The first strand was a lifeless ash-gray, like a moss-covered tombstone:
[Fate Strand (Gray): Starving Ghost Reincarnate (If its current state continues, within seven days it will consume highly toxic heavy metal waste—such as discarded batteries or chemical residue—due to extreme hunger, ultimately leading to gastric rupture and heavy metal poisoning, dying in agony.)]
The moment Logan Moore saw it, cold sweat drenched his back.
No wonder it had been chewing on the batteries from that alarm clock earlier!
Then there was the second strand.
A blinding golden light—like a sun rising from ruins—pierced straight through that bleak fate:
[Fate Strand (Gold): Gluttony Divinity (From utter despair comes rebirth! Its stomach has evolved under extreme conditions into a conceptual "furnace." As long as it is supplied with sufficiently high-grade energy foods—including but not limited to rare ores (such as evolution stone fragments), high-energy berries, or even special energy crystals—it can elevate the very concept of "eating"! No longer bound by base stats, it can infinitely stack physical strength and energy reserves through devouring! To swallow heaven and earth lies but a thought away!)]
"—Hiss."
Logan sucked in a sharp breath. His whole body tingled, like electricity had surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
"Gluttony Divinity… infinite stacking…"
He murmured, staring blankly at the little guy in front of him—currently sucking on its own fingers.
How was this trash-tier?
This was clearly a primordial devourer in disguise!
His predecessor's poverty and starvation had, by sheer accident, forced it through an incomprehensibly brutal yet heaven-defying biological transformation.
A normal Munchlax that overeats just sleeps harder and tanks more hits.
But this Munchlax, with [Gluttony Divinity]—as long as Logan could supply the resources—it could chew diamonds like candy and crunch steel plates like cookies!
"I hit the jackpot… I really hit the jackpot this time!"
Logan felt his hands trembling slightly.
He crouched down until he was eye level with the Munchlax.
"Hey, little guy."
He reached out and gently squeezed its loose, underfed belly. His voice was soft but firm. "From today on, no more plain buns. I'm going to feed you meat, the best Pokéblocks—maybe even… gold."
Munchlax didn't understand what gold was.
But it understood "meat."
Its eyes instantly lit up like twin bulbs, a line of drool sliding from the corner of its mouth.
"Munch! Munch!" (Meat! Boss is awesome! Boss gonna get rich!)
Logan stood back up, the last traces of confusion gone from his eyes.
With the system—and this limitless-potential "God of Gluttony"—a few hundred in rent? Getting kicked from the guild? What did that even matter?
At some point, the rain outside had stopped.
Logan glanced at the time on his phone. 7:10.
"Time to go live."
He took a deep breath, adjusted the rickety phone stand, angled the camera toward himself and the Munchlax, and firmly pressed the "Start Stream" button.
…
[Pokemon Appraisal: See Through Past and Present! Free evaluations—if I'm wrong I'll swallow a Poké Ball on the spot!]
That absurdly over-the-top title stood out like a sore thumb in the quiet early-morning stream list.
With a tiny push from the platform's new-streamer traffic boost, barely five minutes passed before a dozen or so viewers trickled in.
Of course, most had come to flame him.
A few scattered chat messages drifted across the screen.
[Kindergarten Food Thief: Big talk! See through past and present? You think you're a Gardevoir or something? Swallow a Poké Ball—yeah right, scammer.]
[ChadPumpsIron: Pokemon appraisal? With what, that? The Munchlax next to you's practically skin and bones. You can't even raise your own right and you're appraising others? I'm dead. Get a job.]
[Fawn in the Woods: Uh… streamer's pretty cute, but yeah, total clickbait. Definitely one of those con-artist mystics. I'm out.]
Logan read the skeptical—sometimes outright malicious—comments without the slightest ripple in his expression.
Before, he might've panicked. Tried to explain. Begged for follows.
But now? With his cheat ability in hand, he was completely at ease.
He cleared his throat and flashed the camera a confident, enigmatic smile—three parts mocking, three parts cool detachment, four parts casual indifference. The smile of someone firmly in control.
"Good morning, everyone. I know exactly what you're doubting."
"You think I'm young. You think my Pokemon's weak. You think I'm bluffing."
As he spoke, he casually scooped up the Munchlax and held it toward the camera like merchandise.
It was perfectly well-behaved, busy licking its fingers and letting him pose it however he wanted. It even let out a cooperative little burp at the camera.
"But you're wrong about one thing. My Munchlax isn't skinny from starvation. This is a specialized 'extreme tolerance training method' to unlock its potential. Though… explaining that to you would be too deep. You wouldn't get it."
"Let's do something real."
Logan's gaze sharpened, locking onto the chat ID: ChadPumpsIron.
This guy had been the loudest earlier. And judging by the avatar—a jacked fitness dude with a gray arm vaguely visible behind him—he clearly had a Machop.
"The guy named 'ChadPumpsIron.' You seem straightforward enough. Since you don't believe me, want to hop on a call? I'll evaluate your Pokemon for free. If I'm fake, I'll eat your keyboard live. But if I'm right…"
Logan paused, lips curling into a meaningful smile.
"If I'm right, you might end up thanking me for saving your life."
The moment he said that, the tiny twenty-something-person stream exploded.
[Kindergarten Food Thief: Holy crap, streamer's savage! Straight-up throwing hands!]
[Fawn in the Woods: Saving his life? That's so ominous… I wanna see this too. Are scammers this dedicated now?]
ChadPumpsIron was clearly hot-tempered. A new message popped instantly:
[ChadPumpsIron: Trying to bait me? Fine! I'm a fitness coach and a veteran trainer! My Machop cost a fortune from a legit breeder—three perfect IVs! Let's see what kind of garbage you manage to spit out! ...Connecting!]
"Ding!"
The call connected.
The phone screen split in two.
On the right appeared a shirtless, sweat-soaked muscular man.
He stood inside a fully equipped gym—clearly just finished a morning workout—radiating raw testosterone.
Beside the bench press rack stood a gray humanoid Pokemon, motionless as a statue: a Machop.
It was half a head taller than average Machop. Its muscle definition looked carved by blade and chisel, gray skin gleaming with a metallic sheen.
Most striking were its red eyes.
Unlike the lively gaze of other Machop, these were filled with a chilling deadness—and ferocity.
"This is my partner, Machop!"
ChadPumpsIron slapped Machop's shoulder proudly, even flexing its bicep toward the camera. "See those muscle lines? See that look? That's dominance! Go on, streamer—make something up. Let's hear it!"
[Fawn in the Woods: Wow… that Machop really is huge. Feels like it could punch me to death…]
[Kindergarten Food Thief: That's legit quality. Streamer's about to hit a brick wall.]
Logan said nothing.
The instant the video connected, his Appraisal Eye had already locked on.
Data streams flooded across his retina.