“These guys?”
Christine, who was currently basking in his ‘cozy paradise,’ suddenly heard this and looked at Irene in confusion, then followed her gaze toward the pitch-black passage.
A series of boing-boing bouncing sounds echoed from the passage.
“Mu-yi...”
Accompanied by this signature squeak, under Irene's knowing gaze, Arthas's vigilant watch, and Christine's eyes that were gradually lighting up with little stars—
—a pink slime, as large as a washbasin, hopped out.
This incredibly girly slime carried itself like a seasoned traveler. Facing the gazes of the three before it, it didn't show the slightest hint of fear.
Instead, it hopped right up to Christine. Deliberately avoiding his gaze—which looked as though he had just discovered a new continent—it used its mimicked black bead-like eyes to glance at the blue slime cradled in his arms, which wore a desperate ‘save me’ expression, and shook its jelly-like body in pity.
As if unable to bear the sight, it ignored the blue slime's “mu-yi” squeaks, bypassed Christine entirely, and hopped straight toward Irene.
Shring—
Before the pink slime could even step within two meters of Irene, the sound of a blade unsheathing rang out. In the next instant, Arthas ‘blinked’ into position, blocking its path, his chainsword pointed directly at the slime.
The jagged teeth of the blade were less than half a centimeter away from the slime's fragile, gelatinous body.
“Mu-yi...”
This sudden development clearly scared the pink slime out of its wits. It slammed on the brakes, its body denting inward as it leaned back frantically, warping into an irregular oval. While trying its best to avoid the blade's edge, it ‘raised its head,’ its mimicked black bead-like eyes staring in sheer terror at the eerie blue soul fire burning fiercely beneath Arthas's black visor.
Locking eyes with him through the visor, the pink slime shuddered violently, bead after bead of pure liquid oozing from its jelly-like body.
It hurriedly let out a rapid succession of “mu-yi” squeaks.
It seemed to be begging for mercy.
“Arthas, no need to be tense. This is just an ordinary slime; there are no signs of mutation infection,” Irene said slowly, stepping forward.
Hearing this, Arthas took a deep look at the pink slime beneath his chainsword. With just a tiny bit of force, this slime would instantly turn into a pile of ‘fresh jelly jam.’ Ultimately, however, he refrained. He lowered his head, stepped aside, and yielded the way.
Yet, he did not sheathe his chainsword, keeping it firmly in hand. It was clear that if this slime made even the slightest suspicious move, he would strike instantly.
Taking all this in, the pink slime shrank back even further. It turned half its body to look at the blue slime in Christine's arms, silently pleading for help, only to receive a smug, gloating look in return...
Just then, a shadow loomed over it. The pink slime turned its head, only to suddenly feel a heavy weight on top of its head.
“No need to be nervous, little guy. You're safe now.”
Irene leaned half-way down and placed her hand on the pink slime's head. A faint smile graced her face, and her eyes were filled with warmth and kindness.
“Mu-yi...”
At this moment, the pink slime felt like it had finally met a ‘good person.’ It wanted nothing more than to dive into her already quite voluptuous chest and have a good cry to express its grievances. But when it tried to put this into action, it found itself completely pinned, unable to budge even a millimeter. In fact, the pressure was steadily increasing.
Sensing that something was amiss, the pink slime tremblingly shifted its gaze up from Irene's chest. When it saw that signature smile once more, it involuntarily shuddered. Its jelly-like body quivered. It realized that the warmth radiating from those crescent-shaped eyes wasn't kindness at all—it was blatant, cold-blooded killing intent!
At this moment, it felt its life was truly miserable. It had just escaped the tiger's den only to fall into the wolf's lair. Had it known, it would have shown itself first. Although it would have been squeezed out of shape like a toy by that elf girl, at least it wouldn't have to live in constant terror.
It was nothing like this current situation, where each person was more terrifyingly intense than the last!
“Spill it. Why are you following us? What is your goal?” Irene spoke gently, but her hand had already begun to morph into a black dragon claw. Her sharp claws firmly gripped the ‘head’ of the slime as she slowly stood up, lifting it directly into the air. Under the pull of gravity, the slime's shape gradually warped.
It looked like a piece of bubble gum being forcibly stretched out.
“Mu-yi! Mu-yi! Mu-yi! Mu-yi...”
Like a startled rabbit, the pink slime let out a rapid barrage of squeaks, ‘sweat’ pouring frantically from its body.
“It says... ‘Big sister, spare my life, I have no ill intent,’” Christine's voice suddenly drifted over.
Irene followed the sound and saw that this atypical white dragon, currently disguised as an elf, had a rather bizarre expression on his face.
He looked like a mix of pleasantly surprised, bewildered, and astonished.
“You can understand what it's saying?” Irene knitted her brows slightly. Although the Draconic Inheritance was all-encompassing, there were absolutely no records regarding communication with slimes, which were the lowest tier of magical beasts driven solely by instinct.
Or rather, their nearly identical squeaks, uttered with only slight variations in pitch, were never even classified as a language by any intelligent species.
“Ahem...” As if his embarrassing little hobby had been exposed, Christine cradled the blue slime with one arm while scratching his head with his other hand. Looking away, he said sheepishly, “Just... a little bit. I looked into it out of curiosity in the past. Not much... just a tiny bit.”
Just how much do you love slimes to have actually studied their squeaks... Wow, you really are a dragon prodigy... After grumbling inwardly, Irene looked back at the slime in her claw.
Initially, she only suspected that these two slimes might possess a slightly higher level of intelligence than ordinary slimes and wanted to test them. Now, it seemed “slightly higher” was a massive understatement...
Yet, in her perception, the strength of these two slimes was only around the low-tier Black Iron Rank. Considering their racial stats, they were basically at the level of the very first mob a novice adventurer would farm upon stepping out of town.
To think that creatures with such low strength would possess such impressive intelligence...
“Interesting.”
The corners of Irene's mouth curled slightly. Her golden vertical pupils locked onto the slime in front of her as she spoke softly in the Common Tongue:
“Can you understand what I'm saying? Squeak three times if you can. If you can't, I'll gouge your eyeballs out.”
“...”
The pink slime went silent for half a second. Seeing the impatience rising on Irene's face, it hastily let out three rapid “mu-yi” squeaks.
“Very good. It seems you understand the Common Tongue.” Irene raised her chin and cast a side glance at Christine.
“Miss Charlotte, if you would be so kind as to translate for me next.”
“Huh?” Christine was taken aback. A troubled expression crossed his face at first, but then, as if making up his mind, he bit his lip and nodded gently. “Leave it to me!”
Having received an affirmative answer, Irene gave him an understanding look. She loosened her grip slightly, maintaining just enough force to keep from popping the slime while ensuring it couldn't easily escape. In the tone of an interrogator questioning a suspect, she demanded, “Spill it. Who sent you? What is your purpose? How many members are in your family? How old are you this year? Lay it all out clearly!”
After speaking, she stepped aside to reveal the campfire behind her, adding, “I'll give you three seconds to answer. If you don't, hmph, I'll skewer you on a stick and roast you into a dried slime snack!”
Silence.
Following Irene's words, the cave fell silent for two seconds.
Only at the third second did the pink slime snap out of its daze. In its panic, it began to squirm frantically. It sprouted two short tentacles from its jelly-like body, gesturing wildly while letting out a series of bizarre squeaks: “Mu-yi... yi-mu... mu-mu-yi...”
Two minutes later.
The pink slime squeaked one last “mu-yi” and slumped listlessly in Irene's claw like a dead thing, the lower half of its body sagging naturally like a water balloon.
“What did it say?” Irene looked at Christine.
“It...” Christine looked down at the blue slime in his arms, which was also scared stiff, having collapsed into a puddle of non-Newtonian fluid. With a wry, helpless smile, he explained, “It says it's a cave slime living in the Underdark, and its tribe has over two thousand slimes...”
“Get to the point,” Irene interrupted suddenly. “What is their goal?”
“Uh...” Christine's expression turned rather peculiar. “It wants you to go beat up the Mother of Mutation and Flesh and save its brothers and sisters, who are currently living in misery and could be infected by mutation at any moment.”
“Mu-yi...”
Clutched in Irene's claw, the pink slime let out another weak, faint squeak.
Christine quickly translated, “It says it's willing to lead the way.”
Rate on N.U.
