Douluo Continent: Gourmet Prisoner

A rabbit made of popping candy is squatting on a lawn covered with colorful candy crumbs. Its round body trembles slightly with each chewing motion, and with each bite, it sprays up tiny, sweet, crumbly bits.

Just as its cheeks puffed out like two small balls, a shadow suddenly loomed over its head—it was a giant, jet-black python whose body looked like several long strips of gummy candy twisted together.

Its scales shimmered with a luster like melted and solidified dark chocolate, while its belly subtly revealed caramel-colored patterns, as if it were coated with a layer of scalding hot sugar.

The python was incredibly fast, and the wind it created carried a cloyingly bitter smell. It opened its gaping maw, its sharp teeth coated with thick black syrup, and swallowed the bouncing sweet treat whole before the popping candy rabbit could even react.

"Snap—Crack—"

A strange sound came from the python's belly, like countless popping candies exploding in its stomach, only to be quickly enveloped and annihilated by thick black syrup.

Clearly, a tiny popping candy rabbit was far from enough to satisfy the beast's appetite.

The giant python flicked its thick tail, creating shallow craters in the ground. Its amber vertical pupils slowly rotated, locking onto Shi Yu and the other two not far away. Its tongue hissed, and black syrup dripped from the corner of its mouth, landing on the grass and instantly dissolving the candy grass, creating small holes.

"I choose you, Juru! Use Ambush on a vital point!"

Shi Yu's voice suddenly rang out, filled with a hint of excited joy; he wanted to have a Pokémon battle.

Zhu Lu rolled her eyes, just about to complain that this guy was using that old Pokémon trope again.

Her body had already reacted first—the light of her martial soul suddenly shone brightly, her graceful figure was instantly covered by black and white fur, her vertical pupils became sharp as knives, and cat claws flashing with cold light sprang out from her slender limbs. It was the third soul skill of the Netherworld Cat martial soul, Dark Strike Vital Points!

"Target, its eyes!" Shi Yu raised his arm, looking just like a spirited trainer on a baby cup.

Zhu Lu's figure was like a ghost, leaving a trail of afterimages in the sunlight. The giant python clearly didn't take this seemingly slender figure seriously, and just swung its tail, trying to swat her away.

But the Netherworld Cat's greatest strength lies in speed and surprise attacks. Zhu Lu stepped at a tricky angle, dodging the giant python's sweeping tail, and leaped into the air, her sharp cat claws piercing the giant python's left eye!

"hiss--!"

The giant python let out a shrill roar, and black syrup mixed with turbid liquid gushed from its eye sockets, the sweet and bitter smell growing stronger.

It rolled on the ground in agony, its thick body crashing into several large trees around it, sending leaves and wood chips flying, but it couldn't shake off the cat's claws embedded in its eyes.

Zhu Lu used the momentum to leap back and land steadily next to Shi Yu. She shook the black syrup off her paws and wiped it on her pants with a look of disgust.

"Hey! This is exactly the kind of teeth I want to see!" Shi Yu didn't pick up on the disdain in her tone at all, and instead shouted excitedly.

"In Pokémon battles, once eyes meet, a tense and exciting Pokémon battle ensues! Don't you understand? It's all about the ritual!"

Huo Yutong, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer. She silently turned around, her back to Shi Yu, with an expression that said, "I don't know this person."

Out of sight, out of mind; if you can't see it, it means this social tragedy never happened.

The giant python, whose eye had been gouged out, struggled less and less until it convulsed a few times, then crashed heavily to the ground and remained motionless.

Black syrup spilled from its eyes and mouth, pooling on the ground, and the smell made Zhu Lu wrinkle her nose.

"Looks like I'm still the better fighter in this battle!" Shi Yu puffed out his chest triumphantly. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind—Zhu Lu's cat paw brushed past his ear, and the wind it generated made him shiver.

"What the hell are you doing now!" Zhu Lu glared at him through gritted teeth. "Why would I actually do what you say?! I just wanted to say something sarcastic!"

"Isn't it normal for trainers to be able to command Pokémon?" Shi Yu waved his hand dismissively, completely ignoring Zhu Lu's words.

He strode over to the giant python's corpse, circled its twisted black body twice, tapped his chin lightly with his fingers, and looked on with curiosity.

As a qualified gourmet hunter, Shi Yu's intuition is always accurate—the smell emanating from this giant python is too strange, sweet with a burnt bitterness, which should not be the taste of sugar.

This would absolutely be a devastating blow to the sense of taste.

But... so what?

Shi Yu squatted down, looking at the giant python's chocolate-like scales, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Killing the food means eating it; this is a sign of respect for the food and the sacred duty of a gourmet hunter.

Exploring unknown ingredients is a gamble; whether they taste good or bad, you have to taste them yourself to know.

Besides, isn't it just made of sugar? How bad can sugar taste?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Shi Yu reached out and tore a piece off the giant python's twisted body—it felt sticky, like holding a piece of brown sugar cake that had been soaked in water, yet it also had a rubbery resilience.

Without thinking, he stuffed it into his mouth and began to chew it vigorously.

The next second, Shi Yu's expression froze.

The smell was like soaking a rubber strip that had been sitting for over fifty years, rotten and smelly, in a highly concentrated mixture of licorice and star anise, and then sprinkling it with burnt brown sugar.

Sweet, bitter, fishy... several strange tastes exploded in my mouth, burning down my throat, as if even my internal organs were tainted by this despairing flavor.

"vomit--"

Shi Yu could no longer hold back. He clutched his stomach and squatted on the ground. His body, like the previous Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, began to writhe uncontrollably and rolled around on the ground from time to time. His face looked so painful that he looked like he was about to cry.

"This texture...this taste..." he wailed incoherently as he rolled around in pain, "It's like a rubber strip that's been sitting out for over fifty years and then soaked in a high-concentration mixture of licorice slices and star anise. This is licorice twisted candy!"

Zhu Lu was glaring at him angrily, but when she saw his miserable state, she was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Huo Yutong, who had been facing away from them, finally couldn't resist her curiosity and quietly turned around. When she saw Shi Yu rolling around on the ground, she couldn't help but twitch her lips.

As Shi Yu rolled along, she suddenly reached out, as if trying to grab something, her eyes filled with desperate tears: "Take me away, take me away!"