Chapter 14

For two consecutive days, he cultivated madly day and night.

Feng Mu had drained his energy dry and lay on the bed like a corpse.

Even though the computer was off, the room seemed to still echo with the sound of "one two three four."

Feng Mu had dark circles under his eyes, dense bloodshot veins made his pupils look especially terrifying, staring unfocused at the air, appearing even more eerie.

【Iron Eater: First Rank】

【Edible Iron Type: 1】

【Extractable Metal Property: 1】

【Current Detected Edible Iron Type — Ordinary Pig Iron, Edibility 25.5%.】

【Extracted Property:??】

Edibility surged 15%, averaging 7.5% per day, significant results.

Of course, the cost was not small: besides his stored iron being completely exhausted, not a single iron bead left, his body could finally no longer hold up, with waves of stabbing pain coming from his heart.

This was his body sounding the alarm; if he kept stacking debuffs, he didn't know if his edibility would burst, but his heart would burst first.

Feng Mu realized: "Although I eat iron, I'm not an iron man; if I keep training, I might really drop dead."

He thought: "I've roughly tested my body's current load limit, 7.5% a day, several times more than I originally imagined; at this efficiency, I only need to go all out for another ten days, and the progress bar can be pushed to 100%."

Feng Mu's heart was full of anticipation, his heartbeat surging in his cold chest: "As long as I can get enough iron, in just ten days, the Iron Eater will produce results."

Feng Mu wanted to get up right now and go out to make money and get iron, but reason made him close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

06:14 AM.

Feng Mu was awakened by a strong sense of hunger.

His empty intestines wriggled, his stomach churned, a strong sense of emptiness gripped every cell of his body.

That feeling was indescribable, as if his skin wanted to devour his muscle, his muscle wanted to devour his bones, his bones wanted to devour his blood, hungry to the point of wanting to eat himself.

Me, wanting to eat myself?

Feng Mu's scalp went numb, a terrifying image flashed in his mind: "E Corpse?!"

Feng Mu hurriedly climbed out of bed; because the light wasn't on and there was no mirror in the room, he didn't know that his pupils had now narrowed into vertical slits, glowing with a green light like a snake's.

He pulled open the drawer and took out a plastic bag.

The plastic bag was somewhat heavy; he opened it, and inside was mixed leftover rice.

These past two days he had brought his meals back to the room and poured them all into plastic bags to pack, originally planning to throw them out to scavengers in a couple of days, but unexpectedly it ended up benefiting himself after all.

Without chopsticks or a spoon, Feng Mu buried his head in it and rummaged madly with his hands.

The cold leftover rice, all mixed together, the taste was hard to describe, but Feng Mu ate it with indescribable delight.

His mouth opened and closed exaggeratedly, his teeth chewed violently, his mouth was full of saliva, his esophagus squeezed and transported frantically, into that bottomless pit of a stomach.

No, not a bottomless pit.

But rather, a blender full of strong acid; no matter how much food fell in, it was dissolved by stomach acid in an instant, stirred by the stomach walls, and then divided up by his hungry body.

Feng Mu threw away the plastic bag, went to the kitchen, pulled open the refrigerator, not caring what was inside, and stuffed everything edible into his mouth.

Ten minutes later.

That terrifying hunger gradually subsided, Feng Mu's pupils returned to normal, he looked at the messy kitchen, and his expression changed.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Feng Mu returned to the bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed, and fell into contemplation.

"What was wrong with me just now? What exactly was that abnormal hunger?"

Thinking of "wanting to eat himself" just now, Feng Mu couldn't help but feel lingering fear and goosebumps.

"Was it because the iron ran out?"

"Or because of……"

Feng Mu furrowed his brow, suppressed the lingering fear in his heart, and carefully recalled the sensations in his body just now.

"Wrong, I didn't think about eating iron just now, but wanted to eat meat, wanted to eat carbs; so the root cause is because during this period I only ate iron and didn't eat rice?"

"The fullness from eating iron deceived me; I actually still need to eat rice?"

"And although the first step of eating iron reconstructs the bones, actually my stomach and intestines have also been significantly strengthened; otherwise I couldn't digest iron."

After thinking it over, Feng Mu came to a conclusion: "From now on, eating iron must be paired with food; the more iron I eat, the more rice I must eat, otherwise it's easy to suffer nutritional imbalance and mutate into an E Corpse?!"

Although Feng Mu wasn't a medical student, his body's sensations told him so.

"A nutritional meal combining food and iron; from now on I'll pair them at a one-to-one ratio, for example, eat one jin of iron and one jin of rice?"

Feng Mu temporarily came up with a solution; as for its effectiveness, he'd have to eat first and see his body's feedback.

Feng Mu had also considered that maybe pairing nutrient solution with iron would be more scientific, but this thought was discarded in an instant.

Sleepiness dissipated in his contemplation; although his body was still exhausted, Feng Mu couldn't sleep.

He simply got up to take a shower in the restroom; warm water flowed over his skin, relaxing his whole body, the yin cold penetrating from his bones through his skin became more obvious, and his thoughts became clearer.

"The yin cold has covered all my ribs and is starting to spread along the spine to invade my limbs."

"I can feel my bones hardening, especially the ribcage, as if an iron helmet is embedded inside, heavy and weighty."

"I don't know, if I took a knife and cut open my chest right now, what color would my ribs be? Could an ordinary scalpel cut through my ribs?"

"Now at 25.5% edibility, my ribs and spine are already fully covered; maybe if the remaining bones increase another 20-30% edibility, they could all be covered?"

"In that case, maybe without reaching 100%, at the 50% threshold, the Iron Eater could unlock phased results?"

"For example, at 50%, unlock the extracted property?"

Feng Mu turned off the water, wiped his body with a towel; in the fogged mirror appeared a blurry body; his belly, which originally had a bit of extra flesh, was flattened as if liposuctioned, and his chest and back were lean, showing the angles of his bones.

"Rest tomorrow to recover, go to work at the Incineration Plant the day after, find a way to make money and get iron."

Feng Mu grinned at himself in the mirror, returned to his room, and went back to sleep.

Around noon.

Feng Yuhuai was back.

The TV volume was noticeably twice as loud.

"Don't turn it up so loud, your brother is still sleeping," Wang Xiuli said, glaring at her daughter with a reproachful look.

Feng Yuhuai didn't care at all; she held the remote control and said with a beaming smile, "Sleep, sleep, sleep, what time is it and he's still sleeping? In my opinion, my brother is just too lazy on normal days, which is why his grades are so poor, resulting in no hope for the College Entrance Exam."

Wang Xiuli quickly covered her daughter's mouth, feigning anger: "Your brother works quite hard, he just doesn't have your bone quality. He's been shut in his room these past two days doing Body Forging Exercises, don't keep stimulating your brother."

"Tch, my brother isn't that fragile. Besides, between being incapable and not trying hard, not trying hard feels better."

Feng Yuhuai's smile was bright, her snow-white chin suddenly turned toward the bedroom direction, teasingly saying,

"Right, Feng Mu?"

Wang Xiuli was startled and quickly turned her head; sure enough, she saw her son standing expressionlessly at the gate, his face showing neither joy nor sorrow.

Feng Mu watched Feng Yuhuai's performance coldly, not saying a word, just staring straight at her, his gaze seeming both simple and calm.

Feng Yuhuai's smile gradually became unnatural: "Just kidding, you're not mad, are you?"

Feng Mu ignored her and turned to look at Wang Xiuli, saying: "I was hungry last night, so I ate the food in the fridge."

Wang Xiuli was stunned for a moment; she was both surprised that Feng Mu had almost emptied the fridge and relieved, quickly standing up and walking toward the Kitchen while saying: "Hungry? I'll go cook, you and your sister watch some TV, don't fight."

Feng Mu sat on the Sofa and looked at the TV; anyway, there was nothing to do today, so watching TV was fine.

Seeing Feng Mu completely ignore her, Feng Yuhuai was furious enough to grind her teeth; from childhood to adulthood, whether at Home or at School, she had always been the center of attention, cherished by all.

She was used to and enjoyed the feeling of being looked up to and expected of.

Only, Feng Mu was clearly a Waste, yet he had never shown those emotions in his eyes.

I am your genius sister, the hope of the whole Home, shouldn't you be proud of me, revolve around me? If I become successful in the future, it'll be very hard to help you~

Feng Yuhuai glanced at Feng Mu; the latter was staring blankly, appearing even more dull and simple.

"Both useless and stupid," Feng Yuhuai stuck another label on Feng Mu in her heart, muttering meaninglessly, "Incapable."

"No need to provoke me, I won't argue with you," Feng Mu remained calm throughout, with no ripples in his heart; he didn't want to guess his sister's thoughts, nor was he bothered to guess.

Feng Mu felt indifferent in his heart: "Boring."

Lunch was relatively simple because Feng Mu had eaten the fridge half empty, and Wang Xiuli hadn't had time to go shopping yet.

Feng Yuhuai casually took a few bites and put down her Chopsticks.

Feng Mu wasn't hungry, but he slowly ate several bowls of Rice; after all, there was no Iron to eat, and an empty stomach was empty anyway.

Moreover, he deliberately slowed down his eating speed at this moment, so he could feel the powerful digestion of his stomach and intestines even more.

Although it wasn't like the hunger in the early morning where food dissolved as soon as it entered the stomach—which was obviously an abnormal speed—now it returned to normal, but it was still very fast.

Roughly speaking, it had degenerated from a mortar mixer to the level of a drum washing machine.

"The improvement of stomach and intestine digestion function; this should be a hidden benefit brought by being an Iron Eater. Profit, hehe~"

Feng Mu used to get full after eating two bowls of Rice, but now even after eating five bowls he was only eighty percent full; if he wasn't afraid of scaring Wang Xiuli, he would have wanted two more bowls.

"Rice Bucket," Feng Yuhuai couldn't help but mock him, but there was a hint of envy hidden in her eyes.

Feng Mu put down his Chopsticks, licked the rice grains off his lips, and felt pleased in his heart: "The importance of digestion ability for a Martial Artist goes without saying; some have even said that being able to eat is a talent second only to Bone Quality and comprehension."

After eating, Feng Mu prepared to return to his Room.

Feng Yuhuai, meanwhile, started chatting idly with Wang Xiuli at the Dinner Table.

Feng Yuhuai asked: "Mom, is the Patrol Bureau busy lately? Isn't Dad coming back for dinner?"

Wang Xiuli: "Mm, it seems there's a Major Case; they say members of an Evil Organization have infiltrated the Nine Districts, and they're conducting a large-scale search."

Feng Yuhuai asked curiously: "What Evil Organization?"

Wang Xiuli didn't have a good memory; she remembered that once when she took food to the Patrol Bureau, she seemed to have heard a name, what was it again?

Wang Xiuli pinched her brow and slapped her hand: "I remember now, it's called 【Destiny】, yes, that's the name."

Feng Mu had already lifted half of his Butt and then sat back down, expressionlessly picking up his Chopsticks and picking at the few remaining Dishes in the Plate.

"【Destiny】!"

Feng Yuhuai's eyes lit up, and she said with great interest,

"Six years ago, on the Heretical Organization Wanted List issued by the Upper City Council, 【Destiny】 was the only SSS Rank secret organization; it is said that the organization has a huge structure, acts unpredictably, and most of its members are mad and dangerous."

"It's just that 【Destiny】 suffered heavy losses under the Council's strikes and disappeared for several years; who would have thought it would surface again now? It seems they've rested up and are preparing to make a big move."

Feng Mu glanced at his sister without changing expression, agreeing with her judgment.

Because 【Destiny】 surfacing was real, making a big move was real, and he himself was 【Destiny】's biggest and most dangerous move!

Wang Xiuli was shocked; she usually didn't pay much attention to these things, and Feng Ju only said a few words now and then, so she thought it was just an ordinary organization; she didn't expect its background to be so terrifying.

Wang Xiuli asked doubtfully: "You're a student, where did you learn all this?"

Feng Yuhuai raised her chin: "No. 8 Middle School is a key high school in the Nine Districts, and I'm in the Martial Arts Key Class; most of my classmates have some family background, so they can always share news you can't hear outside. Whatever I hear, I remember."

Wang Xiuli's face showed worry; she was afraid Feng Ju would encounter danger.

Feng Yuhuai continued: "I heard that, it seems just a few days ago, a big event happened in Upper City; they say the Sky Rift happened."

"Sky Rift?" Wang Xiuli didn't understand what her daughter was saying.

"The news has been blocked; Lower City didn't report it at all, and I don't know what it means either," Feng Yuhuai said; she had only heard it and didn't understand the meaning of the words.

After all, people in Lower City, from birth to death, had never seen the Sky; the only thing they could look up to when raising their heads was the huge Butt of Upper City.

Wang Xiuli took out her Phone Call and wanted to call Feng Ju.

After calling several times with no one answering, Wang Xiuli's face turned pale instantly.

Feng Yuhuai wasn't panicked originally, but now she was a bit flustered; she forced a smile and said: "He should be on a mission, no time to answer the phone, right."

After thinking about it, Feng Yuhuai added: "I heard that 【Destiny】's main activity areas are concentrated in Upper City; even if they occasionally appear in Lower City, they are generally just fringe members, not that dangerous."

Wang Xiuli didn't know if she had taken it in, but her face looked a bit better.

Feng Yuhuai said with a face full of longing: "Even just taking down one fringe member of 【Destiny】 would give enough Merit Points to raise Citizen Level."

Judging by her expression, she seemed to wish nothing more than to run into a 【Destiny】 member herself.

Seeing her expression, Feng Mu truly didn't know how to roast her; then, seeing them change the subject and chat about other things, he simply stood up and returned to his own room.

In the evening, Feng Yuhuai left home and went back to school.

A bit later, Feng Ju finally called back, saying he was on a mission in City West that afternoon and it wasn't convenient to answer the phone.

Wang Xiuli's heart dropped back into her throat, and Feng Mu likewise heard the content of the phone call.

A faint ripple stirred in his Nei Xin: "City West? The Incineration Plant's direction should be in City West too, right? A coincidence?"

Today's settlement screen showed zero growth, a dreamless night.

The next day.

Feng Mu rode his bicycle to the Incineration Plant for his new employee onboarding, becoming a formal Cremation Worker.

Brothers, Qidian is terribly competitive now; even trial recommendations require meeting read-through data.

Please everyone, daily read-through~

Readers who stockpile chapters, also spare some time to come up every day and click the book to the very last page.

Read-through, read-through, read-through saves lives, please irrigate this old tree, read-through plus tickets, begging for it.

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End of Chapter