The Shortcut to Become Stronger (Chapter 171)
Looking at the polluted creature whose chest had been hollowed out, losing its life, Gu Luoyu immediately narrowed her eyes. She hadn't expected her attempt, which she hadn't held much hope for, to actually succeed!
So, what exactly had her psychic power turned into?
It could actually devour the heart of a polluted creature.
It wasn't about destroying the heart, but devouring it. As the holder of this psychic power, Gu Luoyu could clearly feel... the lost heart of the polluted creature was transforming into energy, merging into her psychic power, and then being transmitted to her body.
In an instant, her body felt as if it had been injected with a potent drug, enhancing all aspects.
However, with just one polluted creature's heart, the effect was too subtle. Gu Luoyu then turned her gaze to the rest of the herd, her red eyes flashing with the excitement of the hunt.
No matter what her psychic power had become, being able to enhance her abilities by devouring hearts was a shortcut. Only a fool would miss such an opportunity.
As for potential side effects?
Gu Luoyu was different from Ye Sheng. She was a genuine wasteland dweller, a front-line fighter from a young age. Compared to worrying about this and that, enhancing her strength to live longer was the most important thing.
Moreover, the constitution of an Esper was special. Even if there were side effects, they wouldn't be too troublesome.
It seemed that the herd sensed Gu Luoyu's heightened excitement, a precursor to slaughter, making them restless. The once reckless polluted creatures now cowered in fear.
They were too scared to even run.
It was as if the grim reaper's scythe was pressed against their heads; the slightest movement would result in decapitation.
Polluted creatures, influenced by radiation, had their intelligence enhanced.
Thus, they were smart and could keenly sense danger... However, even if they submitted without resistance, it didn't save their lives.
It only made it easier for Gu Luoyu to take their hearts.
From queuing up to pluck hearts to later spreading her psychic power into thousands of threads quickly connecting to the herd, with a slight movement, their hearts vanished without a trace.
Leaving behind a mountain of polluted creature corpses.
Even if edible tusk meat could be found among them, it wasn't tasty, carrying a peculiar smell.
If one thought cooking it in a pot might make it edible, the end result would be throwing away both the pot and the meat.
Enough to show how unpalatable tusk boars were.
Other polluted creatures didn't care about the taste of meat; filling their stomachs was enough. Now, these tusk boar corpses left here would eventually become nourishment for other polluted creatures.
And this place would turn into a natural cafeteria, attracting various polluted creatures to dine.
In time, it might even nurture a new S-class polluted creature!
Gu Luoyu pondered and tried to use her psychic power to eliminate the herd's corpses. If it could devour hearts, these chunks of meat shouldn't be a problem.
However...
When Gu Luoyu attempted to mobilize her psychic power, the black psychic energy lazily remained still, seemingly resistant, adamant about not devouring these unpalatable meats.
This surprised Gu Luoyu, who then took out an energy stone from her pocket and summoned her psychic power again.
This time, the psychic power appeared smoothly, joyfully surrounding the energy stone.
It absorbed the energy at a visible speed.
In a short time, the energy stone was drained, leaving only a hard empty shell. This result confirmed her earlier suspicions.
Her sudden interest in the hearts of polluted creatures was due to her mutated psychic power.
Her subconscious had influenced her.
However, it wasn't so much an interest in hearts as it was in energy.
Polluted creatures liked to consume energy stones to evolve and strengthen, and the absorbed energy was stored in their hearts and blood. This was why, after a fight, the victor would eat the loser's internal organs.
So, the psychic power devoured hearts for the energy stored within.
As for why it didn't devour the energy stones lining the underground tunnel walls earlier?
Perhaps the black psychic power hadn't fully awakened, or perhaps Ye Sheng used the pouch to collect them too quickly. There were too many factors to guess.
Gu Luoyu didn't dwell on these matters. Having roughly guessed the reason, she proceeded to conduct other experiments, such as absorbing the blood from the herd.
Indeed, the meat of polluted creatures also contained energy, but it was too little.
Compared to that, the blood had a higher energy content. However, the psychic power, as if satiated, ignored Gu Luoyu. But when she took out another energy stone, the psychic power became obedient again, responding immediately.
Alright then!
It seemed her psychic power looked down on these scraps.
After easily dealing with the herd, Gu Luoyu didn't immediately rejoin the team. The opportunity was rare; besides the tusk boar herd, there was also a group of Long Toothed Tigers!
Also A-class polluted creatures, the Long Toothed Tigers were much stronger than the tusk boars. At least when Gu Luoyu released her aura, these tigers ran quite fast.
However, the Long Toothed Tigers couldn't escape Gu Luoyu's pursuit; she caught up with them in no time.
“Roar!”
Unlike the tusk boars that waited obediently for death, the Long Toothed Tigers bared their teeth fiercely.
Their long, sharp teeth hung at the sides of their mouths, their robust bodies large. When their claws dug into the ground, they left deep marks. If such claws landed on a person, the outcome would be unimaginable.
However, Gu Luoyu was no pushover either. She smiled slightly and directly used her psychic ability.
As long as there was 'food', the black psychic power wouldn't slack off; instead, it acted as if it had been given a shot of adrenaline.
Gu Luoyu carefully felt her sea of consciousness and noticed it had grown. The speed of strengthening was faster than all her physical abilities... Mystery solved. No wonder the psychic power was so diligent; it could eat 'kickbacks'.
Perhaps because Gu Luoyu's psychic power was contaminated by the original radiation entity, in front of these polluted creatures, it was like comparing an ocean to a river.
Thus, no matter how ferocious the Long Toothed Tigers were, they couldn't escape their fate of death.
The black psychic power, now experienced, quickly dispersed.
When it re-coalesced, it had turned into numerous black threads, silently connecting to the chests of the Long Toothed Tiger group. With a wave of Gu Luoyu's hand, the threads were pulled.
In the next moment, the chests of the Long Toothed Tiger group also had hollows, their hearts gone.
When a dense mass of energy fed back, Gu Luoyu couldn't help but close her eyes, silently feeling the miraculous growth in all aspects of her body, opening the door to a new world.
If she continued to enhance her strength by devouring the hearts of polluted creatures, she would soon surpass Han Lingyue, the captain of the Esper Squad 1!
Thinking of this, Gu Luoyu excitedly opened her eyes, ready to search around for more, to indulge in the feast.
However...
As soon as Gu Luoyu opened her eyes, she saw someone who shouldn't be here, looking utterly surprised, making her frown subconsciously: “Ye Sheng, what are you doing here!”
Had he seen her using her psychic power to devour the hearts of polluted creatures?