Fear of food

Seeing this, Chen Qi found it amusing and stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "He and I were just having dinner at a friend's house."

The security guard asked suspiciously, "You're not a food delivery guy either, are you? Part of a food delivery gang?"

Zhui Feng laughed: "How come you've developed occupational hazards at such a young age? You see everyone as a food delivery guy?"

In the end, it was the security guard who contacted the coffee shop owner, and Chen Qi and his companion were finally allowed to pass.

Zhui Feng muttered, "That's why I don't like delivering food. I get harassed by these guys every day."

Chen Qi asked curiously, "Brother Zhuifeng, what did you do for a living before?"

"Security guard."

Chen Qi was speechless. It didn't seem that it was so hard to accept that he had switched from being a security guard to a delivery rider.
Zhui Feng immediately guessed what Chen Qi was thinking and shook his head, saying, "You don't understand. It's not about how much money you make, or how easy or hard it is. Before, when I was a security guard, I was the nemesis of delivery riders. Now that I'm a delivery rider, I'm at the mercy of security guards. It's about my position in the food chain."

Chen Qi really didn't understand.

The two soon arrived at the gate of the coffee shop.

Coffee and the other group members were already waiting for them here.

"Of all the times I've come, today is the most grand. Everyone's come out to greet me!" Zhui Feng was flattered.

Coffee rolled her eyes at him: "What's it to you? If you hadn't come with Biscuit, I would have had security stop you outside."

Coffee was holding the hand of a six or seven-year-old boy, who was fair-skinned and staring at Chen Qi with wide, curious eyes.

"Call me Uncle." Coffee squeezed the boy's hand.

"Big brother!" The boy rushed over and hugged Chen Qi's trouser leg.

He actually remembered that it was Chen Qi who rescued him from that bus.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"Come in and have a seat," Coffee invited Chen Qi into the house. "Every time you come to my house before, I always ask you to bring your own food, but today I've prepared a lot of good dishes."

Chen Qi led the way into the house. He had a vague feeling that although it was supposed to be a dinner party, everyone seemed to revolve around him.

It seemed like they were treating him specially.

He could understand, after all, he had saved the families of the group members, so it was normal for them to be grateful to him.

"Auntie, please serve the food. All the guests have arrived."

Coffee gave the order, and several servants immediately began serving the dishes.

Chen Qi was playing with the coffee shop's kids when he turned his head and saw Xu An'an staring at him. He asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Xu An'an shook her head: "I just feel like you're a little different."

"What's the difference?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it. After going through so much, you must have changed a lot. But today, I feel like I'm seeing a reflection of my former self in you again."

She recalled when she first met Chen Qi a few months ago. Although he was suffering from food poisoning, he was still an optimistic and positive young man overall.

In the short few months that followed, Chen Qi experienced so much, growing at a rapid pace. As he matured, he also made them feel distant and somewhat unfamiliar with him.

However, today, that sense of unfamiliarity disappeared, and Xu An'an seemed to see again the big boy who had shamelessly asked her for her WeChat a few months ago.

"Maybe it's because I've rediscovered my humanity," Chen Qi chuckled. "How have you been lately? Are you planning to pick up your studies again, or look for a job?"

Xu An'an clearly had a plan in mind, and replied without hesitation, "I don't plan to go to school or find a job."

Chen Qi was somewhat surprised: "Then you..."

"I'm waiting for a job to come to me."

Chen Qi understood: "You mean the official side?"

“That’s right,” Xu An’an analyzed. “You’ve cleaned up all the pollution in the country, so no new ability users will be born in the future. In other words, the number of ability users in the country will only decrease, not increase. All of us existing ability users will definitely be recruited.”

Chen Qi couldn't help but chuckle: "You've got a good plan. As rare talents, your treatment will definitely be good. And even though there's no pollution in the country, the nation still needs to build up its forces to prevent the Nightmare Clan from invading again from abroad."

"Even if I were to eliminate all pollution in the world later, we ability users would become extinct and there would be no more of us, so we have no worries about having no future."

Their conversation also attracted other group members to join the discussion.

As the group sat down to eat, they started chatting about this topic.

Zhui Feng joked, "So, according to you, we're the ones who have benefited from the era's dividends?"

Gan Shui nodded seriously and said, "You could say that. In fact, someone from the authorities has already contacted me, and I believe they will contact you soon as well."

Big Pancake asked with great interest, "How so? What are the benefits like? Is it a permanent position? Does it include the five social insurances and one housing fund, and weekends off?"

Swill shook his head: "I didn't ask in detail, I just said I needed to think about it. That's why I was planning to discuss it with you guys at this gathering."

Momo, who had been silent the whole time and was even quieter than Xu An'an, spoke up at this moment:

"The benefits are pretty good. I've already been formally employed, so I don't have much to do for the time being, and my hours are quite flexible."

Zhui Feng laughed: "So, in that case, we don't have to worry about jobs anymore; we'll be directly given permanent positions."

Coffee looked thoughtful before speaking: "If the authorities recruit you, try to accept if you're interested. Even if you don't want to go, show your willingness to cooperate and try to maintain a friendly relationship with the authorities."

"The government's early recruitment of all ability users is not only to prevent the Nightmare Clan from invading again, but also to prepare for the future and prevent social unrest that ability users may cause later."

Chen Qi was focused on solving the Nightmare Clan problem and hadn't thought about this aspect yet.

Hearing coffee say that now, I immediately thought of many things.

Even if he successfully solves the problem of the Nightmare Clan worldwide, it doesn't mean the world can return to what it was before.

The pollution receded, but it left behind countless individuals with special abilities.

These humans with superpowers will become the biggest threat to the future.

If a person with special abilities, especially a powerful one, goes down the path of crime, it will be very difficult for ordinary police officers in law enforcement agencies to bring them to justice.

The only way is to use ability users to fight ability users.

That's why the country is now trying to recruit all capable individuals, in order to build up strength for the future.

Even those who are unwilling to join the official ranks will definitely be included in the official surveillance list.

Zhui Feng suddenly realized: "So, the reason they recruited us is to prevent us from breaking the law and committing crimes, and also to deal with those capable individuals who might break the law in the future."

Gan Shui said, "That's understandable. Our domestic security is already very good. It's foreseeable that things will be chaotic abroad in the future, and a lot of trouble will happen." Everyone nodded. Apart from Coffee, most of the people present would probably join the official group.

Coffee mainly has a fortune to manage, but with her intelligence, I believe she will definitely handle the relationship with the authorities well.

Chen Qi didn't think too much about this. In any case, the pollution still had to be cleared up, and the Nightmare Clan had to be eliminated or sent back to their homeland.

After a satisfying meal, everyone gathered together to chat, and they also talked about Chen Qi's future plans.

Chen Qi also truthfully informed his teammates of his current findings.

"My next plan is to capture more Nightmare Clan members and send them to the Nightmare Clan world. However, all the Nightmare Clan members in China have fled, so I can only capture them abroad. I'm not sure which country I'll go to yet."

Coffee suggested, "Let's go to India next door."

Chen Qi had actually considered it, but he was mainly uncomfortable with the Indians, so he didn't really want to go.

As is well known, pollution levels are divided into four levels: light, moderate, heavy, and India.

Coffee analyzed: "India is a populous country. A large population means a high level of pollution and a serious degree of pollution, which in turn means a large number of Nightmare Clan members."

"Moreover, India has gathered all three types of Nightmare Clan, allowing you to capture all three types of Nightmare Clan within a single country."

Gan Shui said, "It is said that many of the Nightmare Clan members who evacuated from our country have moved to India."

Xu An'an also said, "The most densely populated areas are basically all around us. Even if you don't want to go to India, you can only go to some neighboring countries that are similar to it."

Chen Qi sighed, "It seems I have no choice but to go."

my country and its neighbor India are both super-populated countries, with a combined population exceeding one-third of the world's total population.

Therefore, it is conceivable that, looking at the whole world, these two countries are the two regions most severely polluted by the Nightmare Clan.

Now, all the Nightmare Clan members in China have fled to India. It can be said that India has gathered more than one-third of the Nightmare Clan's power in the world!
Even if we don't consider that it would be more convenient to capture the Nightmare Clan there, we still have to go there to eliminate the hidden danger.

There's a latrine right next to my house, so I definitely have to clean it up, otherwise it might explode one day and I'll get covered in poop.
-
Chen Qi only rested at home for one day before setting off for India the next day.

Upon arrival, embassy staff personally greeted Chen Qi and briefed him on the current situation in India.

“It’s uncontrollable, completely out of control!” a lean middle-aged man sighed. “Now, in India, the government has completely given up resisting, and the pollution is growing wildly and is completely out of control.”

"They've given up resistance just like that?" Chen Qi asked in surprise. "They didn't even try, and they just gave up?"

It should be noted that humans are not entirely without the power to resist the Nightmare Clan.

At the very least, there's still the option of mutual destruction.

India also possesses mushroom bombs.

Are they afraid that the mushroom bomb might fail to launch or miss its target and blow themselves up?

This is indeed something that Third Brother would do.

Even if we use this to threaten the Nightmare Clan or negotiate something, we can at least put up a fight and try to gain some benefits for ourselves.

It's better than just stripping naked and lying on the ground, letting the Nightmare Clan do whatever they want, right?

The middle-aged man shook his head: "You don't understand the thought process of Indians. Don't say you don't understand; actually, even after working here for so many years, I don't really understand it either."

"I've actually talked to them about this. Their current idea is to give up resistance and adopt a 'herd immunity' policy, believing that the pollution cannot infect everyone and that a solution will naturally emerge in the future."

"Their country has nearly 1.5 billion people. They think that they can let the Nightmare Clan pollute, control, and parasitize them. Even if 500 million or even 1 billion people fall into their clutches, the rest of the people will not resist or cooperate. They will protest by going on hunger strikes. Sooner or later, the Nightmare Clan will become their Indian slaves."

Chen Qi didn't understand, but he was greatly shocked.

What kind of person could come up with this method?
That guy is a genius!

Perhaps in the eyes of some of them, only 100 million out of 1.5 billion people can be considered human.

Maybe not that many.

The uncle said with a wry smile, "What's most frustrating is that many of the common people at the bottom of society actually believe that being parasitized is an honor, that they have been chosen by 'gods' and possessed."

"Many people try every means to become parasites, and some people pretend to be parasites even though they are not parasites, and profit from it."

Chen Qi cursed, "What kind of freaks are these!"

The older man agreed, saying, "It is indeed bizarre, but if you learn more about the history of this country, you might not find it strange at all."

"The people of India have little fighting spirit or resistance. When they encounter an opponent stronger than themselves, they will only put their hands together and beg for mercy. Their greatest skill is to accept their fate and believe that the more suffering they endure, the better they will be reborn in the next life."

"Therefore, the Nightmare Clan in India has developed into a situation that is completely different from that of other countries."

“In other countries, the Nightmare Clan creates contaminated zones and divides their own territories. Different types of Nightmare Clan are clearly distinct and hostile to each other.”

"But in India, because the Nightmare Clan's pollution spreads too easily and the population is highly concentrated in large slums, the three Nightmare Clans have now formed a state of 'cohabitation'."

"Co-ed accommodation?" Chen Qi looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

The uncle explained, "Although the Nightmare of Love, Nightmare of Dreams, and Nightmare of Food in India do not cooperate, they are not hostile like other countries. They have given up dividing up territory and are all huddled together, each absorbing the desire energy they need."

"You can find all three types of Nightmare Clan members in one slum!"

Chen Qi chuckled: "The Indian Empire is truly a magical land. Even the Nightmare Clan seems to have been affected after arriving here."

The three major Nightmare Clans live together peacefully in one area, something that is impossible even in the Nightmare Clan world, yet it has miraculously happened in this land of India.

However, this made things convenient for Chen Qi, as he could go directly to the slums and capture all three types of Nightmare Clan members at once.

"Then I won't bother you any longer, let's get started."

Chen Qi didn't want to stay in this country any longer; he just wanted to get things settled and return home as soon as possible.

The older man warned, "You need to be careful. I don't know if it's because the Nightmare Clan from China has come here and affected the local balance, but the Nightmare Clan here has been much more active lately. It looks like they're planning something big."

Chen Qi felt that it might not be that simple.

Before he went abroad, he learned the latest intelligence from the authorities.

In fact, it's not just India; in recent days, the Nightmare Clan around the world has become noticeably more active, "doing things" more frequently, seemingly trying to expand the contaminated area and upgrade the contamination.

Chen Qi believes this is related to his closing of the passage connecting to the Nightmare Clan world.

Without the energy supply from the Nightmare Clan's world, all the polluted areas in the world must become self-sufficient.

When income cannot cover expenses, the only option is to squeeze more energy from human desires. (End of Chapter)