I Thought You Were Coming at Me

Chu He had sharp eyes. He saw the thick black smoke surging out through the doorway twist rapidly in midair and take shape.

A monster, barely four feet tall, suddenly charged out!

Its head was unmistakably the ferocious face of the ancient fierce beast Taotie, with two enormous horns that seemed to pierce the air. Strange dark-red patterns covered them, and its gaping maw was lined with crisscrossing fangs. It looked utterly terrifying!

But its body and limbs were strangely shaped like those of a human child. The tips of its fingers, however, were tipped with jet-black claws as sharp as blades!

A savage, violent aura that seemed capable of devouring heaven and earth rushed toward them!

This made no sense!

Could it be that the hot pot he'd made, infused with the essence of Blue Star's food culture, didn't suit its taste?

That wasn't possible!

But at that moment, Chu He didn't have time to think it through.

His instinct to survive overpowered everything else!

He didn't want to die!

He had to subdue the monster first!

Chu He's eyes narrowed. His thoughts raced, and in an instant, he pictured iron chains in his mind.

He thrust out his right hand and barked a command!

The next second, several dark-red chains, trailing a distortion in space, shot out of his palm. Like bloodthirsty snakes, they lashed toward the little monster charging at him!

"Clatter—!"

The chains struck their target perfectly. Chu He clenched his hand!

The chains tightened at once, binding the little monster firmly!

But before Chu He could breathe a sigh of relief—

"Roar—!"

The bound monster let out a deafening roar, its muscles suddenly bulging!

"Bang!!"

The spatial chains, powerful enough to restrain an S-Class anomaly, were instantly snapped and shattered by its sheer brute strength!

Holy crap!

This thing was that strong?

The monster broke free, its speed increasing instead of slowing as it charged at him again. Chu He's scalp went numb.

He hurriedly shouted at the two still eating with their heads down, "Hey, hey! Quit focusing on the food! The monster's coming! Help me! Help!"

Kachi was holding a piece of blanched intestine with her chopsticks, blowing on it before eating. When she heard him yell, she finally raised her head, looking reluctant.

When she saw the little Taotie monster charging straight at Chu He, a hint of displeasure flashed through her starry eyes.

She merely glanced at the monster.

Hum!

An invisible, supreme Power of Rules descended in an instant!

The little monster, which had been charging furiously with a terrifying presence, suddenly froze!

Its entire body was locked in midair, stuck in its forward-lunging pose. It couldn't move, and its enormous, bell-like eyes were filled with anxiety and grievance.

At last, the monster spoke. But its voice was nothing like the rough, violent growl you might expect. Instead, it was clear and childish, like that of a boy in his early teens.

"Let me go! I'm not trying to eat him! I want the food in the pot! I've never smelled anything so delicious! And I've never seen anything that looks so tasty!"

His voice was filled with the purest longing for good food.

So that was it.

The heart that had been in Chu He's throat finally settled back into place.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said irritably to the little monster, "If you wanted to eat, you could've just said so! Why come charging at me like that? I thought you were coming over to attack me!"

The little monster sounded utterly aggrieved, as though the answer were obvious.

"Attack you? Do you think I want to die? Either of the two beside you could beat me to a pulp and grind me to dust with just their pinkies! I'm not stupid!"

Chu He was taken aback, then looked a little puzzled. "You're pretty powerful too. I couldn't even control you just now."

"It's Pseudo SSS-Class. Your abilities are still too weak, so it's normal you couldn't control it."

"And it didn't have a trace of killing intent just now!"

Kachi explained as she ate, without even looking up.

"Got it." Chu He nodded, accepting this explanation.

He cleared his throat and regained his confidence. "All right, little monster. There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want to eat, we'll have to talk about rent first!"

"Just call me A Bao!" the little monster said urgently. "There's no rent! That's how things work at Gluttony House. You just have to let me eat my fill!"

It was that simple?

Chu He was delighted.

Just then, Xia Yao, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke in a quiet voice.

"I heard the Gluttonous Tribe can eat a lot."

At that, a look of panic crossed A Bao's ferocious little face, almost human in its expression.

He hurriedly explained, "That was before! That was before! I've already separated from my enormous body! That house is just a big shell! I don't eat much now! Really!"

Looking at the fearsome little monster, who had a childish voice and was desperately insisting that he didn't eat much, Chu He suddenly felt a little softhearted.

Poor kid.

He'd starved himself so badly that he'd separated from his original body, all for the sake of food.

And he was so small. How much could he possibly eat?

Overcome with fatherly love—no, compassion—Chu He swept his hand grandly through the air and declared, "A Bao, was it? Don't worry! From today on, I've got your back! I'll make sure you eat your fill!"

Then he signaled to Kachi that she could release him.

Kachi pursed her lips and snapped her fingers.

The restraint vanished.

The moment A Bao was free, he became a black blur and reached the boiling hot pot in a single second!

He couldn't even wait to get a bowl and chopsticks. He reached out with his razor-sharp claws, ready to scoop up food straight from the pot!

"Hm?"

Kachi's gaze turned cold again.

A Bao's claw froze in midair once more.

"Go over there and get a bowl and chopsticks," Kachi ordered in an uncompromising tone. "If you grab food with your hands again, you won't get anything to eat today."

A Bao looked forlornly at the delicious food bubbling in the pot, then at Kachi's icy expression. In the end, he gave in and obediently trotted off to the side, clumsily picking up a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.

Seeing that A Bao was finally behaving, Chu He nodded in satisfaction.

He turned around, picked up the remaining four or five large bags of "biological weapons" from the ground, two in each hand, and easily carried them through the wide-open vermilion door.

The room was dim, but surprisingly spacious. It already had tables and chairs set up inside, as well as a front counter.

After putting away the ingredients, Chu He came back out.

He looked at the street outside, now packed so tightly that not even a drop could get through. The anomalies stretched their necks, their drool nearly reaching the ground. A shrewd merchant's smile spread across his face.

He stood at the stall, cleared his throat, drew a deep breath, and called out:

"Neighbors! Good people of the neighborhood!"

"Would you like to taste this once-in-a-lifetime delicacy?"

"Yes!" The reply was deafening.

"Great!" Chu He swept a hand through the air. "We're having a grand opening special today! Line up, don't push or grab! Everyone gets one free sample!"

The crowd immediately grew restless.

Chu He added in a voice that wasn't loud but carried clearly to every anomaly's ears:

"Of course, if anyone thinks they can beat either of these two beside me—or the owner of this house—and wants to cut in line or grab the food, they're welcome to try!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

The anomalies, who had just been getting restless, immediately calmed down.

They looked at Xia Yao and Kachi, who were eating with grease all over their mouths but still gave off an unfathomable aura. Then they looked at A Bao, the Taotie monster who had just burst out and was now hunched over a bowl larger than his head, gobbling away.

Every anomaly wisely drew in its neck.

The next second, a line so long its end was nowhere in sight formed with unprecedented efficiency.

Chu He was delighted by the orderly scene.

He didn't hurry to hand out samples. Instead, he turned around and beckoned Kachi, who was about to get another bowl.

"Kachi, come here for a second."

"What for? I haven't had enough yet!" Kachi protested, her mouth stuffed full.

"Business." Chu He's expression grew serious. "About how we can sell this trash—cough, I mean, these delicacies—for a fortune!"

He beckoned Kachi over with a finger, lowering his voice as a mysterious smile tugged at his lips.

"Come inside. We'll discuss the details and figure out how to arrange the space in there."

With that, Chu He turned and walked into Gluttony House.