In the quiet, damp passage filled with a faint musty smell, moss scattered across the rock walls released a rhythmic glow, brightening and dimming like a steady breath.
“Mu-yi!”
A soft cry echoed from one end of the passage. As it drew closer, the distinct, squelching, jelly-like sounds of their movement became clearer.
Affected by the sound, the nearby fluorescent moss brightened slightly, faintly illuminating the source of the noise.
It was a translucent blue slime hopping forward.
Tap, tap, tap...
Following closely behind were three figures of varying heights. They trailed not far behind the slime, keeping a relatively safe distance. It was Irene's group.
“Mother, are we really going to rely entirely on these slimes to find the Mother of Mutation and Flesh?”
Arthas slowed his pace, leaning in slightly as he asked in a low voice, “Isn't this a bit too risky? They are only low-tier magical beasts, after all.”
“What other choice do we have?” Irene, walking beside him with steady steps, kept her eyes on the blue slime leading the way. “This is our only option right now.”
After a brief pause, she turned her head to look at Christine, who was walking on her other side. He was cradling the pink slime with an expression that looked as though he had been hit by an intelligence-lowering aura. She sighed and looked away in resignation.
“Arthas, I understand your concerns. You're worried these slimes are being used by someone else as bait to lure us into a trap.”
“Indeed.” Irene nodded gently, confirming his thoughts.
“We can't entirely rule out that possibility... Heaven knows if these slimes were artificially bred using some unknown method. After all, their intelligence is far too un-slime-like.”
“But... as I said, we have no other choice. If we don't rely on them, we might end up wandering lost in this place indefinitely.” Irene looked back ahead, her shimmering eyes reflecting the blue slime's form.
“Of course, there's no need to be too tense, my eldest son. If we truly encounter an insurmountable crisis because of this, we can always summon the Empire's elite army.”
“Never forget, the entire Empire stands behind us!”
Hearing this, Arthas fell silent. He had only wanted to remind Irene, but since his mother had her own considerations, there was no need for him to worry further.
...
Two days later.
After taking countless detours, Irene's group was now hiding on a high ridge.
The area they were in was a massive underground cavern. The air here was incredibly stagnant and heavy with a thick, rancid stench.
The source of the foul odor lay directly below the ridge.
There were tens of thousands of bizarrely shaped mutant creatures packed tightly together, their grotesque forms filling most of the cavern's space.
Fortunately, these mutants seemed to be in some sort of power-saving mode. They lay prone on the ground, their bodies completely still, looking exactly like actual corpses.
“Are you sure that way leads to the next floor?” Irene crouched on the ridge, her gaze passing over the dense crowd of mutants below as she looked toward the base of the opposite rock wall.
There was a relatively small fissure, about three meters high, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top.
Judging by the parts partially obscured by the mutants, the width of this fissure was far from ideal; at most, only one person could squeeze through at a time.
“Mu-yi...”
Cowering in front of Irene, the blue slime let out a soft cry. Its mimicked bead-like eyes stared at the dense swarm of mutants below, and it gave a cowardly nod of its round body before letting out a series of “mu-yi” squeaks with slight variations in pitch.
Completely unable to understand slime-speak, Irene looked to the side.
She saw Christine sitting cross-legged on the ground, his face buried deep in the body of the slime cradled in his arms.
Through the slime's translucent body, one could see Christine's face was flushed red, looking as though he had reached the peak of his life.
Another slime of a different color sat perched on his head, and one rested on each of his shoulders.
These slimes had all been collected along the way.
Or rather, they had actively joined the group whenever they encountered them on the path.
They likewise possessed high intelligence and great looks that far surpassed ordinary slimes.
This caused Christine, a fanatical slime lover, to fall into ecstasy every time he discovered a new slime joining the team along the way, frequently reaching a state of pure mental bliss.
It gave Irene the distinct illusion of being a Pokémon Trainer collecting Pokémon along the journey.
Rate on N.U.
