Chapter 322: Chapter 221: So Hungry
Chubby’s face was flushed red with excitement. He desperately craned his neck to look at Paige Summers, his expression so sycophantic it was hard to bear.
Looking down, she could see he was a complete mess.
His shirt was snagged and bunched up in the tree, exposing his skin. His pants were shredded down the middle, his shoes were caked with dirt, and there was even a hole over his big toe...
As Paige Summers sized him up, she used the tip of her long knife to search him.
Nothing.
No weapons, no food.
If he was telling the truth about being abandoned by his companions, then this was to be expected.
Paige Summers didn’t take the bait of his plea for help. Instead, she asked, "How long have you been on the mountain?"
Chubby froze for a second. Instead of answering, he said defiantly, "You get me down first, then I’ll tell you!"
Paige Summers didn’t hesitate. SWISH! She pressed her long knife to his throat. "Speak, or die?" ’If you want to threaten people, you need to have the power to back it up!’
Tears and snot immediately started streaming down Chubby’s face. "Five days! I’ve been up here for five days! I came with Boss Stark’s Hunting Party. But I got stuck while I was trying to catch a rabbit. I screamed for help for ages, but they didn’t come get me. They must have run off. I haven’t eaten a thing since yesterday. Please, even if you don’t get me down, at least give me something to eat. Let me die as a well-fed ghost! WAAAHHH..."
Paige Summers lowered her long knife and frowned. Although she had already lost all hope for this man, she still couldn’t resist asking, "Besides your teammates, on this mountain, have you seen..."
She was halfway through her question when she suddenly sensed something was wrong. Without hesitation, she swung her long knife and slashed down at Chubby!
Just then, Chubby’s seemingly clumsy body suddenly became agile. In the instant it took to pull back, he slipped free from the tree, dodging the long knife!
The face that had just been sycophantic one moment and tear-streaked the next was completely transformed. The ends of his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth drooped, making him look exceptionally vicious.
"How did you figure it out?"
’If you wanted the act to be believable, you shouldn’t have eaten beforehand!’
’His breath reeking of fresh roast meat...’
’See? All it took was one test strike for him to show his true colors!’
Paige Summers couldn’t be bothered to answer him. She zipped around the tree in a flash and pressed her attack, unleashing several strikes in the blink of an eye!
Chubby’s speed wasn’t slow, but it was nothing compared to hers.
Just as the long knife was about to hit him, he suddenly opened his mouth!
The mouth instantly grew, transforming in a flash into a cavernous maw large enough to swallow half a person!
Paige was stunned and quickly retreated several steps.
Looking at Chubby now, she saw he had become extremely grotesque.
His upper and lower jaws protruded far from his face; his upper lip stretched past the top of his head, while his lower lip hung down to his waist. He looked for all the world like a carnivorous plant had just bloomed from his face!
It was an unbelievably ugly sight!
A strange, cackling laugh, "JYEH JYEH JYEH," echoed from within his massive mouth. The throat connecting to the giant mouth was like a bottomless pit, sending a chill to the very core of one’s being.
’This must be a superpower, right? This guy... he’s still human... right?’ Paige mused, already taking out her Crossbow, ready to fire!
But just then, an incredibly powerful suction force erupted from Chubby’s mouth!
In the blink of an eye, the suction formed a powerful torrent of air. Trees, rocks, and even the dirt at her feet were all being sucked up.
As all this debris poured in, Chubby’s mouth grew wider and wider, yet his body remained unchanged. He seemed completely unconcerned about consuming these indigestible objects, driven by an obsession that suggested he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d sucked Paige Summers into his gut!
Paige knew this was a disaster!
The very ground beneath her was shaking, about to slide into Chubby’s mouth. She could barely stay on her feet, let alone aim. To make matters worse, pebbles were constantly being sucked past her, scraping painfully against her face!
’This damned fatty!’
Brimming with anger, she decided to simply go with it. Relaxing the force she was using to hold herself down, her entire body was instantly sent flying toward the giant mouth.
However, just as she was a couple of feet away from the giant mouth, she forcefully threw the Flying Claw that she had just switched out for her Crossbow!
She had plenty of strength, and the Flying Claw had plenty of weight. It latched onto Chubby’s ankle with unerring accuracy!
The next moment, a loud howl of agony erupted from the giant mouth, so loud it made her ears ache.
And with it, the suction disappeared entirely!
Paige Summers, who had been mere inches from Chubby’s lips, was waiting for this exact moment!
She flipped the hand holding her long knife, turning the tip downward. Her motion was as smooth as flowing water, but she put all her strength into it, slicing the blade upward and splitting the giant mouth right through the center!
Using the upward force of her blade, Paige kicked off a massive tooth, somersaulted in the air, and landed several meters in front of Chubby.
Chubby was no longer paying any attention to her.
He was in excruciating pain!
The giant mouth had vanished. He was cradling his now normal-sized face, wailing. His mouth had been split down the middle, jaw and all, and blood was still pouring down like a small stream.
Paige Summers had never seen this kind of Superpower User before.
In the apocalypse, anyone who wanted to survive had been forged into a will of iron.
An injury was nothing. Pain was nothing.
As long as you still drew breath, you couldn’t give up the fight.
You might even be able to take an enemy down with you.
But this Chubby... he was completely unpredictable. One moment he was a bumbling fool, the next he was vicious, and now he had turned into a bullied child. His aggrieved sobs made it seem as if *she* were the unpardonable villain!
She couldn’t wrap her head around it, but Paige Summers didn’t stop moving.
She couldn’t forget the lethality he had just displayed. If she had been swallowed, she would have been disgusted to death, even if she survived!
She lunged forward, intending to kill him outright.
Yet before she could act, Chubby abruptly stopped wailing and fell rigidly to the ground.
Assuming he was playing dead again, Paige snorted and continued her strike.
But as her long knife sank halfway into his chest, Chubby muttered two words and then actually took his last breath...
"So... hungry..."
Paige pulled her knife free, repeating those two words.
Her gaze fell upon his already deflated stomach, and she heaved a frustrated sigh.
’How utterly ridiculous!’
For a second, she wondered if he might have been one of Sheldon Reid’s men, but now, that really didn’t seem to be the case.
Sheldon Reid would have sent someone more competent, not this... this glutton! Paige felt a strange surge of anger, mixed with a sense of futility. Finally, she could only sigh and turn to leave.
With all that commotion, Marcus Monroe still hadn’t shown up. Clearly, he wasn’t in the vicinity.
’I guess I’ll have to look for him further away.’
「Meanwhile, in a cave on Mount Silvanus」
A man’s voice asked quietly, "Where’s Chubby?"
Someone replied, "He’s not here right now. He probably went out to find... uh, to find something to eat."
"Is that so..."
’That’s good. Hunting Parties occasionally come to this mountain, so he might get to eat his fill.’
’Though, he was clamoring about getting revenge for me yesterday, which did worry me a bit. I was worried he’d charge in blindly and run into the other party.’
’Those people aren’t someone he can handle.’
’But he hadn’t. The man relaxed.’
