Scooping a full spoonful of crab roe and dipping it in a little seasoning, Yang Tao put it into his mouth. The soft, waxy, and slightly grainy texture instantly filled his mouth, and the taste of the crab butter was truly irresistible.
"I suffered a loss before!"
"I didn't expect there to be such large crabs in the Backrooms!"
Yang Tao was now filled with regret; if he had known, he would have wandered around the Backrooms more. What if he had encountered a sea cucumber several meters long, a running ginseng doll, or a crayfish the size of a human head...
Smack, smack...
The sound of smacking lips directly interrupted Yang Tao's inner fantasy. He turned his head to look at the Frowner who had emerged from underground with his entire family not far away, and angrily said: "Frowny! You are the father of one, two, three... twenty-seven children. Can we eat more civilly? Can you stop smacking your lips?"
The Frowner heard Yang Tao's scolding and pulled his head out of a thick, massive crab claw, saying: "What is civility?"
Yang Tao was like a deflated balloon, looking at the Frowner's glowing white face and saying: "Alright, you eat..."
"Don't forget to bring some back for your pregnant wife."
The Frowner nodded and then continued to feast.
Yang Tao picked up another spoonful of crab roe. He looked at Patamon, who was staring at him with eager eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he put the crab roe from the spoon into his own mouth, then picked up the large bowl on the table and said: "Open your mouth!"
Patamon opened his true blood-basin mouth.
The small Patamon's mouth opened wider than his own body. Yang Tao directly poured a full bowl of crab roe into it.
"Alright, this is your only bowl. Eating too much is not good for your health."
He had plenty of crab roe, but this kind of thing was best eaten fresh.
Patamon savored the taste of the crab roe, showing a blissful expression. No being would refuse delicious food; if they did, it only meant it wasn't tasty.
"Eric, is there any new news online?"
Eric, who was tasting the crab roe, nodded slightly and said: "Some levels have changed. Many stable levels are now becoming unstable..."
"And many new levels have been discovered, along with many new types of Entities, as if there's been a great explosion. Yang, did you discover anything when you went to the Backrooms?"
"I don't know if it counts as a discovery, but I received news that an external Entity has invaded the Backrooms. It's very strong, indescribably strong."
Yang Tao looked at Eric and said seriously: "For now, you stay in the Overworld. The Backrooms are a bit dangerous during this time. I'll go to the Backrooms later to check the situation."
"Be careful. Come back and visit often. I'll keep an eye on online information and can notify you in time if there are any changes."
"Okay."
...
Instead of returning to Level 69 'The Road Trip of Affliction', he pushed open the wooden door leading to Level Fun, partly to have a heart-to-heart with the Party Host.
The other reason was to see if there were any changes among the Partygoers in the Backrooms.
Upon entering Level Fun, Yang Tao immediately felt that something was amiss.
The entire level had become extremely quiet, and the walls, originally covered with various cartoon patterns, had become somewhat mottled.
The sweet cake smell that originally permeated the level had also disappeared.
'What's going on?'
Stepping on the floor, Yang Tao began to explore other rooms.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
The entire level was unusually quiet, like a ghost town.
Yang Tao couldn't help but frown and directly summoned his Magic Broom to speed up his exploration.
Level Fun, which should have been teeming with Entities, had not a single Partygoer or Partier visible after a long search.
Yang Tao did not give up and continued to explore the level.
After about an hour of exploration, he didn't know how far he had flown, when a faint, almost imperceptible scent of cream drifted into his nose.
"Party Host!"
Yang Tao carefully distinguished the direction from which the smell came. After turning right at a crossroads, the scent in the air became increasingly strong. At the same time, a smell of blood also emanated from a deeper room.
A bad premonition rose from the bottom of his heart.
A half-open wooden door appeared on the wall of Level Fun. Scarlet liquid flowed out of the room, and the previously faint smell of blood had now completely covered the smell of cream.
Grinding sounds that made one's teeth ache echoed from inside the room.
After a moment of hesitation, Yang Tao landed in front of the wooden door. As soon as he put his hand on the doorknob, the wooden door burst open, and a distorted tentacle flew out from inside the door, quickly wrapping around Yang Tao's body.
At the same time, Yang Tao also saw the scene behind the wooden door.
A cake, wriggling like rotten flesh, was in the center of the room. Scarlet blood was everywhere in the room, along with scattered severed limbs and remains.
Based on the yellow outer skin and the name Level Fun, it was not difficult to guess that the parts on the ground belonged to Partygoers.
"What's going on? Has the Party Host gone mad?"
The Party Host's appearance was completely different from when they last met, one could even say it was a world of difference.
The eyes originally located at the top of the three-tiered cake had become blood-red, and on its rotten-flesh-like body, many constantly opening and closing mouths had appeared.
Tentacles picked up the remains of bodies from the ground and continuously stuffed them into the mouths on its body.
Using his datafication ability, he quickly broke free from the Party Host's tentacles and glanced at the health bar above its head.
210,000 / 210,000
Very strong.
The relationship between health and strength is very complex, but one thing is certain: a Party Host with 210,000 health is definitely not something an 80,000 health crab can compare to.
Looking at the red border, Yang Tao no longer hesitated. Countless black mushrooms flew from his hand towards the Party Host.
The activated Doom-shrooms grew with the wind. Originally only palm-sized, they quickly turned into two-meter-tall behemoths.
Boom, boom...
The violent explosion made Yang Tao feel the entire level shake.
'Shave, Dragon Twister...'
Using his super-high movement speed, Yang Tao arrived next to the mutated Party Host. His body quickly began to spin, and in an instant, blade energy crisscrossed the confined room.
-854
+107
-820
+100
...
It was clear that the Party Host's defense was not very good...
But its recovery power was truly abnormal. The fire-attached effect manifested, and surging flames rose from the Party Host's body.
He took out a bottle of [Gray Almond Water], opened the cap, and threw it at the Party Host. After all, this was the Backrooms' officially designated item to counter Entities.
The liquid splattered on the Party Host's body, and its rotten-flesh-like body distorted slightly, but there was no effect like concentrated sulfuric acid.
However, judging by the Party Host's health recovery rate, it was still affected by the Almond water.
Obscure, incomprehensible whispers emanated from the mouths on the Party Host's body.
This time, Yang Tao's translation ability failed. This couldn't even be considered speech, only meaningless murmurs.
'Has it lost even the ability to communicate??'
Just as Yang Tao was frantically slashing, the Party Host's body rapidly expanded, and even the walls of the room began to rot.
A strong smell of cream came from all directions.
[Poisoned V 00:05]
The walls corrupted by the Party Host gradually became part of the Party Host. Tentacles extended from within the walls, like a meticulously woven net.