Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

"Cerberus, hand me a piece of chocolate..."

Kazama sat down on the sofa and spoke to Cerberus. Right now, he was trying to stay still as much as possible.

"Chocolate? Be careful, you'll gain weight if you eat it at night."

"Cerberus said, flapping his wings as he presented a piece of chocolate to Kazama.

"It's just to replenish some sugar."

As Kazama spoke, he took the chocolate in his hand, tore open the wrapper, and put it in his mouth.

The bittersweet taste melted in Kazama's mouth, making him close his eyes in contentment.

He had never realized chocolate could taste so good before.

After finishing one piece, there was no feeling of greasiness at all, so Kazama asked Cerberus to bring him another one.

"Sugar is the body's main energy source, and the brain consumes 20% of the body's energy. A lack of sugar will inevitably lead to a decline in cognitive abilities. Therefore, it is important to supplement sugar in moderation."

While eating, Kazama explained to Cerberus.

"The more a person thinks, the more glucose their neurons need. When the brain is idle, it burns about 0.1 calories per minute. But when a person is concentrating on thinking, the calories burned per minute increase 15 times to 1.5 calories. In comparison, a person burns only 4 calories per minute when walking."

After Kazama's brain potential is developed through the Book of Wisdom, his energy consumption will definitely increase significantly.

After eating a few pieces of chocolate, Kazama felt some of his fatigue subside. He thought to himself, 'I need to manage my time wisely when entering this state, otherwise it will lead to the negative consequences of overworking my brain.'

Excluding eight hours of sleep each day, the brain is active for a full sixteen hours.

It's impossible to be in that thinking mode all the time during those sixteen hours.

"To minimize fatigue, it is best to divide the sixteen hours into four segments, replenish sugar every four hours, and rest at the same time."

"This chocolate tastes pretty good too, I'll buy more later."

Looking at the purple candy wrapper in his hand, Kazama thought of something else.

............

The next day arrived.

In the early morning, bathed in golden light, Kazama slowly opened his eyes in bed.

Looking at the ceiling in front of him, Kazama blinked, then sat up in bed.

think....

With the activation of a switch in my mind, in less than a minute, my drowsy mind and hazy consciousness suddenly cleared up.

Endless thoughts and inspirations surge forth like a geyser, and the brain is like a wound-up toy, quickly reaching its peak activity level.

The world before my eyes seemed to be magnified countless times, and also seemed to be clearer countless times.

That's the feeling...

Yesterday's use of the Book of Wisdom was not a dream.

Kazama shook his head and then got out of bed.

After getting dressed and washing up, I returned to my room and picked up my phone from the bedside table.

Looking at his phone, Kazama sighed softly, then turned around and picked up Cerberus, who was fast asleep on the cushion on the ground.

Cerberus seemed to be immersed in some kind of beautiful dream, with a silly smile on his face, when Kazama lifted him up like that, instantly waking him up.

"Ahhh...what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just time to get up."

Ten minutes later, Kazama left the house with his shoulder bag on his back.

After buying six sugar packets and two cups of mung bean porridge from a mobile breakfast stall outside the residential area, Kazama headed straight for the park next door.

There were quite a few people jogging in the park in the morning. Kazama avoided the crowded areas and sat down on a bench in a secluded corner with a good view.

As soon as he put down his bag, Cerberus emerged.

He took a steamed bun from Kazama's hand, and then hugged the cup of mung bean porridge.

Taking a bite out of the bun, Cerberus licked the melted white syrup inside and asked:

"So, we're going to look for that lost dog today?"

"Ah."

Kazama sipped the mung bean porridge from the plastic cup through a straw, while taking a bite of a steamed bun.

"The longer it is delayed, the more likely problems will arise. We must 'reclaim' it as soon as possible."

Inside the satchel, under Cerberus's buttocks, lay the "Fairy Gate," a book capable of controlling the four elemental spirits.

After eating chocolate last night to replenish his sugar levels, Kazama didn't go to bed immediately. Instead, he secretly took Cerberus to the park to test out the book "Fairy Door".

As Kazama wished, he successfully used the "Fairy Door" and summoned flames to burn the "Book of Wisdom" to ashes.

"But we don't have any information on us, except that we know that the dog was active in a certain area before... But according to your friend, the dog has already disappeared."

"We don't even know if they've already been captured or killed..."

"It's unlikely that they were captured as 'monsters'."

Kazama said, "Because if this happens, it means that the authorities have already intervened 100%."

Kazama placed the phone in front of Cerberus.

"This is?"

Kerberos stared at the phone screen, stunned.

"Xinghai City Stray Animal Rescue Forum"

“I did some research yesterday and found that the previous ‘abuse of stray dogs’ incidents still receive a lot of attention in these groups that rescue stray animals.”

"Then, there was also discussion about this matter on the city's forums, although the impact was not very large."

"If the authorities had already caught that parasite, they would have blocked and erased information about it long ago, and wouldn't have allowed this matter to spread."

"If that's the case, I probably would have seen the official announcement yesterday that the person who abused the dog had been caught, criticized, educated, and fined."

"Therefore, I am more inclined to believe that the parasite has now 'disguised' itself."

Chapter Sixteen Investigation

"camouflage?"

After putting away the buns in his hands and licking his hands, Kruberos asked.

It didn't have time to watch the anime "Parasyte," but only knew the general appearance of the parasite through Kazama Yu.

"That's right, it's 'disguise'."

Kazama nodded, then tossed the empty plastic cup aside without even looking at it.

The plastic cup traced a beautiful arc in the air before being accurately tossed into a trash can several meters away.

Then Kazama handed another steamed bun to Cerberus.

"Based on the plot shown in the anime, although we don't know where the parasitic beast species originated, it has demonstrated an amazing learning ability."

"From spores to completing parasitism on humans, occupying the human brain, and possessing the human body, once this most basic step is completed, the parasite will immediately begin learning after coming into contact with external information."

"Within a few days, one can easily master the language and basic common sense."

This is reflected in the animation.

At the very beginning of the parasitic tide, someone saw human corpses torn into strips in the yard.

But within a month, this problem disappeared.

Humans being inexplicably killed has been transformed into 'mysterious disappearances'.

"They can basically integrate into human society within a month."

Aside from being unable to control their facial expressions, or rather, unable to understand human emotions, this disguise is practically perfect.

In the world of Parasyte, how can an ordinary person avoid parasites without equipment like X-rays?

The method is simple: just stay away from people with stiff expressions or lifeless eyes.

"But the problem is, dogs don't need to mimic facial expressions, so if that parasite is determined to disguise itself, basically no one will be able to detect it..."

"Is that so?" Cerberus couldn't help but exclaim.

"Then the search has become more difficult... Why aren't they coming here as normal parasites? If they were, we could find them easily."

"Do not."

Kazama shook his head.

"I should say I'm glad that it was a dog-shaped parasite that came, rather than a human-shaped parasite."

"The only instinct of a parasite is to feed on the species of the host it parasitizes."

"If it's a humanoid parasite, then it means someone will unfortunately be killed."

Kazama inadvertently opened Pandora's box, and the disasters within caused injuries or even deaths. Whether Kazama did it intentionally or unintentionally, he felt uncomfortable and even guilty.

This is a self-examination that moral people must inevitably undergo.

Although reason tells Kazama that as long as this Pandora's box remains unclosed, someone will inevitably get hurt sooner or later.

Thinking of this, Kazama took a deep breath, calmed himself down a bit, and then continued:

"Furthermore, if it's a humanoid parasite, it would probably be caught very quickly after it kills someone."

No matter who it is, regardless of status, any loss of life is a momentous event in China.

The moment a body is discovered, a special task force is immediately formed, and an all-encompassing investigation begins.

Through surveillance and interviews, the suspect was eventually identified.

"China has the most complete household registration system in the world. Someone from an animation would be like an unregistered person here, and it would be virtually impossible for them to hide."

As depicted in the anime *Parasyte*, the parasites had almost formed a group and controlled the local government's upper echelons before the island nation's state apparatus finally reacted. How pathetic must that response have been? Even with high-ranking traitors covering for them, it shouldn't have come to this.

"Within a very short time, the power of the state will be fully involved and will discover such anomalies. We will then have no further room to intervene in this matter."