Fear of food

Chapter 83 What's this about getting something for nothing? This is friendship!
Chen Qi slept for an exceptionally long and deep time, and when he woke up it was around two o'clock in the afternoon.

After sleeping for a full nine hours, I finally felt refreshed and no longer felt weak.

Chen Qi entered the living room and found only Coffee there. He asked, "Did they all go to get the premium food?"

Coffee nodded and asked, "Are you feeling better? We're planning to give Dr. Zhao some dietary therapy tonight. Are you feeling alright?"

"No problem." Chen Qi gave an OK sign. "Any progress on the investigation of other matters?"

Coffee handed over the phone: "This is Du Yuxuan's information. There is indeed a freshman with this name at Jinghai Normal University. See if it's the same person you met?"

Chen Qi zoomed in on the ID photo on his phone, examined it carefully, and nodded, saying, "It's her."

"Du Yuxuan is currently studying normally at Jinghai Normal School and has not shown any abnormalities. As for whether she is a parasite, it is currently unknown, and I do not intend to verify it. I plan to leave this matter to professionals."

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

“That’s right. I relayed your experience in the illusion to the officials through Momo, and they want to schedule a time to talk to us in person.”

"When?"

"Haven't I been waiting for you to wake up?"

"Let's go then!"

Without exchanging any pleasantries, the two immediately drove off.

About twenty minutes later, the car drove into a cluster of unfinished buildings.

The surrounding area was desolate and remote, overgrown with weeds. Chen Qi hadn't found a single wild food along the way, which was enough to show that there was no human presence here at all.

After they parked the car, Coffee took out his phone and sent a message. Less than ten minutes later, an SUV drove up and stopped next to them.

A tall but slightly thin young woman dressed in a black, tight-fitting bodysuit jumped out of the driver's seat. One hand remained on the holster at her waist, and her eyes were wary.

Chen Qihe sized up the woman with coffee, then glanced at the SUV behind her.

The SUV's windows were covered with reflective film, making it impossible for them to see if there were any other people inside.

Chen Qi and his companion also got out of the car, but they hid behind it, using the car as cover.

The woman called out, "Are you Momo's people?"

Coffee replied, "That's right, let's start verifying identities."

As he spoke, Coffee reached out and placed the "wax apple" that he had prepared earlier on the hood.

The woman replied immediately, "It looks a bit like hemorrhoids, but it has a lot of lumps and it's moving around."

Coffee clapped: "You passed, now let's see what you do next."

The woman also took out some strange food that she had prepared beforehand, and said, "Let the person next to you answer."

Chen Qi looked at the yellow object in the box in the woman's hand, and asked uncertainly, "Is it the one I'm thinking of?"

"Say!"

"Excrement? Or is it runny?"

“You passed too.” The woman nodded. “This is the ‘honey’ I just bought.”

After verifying each other's identities as pagans, both visibly relaxed, and the woman finally removed her hand from the holster.

Coffee asked proactively, "What's your name?"

Woman: "Just call me Chili."

Chen Qi and Coffee exchanged a glance. Had their habit of using code names in their group spread to the official channels?
Did Momo plagiarize the official rules?

"My name is Coffee, and his name is Biscuit."

After a brief introduction, Chili got straight to the point, took out her phone, pulled out two photos, and asked Chen Qi, "Are those the ones you saw in the illusion?"

The photo shows the two young men, one fair-skinned and the other dark-skinned, who had previously fought alongside Chen Qi.

Chen Qi nodded: "That's right."

Chili said, "They are indeed our people. They went missing four nights ago while exploring Jinghai Medical College. However, according to the positioning devices implanted in their bodies, they were transferred away three days ago and are not at Jinghai Medical College."

"Are you sure?" Chen Qi pressed. "Where were they moved to?"

“We tracked them down and found that they had been transferred to Jinghai Amusement Park, an A-level contaminated area, three days ago.”

"Amusement park?"

As a native of Jinghai City, Chen Qi naturally knew about Jinghai Amusement Park, the largest amusement park in Jinghai City. It was always very popular and attracted a large number of tourists from other places during holidays.

It's not surprising that such a large area with high foot traffic would become a contaminated zone.

Chili coughed. "I haven't finished yet. Just today, they were transferred to Jingquan Elementary School again." Chen Qi was slightly taken aback and asked, "What level of contamination zone is Jingquan Elementary School?"

“Unknown.” Chili shook her head. “In fact, before today, we had no idea that it was a contaminated area.”

Chen Qi remained outwardly calm, but what he didn't say was that his mother was a teacher at Jingquan Elementary School!

"My mom's workplace is in a contaminated area. So, was she infected at a hospital or a school?" Chen Qi had another question in his mind.

He still didn't understand something and asked, "Why do we have to move them so frequently?"

"It's probably to speed up the parasitism process. My two companions are both alien eaters, and the Nightmare Clan pays special attention to them. Constantly moving them to different contaminated areas is probably to let them absorb more terrifying energy so that they can merge with the Nightmare Clan in their bodies as soon as possible."

Chili explained, "Although Jinghai Medical College is an S-level contaminated area with a high concentration of terrifying energy, there are also many parasites inside, so the amount may not be much when distributed among different groups."

Chen Qi nodded. This explanation made sense. The high-level contaminant, the cream cake, was placed separately in Sun Xuechao's ward to speed up the process of Sun Xuechao being parasitized.

However, upon hearing the familiar terms like "phantom eater" and "parasite" uttered by Chili, Chen Qi and Coffee exchanged a glance, both understanding what the other meant.

The official terms used are exactly the same as the names they use in their group chat!
These terms were all coined by them in the group. Could it be that Momo has done some cultural export to the official channels?
Coffee asked疑惑地问道, "You knew their location, yet you didn't launch a rescue operation?"

Chili sighed softly and said, "The team we have stationed in Jinghai City is just a small scout squad, with only a few people in total. Our main task is to investigate the source of pollution in Jinghai City."

“Now another team member has had an accident, and we are severely short-handed. We have already applied to our superiors for support.”

"The worst-case scenario is that by the time the reinforcements arrive, the golden period for rescue will have passed."

Chen Qi frowned: "Is the government really that short-staffed?"

Chili said without hesitation, "We are indeed short of people. As you all know, even well-trained elite troops are hard to use in the face of this disaster. Once they enter the contaminated area, their senses will be affected. Only we aliens have the power to resist."

"Moreover, the main force is currently concentrated in Kangning City, where the pollution is more severe and the impact is more serious... In Jinghai City, at least on the surface, things can remain normal, so it can only be given a lower priority unless we can find the source of the pollution."

At this point, Chili glanced at Chen Qi and the other man and said, "If you want to join us, I can introduce you. There shouldn't be any problems. It's a formal position with excellent benefits."

"However, you will have to follow the organization's arrangements in the future, as you may be sent to support other regions."

Coffee laughed and said, "Although the job is very tempting, I still have billions of assets to manage."

Chen Qi shrugged: "Two months ago you told me there was a formal position, and even if you transferred me to guard the tower at sea, I would have considered it. But now, I have more important things to do."

He stayed in Jinghai City to save his mother and couldn't accept the transfer from above.

Chili said with a hint of regret, "Even if we can't be comrades-in-arms, we can still cooperate. Actually, the reason I asked you to meet with me this time was to seek your help."

"We plan to rescue our two companions soon. The golden period for rescue is seven days, and we only have three days left! We hope you can help us."

Both Coffee and Chen Qi were somewhat disappointed. They had thought that by getting in touch with the government, they could use its power to deal with the parasites.

Unexpectedly, it was the officials who first asked them for help.

Coffee said, "We need to go back and discuss this with our other companions."

"Of course," Chili nodded, adding appropriately, "If you're willing to help, we can provide you with some support and assistance."

"For example?" Chen Qi asked with a hint of interest.

"More classified information, and some reasonable privileges and conveniences from a legal perspective."

"Not enough, add some more."

Chili smiled slightly: "Then let's add our official friendship to it."

"Sure, friendship is priceless, we'll think it over carefully." Chen Qi nodded. "By the way, we have a small operation tonight that might cause a bit of a commotion. Could we experience the privileges and conveniences you mentioned?"

Chili didn't hesitate and immediately took out her phone: "Add me as a friend, send me the time, location, and details of the operation, and I'll take care of the rest."

"readily!"

Chen Qi added Chili as a friend, and then left the unfinished building with Coffee.

On the way, Coffee said somewhat strangely, "You seem a little interested."

When talking to a smart person like Coffee, you only need to touch on the point and stop there. Chen Qi said, "My mother is a teacher at Jingquan Elementary School."

Coffee looked enlightened: "You think your mother might be at Jingquan Elementary School?"

Chen Qi nodded: "It's just a possibility. I've noticed that parasites seem to like to gather in contaminated areas. You can ask Dr. Zhao for details tonight."

"And I always felt that my mother's disappearance might be related to that little girl, who was wearing the uniform of Jingquan Elementary School."

If his mother was at Jingquan Elementary School, then Chen Qi would have to go there no matter what. He might as well agree to do the officials a favor and try to get them some more benefits.

“That works,” Coffee said admiringly. “This way, we can also get help from government officials for free, which is equivalent to having a few more helpers.”

"You can't say that. It's about helping each other. They help us, and we're helping them in return. That's what friendship is!"

(End of this chapter)