Chapter 55 – Cannibals? The Forgotten!

Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds

"Heh, think about it. A Level 2 Class Holder's muscular density provides better defense than a Bulletproof Vest, not to mention he's wearing a Protective Suit! How could a piece of junk meant for common thugs take down a Level 2 Class Holder? Do you really think Class Holders are made of clay?"

Sun Aotian stammered, falling silent.

"Any survivors?" Wen Yu asked Sun Aotian.

Sun Aotian pointed toward the room across from them and replied, "They're all in there. There are also three guys with pale complexions. I haven't searched the rest of the place thoroughly yet!"

Wen Yu nodded.

"Sun, go see if there are any other survivors or anyone who slipped through the cracks."

Sun Ruixing had just finished digging the bullets out of Sun Aotian. He immediately drew his weapon and headed upstairs.

"You people inside, come out. I have a few questions for you," Wen Yu's calm voice rang out.

An arrogant shout came from within.

"If you've got the balls, fucking come in here! I've still got-"

The sound of a Steel Blade sinking into flesh cut him off.

"You… you…"

"Yeah, it's me! Just hurry up and die, you bastard!"

A brief commotion broke out inside, but it was quickly silenced.

The door opened, and a figure stepped out.

Wen Yu sat directly on the large table in the room and asked, "What happened?"

"Heh, just bad luck. I've fallen this time-fallen hard."

The speaker was Li Quan'an.

Wen Yu tossed Li Quan'an a cigarette, noting his pale face and the grenade clutched in his hand.

"Tell me, what's the story? How did you end up in such a pathetic state?"

"Got a light?"

After lighting the cigarette, a faint haze of smoke filled the room. Li Quan'an slowly began to recount the tale of these Cannibals.

"These people used to be in Chaihe Town. Their Camp was at the Town Government building."

"Then the Zombie King appeared and drove them out. They fled into a cellar. It was supposed to be a pre-planned escape route, but things changed!"

"Blocked by the Mutated bear, I assume?"

Li Quan'an looked at Wen Yu in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I sent One-Eye to investigate, but the trail went cold there. One-Eye couldn't pick up their scent."

Li Quan'an gave a bitter smile and explained, "It's not One-Eye's fault. If you don't believe me, let One-Eye try to catch my scent right now."

At Wen Yu's signal, One-Eye stepped forward and sniffed Li Quan'an intensely.

After sniffing for over ten seconds, One-Eye shook his head at Wen Yu in confusion.

One-Eye smelled nothing. These Cannibals had no scent!

This surprised Wen Yu. "No scent? No wonder One-Eye couldn't track them! But isn't that a good thing?"

There were many things that could mask a scent, but they were usually temporary. Being able to permanently hide one's scent was a capability equivalent to at least a C-rank Skill!

"If that were the only thing, it would be a blessing! But the downsides of becoming a Cannibal are far worse!"

Seeing Wen Yu nod thoughtfully, Li Quan'an began to lay bare the tragedy of the Cannibals.

"I led my men out of the Camp and was drawn here by a beam of light. It wasn't until we got inside that I realized these people eat humans!"

"But with our strength, we had no way to resist. Two of my men were eaten right in front of me."

"Then they gave me a choice: eat, or be eaten!"

"Did I have a choice?"

Li Quan'an's question left Wen Yu silent.

Slowly shaking his head, Wen Yu gave his answer: "No. You did what you had to do."

"Haha."

Li Quan'an let out a miserable laugh and spoke again. "At first, I hesitated. After all, those were my subordinates. But then I thought, they're dead anyway, so what does it matter if I eat a couple pieces of their flesh?"

Li Quan'an's tone grew increasingly grisly.

"It was raw meat! Freshly carved from their bodies!"

"The moment it touched my tongue, it was disgusting-warm and slimy. The smell of blood was overwhelming. To be honest, I had to force the first piece down. I almost broke down, especially seeing their corpses lying right there in front of me!"

"But I had no choice. Once I swallowed the first piece, they gave me a second!"

"Once a human does something that crosses the line, they lose their bottom line entirely!"

"So I ate the second piece, then the third! Then the fourth!"

"I never knew I could eat so much. I don't know how much I consumed, but by the time they untied me, I finally realized…"

"I had become just like them!"

Li Quan'an's words were a desperate venting of his soul.

Listening to Li Quan'an's experience, Wen Yu crushed his cigarette butt and patted the man's shoulder. "And then?"

Li Quan'an composed himself and addressed the issue Wen Yu was most concerned about.

"Then, everything changed."

"My Class was stripped away, and my Skills were gone too. Aside from my Physical Attributes, the rest of my power vanished!"

"'Cannibals' is just what you call us. We call ourselves-The Forgotten!"

"Because we have been forgotten by the Exchange Pillar!"

"We've turned into monsters. We don't get Points for killing Zombies, we can't use the Exchange Pillar, and we even find normal food difficult to swallow. We can only keep eating people!"

"There is only one way to grow stronger: eating people. Consuming human flesh is the only way we can increase our Physical Attributes."

"If we don't eat people, we starve. If we don't eat people, we can't get stronger. And if we don't get stronger, we'll die sooner or later anyway. What else can we do?"

"It's a dead end, a vicious cycle!"

Li Quan'an took a deep drag of his cigarette and looked at Wen Yu with eerie calm.

"So, kill me."

Li Quan'an made his final request.

Inside the room, Sun Ruixing had already led several "Meat Pigs" downstairs.

Sun Ruixing had overheard much of what Li Quan'an said. His eyes held a complex mix of emotions, including a trace of pity.

Wen Yu looked at Li Quan'an's pale face and slowly broke into a smile.

"Actually, you don't need to hand such a difficult problem over to me."

"The most important question is: what do you want?"

Li Quan'an looked at Wen Yu in shock. "Isn't the reason you came here to kill all of us man-eating monsters?"

Wen Yu shook his head with a smile. "Look, you just said it yourself-you're all just a bunch of pathetic people. Besides, the guy truly responsible for the cannibalism was already killed by Sun Aotian, wasn't he?"

"Now, out of respect for the journey we've shared, I'm giving the power of choice to you."

"If you feel that dying is better than eating people, I will kill you."

"But if you decide that you want to live-no matter the method, no matter what you have to eat-then you are free to go!"