Not Letting Anyone Sleep Peacefully, Huh?

Zhuang Hong's unique vision allowed him to see the Source Power within natural enemies. Source Power of different levels emitted different colors; from weakest to strongest, they were white, green, and blue.

The Source Power within his own body emitted a lush green glow.

As for what color lay beyond Blue Light, he had never seen it and did not know for now.

The Red Beard Monster gave off a faint white light from within, making it a "White Nemesis," which Zhuang Hong classified as "no threat whatsoever."

Zhuang Hong darted left and right, easily dodging backward. Suddenly, he spread all ten fingers and yanked hard. The Red Beard Monster's many tentacles immediately drew together into a single bundle.

Only then did it become clear that dense, fine threads had somehow already wrapped around the tentacles, their ends all connected to Zhuang Hong's fingers.

"Bang!"

Deprived of the support of its tentacles, the Red Beard Monster's massive body crashed to the ground and struggled wildly.

Zhuang Hong clenched his right hand in the air.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Dark-red carapace proliferated from his hand, forming a long spike aimed at the Red Beard Monster.

"Ejection!"

The spike became a streak of light and shot into the Red Beard Monster's body.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the Red Beard Monster twitched once and stopped moving.

The battle was over.

Zhuang Hong dismissed the fine threads and slowly walked forward.

A powerful urge to feed surged up from within him, clearing much of the drowsiness from his mind.

"Time to eat!"

He thrust his hand into the Red Beard Monster's body. After pausing for a moment, his arm turned into a straw, crazily drawing in Source Power and nutrients.

Great torrents of nutrients flowed through his arm and into his body, bringing both his body and mind profound satisfaction.

The enormous Red Beard Monster visibly withered and shrank.

Zhuang Hong's body, meanwhile, was like a bottomless pit. There was no obvious change, aside from a slight bulge in his stomach.

After draining the Red Beard Monster dry, he could not help letting out a satisfied burp.

He then rummaged out several crystal fragments from the Red Beard Monster's shell, dusted them off, and tossed them directly into his mouth, crunching away.

They were much like the candy pellets he had eaten as a child.

After his hearty meal, Zhuang Hong looked even sleepier.

He forced himself to stay alert, picked up the many torn pieces of notebook scattered across the ground, smoothed them out, and put them away. Then he cast a regretful look at the tentacles strewn everywhere. He dearly wanted to swallow them too; though tentacles had little meat, they were still rare nutrients.

"Nutrients" included substances that enhanced the strength of his flesh, "Source Power" used to activate special abilities, and "Space Essence" that allowed him to travel freely through space.

All of them were things he needed.

But fearing indigestion, he chose to turn and leave.

His appetite was still too small.

"Once I digest this Red Beard Monster, the green glow on my body should grow richer. Perhaps before long, I'll evolve into a Blue Monster. Then, if I run into a Blue Nemesis again, I won't have to flee so miserably."

"And after evolving into a Blue Monster, I should be able to get a good night's sleep, right? It's been such a long, long time... since I last slept peacefully!"

Lost in thought, Zhuang Hong gradually vanished.

Before he knew it, Zhuang Hong had arrived in another world inhabited by life. By then, he was so sleepy that his eyelids kept drooping uncontrollably.

He found a clean-looking rock, sat down with his back against it, observed the surroundings for a moment, then closed his eyes, intending to doze off for a while.

In his haze, a voice sounded in his mind.

"Hold on. You can't sleep. If you sleep too deeply and a natural enemy ambushes you, then you'll really die."

Yet another voice spoke up. "Sleep peacefully for a while. It'll be fine. There's no way a natural enemy will happen to kill you right when you fall asleep. You have to believe in probability."

Just like that, the two voices began arguing in Zhuang Hong's head, tormenting his nerves.

Just as Zhuang Hong was about to persuade himself to sleep peacefully, a sudden feeling struck him. His heart jolted, and an electric current raced through his body, instantly snapping him awake. He reflexively sprang up, narrowly dodging a huge pincer.

Zhuang Hong quickly widened the distance and looked back. Good heavens—it was a huge beetle, a White Nemesis.

His heart still pounded with fear, and cold sweat covered his head. "If I'd accidentally fallen asleep just now, that big thing would probably have snipped me into two..."

"Crack, crack, crack!"

Zhuang Hong extended his right hand. A large amount of carapace proliferated and formed a dark-red broadsword, which rushed straight at the beetle.

After nearing the beetle, Zhuang Hong casually pulled.

"Whoosh!"

A large number of fine threads appeared, wrapping around the beetle's legs and restricting its movements.

Zhuang Hong flashed past the beetle's feet.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The beetle's jointed limbs snapped one after another, and its huge body came crashing down.

Immediately afterward, Zhuang Hong leaped onto the beetle's back and drove his blade into its head.

The beetle twitched once and stopped moving.

Zhuang Hong jumped down from its body and let out a long breath.

He dearly wanted to drain the beetle dry, but having just eaten his fill, he had no choice but to give up.

He packed up his things and continued on his way.

But after walking only a short while, Zhuang Hong's eyelids began drooping again...

"I've already run into two natural enemies in a row. Logically, I shouldn't encounter another one so soon. I can sleep for a while..."

As he thought this, Zhuang Hong found another spot to sit down and narrowed his eyes.

But after only dozing for a moment, he jumped up again and dodged another natural enemy's attack. Unable to hold back, he cursed, "Fuck! You specifically wait until I'm sleeping to ambush me, huh? You won't let anyone get a good night's sleep, huh?!"

Furious, Zhuang Hong took down the natural enemy in a few moves, then gave it two more slashes to vent the hatred in his heart.

Only then did he pick up his backpack and leave the area.

What did it feel like to be unable to sleep?

It was agony, as if someone were stirring his brain with a stick, churning it into a mushy paste.

Wave after wave of powerful sleepiness battered his soul, reminding him that it was time to sleep.

Zhuang Hong considered his willpower exceptionally strong, but no matter how strong one's will was, it could not withstand sleepiness's relentless assault.

So, before long, his eyelids drooped again.

He thought to himself, This time, I probably won't be attacked again, right?

So he narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, the feeling of closing my eyes and emptying my mind... how wonderful..."

Less than ten minutes later, amid the haze, Zhuang Hong sprang up once more, again dodging a natural enemy's sneak attack.

"I've endured enough!"

Zhuang Hong charged forward and killed the natural enemy with several swift slashes. He left the space indignantly, still muttering curses under his breath.

After walking for another half hour, Zhuang Hong was defeated by drowsiness again. He lay down on a patch of grass, planning to doze off for a while.

But soon, Zhuang Hong was ambushed again.

"Does this ever end?! Go die!"

Beside a pool of water, Zhuang Hong had only just laid down with his backpack beneath his head.

A centipede ambushed him from the side.

Zhuang Hong: "..."

"I want to sleep so badly—what am I supposed to do?! But these natural enemies won't let me sleep! No matter how many I kill, more keep popping out from every corner..."

Zhuang Hong was nearly driven mad by these natural enemies.

They never came while he was awake. They only came when he was ready to sleep. His luck was rotten to the extreme.

In truth, he did not encounter natural enemies every time he slept. Cases like this, where he ran into them several times in a row whenever he tried to doze off, were rare.

But there was indeed a small chance that it could happen.

And Zhuang Hong's luck seemed to have run out after he found that bone—perhaps he even owed some.

"Ah, I can't take it anymore! If I don't sleep now, I feel like I'll die..."

Zhuang Hong lay down once again and narrowed his eyes.

At last, this time no natural enemy attacked him.

Yet he did not dare truly fall asleep. His heart remained suspended in midair, constantly afraid that a natural enemy would pop out the next second.

As a result, he could not sleep well at all.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhuang Hong finally opened his eyes, climbed up from the ground, and stretched deeply.

"Being able to doze for a while is basically a resurrection."

Though he had not truly fallen asleep, being able to doze for a while still restored a little of his energy.

"When will I be able to truly sleep peacefully? It's been three years. Who could possibly know how I've spent these three years?"

Thinking of the life he had lived these past years, Zhuang Hong suddenly felt incomparably bitter.

He barely managed to rouse his spirits, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and headed toward Earth.

"I have to obtain an ability that lets me sleep peacefully as soon as possible. If this keeps going, the natural enemies won't have to kill me—I'll go insane first..."