Chapter 519: Chapter 519: Fabricated?
"Here you go!"
The cook’s tone was somewhat disdainful; he looked down on the crystal cores from zombie brains.
Only crystal cores from human brains could significantly enhance a person’s superpowers.
He never bothered to absorb zombie crystal cores and wasted no time on them.
Yet the butcher stall owner absorbed them instead of human brain crystal cores.
Among the three of them, the butcher was the weakest, precisely because he only absorbed these filthy crystal cores.
Honestly, if the butcher absorbed human brain crystal cores, he’d definitely be the strongest among them!
The butcher stall owner took the crystal core with a smile, not minding at all that it came from a zombie brain. He wiped it twice casually and slipped it into his pocket.
"Where’s the foreman?"
The butcher stall owner looked around the yard and asked.
"He’s gone to look for customers."
The cook replied, then dragged the zombie’s corpse out of the iron cage, leaving a trail of dark, sticky blood.
The zombie’s rotten and decaying body looked about to fall apart, limbs barely attached, lifeless and skeletal.
He dragged it to the edge of the yard wall, his face breaking into a greasy grin as he addressed the vines clinging to the wall.
"Xiao Guai, dinner’s ready!"
With that, the cook moved his fingertips, and a green light fell upon the vines.
The thickly layered vines began to squirm, exposing the roots.
It was then Bai Xiqin realized it was a mutated pumpkin vine; though it bore no pumpkins, its leaves and roots looked exactly like a pumpkin vine!
The mutated pumpkin vine’s roots had a faint black hue, and a few strands quickly shot toward the zombie corpse.
In no time, the corpse was swept away; before anyone could make out what the vine did, the zombie body was deeply buried within its roots.
This mutated pumpkin vine actually fed on zombie corpses.
Whether it was an illusion or not, under the sunlight, the pumpkin vine appeared even greener, not a bright green, but a deep dark green.
Such a dark green that it appeared black.
The cook looked satisfied at the pumpkin vine he had painstakingly nurtured, from thumb-sized to stretching across the entire wall.
A sense of accomplishment welled up.
His Xiao Guai not only consumed many zombies but also many human superpower users.
When those buying crystal cores sought greater upgrades, it was Xiao Guai’s mealtime.
The higher the rank of the superpower user, the more difficult the enhancement became; leveling up required higher-rank crystal cores.
Neither the cook, the butcher, nor the foreman had access to high-rank crystal cores, yet they needed them as well.
Thus, when those guests grew stronger, they might not return for more crystal cores since the cook had none to offer.
At such times, it was when the cook and the others harvested high-rank crystal cores.
This business would never lose; moreover, it spared them from hunting high-rank zombies or confronting terrifying sea creatures.
All they needed was to find a low-rank superpower user, lure them with the promise of rapid enhancement, and they would willingly exchange ten times the zombie crystal cores for the crystal cores from human brains.
And so it went, repeatedly.
In just a few months, the cook and foreman had reached the pinnacle of the fourth rank in power.
Although the butcher refused to absorb human brain crystal cores, his substantial income had allowed him to become a fourth rank superpower user just a few days ago.
The cook, filled with emotion, turned and walked toward Bai Xiqin and the other two.
"Roar――"
The zombie locked in the cage in the yard continued to emit silent roars, low but with a disquieting effect on the nerves.
One wonders if living here daily would warp one’s mind.
"You must be the customers looking to enhance your superpowers!" The cook, oily-faced, smiled at Bai Xiqin and waved toward the stone table and chairs in the middle of the yard, "You’ve come a long way; please have a seat on the sofa to rest a while!"
Bai Xiqin glanced at the stone tables and chairs, his face twitching almost imperceptibly, yet he slowly walked over with Leng Yebai, sitting on the "sofa."
The cook observed the "obedient" two, nodding to himself.
It seemed the two were completely muddled by the toxins Xiao Guai was releasing.
It made the brainwashing process for guests simpler.
Embedding the enhancement of superpowers as the most critical task in their minds, urging them to frantically collect crystal cores in this post-apocalyptic world, then exchanging them for the crystal cores from human superpower users’ brains.
"You look unfamiliar; it seems it’s your first time here for shopping, so let me enlighten you." The cook and the butcher earnestly sat opposite Bai Xiqin and began their brainwashing routine.
"The crystal cores you want to buy are from human superpower users’ brains; don’t bear any guilt. The sources we obtain these from are legitimate; it’s not about murdering for profit! Just like zombies, humans have crystal cores in their brains. Crystal cores from superpower users are more easily absorbed, allowing for faster power enhancement."
"If you want to reach higher levels of superpower, absorbing only zombie brain crystal cores isn’t enough. Even absorbing a dozen fourth rank crystal cores might not take you to the fourth rank in power."
"But absorbing crystal cores from human superpower users’ brains is like taking a shortcut. Regardless of your natural talent, even five fourth rank crystal cores will break you through!"
"Currently, many superpower users only absorb zombie brain crystal cores, but who knows if they contain the zombie virus?"
"Those are things that grew in zombies’ brains, mingled with their flesh and blood."
"Ultimately, something from the same species is more effective for its own kind."
The cook’s oily lips flapped on, rambling for quite some time.
Bai Xiqin and Leng Yebai nodded along vacantly, appearing genuinely brainwashed.
In a conscious state, no sensible person would believe the cook; lacking scientific evidence was one thing, but the moral compass every human carried stood in stark opposition.
Some might purchase children to satisfy gluttony.
But those deeds dwelled in shadows, steering away from most people’s aspirations, with victims being the defenseless.
If anyone publicized the absorption of superpower users’ crystal cores, they’d become the enemy of every superpower user.
Superpower users feared becoming prey, dreading the day someone might target their brains as they walked the streets.
Hence, without Xiao Guai’s toxins inducing brainwashing, the three partners wouldn’t have thrived.
"The cook’s right, so if you wish to enhance your abilities, to never be bullied in this world, you must follow this path." The butcher continued, "earnestly."
"The superpower user crystal cores we obtained are limited; please treasure this opportunity. If possible, keep this secret, never revealing it unless crucial."
"If you must tell someone, simply say Brother Monkey introduced you, and divulge nothing more."
Bai Xiqin’s eyes moved slightly.
Could it be that Brother Monkey doesn’t exist and was just fabricated?
