I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 733 - 733 732. Parasite_1

Chapter 733: 732. Parasite_1 Chapter 733: 732. Parasite_1 “No equipment, eh? Just this hunk of iron and some meat.”

Zhou Changqing heard a player say with a touch of disappointment.

“You don’t know squat. The game is so realistic, do you think you’d find armor inside a corpse? Of course, it only drops materials!”

Another player immediately retorted.

“Our goal in coming here was for the ore on its body, now wasn’t it? Let’s get mining.”

Another player had already started using their weapon to separate the flesh from the ore shell, getting a head start on the task.

Seeing this, other players hurried to climb onto the carcass of the Iron Lizard, digging for ore between the smell of blood and the charred scent of wounds seared by Cui Siter’s “Mimic Solar Flare”.

Zhou Changqing approached the wound where the fatal injury was, a spot that had carbonized due to the intense heat at that instant. The flesh and blood were gone, and even the ore shell had melted, turning into magma and rolling onto the ground.

Yet, a bit deeper, the flesh was still preserved, and the high heat had caused a Maillard reaction, producing a charred fragrance similar to that of barbeque.

The internal organs of animals are high in fat content, especially those of creatures like the Iron Lizard that usually lay Unmoving, pretending to be a wooden figure, full of fatty guts. Once they were seared by high heat, the aroma was so enticing that Zhou Changqing couldn’t help but salivate.

He came closer, confronted with this deliciously roasted meat, and a bold idea sprung to his mind.

Picking up his sword, Zhou Changqing cut off a piece of the slightly burnt roast meat.

The surface of the meat was a yellowish-brown caramel color, with a slightly lighter hue on the cut face, and the rich meaty aroma, despite being virtual, made Zhou Changqing’s mouth water profusely.

“What are you doing?”

A nearby player watched Zhou Changqing, feeling that something was off with him.

“I’m just going to have a taste.”

Once the thought emerged, Zhou Changqing couldn’t hold it back any longer.

He stuffed the piece of meat into his mouth, where his teeth first met the crispy exterior. This sensation nearly brought tears to his eyes; it had been so long since he had tasted such roast meat. As his teeth sank further in, the slightly tender meat contrasted distinctly with the crispy outside. Although the lack of salt made the taste a bit bland, the texture was top-notch.

“Delicious!”

He finished the piece of meat quickly.

The virtual satisfaction brought Zhou Changqing joy, and he picked up his sword again, ready to cut another piece.

In real life, he might have had to control his diet and couldn’t fully indulge, but in the game, he could eat and drink to his heart’s content!

“Are you okay?”

The player beside him, seeing Zhou Changqing gleefully eat another piece of Iron Lizard meat, also got a craving and wanted to try it out.

“Here, try some.”

Zhou Changqing handed the meat to the player, and the two of them quickly began to enjoy the roast.

Watching them, other players followed suit, and in no time, the once brutal battlefield had turned into an open-air barbecue fest.

Zhou Changqing continued cutting with his sword, attempting to carve out more meat, but suddenly, he saw something trembling slightly within the flesh, which was still a bit raw.

He poked at it with his sword, but the thing retracted, forming a small cavity.

“What the hell?”

Zhou Changqing leaned in for a closer look.

He saw something white and wriggly inside the hole, and just as Zhou Changqing turned his head to call the other players over, the thing’s squirming speed suddenly increased.

Zhou Changqing turned back and saw in the hole, six eyes glowing with fluorescence, staring at him intently.

In the next moment, that thing burst out from the bloody cavity of the Iron Lizard, leaping straight onto Zhou Changqing’s face.

It was a worm!

The front end of the worm’s body was spherical, but it had numerous slender segmented legs that were clamping tightly onto Zhou Changqing’s head, causing him to fall backward.

The lower half of the worm was soft, hanging behind its hard head like a ham sausage, resembling an elephant’s trunk.

“Damn it!”

The player who had just been sharing the Iron Lizard meat with Zhou Changqing panicked, nearly falling off the beast’s body. He had forgotten the weapon in his hand and, shouting loudly a few times, drew the attention of other players.

One player, looking like a warrior, didn’t say a word; he directly hacked at the worm with his sword, splitting its plump belly open.

Pfft—

A pale yellow fluid sprayed out, splattering on two players, filling the air with the stench of digestive juice and undigested rotten flesh.

The worm convulsed a few times and then lay still.

The player used his sword to move the now stiff worm aside, only to find that half of Zhou Changqing’s head had been gnawed away, leaving a bloody and hideous sight. Soon, Zhou Changqing’s body turned to dust and scattered with the wind.

“This seems to be a parasite, everyone had better be careful.”

The player called out.

The players who had been greedily dividing up the Iron Lizard now witnessed this horror and promptly became more reserved, carefully exploring the Iron Lizard’s body.

In the live streaming room, Zheng Li gasped at the sight of the scene.

That worm was similar to a facehugger, parasitizing inside the Iron Lizard, burrowing through its flesh, and such a large creature harbored an equally large and dangerous parasite.

In just an instant, such a huge chunk of the head had been eaten away; if it had been him, he probably would have been gone in minutes.

He noticed that indeed the monster didn’t drop any equipment, only materials. Although a bit disappointed, upon further thought, he realized that in such a flawlessly realistic world, looting equipment from monsters seemed odd, whereas the practical method of harvesting materials seemed quite reasonable.

Moreover, the Iron Lizard’s entire body was a treasure.

After smelting, its ore-like shell would become iron, its flesh was edible, and its bones, which had undergone long-term condensation and tempering, were refined iron. Such a huge creature could supply him with resources for quite some time.

The live stream quickly ended, but Zheng Li felt it was all too brief.

The game had fulfilled all his yearnings and expectations for a fantasy game—it was like a whole different world, intoxicating Zheng Li.

On the internet, there were often topics fishing for experience points with replies like “If you could only read one book your whole life, what would it be?” or “If you could only play one game your whole life, what would it be?”—with all kinds of varied responses.

If it had been before, Zheng Li might have had to think about it.

But now, if he had to choose just one game to play for the rest of his life, he would definitely choose [Cage]!

It had to be said, the effect of such a big live streaming event was quite good. That day, Silent Media’s email servers crashed due to the overwhelming number of people inquiring when the third batch of testing and open beta would start. Even the official Weibo comments exceeded the display limit and bugged out.

But for the players, these were irrelevant. They had just survived a fierce battle and obtained a massive amount of resources—it was an excellent time for development.

The construction of Gray Tower was already on the agenda.