Fear of food

Chapter 27 Is picking up trash a superpower?

Zhui Feng's expression instantly became complicated, and he said softly, "You encountered it too? Family members?"

Chen Qi nodded: "It's my mother."

Zhui Feng nodded, his voice somewhat muffled, "Pretty much. My brother was chosen. At the time, he mutated into an eight-legged humanoid spider and chased after me to feed me."

“Those monsters are actually very cautious, and only we Phantom Eaters can see their abnormalities, so don’t expect to prove anything through them.”

Chen Qi couldn't help but think of the first time he saw the abnormality on Dr. Zhao's body. At that time, two tentacles were sticking out from Dr. Zhao's temples, but the nurse Xiao Ru next to him ignored them.

Zhui Feng lowered his head, stuffed two strawberries into his mouth to hide the slight sob in his voice, and said, "My brother is about your age, he just graduated from university less than two years ago, and he was preparing to get married to his girlfriend... It's my fault!"

Chen Qi remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "So... it really is because of us?"

Zhui Feng replied without looking up, "You could say that. Those monsters are coming for us. We alien eaters have a significantly higher chance of our loved ones turning into monsters. About half of the people in the group have experienced this."

"They control the people closest to us and pressure us through our loved ones to force us to eat abnormal food."

“If we continue to refuse to cooperate, and the situation is about to get out of their control, they will show their true colors and force us to eat strange food through violence.”

When Chen Qi first noticed the strange changes in Dr. Zhao, he thought it was caused by eating strange foods over a long period of time.

But now it seems that it's not that simple.

The entire city is eating strange food, but most people's abnormality is currently only manifested in their "food guarding".

Putting aside the issue of "food protection," people like Nurse Xiaoru and the hospital security guard appear to be completely normal.

The physical abnormalities experienced by the mother and Dr. Zhao are clearly special cases.

After calming himself down, Zhui Feng continued to introduce Chen Qi:
“We call those monsters ‘parasites.’ We believe that people become monsters not because they undergo any mutation, but simply because they are possessed by something unknown.”

Chen Qi nodded in agreement.

Indeed, it seemed as if the mother was being controlled by something, and she even briefly regained consciousness at the last moment, indicating that she still retained her own consciousness, only it was suppressed.

His eyes brightened slightly as he said, "Since they're parasites, doesn't that mean there's still hope for them? Once the 'parasites' are removed, they should be able to return to normal, right?"

Zhui Feng sighed and said, "Theoretically, that's true, but no one has ever succeeded so far. When we encounter parasites, all we can do is run away. We're lucky if we're not wiped out, let alone try to wipe them out?"

“But Momo told me that if I find more high-quality food, there is hope of saving my mother.”

"That's what he told us too, and it really is our only hope right now."

Zhui Feng took a deep breath and said, "You've also faced parasites. Did you feel that they were so powerful that it was despairing, leaving us powerless to resist?"

Chen Qi nodded: "But that's also what puzzles me. If they're so powerful, why are they hiding? If they had used violence earlier, most of us wouldn't have been able to resist, right?"

Zhui Feng laughed and said, "Isn't your own experience a good example? The parasites are so powerful, how did you manage to escape?"

Chen Qi suddenly realized: "You mean the parasite cannot completely suppress the host's consciousness?"

Zhui Feng said, "According to our observations, it takes a long time for a parasite to go from initially parasitizing the host to completely controlling it. They subtly influence the host's behavior and change the host's personality."

"As time goes by, the parasitic process continues, and the host will gradually lose its personality, becoming less and less like itself, until it is completely controlled."

"During this process, the host is as if hypnotized, and does not feel that there is anything wrong with his behavior, nor is he aware that he is being controlled. He only feels that all his decisions are made in accordance with his own heart." "However, if the parasite forcibly controls the host to do some things that they extremely resist before the parasitism is completely completed, it may cause the host to resist and affect the parasitism process."

"So you don't need to be so afraid of parasites that are still in the hidden stage. They probably haven't completely completed their parasitism yet. Unless you push them too far, they won't reveal their true colors."

In other words, the mother was not completely controlled by the parasite... Chen Qi quickly asked, "Then what is the purpose of the high-grade food?"

Zhui Feng ate a strawberry to moisten his throat, and his tone became more solemn as he said:
"This is the main point I want to make today—the abilities of us Pagans!"

Chen Qi's spirits lifted, but he was also somewhat puzzled: "What ability?"

Zhui Feng smiled faintly and said, "Every one of us who eats alien food has a special ability. You have it too, but you just haven't seen it correctly."

Chen Qi frowned. How come he didn't know he had any special abilities?
"Is it one of those superpowers from the movies?"

"There's still a bit of a gap... but if you really want to call it a superpower, it's not entirely unreasonable."

Zhui Feng stopped keeping him in suspense and said, "Looking at it from another angle, isn't the method we each have to obtain food a kind of ability?"

Chen Qi instinctively wanted to retort, "What kind of special ability is picking up trash?!"

But after carefully considering what Zhuifeng said, I found that what he said actually made some sense.

Take Xu An'an for example; she can transform any bizarre food into bread that she can eat through a form of cooking.

Isn't that a kind of superpower?

Although this superpower isn't exactly "super," it is indeed Xu An'an's supernatural ability, which cannot be explained by science.

Just like how others can't find wild food like Chen Qi, because they don't have that ability.

Chen Qi also lacked the ability to turn cancelled takeout orders into edible food, unlike some other companies.

"If that's the case, then each of us does possess a special ability."

"However, unlike the superpowers in the movies, our abilities are rather strange, and we can only use them to find food."

"For example, my ability... is actually just scavenging for food?"

Chen Qi sighed helplessly. In movies and novels, people awaken their fighting abilities, but his fellow sufferers awaken their ability to forage for food.

Only by mastering special abilities can one avoid starving to death.

Zhui Feng laughed and said, "Don't say that. Although our abilities may seem a bit pathetic, since they are abilities, there is room for improvement."

Chen Qi's eyes flickered slightly: "You mean..."

"That's right, abilities can be upgraded. And the only way to upgrade abilities is to eat high-quality food!"

"This is our only hope in the fight against the parasites!"

"Wait a minute!" Chen Qi sensed something was wrong. "How exactly do we, with our useless abilities, strengthen ourselves to fight off the parasites?"

He simply couldn't imagine how he could fight off the parasites using his powerful garbage-collecting and food delivery skills.
(End of this chapter)