Chapter 7: One-Star Cat Demon

“Huh, what’s that?” Xu Feng’s eyes unintentionally scanned the top left corner of the map, where a small yellow dot suddenly appeared, blinking with a faint light.

“It wasn’t there when I just opened the map. This little yellow dot just appeared. Yellow means neutral. Heh, let me see what that is. Map, zoom in!” Xu Feng stared at the small yellow dot and thought to himself.

Whoosh~

The map expanded significantly, and a semi-transparent, three-dimensional image appeared before Xu Feng. In the midst of dense clusters of buildings, deep inside an inconspicuous alley, crouched a creature dressed in thick leather clothes, its face unclear. It was bending over, its two hands constantly rummaging through a bundle. Beside it lay over a dozen bundles of the same size. This person looked like a peddler.

“A Wandering Merchant. Heh, I didn’t expect that as soon as Earth was invaded, these Cosmic Merchants, smelling blood, would be eager to take advantage of the situation and make a fortune here!” A cold smile flashed in Xu Feng’s eyes as he spoke faintly.

“It seems that before going to the Fate Store, I should first visit that Wandering Merchant. Maybe I can get the weapons and equipment I want from him.”

…

Xu Feng walked out of the hotel, looked at the map, and chose the fastest route. He carefully turned into an alley. It was currently rush hour, and the roads were filled with vehicles and pedestrians. So many pedestrians had attracted a large number of Black Armored Beetles. The streets were covered with swarms of dark Black Armored Beetles and already parasitized Insect Humans. Even though Xu Feng’s strength had reached the One-Star Peak, trying to fight his way through to find that Wandering Merchant was wishful thinking. He probably wouldn’t even make it halfway before being overwhelmed by the swarms of the Insect Race and turned into one of them.

Although the route Xu Feng chose was a bit longer, it was remote and had few people. The occasional Black Armored Beetle or Insect Human didn’t concern him at all.

Walking quietly in the alley, Xu Feng appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, his senses had spread out. His F-grade Perception could explore the area over ten meters around him, covering the entire alley.

“Meow~”

As soon as Xu Feng turned out of the alley, he heard a sharp cat cry, and his heart sank immediately.

Compared to Insect Humans parasitizing humans, Xu Feng was most worried about the Insect Race parasitizing animals.

In modern cities, one often encountered many stray cats and dogs, abandoned by their owners and left to fend for themselves on the streets. However, the physical condition of these abandoned pets was often much better than that of ordinary humans.

This allowed the Insect Race parasitizing them to gain greater strength, and their power increased at the fastest speed.

Hearing this cat cry, which was clearly much sharper than that of an ordinary pet cat, it was obviously a Cat Demon after being parasitized by a Black Armored Beetle.

Sure enough, as he turned the corner of the alley, Xu Feng immediately saw a Cat Demon not far ahead, as large as a mountain leopard.

This Cat Demon had no fur; its blood-red muscles were exposed, dripping blood from time to time. Its originally aloof face had become ferocious, with two fangs protruding from its mouth. Its crimson eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light, and a prism-shaped white crystal in the center of its head emitted a strange glow.

At the feet of this Cat Demon lay the corpse of a woman. Her stomach had been slit open, and her internal organs had been completely devoured by the Cat Demon. The Cat Demon held half a heart in its mouth and turned its head to look at Xu Feng.

While chewing on the woman’s heart, the Cat Demon jumped off the corpse and walked step by step toward Xu Feng.

“Damn it, it’s a Cat Demon that has already evolved once and reached the One-Star level.” Xu Feng stared at the prism-shaped crystal in the center of the Cat Demon’s head, his expression turning very grim.

Creatures parasitized by the Insect Race could evolve by devouring the flesh and blood of living beings. Generally, after consuming a few complete human bodies, ordinary Insect Race members would undergo their first evolution, forming a white Insect Crystal in the center of their heads. At this point, the Insect Race already possessed One-Star strength.

“Fortunately, this Cat Demon hasn’t evolved a thick Insectoid Carapace. Otherwise, my ordinary-quality Bone-Cleaver probably wouldn’t be able to break its defense.” Looking at the Cat Demon’s bloody body, Xu Feng felt slightly relieved.

The Cat Demon walked step by step toward Xu Feng. Xu Feng gripped the Bone-Cleaver in his hand and began to slowly retreat.

Seeing Xu Feng as if preparing to escape, the Cat Demon’s movements suddenly became urgent. With a roar, it quickened its pace and pounced at Xu Feng, bloody saliva flying through the air, looking extremely ferocious.

Seeing the Cat Demon pouncing, Xu Feng advanced instead of retreating, slashing the Bone-Cleaver in his right hand hard at the Cat Demon’s neck. The Insect Crystal on the Cat Demon’s head was very valuable and must not be damaged in the slightest.

Clang, clang~

A series of sharp metallic sounds rang out as the Cat Demon swung its claws to block the blade of the Bone-Cleaver, using the momentum to bite directly at Xu Feng’s head.

With a “bang,” Xu Feng clenched his left fist and punched the Cat Demon hard on its left cheek. Instantly, the Cat Demon’s large body was thrown against the wall on the right side of the alley.

“Trying to eat me? You’re ten years too early!” Xu Feng lifted his leg and kicked the Cat Demon’s jaw. The Cat Demon, having just gotten up from the ground and shaking its head, suddenly took this blow. With a whoosh, its body was flung backward.

Whirr~

With a low whistle, the Bone-Cleaver in Xu Feng’s hand spun and chopped toward the Cat Demon.

Thud~

The Bone-Cleaver stabbed hard into the Cat Demon’s throat, even piercing through it, pinning the Cat Demon to the ground.

The Cat Demon let out a hissing roar like air leaking, struggling fiercely and twisting its body, trying to break free from the Bone-Cleaver’s restraint. But this only made the wound on its neck larger. Lying on its back, the Cat Demon had no leverage and could only futilely twist its limbs and body left and right.

In his past life, Xu Feng had personally killed countless such monsters parasitized by the Insect Race. He was all too familiar with their attack patterns. The moment this Cat Demon leaped at Xu Feng, Xu Feng had already sentenced it to death in his mind.

Xu Feng slowly walked over, crouched down, and stared at the Cat Demon’s head. He reached out, gripped the Insect Crystal in the center of its head, and as he pulled hard, he said in a low voice, “Next time you evolve, remember to develop an Insectoid Carapace first. But I’m afraid you won’t get the chance.”

“Meow~” The Cat Demon let out a mournful cry as a white Insect Crystal, stained with the Cat Demon’s green blood and nerves, was torn alive from its head by Xu Feng.

Without its Insect Crystal, the Cat Demon no longer had the strength to struggle. Its body kept twitching, and the crimson in its eyes gradually faded.