Forest Status

This is the Slime Mother.

She probably thought he was a naughty kid who had run away from home and was about to take him back to the nest.

Chen Yu floated in the gel, his vision following the Slime Mother as she dove downward, burrowing into the soft soil, where he spotted fat, pale little worms wriggling in the earth.

They looked edible, but in reality, they were good friends of the slimes.

These were the larvae of Mud Swamp Worms, both of them the lowest-tier Demonic Beasts in this Swamp Forest.

In their youth, they hid deep in the safety of the underground, silently absorbing nutrients from the soil to survive.

Only when they grew to adulthood would they risk crawling to the surface, gnawing on the more nutrient-rich layers of rotting leaves and humus to fulfill their mission of mating and reproduction.

Mud Swamp Worms were arguably the friendliest Demonic Beasts in this forest; some even fed on slime excrement, actively helping to clean the slime nests.

They could be called the perfect nannies of the Demonic Beast world.

What Chen Yu found a bit regrettable was that these low-tier Demonic Beasts, like ordinary slimes, had no racial talents and tasted like snot.

Otherwise, he wouldn't mind eating a few tasty friends.

Speaking of racial talents, Most slimes were only the size of a dewdrop in their youth and grew to the size of a human head as adults—a magical Demonic Beast that could thrive just by absorbing sunlight and swamp water.

The difference with his slime body was that it possessed the "Devour and Digest" talent—allowing him to eat like a predatory Demonic Beast.

Splat...

Under Chen Yu's gaze, the Slime Mother burrowed into an underground nest, not forgetting to secrete gel from her body to seal the entrance, preventing mud from pouring in.

The interior of the Slime Nest was supported by tree roots and slime, with a space no larger than one cubic meter, but as a cozy little home in this dangerous world, it was enough to feel safe.

With a pop, he was squeezed out of her body, tumbling a few times before landing in a glowing grass nest.

Looking closely, these little ones emitting a soft fluorescence were none other than baby slimes. Sensing Chen Yu's return, they immediately surged over joyfully, bouncing and sticking to him warmly.

Slimes had no vocal organs, but the pheromones they exchanged were their most primitive language.

Right now, in Chen Yu's perception, it was no different from a crowd of cheering little guys surrounding him, chattering away, calling out "big brother, big brother..."

So noisy.

Chen Yu thought.

Actually, his slime body was from the same brood as these little ones; he just grew faster. When the other slimes were only the size of a thumb, he was already nearly the size of an adult fist.

Maybe it was because he was a meat-eating slime?

"But I was planning to go hunting," Chen Yu said.

He tried to push past the little ones, hopping toward the outside of the nest.

A few of the little ones got squished, pressed into his gel body, blinking their innocent little green eyes.

The surrounding little ones thought Chen Yu was playing with them and bounced even more excitedly.

The Slime Mother noticed his actions; she always had a way to deal with mischievous children.

The Slime Mother hopped into the grass nest, pressing all the little ones, including Chen Yu, under her body, squeezing them into her gel.

Chen Yu floated in the gel, unable to move, blinking as he saw some thicker green liquid flowing within it.

This slime liquid was rich in nutrients, similar to mammalian milk, allowing baby slimes to absorb it and grow quickly.

When he was first born, he grew by sucking on this slime liquid.

But as the baby slimes sucked, the Slime Mother visibly shrank quite a bit. After staying in the nest for only a short while, she went out again to find food.

Taking this chance, Chen Yu jumped out of the grass nest, ready to leave.

A few naughty little slimes tried to follow, but they couldn't even jump higher than the grass nest.

"Hmm..."

Chen Yu's jelly brain silently thought, the outside world was far more dangerous than he had imagined. He wondered how many of these little ones would survive to adulthood.

The magical world, in human imagination, was always draped in a gorgeous and mysterious veil—the awe of dragons spreading their wings as they passed, the miracle of magical light tearing through the night sky, and the heroic epics repeatedly sung around village campfires.

But for a weak slime crawling in the mud, the truth of this world was only cold, piercing, like mud that had never seen the sun.

Every time they went out, they might become food for a Moss Monster, or silently vanish under the gaze of an even more terrifying Demonic Beast.

The fate of these slimes was like the moss carpet growing in the Swamp Forest—struggling to grow, yet unable to last through a single winter, born only to become food for other Demonic Beasts.

"..."

His thoughts drifted further and further. By the time Chen Yu snapped back to reality, he felt his stomach was a little hungry, and he started craving the delicious taste of that morning's Moss Monster.

He was a slime, sure.

But a slime that could cultivate was destined for a different fate.

At least when it came to eating, he never shortchanged his stomach.

Hungry? Not happening.

He squeezed out of the gel entrance, slowly crawled up from the mud, and returned to the surface world.

A pair of round, cautious eyes peeked out from the mud puddle, surveying the surroundings.

The world he saw was made of towering ancient trees and thick, poisonous miasma. The forest was filled with the heavy smell of rotting wood and humus, and light was blocked by layers upon layers of giant leaves and vines, making it dim and gloomy.

The Slime's nest was hidden deep beneath the roots of a massive, moss-covered brown tree in front of him, a tree as huge as a mountain.

But compared to underground, the surface was clearly more lively.

Steam rose from the wet, muddy ground. Some larger Mud Swamp Worms crawled slowly, gnawing on the soaked, blackened fallen leaves.

The thick moss layer covering tree roots and rocks was like a sticky blanket, and Moss Monsters lurked within, their perfect camouflage making them hard to spot.

Chen Yu wasn't in a hurry to leave the mud puddle. His gaze still lingered on the continuous patches of moss, quietly trying to find traces of the Moss Monsters.

The only threatening thing about a Moss Monster was the acid secreted from its mouthparts.

Chen Yu had personally seen this acid drip onto the ground, corroding a large hole in a rock.

Its corrosiveness was terrifyingly high!

A Demonic Beast was a Demonic Beast; even a decomposer had the ability to kill.

Of course, Slimes, those harmless Demonic Beasts, were an exception.

If one had to assign an ecological niche to Slimes, they weren't decomposers—they were just the lowest tier of food, like a layer of humus or a patch of grass.

This kind of creature might even suddenly sprout up in patches when moisture was abundant, and no Demonic Beast knew how they were actually born.

Just like the tender, juicy grass on the ground, covering the surface after a rain.

The Moss Monster's acid was terrifying. Acting rashly would easily lead to a Sneak Attack from a Moss Monster, and his small body couldn't handle that.

Besides, Moss Monsters were still low-tier Demonic Beasts in this Swamp Forest.

If a Slime dared to come out of its nest to forage in broad daylight, he thought any predator flying in the sky or running on the ground wouldn't mind having a full meal.

And in the eyes of these Demonic Beasts, did Slimes seem delicious?

At least, judging by the Moss Monsters' strong desire to attack Slimes, the deliciousness was beyond doubt for them.

"But they probably never imagined that this tiny Swamp Forest, with a one-in-a-trillion chance, would welcome a Slime Transmigrator."

Thinking this, Chen Yu silently squeezed out his Toothpick Flying Sword, lying in ambush and waiting for the right moment.

The sun's shadow slowly shifted, and by noon, Moss Monsters were occasionally active on the mossy ground—secreting acid to gnaw on wood and soil, or fighting over mates, mating, and reproducing.

Chen Yu could clearly see the wisps of green smoke given off by the acid from his position in the mud puddle.

Once he felt he had grasped the positions of all the Moss Monsters, he quietly swam to the tree root closest to the mud puddle.

There were three isolated Moss Monsters up there. As long as he struck fast enough, taking out one or two wouldn't be a problem.

Chen Yu swam very slowly, and the Moss Monsters on the tree root didn't notice his approach.

When he was less than half a meter away from the nearest Moss Monster, the Toothpick Flying Sword stuck in his gel trembled and flew out.

[Object Manipulation Technique]

Whoosh!

The Toothpick Flying Sword hit the nearest Moss Monster right between the eyes, and its originally arched back immediately flattened.

"Hiss!!"

This startled the other two Moss Monsters. As they retreated in panic, their mouthparts sprayed acid, which sizzled and smoked on the ground, warning the enemy not to come closer.

Chen Yu knew it took two seconds for a Moss Monster to spray acid again. Seizing this opening, he immediately bounced out of the mud puddle, splattered over, swallowed the Moss Monster corpse and the flying sword into his body, then turned back and dove into the mud puddle.

He had chosen this position cleverly. By the time the Moss Monsters reacted, he was already out of the acid's spray range.

Looking at the two furious Moss Monsters, Chen Yu felt very smug inside.

After half a month of exploration, he had long figured out the time interval and range of the Moss Monster's acid spray... With his Object Manipulation Technique, these Moss Monsters simply couldn't do anything to him.

Chen Yu lay back in the mud, his eyes alertly watching the surroundings, observing the movements on the mossy ground, while patiently waiting for the Moss Monster inside his body to be digested bit by bit.

[Devour and Digest Lv.1 triggered—Moss Monster traits recorded, talent gestating (9/10)]

Almost there, just one more left.

Chen Yu set his sights on the two Moss Monsters on the tree root.