Fear of food

Chapter 99 You've Grown a Head on the Back!
The Nightmare Eater paused for a moment, then said, "It seems you've already noticed something."

"But I put myself in this passive situation to help you. In your human terms, your current behavior is 'crossing the river and then burning the bridge,' isn't it?"

Chen Qi sneered, "So you Nightmare Clan have started talking about benevolence and morality? It seems you really have devoured a lot of my humanity."

"This is not a good choice," Nightmare Eater stated calmly. "I used the mutation in your body to help you share the 'food source' energy that you couldn't digest. If you forcibly separate me now, you'll have wasted that string of candied hawthorns you just ate."

"You should know just how important it is to keep a so-called high-end wild food intact when eating it!"

This wasn't the first time Chen Qi had heard the term "source of food" from the Nightmare Eater; he knew it was the Nightmare Clan's name for the source of pollution.

Chen Qi believed to some extent the claim that the Nightmare Eater helped him share the burden of the pollution source—it was indeed from the time a third skeletal arm grew from his back that the burden of eating suddenly lessened.

Chen Qi, of course, understood the importance of "maintaining the integrity of high-grade food." Under normal circumstances, even if a piece of high-grade food was left uneaten by just one bite, it would be enough to prevent the ability from leveling up and to prevent the production of derivative food.

But now that he has the opportunity to separate the Nightmare, he will definitely not give up trying!
This might be his only chance, and he had to try no matter what.

He was willing to waste the precious wild candied hawthorn, a delicacy he had finally managed to enjoy.

Chen Qi gripped the skeletal arm behind him tightly with one hand before he began to eat.

The head of the teaching department was severely injured by the food protection team, but he did not die. At this moment, out of the instinct for survival, his body is undergoing a violent transformation, like a flower of flesh and blood blooming on the spot, growing and blossoming rapidly.

Flesh branches with attached blood vessels kept being pulled out of his body, and his chest cavity opened and closed like the leaves of a Venus flytrap.

In the blink of an eye, he had completely transformed into a hideous and grotesque fleshy plant, assuming a defensive posture with two huge leaves opening and closing, and his ribs transformed into sharp serrations, ready for battle.

Chen Qi rushed forward, grabbed a branch with one hand, and was about to put it in his mouth when the two huge leaves suddenly opened and closed, biting at Chen Qi and instantly enveloping him.

Chen Qi started gnawing on the leaves, and in two bites he made a large hole in them. He was like a pest on a vegetable leaf, frantically biting and soon he had completely swallowed the two leaves.

Consuming the parasite directly proved highly effective. The body behind him grew rapidly, and the entire torso became complete.

However, the fourth arm that was supposed to grow on his right shoulder stopped growing, and instead, a neck began to extend from the top of his torso!
After successively consuming the Nightmare Eater from the Invisible Monster, Xia Huiyun, and the Headmaster, Chen Qi's body finally stopped feeling bloated, and the melting trend also stopped.

But he didn't stop eating and continued to pounce on Bian Zihan.

After several feedings, Chen Qi gradually grasped the pattern. He didn't need to attack the host's body; he only needed to force out the abnormalities within them and then directly devour those abnormal parts.

Chen Qi ate heartily, his cheeks never stopping, devouring everything on Bian Zihan's body in no time.

During this process, the Nightmare Eater remained silent, maintaining an eerie stillness.

Chen Qi held on tightly to the skeletal arm behind him, not giving the Nightmare Eater any chance. After all, there were only a few remaining parasites, and to ensure that the body behind him could fully grow and detach, he couldn't let the Nightmare Eater succeed again.

Zhui Feng and his teammates watched Chen Qi devour his food, and then a figure gradually appeared behind him. They didn't know whether they should tell him to stop.

Until they saw heads begin to grow from the neck of the torso behind Chen Qi, they finally couldn't help but shout:
"Biscuit, you have a head on the back of your head!"

After Chen Qi consumed the abnormality from Bian Zihan, the rudimentary form of a head grew on the neck of his torso. Although the face was not fully formed, it was clear that it bore a six or seven-tenths resemblance to Chen Qi!
This bizarre scene made Zhui Feng and the others feel uneasy, and they finally decided to remind Chen Qi.

Chen Qi paused slightly, but continued to pounce on the next parasite.

However, after he consumed the anomaly on the next parasite, the facial features of the head on his back gradually became complete.

That was a face exactly like Chen Qi's!
At this moment, Chen Qi looked inexplicably strange. Tall and thin, he looked frail, but behind him was another version of himself with only half a body.

They stood head to head, body to body, like mirror images.

The man behind him, made of intertwined flesh and blood, was almost identical to Chen Qi except for missing an arm and half a body!
The moment the head took shape, it slowly opened its eyes, and a faint blood-red hue appeared in its deep pupils.

At the same time, a layer of blood-red mist rapidly spread outwards from Chen Qi, instantly enveloping the entire campus area.

The last time I saw this kind of visible area was on an elderly person at the Affiliated Hospital of Jingyi Medical University.

Immediately afterwards, a voice identical to his own came from behind Chen Qi, laughing maniacally, "I told you, you can't get rid of me!"

The next moment, the roaming parasites in the area suddenly rioted. They rushed up and devoured the remaining surviving parasites.

Another group of food protectors rushed straight towards Chen Qi's teammates.

Chen Qi sighed... So it still didn't work?

When Chen Qi discovered that the Nightmare Eater had abandoned the growth of its arms and focused its energy on growing its head, he knew that it must have some ulterior motive.

Unexpectedly, the Nightmare Eater was able to use this incomplete body to unleash a domain, and it was clearly a very high-level domain that could directly control ordinary people within it.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Qi's teammates were surrounded by predators. The predators were eyeing them menacingly, licking their lips and drooling uncontrollably.

It looked as if it would rush up at any moment and devour Zhui Feng and the others, leaving not even a trace.

“We shouldn’t have gotten to this point. You kept pushing me, and I had no choice but to resort to this tactic.”

"So, will you choose to merge with me, or watch them get eaten?"

Chen Qi took a deep breath: "Let them go. I can find two more parasites to eat to replenish your body. After that, we'll part ways amicably and have nothing to do with each other again." The Nightmare Eater scoffed: "Don't you understand the current situation?"

"You're the one who doesn't understand the situation, aren't you?" Chen Qi's tone turned somber.

The Nightmare Eater was slightly taken aback. Before it could react, Chen Qi suddenly grabbed the Nightmare Eater's head tightly with both hands, turned it to the right, and then turned its head to bite backward!

The Nightmare's head was right next to him; he could see it with just a turn of his head.

You dare threaten me when you're within my attack range?

Who gave you the courage!

You've probably lost your mind.

With two bites, Chen Qi twisted the Nightmare Eater's neck with both hands.

Holding the head that looked exactly like his own, Chen Qi sneered: "It shouldn't have come to this, you've been pushing me all along..."

"But you forgot, if I can eat you once, I can eat you a second time!"

Smack smack...

Before the Nightmare Eater could even utter any harsh words, it lost consciousness amidst its pain, and the blood-red light in its eyes quickly dimmed.

The surrounding area dissipated, and the food protectors returned to their blank expressions before dispersing.

In a short while, the huge campus returned to calm. At this moment, a glance around revealed that only Chen Qi and his teammates were still standing on the entire playground.

Only the wounds covering Chen Qi and his companions, and the dozen or so corpses on the ground, some intact and some mutilated, testified to the fierce battle that had just taken place here.

Zhui Feng and the others quickly surrounded Chen Qi.

Chen Qi forced a smile and asked, as if seeking approval, "We... we won, right?"

Even the swill was laughing, a laugh more like a grimace: "We won! We won so badly we were fucking numb!"

Zhui Feng shook his head: "Let's leave first, we can talk about it when we get back."

Xu An'an looked at Chen Qi's back, where there was still half a headless body and a skeletal arm. She asked, "Shouldn't we find a way to get rid of these?"

Chen Qi shook his head: "Let's observe for a while and see. I can't eat anymore."

He had just eaten a "nightmare head" and was already feeling unwell, knowing that the body still contained undigested pollutants.

Therefore, we can only keep these proliferating bodies for now.

Chen Qi looked up at the corner of the playground, where Lin Ning was standing alone, helpless and at a loss.

"You guys go first, I'll take her and follow behind."

Lin Ning carries a source of pollution with her, and anyone who gets close will have their perception distorted, except for Chen Qi, who remains unaffected.

The fried skewers vendor, carrying the unconscious ramen vendor on his back, came over and asked, "Where are you going? If you'd like, you can come and sit with us."

Chen Qi and the others exchanged glances, understanding the meaning in each other's eyes.

They definitely need to connect with the real authorities, at least to understand the current situation outside.

What is certain is that the authorities still possess a considerable amount of information that they are unaware of.

So Chen Qi and his group walked towards the outside of Jingquan School. Zhui Feng and the others walked in front, while Chen Qi carried Lin Ning and walked at the back, keeping a certain distance from the others.

As Chen Qigang walked to the gate, a purple halo suddenly enveloped him.

His expression changed: "Again?"

He had seen this purple area once before, when he was at the Affiliated Hospital of Jingyi Medical University.

As Chen Qi turned around, he saw the old man he had met once before, covered in thick, powerful, tongue-shaped strips of flesh, leap over the school wall and rush towards them.

But at that moment, an SUV sped up and suddenly braked to a stop at the school gate.

A burly man, as tall as an iron tower, got out of the car, dressed in camouflage and carrying a rocket launcher on his shoulder.

He aimed at the old man, gently pulled the trigger, and the rocket on his shoulder shot out with a whoosh.

With a deafening roar, the explosion's flames suddenly illuminated the surroundings.

"boarding!"

The burly man in camouflage gave a shout, then turned and climbed into the car.

(End of this chapter)