52: Chapter 52 The Pig-Faced Butcher's Deal!

He extended his palm-leaf-sized hand, untied a roll of something from his waist, and gave it a forceful shake.

"Clatter—"

It was a scroll tanned from a single piece of human skin, with faint pores still visible on its surface.

On the scroll, lines of crooked, large characters were written in fresh blood, all of them various bounty missions.

The Pig-Faced Butcher extended a thick finger, pointing at the mission at the very top of the scroll, the one with the highest bounty.

It sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other—dry and grating.

"Town... underground... 'Mutated Fungus Mother'... restless..."

"Its... mental spores... have contaminated my 'meat source'..."

"Kill it... bring its most succulent 'Fungus Heart'... to me."

After speaking, he turned around and patted a building behind him constructed from giant ribs and fungi.

The building's entrance was a massive gate forged from heavy metal, radiating a chilling aura.

"Complete the mission... my 'private meat locker'... will be open to you."

"Inside... are my prized [Icefield Mammoth Tenderloin]... and [Deep-Sea Giant Octopus Tentacles]..."

"Guaranteed... to let that little girl of yours who can eat so much... 'evolve' once again."

Icefield Mammoth Tenderloin! Deep-Sea Giant Octopus Tentacles!

These creatures, which only existed in legends before the apocalypse, possessed flesh and blood with energy that was absolutely beyond imagination.

Before Chen Chen could respond, Shen Wanbing, in the passenger seat, suddenly spoke up.

"Wait."

In that instant, her radar talent had captured dozens of abnormal energy signals within the town.

"There are thirty-two unopened supply crates in the town; the energy signatures are weak, but there is no danger."

Chen Chen raised an eyebrow.

He didn't rush to accept the mission; instead, he started the engine, drove the RV, and navigated through the town's narrow streets.

Under Shen Wanbing's precise navigation, they quickly found the first supply crate.

It was a box wrapped in glowing mycelium, hidden beneath the cap of a giant mushroom.

Chen Chen got out of the car and kicked it open.

Inside the box was a pile of glowing, jelly-like mushrooms.

[Fluorescent Energy Mushroom: Edible, can slightly replenish stamina and mental power.]

The second crate was hidden in a pile of writhing flesh tissue; after opening it, he found a sweet potato-shaped plant tuber that could generate heat on its own.

[Self-Heating Fire Potato: Rich in high-purity starch, it is an excellent high-calorie food.]

The third, the fourth...

Chen Chen drove around the town, like an old farmer during the autumn harvest, scavenging all the scattered "ingredients."

Protein-rich dried fried insects, mutated berries that could enhance night vision, and even a nest of "Ice Crystal Worms" that emitted a minty fragrance.

Half an hour later, the RV returned to the Pig-Faced Butcher.

Inside the vehicle, a mountain of food, even more exaggerated than before, was piled up in front of Su Xiaoqi.

Chen Chen looked at her, a hint of fanaticism flashing in his eyes.

This town was definitely an upgrade paradise tailor-made for Su Xiaoqi!

He wanted to drain all the resources here and stuff them into this bottomless pit of a stomach to see just how far she could "evolve"!

"Eat."

Chen Chen's command was only one word.

Su Xiaoqi looked at the dazzling array of "buffet" in front of her, feeling so happy she was about to faint.

Without hesitation, she once again activated her berserk eating mode.

As massive amounts of food, containing all kinds of strange energy, were swallowed into her belly, the aura on Su Xiaoqi began to climb steadily at a speed visible to the naked eye!

A faint halo of energy appeared on the surface of her skin, and within her petite body, it seemed as if an ancient beast was slowly awakening.

In Chen Chen's mind, the system notification sounds rang out like a screen-scrolling flood.

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining LV2 Gold Trait "Gluttonous Feast" feedback: Constitution +1! Spirit +1! Perception +1!]

Chen Chen adjusted Su Xiaoqi's state to an unprecedented peak.

Only then did he push open the car door, walk up to the Pig-Faced Butcher, and take the blood-scented human skin mission scroll from his hand.

"I accept this mission."

...

Beneath Gluttony Town lay a massive cavern constructed from countless twisted mycelia and eerie white bones.

Spores floated in the air, mixed with a thick, putrid stench; breathing it into one's lungs, one could feel a sticky, damp chill.

On the cavern walls, those colorful fungi emitted a faint phosphorescence, illuminating the human faces protruding from the mycelia in a ghastly white.

"Roar—"

At the corner ahead, seven or eight low-level infected, covered in pustules with limbs mutated into sickle shapes, roared and lunged over.

A foul wind hit their faces.

Chen Chen raised his left hand; the pitch-black [Bronze-Rank Tactical Silenced Pistol] had no reflection at all under the phosphorescence.

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

Three extremely soft muffled sounds, like poking through a ripe watermelon with a finger.

The three infected in the lead had three bloody holes precisely blasted into the center of their foreheads; their massive bodies collapsed forward due to inertia, slamming onto the ground.

The sound of gunfire was the Grim Reaper's roll call.

Chen Chen didn't stop, and the Armor-Piercing Military Dagger held in his right hand slashed through in one motion.

A black light flashed, and an infected that had lunged from the flank was split in two directly from its jaw to the top of its skull.

With a Constitution as high as 73 points, he transformed into a tireless, terrifyingly efficient humanoid meat grinder in this narrow cavern.

He didn't even need to activate [Absolute Stealth].

Because his speed had already surpassed the neural reflexes of these low-level monsters.

"Gulp."

Su Xiaoqi followed closely behind him, like a little tail picking up loot.

Chen Chen was responsible for killing, and she was responsible for eating.

Those high-energy mycelia and the remains torn from the infected—she refused nothing, grabbing them and stuffing them into her mouth.

SS-Rank Talent [Gluttony Evolution] was running at full power.

On Chen Chen's retina, lines of fine golden characters refreshed frantically like a waterfall.

[Detected that companion Su Xiaoqi is consuming "Corrupted Mycelium", energy conversion in progress...]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining LV2 Gold Trait "Gluttonous Feast" feedback: Agility +0.5!]

[Detected that companion Su Xiaoqi is consuming "Sickle Infected Core", energy conversion in progress...]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining LV2 Gold Trait "Gluttonous Feast" feedback: Constitution +0.5!]

...

Cheating.

This was pure cheating.

Chen Chen was mowing the grass in front, while Su Xiaoqi was converting the grass into attribute points in the back and feeding them back to him.

A two-way mutual strengthening mechanism, where resource utilization efficiency was pushed to an incredible height.

Half an hour later.

Deep in the cavern, an Elite-Rank companion monster, comparable in size to a rhinoceros and covered in hard fungal armor, was dismembered by Chen Chen in three slashes.

The system's ethereal female voice finally exploded in his mind.

[Experience points overflow, level up!]

[Congratulations to the Host for leveling up to Lv.8! Gained Free Attribute Points *6!]

A warm current swept through his whole body, and the strength of his bones and muscles increased once again.

Chen Chen did not hesitate at all.

[Absolute Control: Gravity Field], this trump card, consumed an extreme amount of mental power.

"Attribute points, add all to Spirit."

With a thought, the panel refreshed.

[Name: Chen Chen]

[Race: Human]

[Talent: Physical Overlimit (God-Rank Talent/Unique)]

[Status: Healthy (Terminal illness cleared)]

[Sanity: 94 / 100]

[Constitution: 73]

[Agility: 38]

[Perception: 48]

[Charm: 180]

[Spirit: 55]

[Luck: 10]

This panel data was enough to make any player in District 069 who was still struggling to survive have their Dao heart crack.

It was almost as if they weren't even the same species anymore.