Starting Out with Slimes
Fu Li arrived in this new era but failed to find Song Shige.
The initial location may change slightly in each era, which is normal, Fu Li didn't pay much attention to it.
But what bothered him more was why he ended up in the Slime cave, face down in a puddle of green slime when he opened his eyes, his nasal cavity filled with aphrodisiac liquid.
Ignoring the strange property that the clothes were corroded by the unknown slime, Fu Li found Mana and scattered elements such as earth, nature, and poison inside the Slime's body.
He immediately absorbed the newly rebuilt Fu Li, slightly boosted his Attributes, and then slaughtered all the Slimes in the cave, extracting a large amount of Mana.
"That's strange, there's absolutely no Mana in the environment."
The dark, damp underground cave was deep and black, with stalactites constantly dripping a viscous green liquid. The air smelled extremely sweet and pungent, with aphrodisiac properties.
Fu Li's hands were covered in slime, and the ground around him was covered in viscous liquid formed from the corpses of Slimes. Dozens of humans, mostly young girls, hung upside down from the cave ceiling, their breaths faint.
Those girls were still alive, but most of them had already been transformed into Aheigao. Fu Li glanced up at them, but didn't even raise his hand, continuing to explore the Mana in his hand.
The cave floor is filled with layers of bones, which the Slimes would eat and digest after humiliating and abusing their prey.
This did not surprise Fu Li at all; his attention was focused on the strangeness of this world.
"Huh, even converting elements to Mana doesn't work, and the effects of Spells using all Mana energy have been reduced by more than 80%?!"
Fu Li pondering for a long time, Fu Li realized that the Mana in this world was relatively weak, and the Spell models were also very different from those used before.
"Are the World Rules different...?"
Although it was the Mana Era, the fact that the fundamental aspects of the world had been greatly weakened gave Fu Li a sense of foreboding.
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time. I don't have the ability to investigate, and the Mana Side will definitely have the advantage."
After surveying his surroundings, Fu Li sat down cross-legged to resume his cultivation, and then sent out a puppet to explore.
After searching for a while, the puppet successfully found the cave's exit.
But unlike the rocky exits or hidden underground passages one might imagine, the cave's entrance is...
An alloy door?
Cold-rolled steel sheet, hydraulic door closer, Text embedded in the door frame, and Mana fluctuations.
The Slime cave is man-made.
Before the puppet could move again, the alloy door suddenly opened, letting in dozens of lights.
The dull footsteps broke the deathly silence of the Slime cave, and fully armed soldiers filed in, their bodies clad in standard matte armor, their magical assault rifles gleaming with purple light, looking quite intimidating.
Their objective was clear: to rush straight to Fu Li in the underground level!
They arrived very quickly. From the Fu Li Slime wiped out the slimes to the door opening, less than five minutes had passed, indicating that the cave was under real-time monitoring, possibly with an automated response.
"Interesting. So Slimes are artificially bred? Then how come Slime food is these people hanging above?"
Fu Li muttered to himself, feeling that this era might not be much better than the previous one.
After a short wait, the assault team of over a hundred people arrived at the cave where Fu Li was located, without much communication or conversation.
"Target Lock-On! Demon Realm smuggling monster from the Demon Realm! Open fire!"
With a brief tactical command, dozens of purple-blue magic energy beams suddenly ripped through the cave, and the roar of magic energy rifles exploded in the confined cave, bringing terrifying energy fluctuations to the cave.
Spell power -- Fourth Ring!
After five consecutive rounds of attacks, the team stopped attacking, and the captain sent two people to check the target's situation.
The two elite team members unloaded their magic-powered assault rifles, picked up short-range hand cannons and Magic Seal, and headed towards Fu Li's location.
Nothing remained but the ground, blasted to a glassy state; not even the bodies of the Slimes and monsters were left.
The ground was scorched into crystals by the magical energy beams, and the soles of the two soldiers' shoes creaked as they stepped on it.
"Reporting, Captain, target—"
Turning their heads, the two of them suddenly froze, their hair standing on end, an extreme stillness enveloping them.
The hundreds of men who had been so cold and murderous behind them were now all lying on the ground without a sound.
The soldier swallowed hard, then suddenly noticed his comrade lying on the ground beside him. A voice sounded behind him.
"Sweetie, can you tell me about this world?"
Ten minutes later, Fu Li took care of the soldiers' affairs and then concealed himself as he left the cave.
Outside the cave lies an endless primeval forest, lush with vegetation yet devoid of Qi. Five hundred kilometers to the east lies a barren Gobi Desert, where not a blade of grass grows. At the end of the Gobi Desert lies the prosperous land of the floating island city-state [Ezra].
The city-state [Ezra] is built on a floating island with a population of approximately 80 million, making it only a medium-sized city-state among the many floating forces.
Due to its complex star trails, numerous neighboring powers, and constant tensions in diplomatic relations and territorial conflicts, it is currently in a state of multi-front warfare, with countless people displaced and homeless.
Those beings who wander this island but have not obtained citizenship in [Ezra] are called vagrants by [Ezra].
The cave we just saw was a place used by one of the military forces of [Ezra] to deal with [Legal Nomad].
"Processing" means: throw it into the Slime cave, let the Slime complete the remaining steps. After the Slime digests its prey, it will secrete a high-purity Mana crystal, which can be harvested periodically.
As for the previous steps, it seems they'll be filmed and edited into some strange video. Fu Li is a good boy; he hasn't seen it and doesn't understand those things.
This is undoubtedly a production line.
Fu Li eventually found his identity: a Legal Nomad with clear registration information in [Ezra]. He was the weakest of the weak, so the military force believed he had been possessed by a demon from the Demon Realm.
As Fu Li traveled, Fu Li did not try the [Demon Realm Transfer Spell] commonly used by the people of this world to replenish his Mana. Instead, he hunted various magical beasts and absorbed the Mana from their bodies.
When Mana exists in large quantities, it will gather together due to mutual forces and develop collectively, but if the distance is too far, it becomes extremely weak and can be ignored.
However, the Mana in this world is a bit strange. The mutual forces are relatively strong, which makes it extremely easy for scattered Mana in the environment to move towards places with concentrated Mana. In addition, the source of Mana is scarce. There is no Mana in the environment. Only creatures that cultivate Mana or objects made of Mana have Mana.