The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

Liu Ji never thought that he would one day have the experience of gnawing on marble.

When Myza placed a piece of pristine white marble near Liu Ji's mouth after his transformation into a burrowrat, Liu Ji's initial reaction was to reject it.

However, probably due to his new form, while Liu Ji's mind resisted, his new body acted on its own.

A burrowrat's vision was very poor, and Liu Ji could barely see what was in front of him. However, his now keen sense of smell kept signaling—There's rock in front of you! Go for it! Hurry up and go for it!

After much hesitation, Liu Ji opened his mouth wide and took a bite as he was curious to test his abilities too.

Hmm… Why does rock have no taste?

Oh, wait.

It wasn't that rock is tasteless, but rather, his tongue couldn't taste anything.

It made sense; an animal that constantly ate rock debris wouldn't benefit from having developed taste buds—it would just be torture.

Thus, Liu Ji chewed on the marble like it was flavorless ice, crunching it into little bits and swallowing the fragments.

Then, after a few seconds, a completely new and different sensation from anything he'd felt before came over him.

Perhaps… he could really turn into a rock.

Having swallowed the last bit of the stone chunk, Liu Ji took a deep breath, stepped back a couple of paces, and focused on the strange impulse within him.

Then, as Myza watched on in astonishment, Liu Ji transformed into a crystal-clear jade stone.

However, it only lasted for a second. Liu Ji abruptly returned to human form, sitting on the ground in a daze, which he seemed unable to snap out from.

"Eh? What's with you? Are you okay?" Myza shook him.

"N-no, I'm fine. Phew, I'm fine now," Liu Ji murmured. "Just that for a moment, I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel my body, had no sensations, unable to think. It felt like… I was dead."

"Mm, makes sense. A stone isn't alive after all," Myza muttered, stroking his chin. "Seems like you should avoid transforming into inanimate objects. You looked like a priceless gem when in stone form, but even using it for disguise isn't practical."

"Yeah, I think so, too. Having no sensation at all was terrible." Liu Ji shook his head. Just as he was about to stand up, Myza pressed his shoulder down.

"Wait, don't be in a hurry. Turn back into a burrowrat once more," said Myza.

"Ah? Oh, that can be done, but why?" Liu Ji hesitated.

"Just do it, I won't harm you," Myza said. "I want to try something."

"Alright then." Liu Ji took a deep breath and once more turned into a round, green-scaled burrowrat.

Next thing he knew, Liu Ji sensed something placed in front of his nose. It had an incredibly enticing smell, like an explosion of fragrance.

Almost instinctively, Liu Ji took a bite.

Crunch.

It felt like biting into gravel, though Liu Ji gulped it down effortlessly.

Then, a powerful impulse he had never experienced before surged. A certain strange force circulated within him, compelling him to follow the impulse and transform.

At that moment, Liu Ji felt as if he had transcended.

He sensed a connection with the earth beneath him.

He felt an incredible power filling his entire being.

Liu Ji opened his eyes and before him stood an ecstatic Myza, holding up his right hand.

Near Myza's right wrist was a small hole, which looked like it had been gnawed on.

————

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Elsewhere, on the other end of the desert, in an underground city.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the door to an underground mine was kicked open. Three figures, all clad in black robes, strode into the mine.

Leading the group was a figure barely a meter tall, with a massive book strapped across his back. In his hand was the collar of a beaten-up guard he was dragging along the floor.

Strutting rampantly, the small person tossed the beaten guard aside, then shouted loudly, "This is a bust! Who's the boss around here? I have solid evidence that you're involved in human trafficking and child labor! Come out and meet your doom!"

The arrogant shouts echoed throughout the mine, reverberating off the walls and lasting for a long time.

All the earthwalker miners were stunned by the shouts. And when they looked to the unfortunate guard on the ground followed by the three intruders, no one dared to move. Even Chick, who followed the three, had his mouth gaping as if he had just witnessed something horrific.

Soon, a response came from the end of the tunnel.

"Who the hell has the guts to mess with Ghost Hand Three's operation?!" The rough voice was full of anger. "What are you all standing around for? Chop him up and throw him into the burrowrat pit as feed!"

Hearing this, the miners snapped out of it. They exchanged glances, eyed the limp guard lying like a ragdoll near the entrance, and finally turned their eyes toward the foreman holding a whip at the far end of the tunnel.

The foreman looked left and right, cracked his whip, and bellowed, "What are you all standing around for? Get him!"

But still, no one moved; everyone just stared at him.

The foreman was livid and yelled further into the tunnel, "Boss! They aren't moving!"

"If they won't move, then you move! You think you can order others around without doing it yourself?!" came the furious response from inside the tunnel.

"I…" The foreman hesitated, wanting to ask why the boss didn't come himself, but thought better of it. He'd probably end up as a feed for the burrowrats if he did ask such a foolish question.

Gritting his teeth and stomping his foot, he fixed his eyes on the small figure in the black robe. "Fine, I'll do it myself!"

He dropped his whip and raised a pickaxe, roaring as he charged at the black-robed figure.

However, in the next second, he flew back the way he came, crashing heavily into the rocks behind. Crumpling to the ground, he curled up, clutching his crotch while foaming at the mouth.

The "black-robed shorty" raised his small, clenched fist, looked around, and asked in a deep voice, "Anyone else?"

At this, all the miners were terrified into silence.

A few seconds later, one of the miners suddenly let out a cry, raised his right hand, and slapped himself in the face, falling to the ground with a thud.

In the next moment, as if a switch had been flipped, all the miners started crying out and hitting themselves in the face, and collapsing to the ground one after another, each in a more dramatic pose than the last.

Amid the chorus of screams and the sounds of bodies hitting the floor, the "black-robed shorty's" mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"This is the so-called 'unrivaled dark and sinister black market mine' you mentioned?" he asked Chick disdainfully. "Why do they seem so pathetic to me?"