Starting as a prodigy wanting milk? A world-destroying deception in the opposite direction.

The cracks in the pottery jar grew larger and larger.

A nauseating stench emanated from inside, like the smell of countless rotten foods mixed together.

The diners were so agitated by the smell that they gaggled even more violently, but they also came to their full senses, and the confusion and madness in their eyes disappeared completely.

All that remained was aversion to the earthenware jar.

The boss's enormous mouth rapidly contracted, turning transparent, and his green eyes dimmed.

"Impossible... How could my appetite fail...?"

He tried to rekindle the diners' appetites, but all he received in response was a deathly silence of disgust.

Without appetite as nourishment, his assimilation ability drops sharply.

The sap on the walls began to dry, the green mist on the roof dissipated rapidly, and the green aura on the bodies of the mutated diners completely faded, restoring their normal skin color.

"It's not over yet!" Lei Lie seized the opportunity, unleashing a solid golden blade of energy with his longsword, aimed directly at the crack in the pottery jar.

"Destroy it completely while it's weakened!"

Shen Zhen, Ren Fei, and Miao Erhu attacked simultaneously.

Shen Zhen's telekinetic blade, Ren Fei's fire talisman, and Miao Erhu's sonic wave all struck the crack in the pottery jar simultaneously.

"boom!"

The earthenware jar shattered with a crack, scattering fragments everywhere.

The foul, pungent gas inside the jar gushed out and rushed toward the boss's enormous mouth.

The boss tried to dodge, but was entangled and let out a piercing scream.

Those foul odors were pure disgust, precisely what he found most unbearable.

"No!"

"I refuse to be consumed by disgust!"

The boss's enormous mouth rapidly dissolved in the disgusting stench, his green eyes emitting a final, faint light as he stared intently at Shen Zhen:

"Why...do you know my weaknesses...?"

"Let me, Lei, tell you!" Lei Lie sheathed his longsword and took out a compass:

"Once you've been saved, you'll understand."

Just as Lei Lie's compass began to glow faintly, the boss in the murky air suddenly let out a piercing roar.

The remaining green mist suddenly contracted, squeezing out a wisp of pale green air from the gaps in the disgusting, foul air, which rushed straight towards a diner who was still dry heaving.

The diner's eyes glazed over instantly, and he reached out to grab the shards of the pottery jar beside him.

With a thought, Shen Zhen swept his mental energy over the diner, who then shuddered and came to his senses.

In that instant of hesitation, the boss's enormous mouth completely transformed into green mist, seeping into the cracks in the soil, leaving behind only a faint whisper of unwavering determination:

"The feast...is not over yet...immortality..."

Lei Lie stomped his foot on the ground, sending debris flying, his face turning ashen.

"Damn it! That thing got away!"

Miao Erhu tried to use the sound waves to pursue, but found that the green mist had already vanished without a trace.

The melting of the tables and chairs in the steamed bun shop stopped, and the rusting of the iron tableware also came to an abrupt halt.

The incense was still burning, its wisps of smoke filling the air with a calming aroma, soothing the diners who had just survived the ordeal.

The diners looked at the mess around them, at the green juice and shards of earthenware pots left on the ground, and then at their own hands covered in grime.

His face was filled with fear and relief.

"I...I think I was controlled by something just now. I only wanted to eat and didn't care about anything else..." a diner muttered to himself.

"I just saw people tearing each other apart, and I actually felt like eating it... It's terrifying!" Another diner clutched his chest, his face pale.

"Thanks to these magistrates, otherwise we would all be monsters today!" Someone bowed to Shen Zhen and his companions, his eyes full of gratitude.

The other three team members also came to their senses at this point, and they all lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Lei Lie put away the compass, glanced at them sideways, and said softly:

"I sent you here to carry out a mission, and what have you done? You've come here to be diners."

"Team Leader Lei, it's our fault. We don't know how we got tricked," one of them, Fu Gang, replied in a low voice.

"Yeah, Captain Lei, that thing was too weird, we didn't even have time to react." The other two team members, Wei Bao and Lu Dan, chimed in, their faces full of regret.

Shen Zhen spoke up at the opportune moment:

"Team Leader Lei, this thing is too targeted, it specifically targets the weaknesses of appetite, so it's no wonder they're like this."

Didn't we get infected too?

Lei Lie snorted, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his tone softening slightly:

"Alright, now is not the time to assign blame."

"The green mist escaped, and we have no idea what it was. We've never seen anything like it before. We need to report it to the authorities."

Shen Zhen also looked serious:

"It should be a newly emerged variant."

Ren Fei and Miao Erhu also came over. Miao Erhu picked up the Mind-Calming Incense and carefully blew it out.

"There's still some incense left; we can keep it in case of emergency."

"We have to keep the incense sticks," Lei Lie said, now paying more attention to the leftover incense.

This little thing just played a very important role.

Once all the customers had been calmed down and left the steamed bun shop one after another, Shen Zhen and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, they didn't reveal the real details about the steamed buns.

The streets quickly returned to their usual hustle and bustle. Everyone knew that the Jingxie Division had dealt with another strange case, as if the thrilling scene just now had never happened.

The ground was a mess.

Scattered among the pottery shards, traces of green juice, and torn buns and fillings, the place reeked of decay and fishiness.

However, the tranquil scent lingering in the incense gradually faded.

After everyone closed the door, they finally couldn't hold back and vomited, even bringing up bile. The trauma left behind probably means they'll never dare to eat steamed buns again.

"This thing is really weird," Miao Erhu said, frowning as he looked at the shards of the pottery jar on the ground after vomiting.

"He can control so many people just by his appetite, and even turn the shop into his own territory."

Ren Fei picked up a fragment and noticed what appeared to be a blurry symbol on it.

"Team Leader Lei, look, there's a mark on it."

Lei Lie took it and looked at it. It looked somewhat like some kind of ancient totem, but he wasn't quite sure. He frowned and said:

"This mark doesn't look simple; it might be related to the origin of this mutant."

Shen Zhen leaned closer, carefully examining the markings on the fragment, and after a moment's thought, said:

"This aberration is so bizarre."

There might be some big secret hidden behind this; we need to report the situation as soon as possible.

Miao Erhu gripped the copper bell tightly:

"No matter what kind of monster it is, if it dares to harm people, we will destroy it!"

Lei Lie nodded, carefully put away the fragments, and said:

"After returning, report this symbol and its characteristics to the Ceremonial Office and have them study it."

The weather has been unstable lately, and these kinds of things are becoming more and more common.

We must find their weaknesses and patterns as soon as possible, otherwise more people will suffer.

Suddenly, Shen Zhen felt an unusual fluctuation in the spiritual energy within his body, as if it were responding to some distant call, or as if it were creating a strange resonance with the residual energy of the Mind-Concentrating Incense.

It's subtle, it's peculiar.

It was as if an invisible force was pulling him along.

He instinctively clutched his chest, his face turning slightly pale.

Seeing this, Lei Lie hurriedly asked:

"Xiao Shen, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing, Captain Lei," Shen Zhen said with a smile, assuming he was just tired.

"I just used too much mental energy earlier, so I'm a bit tired. Also, I advanced to the mid-stage of the first rank today, so my mental energy is still a bit unstable."

Upon hearing this, Lei Lie's expression softened slightly:

"After being promoted, you definitely need to consolidate your position, especially since you've just been promoted, you can't be careless."

"Yes, I know, Captain Lei," Shen Zhen replied, but his gaze was somewhat unfocused, as if he was still sensing the strange fluctuation within his body.

Lei Lie used his compass to completely eliminate the remaining eerie energy at the scene. After checking and finding no further abnormalities, the group left Cai Ji Steamed Bun Shop.