Blood poured out like a fountain, gushing violently between Buck and the monster! Buck was splattered with blood, and the monster’s blue blood sprayed all over his face. The hot and foul-smelling blood acted like a powerful stimulant, instantly igniting Buck's fighting spirit. He roared, exerting all his strength to control the monster's blue claw, launching a second savage attack!

  The monster, similarly roused by bloodlust, didn’t back down. It bared its teeth and claws, swinging its sharp talons at the small human who dared challenge it. The monster's claws, like sharp daggers, tore through Buck's shoulder, blood gushing out and staining his clothes. However, Buck skillfully avoided the other claw, using its momentum to evade. At the moment the monster’s attack faltered, Buck’s mysterious claw shot out like a black lightning bolt, swiftly piercing the monster’s throat!

  The monster froze in place, blue blood spurting out of its throat like a fountain. It clutched its neck in terror, stumbling backward two steps, before crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust.

  Buck, panting heavily, half-knelt on the ground, his wounds grotesque and terrifying, blood continuing to flow and staining the earth beneath him. But with his tenacious will, he refused to fall. From the very beginning of the battle, he was confident of his victory. His life energy was higher than that of the monster, and though his magic claw had a brief cooldown, it was more unpredictable and difficult to defend against than the monster’s attack.

  The monster’s claws had drained over two hundred of his life points, but his magic claw had caused a nearly equal amount of damage to the enemy. In such a fierce exchange, the scales of victory naturally tilted in Buck’s favor.

  In the next moment, Buck, gritting his teeth in pain, crawled to the fallen monster’s side and unhesitatingly grabbed its arm!

  【Devour monster's arm, absorb life energy, increase maximum limit by 200.】

  As the arm merged with his body, Buck once again felt a surge of life energy flooding into him like a rushing tide. This power brought him immense relief, and the wounds on his body sizzled with white steam, rapidly healing at an astonishing rate!

  【Life Energy: 315/520】

  Seeing his maximum life points soar again, Buck slowly clenched his fists. While the life energy didn’t fully heal his injuries, it no longer affected his ability to move.

  “So, the life energy I absorb is actually the monster’s life limit?” Buck thought to himself. “If that’s the case, as long as I keep killing these monsters, I can keep increasing my health... This ability is insane!”

  Moreover, Buck was delighted to discover that after merging the monster’s arm, his magic claw had undergone a subtle transformation. It seemed to have grown stronger and more powerful, with its iron-blue skin becoming tougher. This claw could actually grow by devouring other arms!

  A confident smile slowly spread across Buck’s face. But suddenly, his vision began to swing uncontrollably, and his gaze fixed on a distant shadow drawing closer. Above the shadow's head, a life bar appeared...

  【Devour monster's arm, absorb life energy, increase maximum limit by 200.】

  Soon, Buck, with his increasingly refined combat skills, swiftly defeated the second monster that appeared. This time, he barely took any damage. Under his strong control, the magic claw successfully blocked the monster’s attack. As his life energy expanded, he felt his body becoming more agile and powerful. With a swift sidestep, he precisely seized the enemy’s opening, then struck with force, piercing the monster’s chest.

  As a result, his life limit had increased to an astounding 720 points, and his blue arm had once again grown stronger.

  “This is the power of an extraordinary being...” Buck murmured. In just a few minutes, he had accumulated more than seven times the life energy of an average person, no longer the fragile human who could easily be struck down by a monster’s swipe.

  But behind this great power, could he truly withstand the price? The torturous hunger surged once again, a relentless wave of hunger that seemed to threaten to consume him. Although absorbing and merging the arms slightly alleviated the desire of the evil spirit, he still couldn't escape the insatiable hunger that seemed to devour him. He was desperate for food, aching to eat!

  Buck trudged forward, each step heavy, moving toward the other end of the valley. In his foggy memory, he recalled that if he could just get out of this desolate valley, he would return to the world of human civilization, where food awaited him—food he longed for...

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  In the darkness, Buck moved forward alone. There were no stars or moon in the sky, and everything around him was pitch black, as if the whole world was enveloped in endless darkness. He didn’t know how long he had been walking until, once again, he crested a hill, and the plains outside the valley came into view.

  The black earth stretched endlessly toward the horizon. There, in the southern sky, hung an enormous crescent moon, so large it seemed to cover the entire horizon...

  “This is... the moon of this world? This is just... not scientifically possible…” The shocking and terrifying scene seemed to spark something in Buck's mind, and suddenly, he seemed to remember something.

  In the blurred knowledge of his original self, this world was always like this. The object that resembled a "moon" was not actually the moon, but another strange planet closely attached to the southern end of this world! Logically, two such close planets should have collided long ago, but strangely, this had never happened, and this bizarre situation had continued for over three hundred years!

  His thoughts became clearer, and more long-forgotten things resurfaced. Half of this strange world had already fallen into darkness. The once unlearned mind of the viscount's son slowly began to recall certain historical knowledge...

  The vast Goliath Empire had risen forcefully three hundred years ago under the leadership of the Lionheart King. They utilized the knowledge of witchcraft and alchemy brought from another world, and tenaciously held half of the world, gradually leading the entire dynasty into a prosperous era where steam cannons and extraordinary blades coexisted. But darkness, like maggots on bones, had never truly faded...

  Buck walked aimlessly into the plains, facing the enormous shadow of the moon, his steps light as he continued forward. At this moment, he had completely lost the will to recall more things; all he could think about now was finding food. Even the roughest, hardest-to-swallow scraps would be invaluable to him. He would even be willing to set aside his former noble dignity and eat anything that could be shoved into his mouth!

  No… Noble? I’m not a noble… But… who am I? Buck's mind was a chaotic mess. He ran forward in a daze until, just before dawn, he saw the lights of a village on the plains. The flickering lights were like stars of hope in the darkness.

  At dawn, a farmer with a hoe was walking toward his field. In the dim light, he saw a figure lying on the dirt road. The farmer was surprised and hurried over, carefully helping the young man in noble attire. He heard the young man muttering, "Food... give me food..."

  ...

  Buck was taken in by a kind farmer and finally got the food he longed for. Although it was only a potato (which for his original noble self, was of terribly poor taste), to Buck, it seemed like a delicacy. Under the warm gaze of the old farmer, Larsen, he devoured one potato after another, temporarily suppressing the hunger that almost drove him mad.

  What especially caught Buck's attention was that the farmer, Larsen, had a daughter who seemed just about to come of age. This girl, named Citi, had a more mature and fuller figure compared to others her age. Especially her well-developed chest, which irresistibly drew Buck's gaze...

  Buck awkwardly covered his eyes and sighed helplessly. Now, he finally understood what kind of trouble that "Watcher" evil spirit would bring him… However, the girl seemed completely unaware of Buck's strange look and kept observing him with curious eyes.

  This made Buck feel extremely uncomfortable... This was so wrong, completely different from what he remembered. In the memories of his previous self, the common folk should have avoided him at all costs, never daring to look at him in such a direct way.

  But his head still ached terribly, and many memories seemed to be shrouded in a fog, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. He was simply too tired and desperately needed rest...

  Thus, Buck temporarily settled in this strange little village. Everything here felt unfamiliar to him, just as the entire world did. The strange little village, the enthusiastic villagers...

  In order to get more food, Buck volunteered to help the villagers work in the fields. Without hesitation, he took off his noble attire and changed into rough homespun clothes. Farmer Larsen gladly accepted his help, and Larsen's daughter Citi still seemed indifferent to Buck’s gaze.

  At night, Buck would leave the village on his own and venture into the dark forest and the edge of the mountains, searching for the roaming monsters. He would have no hesitation in using the divine corpse's hand and the monster's hand to crush the monsters' skulls, then devour their arms...

  The monster’s hand grew stronger and stronger with each brutal night of killing, as if there was no end to it. When he killed his tenth monster, his arm finally underwent a noticeable transformation.

  [Monster's Hand II: Requires 10 spiritual power or life energy to activate, cooldown: 2.5 seconds.]

  It had leveled up, and the number after the name had changed to "II," with the cooldown further shortened. Compared to the divine corpse's hand, which could instantly kill enemies as long as health and spiritual energy were sufficient, the monster's hand, while not as powerful, had the advantage of a very short cooldown, allowing frequent attacks.

  The second-level monster's hand had become much stronger. Now, Buck could directly use this arm to overpower monsters and even break their arms. His life energy had also grown to a terrifying 3520 after these few nights of fierce battles.

  Buck became stronger and stronger, strong enough that he no longer feared any attackers suddenly emerging from the darkness... But deep down, he felt that this was still far from enough. There were many memories he had not recovered, and it seemed like he had forgotten some crucial things.

  It wasn’t until one night when Buck returned from the forest, that he saw, from a distance, that the usually peaceful village was now engulfed in roaring flames, and screams and cries for help echoed through the night. The shrill cries of women and some beast-like roars intertwined, sounding particularly harsh in the silent night sky...