Chapter 123 The Doubt of Substitutes_3
With a breath, the pool of sludge became dry and crumbly.
Then, Jason aimed his shotgun at the dried sludge, continuously pulling the trigger.
Bang, bang bang!
The pellets struck, sending dust flying in all directions.
By the time Jason stopped, the sludge had already turned to nothing.
Only one thing remained...
A locust!
Yes, a locust!
A locust that radiated a pale golden glow!
Within that radiance, a series of bizarre images began to emerge—
St. Mungo's Academy, on the sports field.
A middle-aged man stood on the platform with a smile.
First, he surveyed the new students, brimming with youthful vitality, then, he took the microphone and spoke.
"Today is October of the year PY81, the day St. Mungo's Academy welcomes new students."
"You have passed through many selections, which speaks volumes of your excellence!"
"Now, all you need to do is complete the final test, and you will be students of St. Mungo's Academy."
"I request that teachers of each specialty step forward to lead our outstanding students in completing this last examination."
As the middle-aged man's voice faded, teachers stepped forward one by one.
"Students of the Mechanical class, gather here."
"Students of the Handicrafts class, gather here."
"Students of the Culinary class, gather here."
...
Calls to assemble had the students moving quickly.
Giselle was no exception.
Dressed in new clothes and carrying her backpack, she hurried towards the gathering point of the Culinary class.
As she walked, she kept telling herself not to be nervous, that she could do it.
The classroom of the Culinary class was a vast kitchen.
Large enough for a hundred people to cook at the same time.
"Everyone, cook the dish you are best at."
"You may choose any of the ingredients provided here at will."
"There is no restriction on the type of cooking, but you can only make one dish, and the time must not exceed three hours," said the Culinary class teacher.
Immediately, the students started to take action.
Giselle was no exception.
She also rushed to the ingredients station, but because she was too nervous, she fell down.
Although she got up the next moment, she became even more anxious.
Subsequently, she made mistakes one after another.
Giselle was so agitated that she was almost in tears.
She knew her performance had been terribly poor.
There was no way she would pass.
Self-reproach and regret filled her heart.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Decheng, at 'Lan Bridge,' a blocking battle had erupted. The 'Silver Federation' and the 'Black Market Alliance' had both committed their elite forces.
But just as the battle reached a fever pitch, the day suddenly darkened.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
An enormous shadow that defied description emerged overhead.
It obscured the sun and the sky.
There were no boundaries in sight.
No features could be discerned.
Its body spanned the entire battlefield!
No!
It enshrouded the land!
For 20 whole seconds!
Everyone stood gawping at this spectacle.
Yet among these astonished people, none noticed a tiny golden light that flickered momentarily under the colossal shadow.
Indeed.
It was minute.
So small it was overlooked by everyone.
And yet, it was drawn to something in the air.
That was the scent beloved by this world.
It was its favorite food!
Fleeting, a thousand miles away.
It locked onto its target.
Then, it released malice—
Explosion!
A blazing fire appeared in the cooking classroom of St. Mungo's Academy.
In the sea of flames, many students were injured.
Giselle collapsed on the ground.
Yet, unharmed.
It flew over, landing on Giselle, ready to start feeding on its food, but it knew it wouldn't be easy to devour this meal in its entirety.
This world wouldn't allow it to do so.
So...
It confused this world!
It became part of this food!
It also created a 'seasoning' to share its suspicion!
The next moment, it flapped its wings, rising into flight.
Buzz!
Amidst the loud buzzing, it darted across the sky like a meteor, over a 'river'.
It danced gracefully, lightly touching the 'river water' before leaping up.
Soaked with traces of 'river water,' it returned to Giselle.
The 'river water' turned into 'steam.'
Enveloping it and Giselle.
But this world still interfered with it.
A spark just so happened to land on it.
Sss!
Pain made it tremble.
The trembling caused a mistake in its ritual.
Leading to unpredictable changes.
It had to change its strategy.
In the hazy 'steam,' it became Aiona, it created the persona 'Evelyn' for its food, it created the entirety of 'Newdeth City,' it lay quietly dormant within.
It just made a small mistake.
Nothing significant.
Previously, it had made such mistakes.
It firmly believed, it would succeed again.
It just needed one chance!
With that chance, it could continue tasting that delicious food!
In the pale golden light, scene after scene continued to unfold.
It wanted to control.
But it couldn't control at all.
The initial backlash had long caused it to lose control over this place.
And the recent backlash made it lose control over its own body. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire
It still couldn't understand why 'Undying Body' had failed.
It had perfectly replicated everything.
Anyway, now wasn't the time to think about that, it saw Jason.
Staring at it drooling, Jason with a look of hunger.
A bad premonition surfaced in its heart.
"Wait!"
"I have a secret to tell you!"
"It could make you the master of this world!"
It shouted desperately, but Jason just grabbed it.
Gulp!
Staring at the pale golden locust before him, Jason swallowed his saliva, an unprecedented delicious fragrance wafting from the other's body. He paid no heed to the shouts, and without hesitation, he grasped the other.
Then, controlling the flame in his hand with much greater precision than usual [Charles Burning Technique], he roasted it.
Next, the locust that went from pale gold to a slightly reddish tone was thrown directly into Jason's mouth, and he chewed loudly.
Crisp, crisp.
Amidst the crackling sound, a chicken flavor spread in Jason's mouth.
Unintentionally, Jason's lips curled up, revealing a smile full of bliss.
Meanwhile, the surroundings began to change silently.