Chapter 177: Chapter 176: Infection
(This Chapter has been unlocked)
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"I’m sorry, I’ve caused everyone so much trouble, but I was just so hungry..." On the television screen, a man with slicked-back hair and his hands bound spoke with a sincere expression. He was even a little handsome—the suspect in this case, Habu Takuya.
From his appearance, his cheeks were ruddy and he was full of vigor, showing no signs of drug abuse.
The CNN reporter seemed to have secured exclusive interview rights. The interview location appeared to be an office in the airport, surrounded by several police officers armed with live ammunition.
The suspect was Japanese. Since Eagle Country and East Japan were allies, once the situation escalated into a diplomatic incident, many things had to be done to satisfy the public’s right to know.
"My current position is a bit inconvenient, otherwise I would definitely get on my knees and apologize to everyone. I’ve affected the travel plans and moods of several hundred people on the flight all by myself. I’m truly sorry, I’ve caused everyone so much trouble." Habu Takuya’s expression was utterly earnest, his eyes filled with sincerity. It was hard to believe he was a Demon.
The reporter seemed not to have expected to be facing such a person. After composing herself, she asked:
"Mr. Habu, your actions were extremely vile, exceeding the limits of human tolerance. What you’ve done is being watched by the whole world. Many are calling you the second ’Sakagawa Ichimasa.’ I now want to ask a question that’s on everyone’s mind: why did you eat someone?"
She was a young female reporter. Thinking about everything she had seen at the scene, she nearly threw up.
In 1981, while studying in Paris, the second-generation Japanese rich kid Sakagawa Ichimasa lured his female classmate from the Netherlands, Rini, to his home, where he took the opportunity to kill and eat her.
Sakagawa Ichimasa didn’t run or hide, allowing the police to arrest him. Afterward, his wealthy businessman father had him extradited back to his home country, where he was astonishingly set free without facing trial. He even wrote a best-selling novel detailing the process of his crime and gained a large number of fans. Many women even wrote him letters expressing their admiration. To this day, Sakagawa Ichimasa remains at large.
And his name has become one of the most famous Ogres in human history.
Habu Takuya said with a friendly smile:
"Because it was delicious, of course. And I was hungry..."
His gaze seemed to hold a hint of confusion and bewilderment, as if he couldn’t understand why the reporter would ask such an obvious question.
"Don’t you understand that this is a crime?" the reporter finally snapped, unable to hold back any longer. "This is a completely inhuman act! Do you feel no remorse at all?"
Habu Takuya looked puzzled and asked:
"Crime? Why? I was just hungry... But that Ms. Eliza was a really warm and cheerful woman. It seems she misunderstood my invitation and thought I wanted to have sex with her in the airplane lavatory... Haha, how embarrassing. Our Eastern culture is more reserved and shy... Ahem... Sorry... I think I have a bit of a cold..."
Habu Takuya suddenly coughed a few times, then quickly apologized to the reporter opposite him.
Immediately after, a sincere yet bizarre smile appeared on his face. He extended his tongue, licked his lips, and said to the reporter:
"Miss reporter, you smell so fragrant... I bet you would taste sweet and delicious... COUGH... COUGH..."
At this point, the interview time was up. A few New York police officers came over, grabbed Habu Takuya, and said:
"Let’s go, you bastard from East Japan!"
Habu Takuya struggled for a moment, and a sound of twisting metal came from the handcuffs. The officer next to him was suddenly thrown aside.
"Get him!"
"How is this bastard so strong!?"
Five or six strong police officers lunged at once, pinning Habu Takuya down. They slapped three pairs of handcuffs on him and began to drag him away.
"Why are you arresting me?" Habu Takuya yelled, looking utterly bewildered. "COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... I didn’t commit a crime, I was just hungry! I want to see an official from my country’s embassy! I’m the North America Region representative for Fujita Company, you can’t treat me like this! COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
Watching Habu Takuya being led away, the CNN reporter at the side couldn’t help but feel her blood run cold. She turned to the camera and said:
"The suspect appears to be suffering from a cognitive impairment affecting his logical thinking. It is currently unknown whether this is due to drug abuse or simply the disguise of a sociopathic deviant. We will continue to follow up on this ca—COUGH... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... Apologies, we will continue to follow up on this case..."
The camera’s signal transmission ended, concluding the live broadcast.
The cameraman and several assistants began packing up the equipment, ready to call it a day. No one looked very happy. The field reporter, Corina, wearily put away her microphone and rubbed her forehead hard.
’I can’t believe I ran into that kind of freak. This is going to give me nightmares for days.’
’There wasn’t the slightest trace of remorse in Habu Takuya’s eyes just now. He truly saw it all as a matter of course, and didn’t think he’d committed a crime at all!’
The group quickly got into the broadcast van and first went to a fast-food restaurant not far from the airport, planning to grab a bite to eat.
"Corina, want to get a drink? You don’t look so good," her assistant, Ed, asked.
"No thanks, I still have things to report back at headquarters. There’s a meeting this afternoon." Corina waved her hand and smiled. "Don’t worry, I’ve seen plenty of freaks. This one was just a little... novel... COUGH... COUGH..."
Then she cursed, "Damn it, I think that psycho Asian guy gave me his cold. Get me a tissue..."
The assistant nodded and casually handed Corina a tissue.
Corina wiped the sweat from her forehead, then suddenly held the tissue to her nose and sniffed it greedily, saying:
"Ed, what brand of tissue is this? Why does it smell so good? It’s so fragrant... My mouth is already watering..."
Ed was taken aback. "It’s just a regular tissue, I didn’t buy the scented kind. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"
Corina’s delicate nostrils twitched. She suddenly realized the scent was coming from her assistant right in front of her.
She couldn’t help but lean in and take a gentle sniff, only to feel her nose and mouth fill with an irresistible fragrance.
’So fragrant, even more so than a grand feast at a top-tier restaurant.’
Corina looked at Ed with deep emotion. She suddenly realized that her assistant of two years seemed different from before.
He still had the same curly hair, unkempt appearance, a worn-out baseball cap, and a plain face, yet something about him was completely different...
’It made her feel extremely hungry, as if she hadn’t eaten in days...’
Corina leaned in close to Ed and whispered in his ear:
"Ed, would you mind coming home with me in a bit?"
Ed froze. His face instantly turned red, unsure of what Corina meant.
Corina chuckled softly and said in a low voice:
"Ed, you look especially delicious right now... I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but looking at you is so tempting. I want to eat you all up... So, are you coming or not?"
Ed trembled. He never would have imagined that the goddess of his dreams actually had feelings for him too.
Besides, that kind of suggestive wording was impossible to misunderstand.
’He’d heard some theories before, that intense external stimuli, like the terrifying scene of a homicide, could sometimes trigger impulses. Could that be it? Was Corina in urgent need of some... physical activity to console herself?’
’Oh my God, something good is finally happening to me...’
Ed nodded eagerly.
He glanced at their colleagues eating at the nearby tables, made an excuse to say goodbye, and left the fast-food restaurant.
A little while later, Corina also came out of the restaurant and got into Ed’s car.
The engine started, and they quickly arrived in front of an apartment building.
This was Corina’s home.
Ed felt like he was in a dream as he followed Corina upstairs.
"Ed, go take a shower first," Corina said with a smile, licking her lips greedily.
In Ed’s eyes, Corina’s gesture was incredibly sexy. He nodded quickly.
"Okay, baby, I’ll go wash up right now... I never knew you liked me this much, why didn’t you tell me sooner?"
With that, he excitedly ran into the bathroom and started showering.
The sound of water splashing in the bathroom began. Corina started getting the kitchen utensils ready, taking out some side dishes and seasonings from the refrigerator.
The main course was almost done cleaning itself.
"Ed, what do you like to eat? Italian pizza? Chinese food? Sushi? French cuisine?" Corina asked loudly, swallowing another mouthful of saliva.
"Oh, Chinese food, honey. I like General Tso’s chicken. You’re so thoughtful..." Ed shouted back.
Corina nodded, took out some Chinese seasonings, sniffed the air again, swallowed, and picked up a kitchen knife.
Just then, Ed, now dressed, walked out.
Corina smiled faintly, hid the kitchen knife behind her back, and walked over.
When she was right in front of Ed, she suddenly raised the knife in her hand.
In the hallway outside the apartment, a security camera swiveled slightly, pointing toward Alina’s apartment.
Shen Feng’s Consciousness Antennae were controlling this camera, simultaneously filtering out the ambient noise through the microphone to isolate the sounds from within the room.
A scream rang out, followed by the sound of a throat being slit with a kitchen knife. Then came a struggle, a body thudding to the floor, the gurgle of flowing blood, and the sound of cutting.
There was no titillating scene, just a murder in progress.
A short while later, the clang of a spatula against a pan and the sounds of cooking could be heard...
Then came the clink of a fork and knife on a plate, and the sound of chewing.
"’It seems the situation is far more serious than I imagined...’ Shen Feng’s consciousness conversed with Jingwei in cyberspace."
Jingwei sniffed dismissively. "You humans, trapped in your carbon-based bodies, are so troublesome when you devour each other. And the efficiency is just so low... Not like us data-based lifeforms. We just absorb the other’s data directly. Weren’t you the one chewing most enthusiastically when we were eating Poseidon?"
Shen Feng snapped back irritably:
"How is that the same? And is that any way to talk to your creator? Now is not the time for bullshit! Hurry up and trace the paths of those passengers, especially that Habu Takuya. Find out where the hell that thing came from! The Great Cataclysm has already begun!"