I have no interest in getting involved in your war. I just want to find my other half."

This also meets Menglong's needs; he also wants Chen Qi's two bodies to be reunited.

It seemed that everything Chen Qi wanted to do was what he wanted to do, and he had no reason not to agree.

The key point is that even if he agrees, he can always back out later.

“Alright, if it’s just these two things, I can cooperate with you. Now let my people leave.”

After reaching an agreement with Menglong, Chen Qi finally stood up.

He said to Monroe and the other two, "Monroe and I have already agreed to let you leave. You can go now."

After saying that, he gestured for Peanut to release the person.

Peanut did not question Chen Qi's decision and opened the encirclement to let Monroe and the other two leave.

"We can talk on the way. Take me to Jinghai Amusement Park first," Chen Qi hurriedly instructed.

"Get in the car." Zhui Feng pointed to the armored vehicle next to him. "I'll drive and give you a taste of speed and passion."

Today, Jinghai City is filled with mutated flesh and blood tissue, and ordinary vehicles can no longer drive normally on the roads.

Only vehicles with strong off-road capabilities can barely serve as a means of transportation.

Chen Qi immediately got into the car, and at his request, only a few acquaintances escorted him to Jinghai Amusement Park, while the official combat teams continued to carry out other missions.

With the invasion of the Nightmare Clan, the entire Jinghai City was thrown into chaos, and there was a severe shortage of manpower.

Although Jinghai Amusement Park is a Class A polluted area, Chen Qi estimated that now should be the time when the challenge is the least difficult.

Because of the invasion of the Nightmare Clan, the Nightmare-Eating Parasites could only retreat and defend, and there should be very few parasites left in Jinghai Paradise.

Chen Qi was able to take advantage of the situation by going to absorb the pollution source at this time.

On the way, Chen Qi told his teammates about what had happened to him in the past month.

Although Chen Qi spoke lightly, everyone could sense the danger and difficulty involved.

We now know just how much risk Chen Qi took!

Everyone knows that cooperating with the Nightmare Clan is like asking a tiger for its skin, but Chen Qi had no choice.

However, the idea of ​​one soul in two bodies still shocked them.

"You mean there's another you in Jinghai City?"

“That’s right, it’s at Jinghai Medical College. Once things are settled here, I plan to go to Jinghai Medical College to merge the two bodies.”

Knowing that Chen Qi had a nightmare inside him that could affect his behavior, his teammates were shocked, but they didn't feel comfortable asking too many questions about sensitive topics.

The group simply recounted their experiences during the month Chen Qi had been missing.

To Chen Qi's surprise, after the pollution in Jinghai City escalated, the "Jinghai Foraging Team" had already completed its second qualitative leap in capabilities!
While the strong support from the authorities played a part, the teammates clearly also put in a lot of effort.

Especially for Chasing the Wind, the smoother the early game goes, the more difficult the later game becomes.

They had taken off during the food delivery war and had already eaten high-end food four times before the pollution escalated.

However, after the pollution escalated, order collapsed in Jinghai City, and the food delivery business disappeared completely.

All ordinary people are feeding on the various flesh and blood tissues that grow on the outside; nobody orders takeout.

Therefore, in order to ensure that Zhui Feng could successfully complete his second qualitative leap in ability, the official team went to great lengths to create takeout orders for him.

Despite the extremely poor road conditions, Chase Wind still drove incredibly fast.

After his first qualitative leap in ability, his physical speed and reaction speed improved, and his micro-management skills while driving were far beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

Not long after, the car stopped at the entrance of Jinghai Amusement Park.

"arrive!"

Chen Qi got off the car with his teammates and looked at the gate of Jinghai Amusement Park in front of him, feeling somewhat dazed.

Crimson flesh and blood covered the Jinghai Amusement Park signboard like ivy, with thick, bloody liquid dripping down and emitting a putrid odor.

At first glance, the entire amusement park looks like a large haunted house.

It was nothing like the Jinghai Paradise he remembered.

There was no one coming and going or laughter in the park. The amusement park had long since ceased operations. All that could be seen were people kneeling on the ground, crawling on the walls and gnawing on flesh and blood.

Chen Qi's teammates shielded him in the middle: "Leave it to us this time. We can't let Biscuit always be the one charging into battle."

Chen Qi smiled and did not refuse his teammates' kindness.

He believed that with his teammates' current abilities, they were capable of handling all the crises within Jinghai Amusement Park.

In fact, just as Chen Qi had predicted, the danger level of Jinghai Amusement Park has now been reduced to the extreme.

As Chen Qi and his group walked in, they only encountered two "family-level" parasites along the way.

Before Chen Qi could make a move, he was taken down by Da Bing and Zhui Feng.

After the second qualitative change in his abilities, Big Cake finally obtained the combat ability he had always dreamed of.

Now that he has become "one with his dog," the golden retriever will undergo a certain degree of mutation, essentially transforming into a mutated demonic dog with considerable combat power.

Although it can't compare to when he unleashes his ultimate move, it has the advantage of being consistent and stable over time.

The second qualitative change in Zhui Feng's abilities was nothing fancy; it simply enhanced his speed and reaction speed—simple yet powerful.

The current Wind Chaser is comparable to a weakened version of the Flash. Although he is not as fast as lightning, his speed is already quite amazing, and he can be called the "Wind Chaser".

With his teammates' protection, Chen Qi successfully explored most of Jinghai Amusement Park and finally found his target!
In the past, he would transform any high-quality food sources he found into high-quality wild food, but this time, the one who appeared here was Chen Qi, the Dream Thief.

The pollutants were not converted into food, but rather absorbed into the area they covered.

"That's... a haunted house?"

(End of this chapter)