Chapter 22: Land of Exile - Gourmet Capital

Ultimately, Chen Jinyan arrived at the closest medium-sized settlement aboard a high imitation Somersault Cloud, only later remembering he could have effortlessly removed all traces from himself, including those dog bite marks, with just 44 points of energy.

Heh, the number four, a sign of ill omen.

From high above, this medium-sized gathering place resembled a densely populated modern village.

At its center, there was a square paved with bluestone, featuring a gigantic floating eye and a stone screen entwined with black threads. It was clear at a glance that these represented the "All-Seeing Eye" and "Sense of God," which treated all exiles like sheep to be sheared.

They are also likely the super devourers currently scouring the world for him.

However, they couldn't find him.

Ehehe.

Surrounding the square were two layers of stone and wooden houses, and beyond them, five layers of various makeshift tents.

The disparity in energy value wealth was starkly evident.

At the very edge of the outermost tents was a sturdy wall made of bluestone and spiked steel. Outside the wall lurked all manner of bizarre and grotesque monsters attempting to breach the defenses—

Some resembled mutated beasts, others twisted demonic plants, and some floated in mid-air, cloaked in black, appearing utterly ghastly and dangerous, a veritable chaos of demons.

Chen Jinyan frowned as he observed the situation. Despite the steel and stone walls, the accumulating monsters outside the wall over time could overwhelm this settlement. Fortunately, there weren't many monsters outside the walls currently.

Just then, the convoy below was entering the city, and the young man driving the tricycle mentioned this place.

"Impressive walls, right? A big part of that is thanks to me! It took us three days to erect these walls, capable of withstanding monsters below level 5 from the lands of exile.

Monsters surpassing level 5 evolve into devourers, at which point we either organize a counter-attack or collectively relocate."

"This settlement has only been established for two months, so it's unlikely we'll face any devourers for now.

If the walls stand for more than three months, we'll need to be on alert since more people gathering can attract stronger devourers."

"Moreover, those small monsters outside the wall will also engage in mutual slaughter, absorbing each other's power. After three months of such carnage, it's likely a low-level devourer will emerge."

"Apart from the three super cities, all settlements in the land of exile are temporary. Essentially, people move, gather, and strive to survive wherever they can."

"…It seems we humans are somewhat in a plight," Bear Brother remarked, not quite satisfied.

The motorcycle youth laughed heartily: "Brother, the first thing you need to accept upon arriving in the land of exile is this reality."

He then became serious: "In the land of exile, humans have never been at the top of the food chain! Even those at level 5 and rulers aren't at the top, above them are the kings and gods!

Currently, there exists a terrifying god-level devourer in the land of exile, under whom there are at least three king-level devourers, including the All-Seeing Eye and the Sense of God, and the worrying part is they are also on the verge of advancing to god-level.

Over the years and across many worlds, humanity has only ever had four kings, and now only two survive.

"As for becoming a god?"

The motorcycle youth's expression became inscrutable as he spoke, "In the Land of Exile, there's a saying — 'We, with our mortal bodies, can never ascend to godhood.'"

These words silenced everyone present.

It seemed they all felt the immense chasm and shackles between heaven and earth, rendering them immobile.

Only the youth above the cloud snorted upon hearing this, casually cleaning his ear.

Mortal bodies cannot become gods?

Only fools would believe that.

If devouring monsters can become gods, why can't humans?

It's nothing but lies from losers and conspirators.

The motorcycle youth gave a wry smile, "Anyway, in this place, we're at a serious disadvantage, as our names suggest. So everyone, be careful to stay alive."

Humans are exiles, lost dogs, desperately struggling for survival at the bottom, while those gigantic devouring monsters and unspeakable sovereign aberrations are the true rulers of the Land of Exile.

That's why they were so eager to find Chen Sijin. Life is incredibly tough here for humans; who wouldn't want to leap to greatness and ascend to divinity?

Clearly, Chen Sijin is a living ladder to the heavens.

Though some were reluctant to accept this, thinking of the demons and ghosts they had never seen before, and the massive devourers that could construct entire illusory worlds, they eventually held their peace.

But then, the motorcycle youth smiled again, "But don't look so downhearted, everyone! Yes, falling into the Land of Exile is terrible, and we have to struggle and fight against these monsters for survival. But haven't we also awakened our unique talents and powers?"

"Don't think because we've just fallen into this exile land and are so weak that we can't even beat level 2 or 3 exiled monsters. As long as we survive longer, accumulate enough energy, or luckily defeat a devouring monster, our power levels will soar!

"Level 1 Exile, Level 2 Ascetic, Level 3 Traveller, Level 4 Hunter, Level 5 Ruler. Above rulers are Kings and Gods, these are our exile power levels."

"Usually, by reaching Level 3 Traveller, one can deal with most of the Devourers. If not defeating them, escaping or completing survival tasks is possible."

"But reaching Level 3 isn't easy. Everything here requires energy points, and Devourers will occasionally find us and drag us into their world.

"Generally, advancing from Level 1 to 2 takes a year or two, and from Level 2 to 3 takes four or five years. Unless one's awakened ability is exceptionally strong, it's impossible to reach Level 4 within a decade."

At this, the iron motorcycle guy casually inquired, "So, brothers and sisters who collectively defeated a smartphone Devourer, that's a high-level Devourer, did you all level up together?"

"Ah, I'm envious. I've been here for two years and have just leveled up to Level 2 [Iron Man]."

Afai and Bear Brother couldn't hide their joy, while Liu Chengli and Song Fang, being more experienced, kept a straight face, but their pride was evident to the leaders who were closely observing.

Weekend, Lu Jun, and Wang Baojie didn't seem to notice anything. Wang Baojie's old age made his disguise normal, but the young man with glasses looked exhausted from work, sighing, and the one who always had a longing look, holding his face, was hard to read whether he had leveled up or not.

"Even if they didn't level up, absorbing them into our team would still be beneficial. These people have thousands of energy points each. It's a certainty."

"Haha, we've reached our gathering point. Now, everyone can think about which group they want to join," said a muscular man in attire similar to the motorcycle guy:

"Honestly, the fact that we arrived so quickly and accurately shows our sincerity and strength. I, Shi Hu, can assure you that there won't be any group stronger than our three groups in this gathering place."

"Choosing any other small group poses the risk of having your energy points robbed, but our Thunder Group guarantees that each member's energy points belong to them, with only a daily group fee of 5 energy points. That's just 150 energy points a month."

Another short-haired, sharp-featured lady also spoke up: "Our Natural Group consists of ability users with nature attributes. Although we are few in number, every brother and sister in our group is worthy of trust.

"And the higher the level of natural abilities, the stronger they become. Our team has existed for over ten years now. There have always been one to three Level 3 Travellers anchoring our team."

Zhao Xiaofeng felt somewhat tempted upon hearing this, knowing that most of these words were probably directed at her.

The last to speak was the girl who had conjured bread and water.

"Everyone, I've already explained the benefits of the Mutual Aid Society. We are dedicated to building a warm and reliable home that can accommodate all exiles.

Additionally, let me add that the Mutual Aid Society has been in the Land of Exile for over a hundred years. This place is just one of our branches. Our headquarters are in Daylight City, one of the three major gathering main cities."

Chen Jin's eyebrows raised slightly.

No wonder this girl carried herself with such confidence and ease; she had a significant backing.

A main city that has stood unchallenged in the Land of Exile indeed possesses a formidable deterrent.

But if, as the motorcycle guy mentioned, the more people gather, the more and stronger monsters will surround them, how many terrifying devourers are lurking around the three main cities?

With divine-level devourers in the Land of Exile but no divine-level human exiles, how do the three main cities combat divine-level devourers? Are they guarded by a human king, or have they reached some principle of peaceful coexistence?

The youth on the cloud propped up his chin, thinking it might be worth venturing into the city. He needed to get a map first, at least to know the general direction.

Meanwhile, the people below had made their choices. Ah Fei and Xiong Ge joined the Thunder Squad, Zhao Xiaofeng, after much consideration, chose the Nature Squad, and Zhou Mo, Lv Jun, Liu Chengli, and Song Fang all opted for the Mutual Aid Society.

Seeing that everyone had made their choices, Wang Baojie finally joined his teammates who had been waiting on the side, receiving pats on the back and hugs from everyone.

His group here could only be called a squad, but what of it? They were all brothers and sisters who had been through life and death together.

Last time, his teammate was poisoned in the devouring world, and this time, he ventured beyond the walls to buy the antidote with a huge amount of energy points. Fortunately, they were blessed with luck in the end.

He had enough energy points to purchase the medicine, and his ability had risen from level two to level three. Finally, their team had a level three traveler.

Things will get better from here.

As long as one lives, things will always get better.

Chen Jin, from atop his cloud, watched everyone disperse before controlling his nimbus cloud to descend onto the square.

He immediately noticed the huge, tightly closed blood-red eye. It must be said, that eye was truly large and truly ugly.

The tightly closed eye suddenly trembled slightly, as if it sensed Chen Jin's particularly disdainful and provocative gaze.

Chen Jin quickly looked towards the wall next to the giant eyeball.

The wall was covered in black threads, like a net always ready to catch its prey.

In the center of the wall, rows of white text scrolled continuously.

Chen Jin walked over and saw various messages for trades and assistance, along with three very prominent leaderboards.

[The Most Powerful/Unwanted Devouring Worlds Leaderboard], [The Strongest Exiles Leaderboard], and [The Most Wanted Dead or Alive Leaderboard].

Then, he immediately noticed his own name in red, high up on the third leaderboard, accompanied by an ultra-high-definition aerial photo of him giving the middle finger, along with a bounty of one million energy points.

Chen Jin: …

It's clear how much that eyeball and the guiding trash hate him.

Also, his peak beauty really does look super handsome in any photo, the bounty should have an extra zero to match his presence.

After admiring his photo and bounty, Chen Jin gave a second glance to the second-ranked bounty target, a former top influencer. But just seeing this person's photo made him feel uncomfortable, probably because of the guy's deep blue, almost black pupils, his nonchalant smile, and the thumbs-up gesture.

Chen Jin: …

This person precisely hits all his pet peeves, acting like some kind of sleaze. Even if that face is aggressively handsome.

Forget it, it's not like he'll encounter him in the future anyway. Yue Feng—nicknamed the God of Mischief by others.

Tch, even the name and nickname are cringe-worthy.

Then, Chen Jin turned his attention to the first Devouring Worlds leaderboard. Counting down to the sixteenth place, he saw the [Smartphone City World], now grayed out.

This ranking likely considered both "power" and "difficulty" factors. In terms of strength, the boss of Smartphone City was only at an advanced level, but the nearly insoluble addiction combined with that level made it troublesome.

He could always invoke anti-addiction measures through speech, but for others, unless they had a very strong willpower or a special talent to break the addiction, it was basically impossible to escape the Smartphone Maze.

So, choosing to devour him was the biggest mistake the Smartphone Devourer made in its life.

Because he was its natural nemesis.

Afterwards, Chen Jin browsed the other forty-nine Devouring Worlds of monsters on the leaderboard, feeling enlightened.

From battle royales to ghostly hauntings, from human desires to life-and-death decisions, it's clear the Devouring Monsters were earnestly constructing various types of worlds, striving to drain human energy before consuming them to grow stronger.

"Hmm. Fortunate that Lady Luck favors me."

Chen Jin, observing people discussing these leaderboards and fervently praying they never encounter these great Devourers, whispered a luck buff for himself.

Others' prayers might fail, but his prayers never miss!

Now he could look for messages to get a map to the main city, and also see who the strongest exiles are...

Suddenly, just as Chen Jin's gaze landed on the first name of the strongest exiles leaderboard, a chilling sensation, as if a colossal entity had set its sights on him, arose—a feeling all too familiar, isn't it?

Amid the terrified screams of other exiles, Chen Jin stared blankly at Yue Feng's name, appearing on both leaderboards, feeling like he was the joke.

Hold on, wasn't the buff he just added supposed to be for luck, not a curse? How did he get swallowed again?!

[You have been locked on by a Devourer!]

[Power assessment: Unable to confront, possible to escape.]

[Would you like to escape?]

Chen Jin scoffed, escape my foot! Let's face it head-on!

[Escape refused.]

[Forced entry into the Devourer's world in three minutes.]

[You have been devoured by the Devourer!!]

……

[Welcome to "Gourmet City"!]

"Everyone, you can start ordering now. Tell us about your most cherished delicacy!"

Upon arrival in this world, a strange and enticing aroma immediately enveloped him, making his mouth water.