Lu Chen didn't rush to put his clothes back on.
The fight had consumed some stamina, and after that impact, "high-energy protein" was splattered everywhere.
Adhering to the principle of "waste not, want not," he crouched down and began cleaning up the battlefield.
He casually grabbed a handful of gelatinous matter that hadn't fully dissipated—the essence residue of the Slimes. Not minding the dirt, he stuffed it directly into his mouth.
Chomp, chomp.
The texture was like aged aspic jelly. Not as potent as the first one, but hey, mosquito legs are meat too.
...
Meanwhile.
Old Laboratory Building, Main Entrance.
A slightly balding, middle-aged figure ran in, panting heavily. It was Old Wang, the counselor from the Math Department.
"Oh my... this broken building..."
Old Wang held his knees, wiping sweat from his forehead, looking anxiously at his phone.
On the screen, the WeChat message sent to Lu Chen half an hour ago still had no reply.
"This kid, why is there no movement at all?"
Old Wang's heart drummed. Although Lu Chen looked fierce, he was solitary and honest.
Plus, rumors said this Old Lab Building wasn't clean. He just heard some passing students say there were strange noises coming from inside.
"Could something really have happened?"
The more Old Wang thought, the more panicked he got.
As a responsible counselor, he disregarded his fear, gritted his teeth, turned on his phone flashlight, and shouted into the pitch-black basement corridor:
"Lu Chen? Lu Chen, are you in there?"
No response.
————
Why was there no response?
Deep in the corridor corner.
Lu Chen was squatting on the ground, completely focused on dealing with a piece of Slime core in his hand that was as tough to chew as a car tire.
This core was too dense to swallow; he had to chew it into pieces.
Crunch—— Crunch——!
Because Lu Chen's skull density was already four times that of a normal person (a precursor to metallization), according to acoustic principles, the sound transmission efficiency of high-density solids is far superior to air.
This led to an awkward side effect—Bone Conduction Noise.
When he chewed forcefully, the sound of teeth crushing high-toughness colloid bombed his auditory nerves directly through his skull.
In his own world, the noise decibel level was comparable to a renovation team drilling into his brain.
Never mind Old Wang shouting; even if thunder struck outside, he wouldn't hear it. He was currently in a state of physically induced "Noise-Canceling Immersive Dining."
————
From the depths of the corner came strange slurp, slurp sounds.
Like a beast feeding.
Old Wang's scalp went numb, but he emboldened himself to walk in.
"Student Lu Chen? It's Teacher Wang! Don't scare me!"
He followed the sound and turned a corner.
Then, the flashlight beam illuminated the scene before him.
This glance.
It impacted Old Wang's worldview like never before.
Deep in the gloomy basement, the ground was covered in unidentified black liquid, as if a massacre had just occurred.
And in the center of this mess.
A two-meter-tall, stark naked giant was squatting on the ground with his back to him.
Old Wang thought: That size... is it a mutated gorilla?
The muscle groups on the giant's back bulged hideously like a demon's face, trembling with his movements. In his hand, he held a clump of black, sticky stuff resembling asphalt, stuffing it incessantly into his mouth.
Old Wang thought: What is it eating? A black lump... is that human organs?!
Hearing the light and footsteps.
The naked giant paused, then slowly turned his head.
That mouth, stained with unidentified black liquid, was still chewing, a trace of black residue hanging from the corner of his lips.
Under the pale illumination of the flashlight, those eyes glowed with an eerie light.
Gulp.
The giant swallowed whatever was in his mouth, looked at the dumbfounded Old Wang, his expression somewhat dull and innocent.
Dead silence filled the air.
In this moment.
Countless horror movie titles flashed through Old Wang's mind: The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Guinea Pig: Mermaid in a Manhole...
"Teacher... Teacher Wang?"
The "Cannibal" finally spoke, his voice slurring slightly from just having eaten:
"Why are you here? Want... want a taste?"
The string named "Reason" in Old Wang's brain snapped completely.
He's inviting me to dinner?
Am I the main course?
"Ugh—"
Old Wang's eyes rolled back.
Clatter. His phone hit the ground.
Then his body fell straight backward, stiff as a board.