The price

"Why?"

"Why wasn't that ugly cat affected by the Golden Corn?"

"Could it be because it has no talent?"

"But the way it sprawled on the box proved that the Golden Corn benefited it."

"What exactly is Golden Corn, anyway?"

Lu Zhan had already grown used to being the center of everyone's discussion.

All he wanted now was to eat. He had no energy to spare for those tiresome people.

And so, after Su Yuyan, Lu Zhan was the first to leave the classroom.

Perhaps because of his earlier "focused thinking," Lu Zhan continued pondering his questions even on the way to the cafeteria.

Neither the library nor Lu Zhan's eighteen years of life experience held any mention of delicacies like Golden Corn.

If it had only been the latter, that would merely have meant that Lu Zhan occupied too low a rung on the social ladder.

But even the Training Center's library had no record of it whatsoever. Wasn't that taking secrecy a little too far?

"Su Yuyan said she planted and harvested the Golden Corn herself."

"And her original goal was to grow Rainbow Corn with the research institute."

"In other words, Golden Corn was most likely a product of the research institute too."

"It must have something to do with life alchemy."

Lu Zhan had eaten Yero City's corn since childhood.

Golden Corn was definitely no ordinary crop.

In his previous world, genetic modification would have been the obvious explanation.

But in this world, it had to be the power of alchemy-and the most mysterious kind, life alchemy.

This supported a suspicion Lu Zhan had entertained earlier.

Unlike ordinary alchemy, which could be found everywhere, life alchemy was strictly controlled in Yero City.

So much so that residents of Yero City's outer city never encountered any sign of life alchemy in their daily lives.

"Too bad Old Lu and I weren't meant to get along. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to sit here guessing."

"What exactly is the origin of life?"

"Even if my answer was wrong, he didn't have to brand me a heretic!"

Whenever Lu Zhan recalled Lu Guanhong's nasty attitude that day, he felt a surge of indignation.

There was a reason Old Lu wasn't popular at the Training Center.

Fortunately, when one door closed, another opened.

Lu Zhan had now earned Su Yuyan's "appreciation." This beautiful teacher had access to mysterious "gourmet" resources.

If he could get along with her, surely he would get to eat Golden Popcorn?

Inside the Class C Cafeteria, the aroma of food seemed richer than usual.

Perhaps the cafeteria's cooks also knew that today was the Gourmet Appreciation Class and had put more care into their cooking.

By the time Lu Zhan reached the cafeteria, several dozen students were already eating inside.

It was a little embarrassing, considering Lu Zhan had been the first to leave the classroom.

But he had been so hungry that his legs had felt weak.

Those who had left later had strode along briskly and overtaken him with ease.

"Meat, meat, meat!"

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Lu Zhan plunged straight into the "battlefield" without another word.

To Lu Zhan, those juicy pieces of roast meat were practically dearer than his own "brothers."

Although the terrifying hunger had subsided, the severe energy deficit in his body still turned Lu Zhan into a "starving ghost."

In just three minutes, Lu Zhan devoured ten plate-sized pieces of roast meat.

Even he was stunned by that terrifying feat.

Unlike Lu Zhan, who wolfed down his food with gusto, the others took their time.

The students who had reached the cafeteria earlier were eating boiled meat at a leisurely pace.

Beside their gentlemanly table manners, Lu Zhan looked like a barbarian who had barged into the cafeteria.

These students not only ate more elegantly than Lu Zhan, but also had smaller appetites.

After just a few fist-sized pieces of boiled meat, they were already feeling rather full.

Even when they tried to force themselves to eat more, they only managed to gnaw through an extra head of cabbage.

"So this is the price of tricking [Hunger]!"

"Their bodies desperately need more energy, but they can't feel hungry."

"And if they force themselves to eat, their stomachs-even their entire digestive systems-rebel."

"Being hungry feels awful, but being too full is uncomfortable too!"

After devouring twenty pieces of roast meat, Lu Zhan finally had a moment to look around.

Few students in the cafeteria were eating as relentlessly as he was.

Most were the same as always, looking as though they couldn't stomach any more and could only nibble on vegetable leaves.

Before, Lu Zhan would simply have assumed they were tired of the food.

But the truth was that even if they wanted to eat, they couldn't.

Still, this condition probably wouldn't last forever.

Otherwise, every student in the Basic Class would have been reduced to skin and bones long ago.

Yet before today, every one of them had possessed quite a robust build.

"Does the feeling of fullness weaken over time?"

"It probably does. The human body follows certain rules, after all."

"In the meantime, they could eat smaller meals more often, taking more time to replenish their energy."

By showing such "concern" for these students who took shortcuts, Lu Zhan was also leaving himself a fallback option.

In neither his previous life nor this one had Lu Zhan been good at enduring hardship.

Truthfully, even Lu Zhan didn't know how long he could keep this up.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Despite having already polished off twenty pieces of roast meat, Lu Zhan's stomach was still growling with hunger.

With no other choice, Lu Zhan ate another dozen or so pieces of boiled meat to give himself a break from the grease.

Yet, frighteningly, his appetite seemed like a bottomless pit. He simply couldn't fill it.

"Holy crap, do I even count as a normal human anymore?"

"Isn't my digestion a little too powerful now?"

Still hungry despite his frenzied eating, Lu Zhan was afraid he might burst his own stomach.

So he used the Blood-Red Antenna to inspect its condition.

What he discovered made his scalp prickle: half the roast meat he had eaten had already been digested.

With digestion like that, he could probably eat an entire pig in one sitting without trouble.

"With digestion this powerful, why should I worry about not being able to eat my way to greater strength?"

"If my body keeps getting stronger like this, tearing a car apart with my bare hands shouldn't be a problem either."

"There was a flaw in my understanding. I thought Armored Warriors were powerful only because of their Growth Armor."

"But judging by my current condition, even an Armored Warrior Apprentice without armor still has terrifying physical strength."

"Then how strong must the Mutant Beast that slaughtered thirty-six Armored Warrior Apprentices like it was chopping vegetables have been?"

Only now did Lu Zhan truly realize what being an Armored Warrior meant.

Even a mere Armored Warrior Apprentice would probably be a rampaging steam locomotive among ordinary people.

Realizing how weak he was, Lu Zhan threw all restraint aside and resumed his ravenous eating.

To the other students around him, however, the sight of him wolfing down his food was particularly "jarring."