The moment Liu Zheng pressed the confirm button, his vision blurred.
When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by an infinite grassland.
"Hmm?"
He barely managed to utter a question before a huge shadow enveloped him.
Soon, Liu Zheng lifted off the ground.
Two giant fangs pierced him, injecting poison liquid that quickly dissolved his body.
The nearly immortal "Blood and Flesh Rebirth" failed to activate, and Liu Zheng quickly had only half a body left.
He turned his head, only to see a pair of vertical pupils as big as spotlights.
"Load file."
The system prompt sounded.
The next second, Liu Zheng was back in the resting room.
"Damn, you cleared it?"
Niu Ma exclaimed.
"No, I just loaded a file."
He shook his head, looking at the screen.
The words "Next Level" had turned back to black.
No wonder no one could beat this game. Who would have thought the last level would be one's own entry into the game, and being eaten at that.
"Oh."
Niu Ma responded.
"Don't you want to know what the last level is like?"
"Don't want to. If I knew, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from playing."
Niu Ma shook its head.
"That's pretty wise."
Liu Zheng ignored it and started thinking about a way to clear the game.
Direct confrontation was definitely out of the question; the opponent not only had poison capable of dissolving the Blood and Flesh Rebirth, but its strength and speed also far surpassed his.
Thinking about his recent experience being held in the monster's mouth, he got an idea.
"Boss, can you determine how much impact force this thing's explosion would create?"
Liu Zheng took out the Feces Sea Mad Maggot Fossil and asked.
"I guess I have some intuition."
Niu Ma nodded.
"Then would you hit me with the same force?"
He said.
"Where should I hit?"
Niu Ma raised its hoof.
"Let's try the tentacles first."
Liu Zheng stacked four tentacles on the ground.
"Alright."
Niu Ma, not being polite at all, stomped down.
Bang!
Stone chips flew, and the concrete floor cratered with a deep pit.
And Liu Zheng's four tentacles turned directly into a mush of flesh and blood.
"Hiss!"
He sharply inhaled.
Although his bodily structure was remolded, pain still existed, and because of enhanced perception, it was even more acute.
Liu Zheng watched as the flesh buds quickly grew out from the torn part of the tentacles, reshaping them.
A few seconds later, he had regrown four tentacles.
"You really are a monster."
Niu Ma's mouth twitched slightly.
"It's not without a cost."
Liu Zheng shook his head.
His figure had noticeably slimmed down.
Clearly, if his flesh and body were severed, he had to consume flesh from other parts of his body for repairs.
"That's still pretty twisted."
Niu Ma commented.
This was Liu Zheng standing still letting it hit him; if he intended to exhaust it, even if it could eventually kill Liu Zheng, it would be exhausted to paralysis.
If a delivery order came in at just the right time, it probably couldn't complete it.
"Got anything to eat, boss?"
Liu Zheng felt very hungry.
"Don't call me boss, always running a tab. You are my boss."
Niu Ma rolled its eyes.
Annoyed as it was, it still handed Liu Zheng a can.
"Name: Expired Niu Ma Meat Can"
"Type: Item"
"Quality: Inferior"
"Effect: Restores stamina, small chance of acquiring 'food poisoning' status."
"Note: A can that should have been consumed long ago; has been preserved till today due to the holder's indecision."
Liu Zheng opened the lid, and a strong scent of spices wafted out.
The fat inside had already liquefied, and uniformly sized chunks of meat floated on the surface.
Feigning ignorance, he raised the canned food to his mouth and poured.
The beef stew, unheated, was bound to not taste good, yet due to his body's craving for nutrients, Liu Zheng still felt a strong appetite.
Quickly, a big can of Niu Ma meat had made its way into Liu Zheng's stomach.
Visibly, his figure swelled up again.
"Again, aim for my upper body this time, and put a bit more strength into it," he said.
Liu Zheng curled up, with four tentacles coiled around his knees.
"You aren't starting to enjoy this, are you?"
Muttering, Niu Ma kicked over without any courtesy.
"pia!"
Liu Zheng was sent flying back, sticking against the wall.
The massive sound made the entire rest room rumble, and his mind was in complete disarray.
He looked as though he'd been run over by a steamroller, both his upper and lower body a complete mess.
Only his head and heart, being protected layer upon layer, remained intact.
"He doesn't die from this? Could just those heaps of eyeballs generate this effect?"
Niu Ma exclaimed in surprise.
"Perhaps,"
Liu Zheng said with difficulty, yet a series of musical notes crossed his mind.
"Shub-Niggurath!"
He slid off the wall; 'Blood and Flesh Rebirth' began to take effect.
Half a minute later, Liu Zheng's body was restored completely, only he was significantly thinner.
"Boss, some more food?"
He extended a tentacle that was now half its original thickness.
"You little rascal,"
Niu Ma glared with round eyes.
"You wouldn't want all the previous efforts to go to waste, huh?"
"Damn!"
Niu Ma scratched his head frantically and then pulled out six expired cans of Niu Ma meat.
"Help me open these,"
he said weakly.
"If the reward isn't satisfactory, I'll roast you alive for sure."
Niu Ma's big teeth grinded noisily.
He used his horns to open all the cans, then poured them one by one into Liu Zheng's mouth.
After a forced feeding session, he returned to his original size, even a bit plumper.
Apparently, the world didn't quite adhere to the laws of physics.
After moving his joints, Liu Zheng stared at his phone screen for two seconds and then hit 'Confirm.'
Following the familiar sensation of dizziness, darkness enveloped him again.
Liu Zheng looked up and saw a giant gaping maw inches from him.
"Your delivery has arrived."
He struck a diving pose and plunged into the giant snake's mouth.
The giant snake paused, then shook its head frantically, trying to throw him out.
Liu Zheng wrapped his tentacles around the tips of the fangs, temporarily stabilizing himself.
Looking around, he felt that it still wasn't secure enough.
The giant snake seemed to realize something and moved even more violently.
"Trying to reject it?"
He loosened his tentacles and curled himself into a ball, diving deeper into the creature's mouth.
Then, Liu Zheng got stuck.
He could feel his bones being crushed by the muscles of the giant snake's esophagus.
In a few minutes, he would turn into a compressed cracker sliding into its stomach.
This powerless despair was enough to shatter anyone.
Luckily, Liu Zheng was not human.
In the darkness, a fat maggot blinked its small eyes and released a fart it had held for tens of thousands of years.
Suddenly, a spark of light appeared, which then spread into an endless inferno.
Amid the explosive sounds, he lost consciousness.
"Wake up, wake up."
Under a series of shouts, Liu Zheng gradually regained consciousness.
He opened his eyes and saw Niu Ma swinging up his hooves.
...
...
Niu Ma nonchalantly lowered his hooves.
"Did you pass it this time?"
"I should have passed,"
Liu Zheng replied as he unlocked his phone, only to find that the "Snake" game had disappeared.
Where had the reward gone?
He rummaged through his pockets and finally made a discovery in his right pocket.