Are You Here to Be My Extra Meal?

"Are you sure you want to enter the Wilderness Zone alone?"

Inside the Supply Base, an officer looked past Su Zhe in confusion. After confirming that Su Zhe really had no teammates, he asked, puzzled, "You're going in by yourself?"

"Mm."

Su Zhe nodded and took out his Warrior certificate.

The officer took it and looked it over. His confusion only deepened. "A Warrior who just turned eighteen... Don't you have a Warrior team of your own? Are you with the Extreme Martial Arts Hall or the Thunder Martial Arts Hall? You only just became a Warrior, and you're already going into the Wilderness Zone alone? Want me to find you a Warrior team?"

"I'm just planning to look around the Wilderness Zone. I won't go too far."

Seeing that the officer still didn't seem convinced, Su Zhe sighed inwardly. If he wanted to enter the Wilderness Zone, he had no choice but to tell a little lie. "Besides, I have an elder waiting for me outside the Wilderness Zone. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Really?"

Looking into Su Zhe's earnest eyes, the officer was still full of doubts, but he nodded slightly to indicate that Su Zhe could leave.

Once he had permission to pass, Su Zhe hurriedly grabbed the backpack behind him and dashed through the Supply Base's gates. He looked like someone who'd been holding it in all day and had finally found a bathroom, making the officer shake his head.

Young people these days, honestly...

"Old Li, who was that?"

Another Warrior in military uniform walked over, curious.

"Don't know. A Warrior who just turned eighteen, heading into the Wilderness Zone alone. No idea which family's prodigy he is." The officer shook his head. "Shame we can't recruit him into the Military."

"Warriors who are willing to join the Military usually don't have much of a background." The uniformed Warrior sighed.

The two watched Su Zhe disappear into the distance and chatted.

The Supply Base was close to the Base City, and the post was usually fairly quiet. The occasional monsters that showed up didn't dare attack.

Unless a disaster like a beast tide or a rat tide broke out, the soldiers stationed at the Supply Base were relatively safe. But if a disaster on that scale did erupt, even War Gods could fall, let alone them.

They were the first line of defense protecting Jiangnan Base City.

Meanwhile,

Su Zhe was sprinting along a highway in the Wilderness Zone.

As he ran faster and faster, faint strands of black-and-red blood could be seen winding around his legs. Each time his feet struck the ground, they nearly left dents in the hard concrete.

That was astonishing strength for a Junior Warrior.

Abandoned vehicle wrecks were scattered all over the highway.

On either side of the road lay fields overgrown with weeds and the ruins of villages. Now and then, the roars of monsters rang out from within.

"Roar!"

A small, pitch-black monster sprang out of a dark corner and pounced at Su Zhe. He acted as though he hadn't noticed, continuing to run forward without a care, not even minding how much energy he was using.

"Argh... Hm?"

The monster grinned viciously as it swiftly closed in behind Su Zhe and sank its teeth into the back of his unguarded neck.

The fresh blood and delicious chunks of meat it had imagined never came.

Instead, it encountered... an intensely pungent, bloody stench that even made a monster feel sick. At the same time, it realized its jaws seemed to be stuck shut, and its entire body was glued to Su Zhe, unable to move!

Su Zhe stopped and turned his head. Seeing the monster clinging to his back, he felt nothing.

"A Junior Soldier-Level Beast Shadow Cat."

Su Zhe shook his head slightly and lifted one hand. His fair right hand instantly turned into a mass of twisted tendrils made up of countless black-and-red strands, then returned to normal in the blink of an eye, as if it had all been an illusion.

Only Su Zhe knew it wasn't.

He yanked the Shadow Cat off his back. In just a few seconds, most of its head had already disappeared, and its body was mangled, barely alive.

Su Zhe clenched his right hand, crushing the Shadow Cat into a cloud of blood. At the same time, his hand transformed into countless tendrils that instantly devoured every splattered scrap of flesh and drop of blood, wasting not a single bit.

[Devoured an Apprentice Level, first-order monster. Gained 0.1 Devour Points]

A line of small text flashed before Su Zhe's eyes.

"Status."

Su Zhe silently called out in his mind, and a virtual panel appeared before him.

[Name]: Su Zhe

[Level]: Apprentice Level, Second Order

[Bloodline]: Blacklight Virus

[Law]: None

[Items]: None

[Devour Points]: 9.1 (10000)

As a transmigrator, how could he not have a cheat?

This seemingly simple panel was the cheat he had received when he transmigrated.

Its function was simple.

By devouring other life forms, he could gain Devour Points. The stronger the life form, the more points he gained. After accumulating enough points, he could spend them to randomly exchange for an item.

The first random item cost 100 Devour Points.

Devouring a Junior Soldier-Level Beast—that is, an Apprentice Level, first-order monster—only earned him 0.1 Devour Points.

The bitterness and sweetness of the journey... No, the hardship and suffering. Only Su Zhe knew what he'd been through.

If his father weren't an Advanced General-Level Warrior, Su Zhe wouldn't have been able to start eating monster meat for every meal after turning sixteen. That was how he finally scraped together the 100 Devour Points he needed to get started and obtained the ability he thought best suited this cheat: the Blacklight Virus!

The Blacklight Virus was the power possessed by the protagonist of the game Prototype.

By continuously devouring enemies, he could gain their strengths and abilities, evolving without end and becoming ever stronger.

Even in an ordinary urban world, the game's protagonist, nicknamed Alex Mercer, could grow strong enough to withstand a nuclear bomb in less than a month. One could only imagine how far Su Zhe would go in the Swallowed Star World.

"The only problem is... I don't seem to be human anymore. Can I still have kids?"

Su Zhe rubbed his chin as he thought it over. It seemed he'd have to disappoint the old man back home.

But maybe not. Given how miraculous the Blacklight Virus was, and all the rare treasures in the Swallowed Star World, perhaps there'd be a way to solve the problem of having children later on. If all else failed... he could tell the old man to put in some effort and start a new family.

The old man was only in his forties, still young enough.

But that could wait.

Looking at the group of Shadow Cats that had gathered around him at some point, Su Zhe grinned, baring his teeth.

"Are you here to be my extra meal?"