The Man Standing on Top of the Food Chain - Volume 2 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Bewildered

In the darkness of a small alley, a creepy ‘squeaking‘ sound can be heard. Like a sewer rat scavenging for food.

A dark shadow shrouds over Ruo’s corpse, fumbling about as if searching for something while emitting a spine-chilling squeaking sound.

This place is near the fringe of the suburbs in Zhongdu City. At a time, near midnight, there is nobody to witness this horrifying sight. Suddenly, the sound stopped, and a ray of moonlight shone down revealing Li Anping’s pale face.

His eyes were swollen, his expression full of terror as he looked at the bloody mess once known as Ruo. He jerked and jumped back, resting on the wall behind him. Li Anping looked at his bloody hands and the carcass on the ground, and could hold in his vomit no longer.

He vomited for ages, but he felt that it wasn’t enough, as he felt that something was still turning in his stomach. When he saw the bloody water that he puked out, he screamed like an insane man.

“If you want to attract the cops, continue screaming like that.”

Li Anping raised his head, furious: “What did you do? You… you actually made me…. made me eat…”

“You’re trying to say eat people?” The voice spoke deviously: “I did not control you. From the start to end, it was all your actions. Killing the policeman, killing the intruders, both Wolf and Ruo, and then consuming their flesh. All these were done by you.”

“How is that possible?!” Li Anping threw his head onto the wall causing a loud bang: “How can I eat humans? You devil, how can you make me eat humans?”

“Hehehehe, I said I didn’t control you. All I did was give you strength. And what you did afterwards, was all under the influence of your new-found strength.

Li Anping, you are a devil from birth. Hidden under the feint of your pursuit of justice for 20 years lies humanity’s deepest malice. To you, killing people is as easy as breathing, destroying lives is as simple as eating a meal. This is your instincts, this is the real you.”

Li Anping wrapped both his hands on his head, covering his ears: “Nonsense! I do not want to listen to your lies, it was you, you were the one controlling me, you devil, you demon!! You ruined my life!!!”

The voice snorted and said: “Your life was already ruined before this. In contrast, the current you has a repaired body and unbelievable abilities, there will be a chance for you to exact revenge. The only price you had to pay was to awaken your instincts. This was too good of a deal for you. Moreover, you had already promised me that you will pay any price for this, are you going to turn back on your words now?”

Li Anping was silent, his face showing determination: “But I did not promise you to eat people!! What do I have to do for you to leave my body? I will never eat humans again.”

The voice said once more: “I just need to have a transaction with you, and in the process, you will gain numerous benefits, and wield powers that the common man cannot imagine…”

Facing a terrifying truth, some may go insane, others may break down, but there are those who will reveal their true nature.

“From the start, you were using me?” Li Anping brain began to think logically: “In the ward, although you talked a lot, there was no important information given to me. In fact, even your every existence is a mystery to me. But at the time I had despaired, thus I chose to believe you…”

“Hehehe, and the results proves that your decision was correct.”

“Correct? Now that I think about it calmly, it feels like you are just trying to tempt me into walking a path that you have set for me.” The voice did not respond, and Li Anping proceeded: “If you want to deal, at least tell me what you truly are? And what is up with this time?” He pointed at the corpse on the ground and said.

“Hehe, the transaction has been made. It is too late to say anything now. When you opened your mind to me, my powers have already become intertwined with your body. Speaking of which, shouldn’t you take a look at your body first?”

“Hmm?” Li Anping upon hearing that, looked down at his body. But to his surprise, as he assessed his torso and limbs, he said: “How is this possible?”

His original 1.8m tall body had grown even more, to almost 1.9m, and his body was no longer frail like in the hospital but instead stronger than ever, his arms and legs filled with large muscles, and the contours on his abs made him seem like a gymnast or a competitive swimmer.

Compared to yesterday, it was a complete 180 degree makeover.

At the same time, an alluring voice sounded in his head again: “My ability is to absorb and devour the souls and bodies of humans to strengthen myself, and after residing in your body, you have gained the same ability as me. As long as you continue to hunt humans, you will continue to get stronger and your body will become more perfect. If you hunt enough humans, one day, you will become the God of the New World, and your very thought shall move the world.”

“Dream on.” Li Anping said adamantly: “I will definitely not eat humans, and what you say is baseless anyway.”

“No evidence? Then how do you explain your current body? How do you explain what happened at the hospital?” The voice sarcastically retorted: “You absorbed that policeman’s soul, and that gave u the ability to fight against the muscle controlling ability user, and after eating that ability user, you managed to chase this man all the way here to kill him, and complete your body’s initial transformation.”

“This was not done by me!!! It was you!!!” Li Anping screamed: “Don’t think of using me again, you monster, I will not be manipulated by you.”

“Hmph, then how are you going to exact revenge? You want to get stronger without eating people? Sure. But what are you going to do now? The police are looking for you and the Shang family will not let you off. Although they are not sure if you were the murderer at the hospital, they are certain you have gone missing. If they send a stronger ability user next time, with your current strength, you are dead meat.”

“That’s none of your concern.” Li Anping covered his ears and walked out of the alley.

“What a newbie, don’t you know how to clean up the area after eating the corpse?”

Li Anping remained silent and continued to walk out. Although he is able to think logically again, his mind was still very messy. He wanted to vent, but did not know how; he wanted to console in someone, but did not know who.

He walked alone on the cold winter streets, still wearing a hospital gown that has traces of blood left on it, looking utterly strange.

The cold wind blew on his body but Li Anping could not feel the cold. The surging energy within his body had made his physique far surpass normal humans, although not to the extent he had while at the hospital.

Eventually, Li Anping walked faster and faster, and he started running, the entire map of Zhongdu appeared in his head like a 3D hologram. He had never felt his memory so strong. His hands continued to swing and his legs stepped firmly on the ground as he pushed himself forward.

Feeling the cold wind blow on his face, Li Anping ran at the speed of a professional athlete and continued to sprint forth, as if he wanted to vent all the pain and frustration in his heart.

But the strong body could not feel fatigue, his limbs did not ache, and his lungs continued to work as usual, without even a single pant.

When he stopped, he only felt slight soreness in his legs, just like someone who had taken a stroll after dinner.

Only when the sky had started to get bright, did he notice that he had unknowingly ran for tens of kilometres, and reached the former district he lived in.

“I subconsciously came back here?” Li Anping muttered as he looked at the familiar flora and fauna of the environment, having a sense of nostalgia. The last time he came, he was still a university student, a selfless and helpful hero.

But now, he had become a rapist that everyone hated, and a murderer that the police are pursuing.

“What should i do…”

Dejectedly walking on the streets, Li Anping face appeared bewildered.

“Li Anping?” At this moment, a female voice called out from behind him, almost scaring his life away.

He turned back to see that it was his neighbour’s daughter, Wang Xue.

‘What should I do? Should I make her faint? Will she call the police… or maybe should I kill her?’ Li Anping stared blankly at Wang Xue as he thought. Just as he was feeling ashamed of his thoughts, Wang Xue said: “Oh sorry, I got the wrong person.” She spat out her tongue and blinked at Li Anping. At the age of 18, the most youthful year of her life, in addition to having a good appearance, made her appear cuter than normal, and is probably a girl that is sought after by many in school.

Li Anping at this time lowered his head to look at himself and found out that after his body was restructured, both his body build and aura had changed greatly. Only between his brows was there a slight resemblence as before. It was no wonder that Wang Xue had mistaken him.

But Wang Xue upon seeing his dejected look and the blood on his clothes asked: “Are you okay?”

“I… I’m fine.” Li Anping nervously said: “I just fell down.”

The lie was obvious and Wang Xue could naturally tell, but at this area, Wang Xue had seen all kinds of people. If she hadn’t thought that Li Anping looked familiar, she would not have approached him.

“Its good that you’re fine, don’t worry there will be clear skies after the rain.” Wang Xue said: “If you want to find a job, you can look for my father Wang Qing at the market, help to carry vegetables and stuff. It’ll help you to make ends meet.”

“Oh, I will consider it.” Li Anping nodded, knowing that she had mistaken himself to be a beggar or homeless. But the current his was in fact no different from them.

Wang Xue’s father Wang Qing however, is a big boss in the market, and they are well known for helping out the poor residents in the district, it seems the rumors are true.

Seeing Wang Xue leave, Li Anping felt warmth in his heart. Although this world may be very dirty, as long as he had not seen absolute despair, even if its just a very small number, the world still has kind people doing good deeds.