Merchant Crab - Chapter 197: Dragonfruits

In the night, cook wine with the master and discuss the way of heaven and earth!

In the snow, Yu Jian chased the tide of Guangling River!

- Description from novelbuddy

…Ring! [ The Unique Skill ‘Grand Devourer’ has been acquired! ]

That’s how it first started.
And then… it didn’t stop:

[ The Unique Skill ‘Evolve’ has been acquired! —
[ The Passive Skill ‘Jelly-like Shapelessness’ has been acquired! —
[ The Passive Skill ‘Resistant Body’ has been acquired! —
[ The Unique Skill ‘Dwell’ has been acquired! —
[ The Unique Skill ‘Skill Copy’ has been acquired! —
[ The Passive Skill ‘Mana Perception’ has been acquired! ]

Up until…

[ The Passive Skill ‘Consciousness’ has been acquired! ]

And then I was through—

Normally, monster-type creatures don’t just pop up in some random place—let alone a human place—out of the blue, and without notice.
Yes, if we’re talking ‘normally’, monsters belong more to places like remote, hostile grounds: they ought to be from dark, nasty forests, old caves, or abandoned, ancient ruins.
As I said, it was only so long as we spoke of the usual deal, however. For better or worse, I wasn’t your regular mob.
So, forget about all the remote, uneasy places humans hardly go to—all the abandoned forests, caves, or dungeons I, a monster, should have been from—and picture a bright, lively family restaurant, in an oh-so-peaceful human village. A restaurant where people ate, chatted, and jested together, all having a good time, blissfully oblivious to the fact that, very soon, I would be cutting them all down.

By magic, a monster-type creature spawned in such a place. It was me.
So far, for the few seconds I had been living, it was quite the good life… I got to listen to a fantastic story being told and shared a cool moment with people.
However! Following an uncertain course of events, I happened to be put up against a wall, with a sword aimed at my chest, before I was mercilessly killed.

I, a unique monster, just spawned in that restaurant, with no clue regarding what was going on.
All I knew was that I wanted to live and survive.
Also, I knew I wasn’t your regular kind of monster.
Thankfully, I’d been granted unique abilities before I showed up.
That is how I managed to survive.

Intellectual Villages are old fashioned rural villages recreated with cutting edge technology. Those villages attract the Japanese monsters known as Youkai.

The high school boy Jinnai Shinobu lives in one of those villages and has a Zashiki Warashi living in his house. He tends to run across Youkai with unnerving frequency and this often leads to trouble for him.

What if you could unlock the deepest secrets of the human mind? What if every word, every gesture, every thought could be shaped and bent to your will?Jason Cross was once an ordinary man, trapped in a life he didn’t deserve. His family’s fortune stolen, his dreams shattered, he was left with nothing but bitterness and regret. Forced to work a dead-end job, Jason’s life seemed doomed to mediocrity—until a tragic accident changed everything.Now, Jason has been given a gift. A mysterious system has awakened within him, revealing the hidden language that can influence the mind—Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) at a level beyond human comprehension. With every task completed, Jason unlocks new abilities, gaining the power to manipulate emotions, thoughts, and desires.But power comes with a price.Jason's rise to influence is swift. He becomes a master of persuasion, able to seduce anyone, outwit rivals, and build an empire from the ruins of his former life. His enemies fall one by one, their minds broken before they even know what hit them. But as Jason climbs higher, so do the stakes. Rivals from the shadows, powerful enemies, and his own unchecked ambition threaten to consume him.How far will Jason go to reclaim what is rightfully his? And when the world bends to your will, can you ever trust anyone again?