Are you here to give me an extra meal?

"Are you sure you want to enter the Wilderness Zone all by yourself?"

Inside the Supply Base, an officer looked behind Su Zhe with a puzzled expression. After confirming that Su Zhe truly had no teammates, he asked with a look of confusion.

"Yes."

Su Zhe nodded and took out his martial artist certification.

The officer took it and looked it over, his confusion only deepening: "A martial artist who just turned eighteen... Do you not have your own martial artist squad? Are you from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall or the Thunder Martial Arts Hall? You just became a martial artist, and you want to enter the Wilderness Zone alone? Would you like me to help you find a squad?"

"I'm just planning to go into the Wilderness Zone to gain some experience; I won't go very far."

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

"Really?"

Looking at Su Zhe's sincere eyes, the officer, despite his lingering doubts, nodded slightly to signal that Su Zhe could leave.

Having received clearance, Su Zhe quickly tightened the straps of the backpack on his back and dashed out through the gates of the Supply Base. His posture was like that of a man who had been holding it in for half a day and had finally found a restroom, causing the officer to shake his head.

Young people these days, really...

"Old Li, who was that?"

Another martial artist in military uniform walked over, curious.

"Don't know. A martial artist who just turned eighteen, running off into the Wilderness Zone all by himself. No idea which family's genius he is." The officer shook his head. "A pity, he can't be recruited into our military."

"The martial artists willing to join the military are all those without any background," the uniformed martial artist sighed.

The two watched Su Zhe's retreating back and chatted idly.

This Supply Base was close to the base city, so it was usually a fairly relaxed post. Even when monsters appeared, they rarely dared to launch an active assault.

Unless a disaster like a beast tide or a rat tide occurred, it remained relatively safe for the soldiers stationed at the Supply Base. But once a disaster of that magnitude broke out, even a War God would risk falling, let alone them.

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

On the other side.

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

As his speed increased, faint black-red blood vessels could be seen winding around his legs. Every time his foot struck the ground, it nearly left a depression in the hard concrete.

For the strength of a Junior Warrior, this was truly incredible.

Along the highway, the wreckage of abandoned vehicles could be seen everywhere.

On both sides of the road were overgrown fields and dilapidated villages, from which the roars of monsters could be heard from time to time.

"Roar!"

A small, jet-black monster lunged at Su Zhe from a dark corner. Su Zhe acted as if he hadn't noticed, continuing to run forward without a care, not even concerned about the expenditure of his stamina.

"Awoo... hm?"

The monster grinned hideously, closing in rapidly from behind Su Zhe, and bit down toward his undefended neck.

The sweet blood and delicious flesh it had imagined did not appear.

Instead... there was a scent of blood so thick it was almost nauseating, even to a monster. At the same time, the monster realized its mouth wouldn't open; its entire body was stuck to Su Zhe, unable to move!

Su Zhe stopped, turned his head, and looked at the monster clinging to his back, his heart completely calm.

"A Junior Soldier-Level Shadow Cat."

Su Zhe shook his head slightly and extended a hand. His fair right hand instantly transformed into twisted tentacles made of countless black-red threads, then reverted in a flash, as if it had been a mere hallucination.

Only Su Zhe knew it wasn't a hallucination.

He tore the Shadow Cat off his back. In just a few seconds, more than half of the Shadow Cat's head had vanished, its body was mangled and ruined, and it was left with only a single breath of life.

Su Zhe squeezed his right hand, crushing the Shadow Cat into a mist of blood. Simultaneously, his right hand transformed into countless tentacles, instantly devouring the scattered bits of flesh and blood, not wasting a single drop.

[Devoured Apprentice Level 1 monster, gained 0.1 Devour Points]

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

"Panel."

Su Zhe whispered in his heart, and a virtual panel immediately appeared before him.

[Name]: Su Zhe

[Level]: Apprentice Level 2

[Lineage]: Blacklight Virus

[Law]: None

[Items]: None

[Devour Points]: 9.1 (10000)

As a transmigrator, how could he not have a golden finger?

This seemingly simple panel was the golden finger that had appeared with Su Zhe's transmigration.

The panel's ability is simple.

As long as he devours other life forms, he can obtain corresponding Devour Points. The stronger the life form's energy level, the more Devour Points he can obtain. After accumulating enough Devour Points, he can consume them to randomly redeem an item.

To obtain the first random item, the required cost is 100 Devour Points.

Yet, devouring a single Junior Soldier-Level Beast—that is, a first-tier Apprentice Level monster—only yields 0.1 Devour Points.

The bitterness and hardships along this journey... no, the heartache and suffering, only Su Zhe himself truly knows.

If not for having a father at the Advanced Warlord Level, Su Zhe would never have been able to eat monster meat at every meal after turning sixteen, eventually accumulating the 100 Devour Points needed as starting capital to obtain what he considers the ability most perfectly suited to this golden finger: the Blacklight Virus!

This Blacklight Virus is the very ability possessed by the protagonist in the game Prototype.

By continuously devouring enemies, one can acquire their advantageous abilities and constantly evolve oneself to become even stronger.

In an ordinary urban world, the game's protagonist, jokingly referred to as Alex Mercer, was able to grow to the point of surviving a nuclear blast in less than a month. It is easy to see that in the world of Swallowed Star, Su Zhe will grow to an unimaginable degree.

"The only problem is... I don't seem to be human anymore. Can I still carry on the family line?"

Su Zhe rubbed his chin in thought; it seemed he would have to disappoint the old man at home.

But that is not necessarily true. With the miraculous nature of the Blacklight Virus and the rare treasures in the world of Swallowed Star, there might be a way to solve the issue of reproduction later on. If all else fails... he could just let the old man work hard to start a new save file.

After all, the old man is only in his forties; he is still quite young.

However, that is a matter for the future.

Looking at the group of Shadow Cats that had surrounded him at some point, Su Zhe bared his teeth, revealing a ferocious grin.

"Are you all here to provide me with an extra meal?"