Thunder Bug Energy Core
989 Words
To be honest, Alex Knight considered himself pretty lucky.
When the giant slug noticed him, it was distracted by a man running away, drawing its attention and taking the first electric hit. Otherwise, Alex, who had been standing near the shutter door, might have been electrocuted as well.
After a brief moment of silent mourning for the unknown man, Alex gathered his wits and searched the man's pockets, hoping to find something useful.
There was only a work ID on the man, nothing else.
Name: Michael Guan, Position: Security Guard at Daxing Parking Lot.
Michael Guan. It was a decent name, but he had met his end here.
Looking at the corpse, Alex felt a sudden fear of this world. Was he dreaming, or was this real?
If Michael had been alive, he might have provided some useful information. But now, his only value was lying there, rotting and stinking.
Dragging Michael’s body to a nearby yard and covering it with some debris, Alex didn’t have the time or energy to dig a grave.
He needed to get back to his rental room, which should be safer.
The street was eerily quiet, making Alex tense. He feared that at any moment, another slug-like monster might jump out from the roadside.
Alex’s luck seemed to turn. He made it to the yard of his rental house without encountering any monsters.
After closing and securing the yard gate and the building door, setting up a few simple alarm devices with broken bowls and wires, Alex let out a small sigh of relief.
Back in his room, he sat on the edge of the bed, the fight with the slug still replaying in his mind.
Even during his time in the military, Alex had never encountered something so intense.
In peacetime, soldiers seeing blood on the training ground was already quite something. Special forces, of course, were a different story.
Alex was fairly strong-willed and quickly put the battle out of his mind.
A sudden movement caused a chain of stings on his skin, bringing him back to reality. He reached for the meatball and wiped off the remaining liquid.
As the juice was cleaned away, the meatball emitted an increasingly enticing aroma, making Alex swallow his saliva and realize he was hungry.
Just then, the attribute panel appeared in his mind again.
Name: Alex Knight Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 21 Biological Level: 1 Star
Attributes: (Average value for normal adult males is 10 points) Lightly injured state, Strength, Agility, Constitution reduced by 20%.
Strength: 8.4 (Muscle 11, Body Strength 10) Agility: 7.8 (Hand-eye Coordination 9, Flexibility 11, Reaction 11, Balance 8) Constitution: 8 (Health 9, Endurance 11) Intelligence: 5.6 (Learning 6, Reasoning 8) Perception: 7.4 (Willpower 12, Common Sense 8, Perceptiveness 7, Intuition 10) Charisma: 5.76 (Presence 10, Persuasion 7, Personal Appeal 7, Leadership 5, Physical Attractiveness 7)
Skills: Shooting (Moderately Skilled), Military Martial Arts (Moderately Skilled), Electrical Engineering (Novice).
Special Abilities: None Evolution Points: 100 Possessions: Thunder Bug Energy Core
Alex didn’t feel much about the lightly injured state or the 20% reduction in Strength, Agility, and Constitution, but he did feel weaker than before.
Two new changes appeared at the bottom of the attribute panel: evolution points had increased from zero to 100, and there was a new item.
Alex's attention was drawn to the Thunder Bug Energy Core, and some information popped up.
Thunder Bug Energy Core: The core power-generating organ of a two-star Thunder Bug. Non-toxic, edible, unknown effect.
So that giant slug was called a Thunder Bug?
It certainly lived up to its name. The resistance of air to electricity is extremely high, much higher than most electrical materials. Normally, to penetrate one millimeter of dry air, you need to increase the voltage to a thousand volts. To penetrate more than four meters of air, even in extremely humid conditions, the required voltage must exceed tens of thousands of volts.
Eat it?
The thought suddenly popped into Alex’s mind.
Eat it? What a joke! Alex was startled by his own thought.
During his military training, he had eaten worms, grasshoppers, snakes, and caterpillars, even raw. But those creatures were known to be non-toxic, and he knew how to handle the toxic bristles on caterpillars.
But this meatball came from that giant slug.
Just the fact that its blue liquid could corrode skin showed that the giant slug was definitely not a non-toxic creature.
Even if the Thunder Bug Energy Core was non-toxic, it was hard to accept psychologically.
No way!
Alex immediately dismissed the idea, laying down to rest.
He forgot to check the additional 100 evolution points on the attribute panel.
The battle with the slug had nearly exhausted him. As soon as he lay down, the stinging all over his body almost knocked him out.
But the pain from his corroded skin prevented him from falling asleep.
After resting with his eyes closed for a while, Alex couldn’t resist grabbing the meatball again, squeezing it absentmindedly.
Immediately, the aroma from the meatball nearly overwhelmed him.
It was too tempting. Alex's mind was filled with images of roast chicken, braised pork, Kung Pao chicken, and steak.
It was pure torture.
The urge to eat the meatball kept growing, and his stomach growled loudly.
The smell made him even hungrier, but he had no desire to eat the compressed biscuits he had.
The struggle, the endurance, and the impulse!
The three sensations intertwined, making Alex feel like he was going mad.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Alex's eyes glazed over, and his right hand unconsciously brought the meatball to his mouth.
One bite, two bites, three bites, and it was gone.
Only then did Alex realize he had eaten the entire meatball without leaving a bit.
Ugh!
Alex felt a wave of nausea. The blue liquid left on his hand emitted a strange smell, proving the meatball wasn't as delicious as it had seemed.
- Writer
