Fear of food

Chapter 34 The Mysterious Momo (Please read on, please click to the last page, I beg you!)

Not only Chen Qi, but everyone looked at Da Bing with puzzled expressions, wondering what he wanted to say.

Dabing scratched his head and organized his thoughts, then said, "Momo once told me... well, it was something like this: a person can't find two high-grade foods at the same time."

Chen Qi's heart skipped a beat: "You mean, it's impossible to find any new high-end food until I finish the cream cake at the hospital?"

"Hmm!" Big Pancake nodded. "That's about the gist of it."

Chen Qi's first reaction was disbelief: "But this doesn't make sense. If high-end food objectively exists, then it either exists or it doesn't. How could there be such a rule?"

Big Pancake shrugged and said, "I don't know, but Momo told me."

The swill-washer was somewhat skeptical: "How come we haven't heard the group admin mention this?"

Zhui Feng chimed in, "Yes, how could the group admin not tell us about something so important, and only tell you?"

Big Pancake's face flushed slightly as he argued, "What does that matter! If you find something high-quality food, don't you eat it right away? Do you think you'd save it to eat together when you find a second one?"

Coffee curled his lips into a meaningful smile and said, "Yes, that's why I'm curious, Big Pancake, why did you do this?"

Big Pancake nearly jumped up like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, angrily saying, "I didn't, don't talk nonsense! What does this have to do with me!"

Swill chuckled and said, "Then why would Momo bother telling you this?"

Zhui Feng realized there must be something going on, and grabbed Da Bing's shoulder: "Tell us the truth, what are you hiding from us!"

Big Pancake said with a straight face, "I told you it has nothing to do with me. Anyway, I don't know if it's true or not. Biscuit, you should ask Momo."

Seeing that Dabing was unwilling to talk, the others didn't press him further, but instead comforted Chen Qi, saying, "Biscuit, don't worry, what this kid says might not be reliable. You should confirm with the group leader first."

"I can't even imagine. If it weren't for your special circumstances, Biscuit, who would find such high-class food and not eat it immediately?"

"So how exactly was this pattern concluded? Thinking about it, it's not entirely reliable."

Chen Qi nodded seriously: "I'll ask Momo for advice later."

This matter was extremely important to him, as it determined whether his abilities would be able to upgrade normally in the future.

Chen Qineng could sense that Momo held a special place in the hearts of these group members. They trusted Momo a lot, especially in terms of intelligence, and regarded Momo as an authority.

They would unconditionally believe any information Momo shared with them without ever verifying it.

He asked with some curiosity, "What kind of person is Momo?"

"What kind of person is Momo?" This question left everyone present stunned.

"Hard to describe?"

"No." Zhui Feng shook his head. "Mainly because I've never met Momo, so I can't say for sure."

"You've never seen Momo?" Chen Qi asked in surprise.

Zhui Feng shrugged and said, "Our group has only been established for a little over half a month. Is it strange that I haven't seen the group owner?"

Coffee said, "I've never seen it either."

Ganshui looked at Dabing: "It seems that Dabing is the only one in the group who has actually seen Momo. He was the first person the group owner invited into the group, so the group owner must have been in charge of evaluating him."

Big Pancake had just been interrogated by everyone, and his face was still flushed. He pretended not to hear anything and just petted the dog without saying a word.

Undeterred, Chen Qi pressed on, "Even if you haven't seen it, you should at least know some general information, right?"

Coffee smiled and said, "You seem quite interested in our group leader."

“I’m just curious. I’ve known him online for over half a month, and I don’t even know if he’s male or female.”

"I don't know either," Zhui Feng said, spreading his hands. "I don't know his gender, his age, or what he does for a living."

"So mysterious?" "It's not that he's deliberately mysterious, but he seems quite busy. Every time the group members meet offline, he has something else to do and can't make it. He's always busy with important matters, like recently he went to investigate in a surrounding city."

"If he hadn't been running around every day, where would we have gotten so much useful information?"

Coffee said, "I did learn a little about him from Big Cake; he's a man, not very old."

At this point, Dabing couldn't hold back any longer and chimed in, "I've met the group owner once. He's definitely not an ordinary person. He's powerful and reliable!"

Swill laughed: "You can tell so much after just one meeting?"

"You don't understand, some people just have that kind of temperament."

Everyone chuckled and didn't argue with Dabing any further, after all, they all held the mysterious group leader in high regard.

"By the way," Zhuifeng said to Chen Qi, "you just said you met a pica person at the hospital. Ask her later if she wants to join our group."

"Okay." Chen Qi nodded in agreement.
Actually, he had this idea a long time ago, but he felt that Xu An'an was a bit aloof and might not be willing to join the group.

Coffee, realizing something, said, "You mean she's a medical student here for her internship at the hospital? Then she's in a very dangerous situation!"

Chen Qi frowned: "Why?"

“Schools and hospitals are both high-risk areas! They are densely populated, and there are almost certainly parasites there. She goes back and forth between these two places all day long. How can she not be in danger?”

"But don't worry, she probably hasn't eaten anything fancy before, right?"

Chen Qi thought about it carefully and said, "Probably not."

"That's good."

"Is there any connection?"

"Pagans who have consumed high-end foods are more likely to be targeted!"

Chen Qi asked in confusion, "What's targeting us? A parasite?"

Coffee asked curiously, "Didn't Chasing Wind mention this when he trained you?"

Zhui Feng explained, "I was training Biscuit when my younger brother showed up. There were many things I hadn't had a chance to tell Biscuit yet."

"I see." Coffee nodded. "Then let me introduce Cookie."

“Generally speaking, if the parasite does not actively expose its physical abnormalities, it is very difficult for us to identify the parasite in the crowd.”

"But similarly, as long as we don't use our abilities openly, it will be difficult for the parasites to recognize us."

"However, once we have eaten high-grade food, we may be discovered by the parasite if we get close to it. The more high-grade food we have eaten, the greater the chance of being discovered."

"These are not the worst of all. The most terrifying thing is that our closest loved ones may suffer and become parasites!"

"Although this message also came from the group admin, it can be corroborated by the experiences of our group members."

“Me, Zhuifeng, and Dabing, the three of us have all eaten high-end food, and as a result, our families have all become parasites. The families of Kudou and Ganshui are fine for now.”

Chen Qi lowered his head and pondered. Judging from the time when his mother was parasitized, he probably hadn't eaten jianbing guozi yet, right?

He frowned and said, "This doesn't just sound like being targeted by a parasite; it feels more like being marked, like being labeled as 'highly watched.'"

Coffee sighed, "That's right, I think so too. Combining this with your 'domain' speculation today, I feel that eating high-grade food is equivalent to triggering some kind of rule within that domain, making our situation even more dangerous."

Chen Qi once again felt how messed up this world was.

Without eating high-quality food, one will be powerless against parasites.

Consuming high-end food can endanger your closest loved ones.

They're leaving no way for anyone to survive!
(End of this chapter)