Serie eagerly opened the "Abilities" interface.
Inside, neatly arranged skill trees were displayed in rows, with three different branches—
[Witch (After being forced to become a Witch from a Devouring Queen, she possesses the power of a Witch that can cloak strength with an alluring phantom): "Alluring Body" (Not Learned) → "Healthy Eating" (Upon learning the previous ability, details of this ability will be revealed) → "Unlocks" → "Unlocks"...]
[Demon (As an ancient demon, you should master the Abyssal Power of demons): "Abyssal Howl" (Not Learned) → "Fear Claw" (Upon learning the previous ability, details of this ability will be revealed) → "Unlocks" → "Unlocks"...]
[Gluttony (The primal power deeply rooted within you): "Pig Out" (Not Learned) → "Gluttonous Feast" (Upon learning the previous ability, details of this ability will be revealed) → "Unlocks" → "Unlocks"...]
[Current Ability Points: 1]
Serie could now view and learn the first ability of any branch.
The second ability could only be viewed and learned after the first ability was acquired.
As for the third and subsequent abilities, their names had not even been unlocked yet.
Serie began to examine the abilities of these three branches.
She only had one ability point now, obtained from completing the "First Devour of Heaven and Earth" quest, so she had to choose carefully.
"Alluring Body": Slightly increases charm and allows you to alter some of your appearance, temporarily hiding non-human features on your body, making you appear as a harmless white-haired girl in others' eyes, rather than a thousand-year-old demon that preys on people.
"Abyssal Howl": Slightly increases strength, masters a unique ability originating from the Abyssal Hounds, unleashing a howl that ignores all defenses; the powerful sound waves will repel all creatures within range and cause them to feel fear and dizziness.
"Pig Out": Slightly increases the Gluttony Count obtained from Wasteful Devour; your taste and smell will evolve, making even tasteless, inferior meals or hard-to-swallow abnormal foods become nutritious and delicious delicacies in your mouth.
All three abilities were useful, but their application scenarios differed, making it hard to judge their strength directly.
The first ability in the Witch branch was mainly for interacting with people and integrating into society.
But Serie had no idea where she was right now.
She guessed that the tomb couldn't possibly be in a densely populated city, could it?
Since it was a Mayan tomb, it was most likely in the wilderness or an unfrequented tropical rainforest.
She couldn't even see a few people, so even though this ability was very useful, it had no immediate use.
The second ability in the Demon branch was currently the only combat skill, and it had a rare crowd-control effect.
Unfortunately, this ability was still not very useful for Serie right now.
She didn't need to fight at the moment, unless that one howl could collapse the stone door directly, but looking at the description of "Abyssal Howl," it didn't have such high damage; its emphasis seemed more like a control effect for psychological deterrence against enemies.
As for the last ability...
"Pig Out" was a developmental ability.
For a late-game type like Mad Eater Witch, the earlier she learned this ability, the sooner she would enjoy its permanent bonus effect, especially this passive skill that eliminated taste aversion and automatically turned her into a pica sufferer—it was simply a divine skill!
With it, Serie could uninhibitedly use all sorts of bizarre things to fill her bottomless stomach, thereby obtaining a continuous stream of Gluttony Count, gaining higher and stronger attributes, and achieving a snowballing effect on her abilities.
Comparing them all, "Pig Out" was clearly the most useful ability right now.
Serie pondered for a moment and ultimately chose to learn the "Pig Out" ability.
In an instant, Serie felt a warmth in her throat, the peculiar taste of crushed stones in her mouth suddenly vanished, and the pungent stench in the tomb likewise disappeared.
She sniffed, and a faint sweetness subtly wafted deep within her nasal cavity.
Serie's pupils constricted in surprise, and what reflected in her emerald eyes no longer seemed to be a gloomy tomb, but a self-service restaurant filled with the aroma of food.
The crushed stone and sand that had made Serie nauseous before now seemed like freshly baked cookies, each grain coated in a caramel crisp shell.
She swallowed saliva that uncontrollably secreted, hearing a small beast's foraging whimper escape her throat, and she stumbled, bumping into the stone door.
The moment her sharp teeth bit into the cold rock, she tasted a creamy, lingering sweetness.
Delicious!
The true Gluttonous Feast was only just beginning.
Unlike before, when she forced herself to swallow sand and stone to stack Gluttony Count, Serie was now completely enjoying the food, and the efficiency was simply doubled.
Every inch of the stone wall her tongue swept over seemed to coat itself in honey.
She tore off large chunks of rock as if biting into a thousand-layer pastry, the gravel making a crisp sound like hazelnut chocolate shards between her teeth.
The surging appetite transformed into an unceasing meat grinder.
The more she devoured, the hotter the burning hunger deep within her stomach became, rising along with the Gluttony Count.
Unfortunately, this enjoyment did not last long.
A nerve ending in Serie's body suddenly twitched; it seemed there was some movement in her main body.
With a thought, her vision went black, and when it brightened again, her consciousness had returned to her main body.
The sudden knock on the containment room door made Serie's eyelashes tremble; she quickly suppressed the subtle dizziness from switching bodies and softly called out:
"Um, come in."
As the cold iron door gently opened, the sweet scent of jasmine wafted in first.
Dr. Linette was holding a meal tray.
Her brilliant golden hair swept across her pristine white lab coat as she moved, and the black-rimmed glasses resting on her high nose bridge made her skin appear even paler, her whole being so exquisitely beautiful without any makeup, like an illustration cut from a fashion magazine, causing Serie's heart to suddenly accelerate.
As for why it accelerated...
Was it a Heart-pounding, or a guilty conscience?
Serie didn't know either.
After all, she, who had never fully trusted Linette, had now truly become an anomaly.
Yesterday, she thought she was just an unlucky person mistakenly captured, but now half of the prophecy had come true.
If she were given another Cold Condensation Experiment now, she would likely be "diagnosed" on the spot.
She didn't know if this counted as luck.
If the original Serie had looked forward to the experiment being completed quickly, proving her innocence, and then leaving this cursed place.
Then the current Serie was genuinely afraid that the experiment would expose her identity as an anomaly.
Although Serie did not yet know if her clone could continue to live with her consciousness if her main body died, she dared not gamble.
One could only say that the prophesying anomaly really had something going on.
Could it be that his prophecy was true?
Would she really destroy the world?