Forest Standing

This was Slime Mother.

She had probably mistaken him for a naughty child 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 Slime Mother as she dived downward and burrowed into the soft soil. There, he saw plump little white worms wriggling through the earth.

They looked delicious, but were actually Slimes' good companions.

These were Mud Swamp Worm larvae. Like Slimes, they were the lowest-ranking Demonic Beasts in this Swamp Forest.

When young, they hid deep underground in safety, silently drawing nutrients from the soil to survive.

Only after growing into adulthood would they risk crawling to the surface, where they gnawed on the more nutritious layer of rotting leaves and humus, fulfilling their mission of mating and reproduction.

Mud Swamp Worms counted as the friendliest Demonic Beasts in the forest. Some even fed on Slime excrement and would actively help clean Slime nests.

They were practically the finest nannies in the world of Demonic Beasts.

What disappointed Chen Yu slightly was that, like ordinary Slimes, these bottom-tier Demonic Beasts had no racial talents, and tasted like snot.

Otherwise, he would not have minded eating a few delicious friends.

Speaking of racial talents,

Most Slimes were only the size of dewdrops when young and only grew as large as a human head in adulthood. They were miraculous Demonic Beasts that could thrive merely by absorbing sunlight and swamp water.

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

Splat...

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

The Slime Nest was supported by tree roots and mucus. It was not large, less than one cubic meter, but as his warm little home in this dangerous world, it was enough to bring peace of mind.

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

Looking closely, those little glowing figures emitting soft light were none other than young Slimes. Noticing Chen Yu's return, they immediately surged toward him in delight, eagerly sticking to him and bouncing about.

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

To Chen Yu, it felt as though a group of cheering little fellows had surrounded him, chirping nonstop, "Big brother, big brother..."

So noisy.

Chen Yu thought.

Actually, his Slime body had been born in the same brood as these Little Ones. He had simply grown much faster. While the other Slimes were only as large as thumbs, he had nearly grown to the size of an adult's fist.

Maybe it had something to do with him being a meat-eating Slime?

"But wasn't I planning to go out hunting?"

Chen Yu tried to squeeze past the Little Ones and bounce toward the nest entrance.

A few Little Ones happened to get pressed down and were squeezed into his gel body, still blinking their innocent little mung-bean eyes.

The surrounding Little Ones thought Chen Yu was playing with them and jumped even more joyfully.

Slime Mother saw his movements. She had always had ways of dealing with naughty children.

Slime Mother bounced into the grass nest and pressed all the Little Ones, including Chen Yu, beneath her, squeezing them into her gel body.

Chen Yu floated inside the gel, unable to move. Blinking, he saw some rather viscous green liquid flowing through it.

This Slime liquid was rich in nutrients, similar to mammalian milk, and allowed young Slimes to grow rapidly after absorbing it.

When he had first been born, he had grown by sucking up Slime liquid.

However, as the young Slimes suckled, Slime Mother visibly shrank quite a bit. After staying in the nest only briefly, she went out again to search for food.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Yu bounced out of the grass nest, preparing to leave the nest.

A few mischievous little Slimes wanted to follow, but they could not even jump as high as the grass nest.

"Mm..."

Chen Yu's jelly brain pondered silently. The outside world was far more dangerous than he had imagined. He wondered how many of these little fellows would survive long enough to reach adulthood.

In humanity's imagination, the magical world was always draped in a gorgeous, wondrous veil—the awe of Dragons sweeping past with spread wings, the miracle of magical radiance tearing open the night sky, and the heroic epics sung again and again beside village bonfires.

Yet for weak Slimes crawling through the mud, the truth of this world was only cold and biting, like rotten mud that had never seen the sun.

Every trip outside might end with them becoming food for Moss Monsters, or vanishing without a sound beneath the gaze of even more terrifying Demonic Beasts.

The fate of these Slimes was like the mossy fungal mats growing in the Swamp Forest: struggling to grow, yet unable to survive even one winter, born only to become food for other Demonic Beasts.

"..."

His thoughts drifted farther and farther away. By the time Chen Yu came back to himself, he felt a little hungry and found himself thinking again of the delicious Moss Monster from that morning.

He was a Slime, that was true.

But a Slime who could cultivate immortality was destined to have a different fate.

At the very least, when it came to eating, he would never let his stomach suffer.

Go hungry? That did not exist.

He squeezed out through the gel-sealed entrance, slowly crawled up through the rotten mud, and returned to the surface world.

A pair of round eyes cautiously poked out of the mud pit, surveying the surroundings.

The world in his eyes was made of towering trees and dense miasma. The forest was thick with the scent of rotten wood and humus, while layers upon layers of enormous leaves and vines blocked the light, making everything incomparably dim.

The Slime Nest lay hidden beneath the roots of the enormous brownish-red tree before him, its trunk covered in moss and vast as a mountain.

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

Water vapor rose from the slick, muddy ground. Some much larger Mud Swamp Worms wriggled slowly along, gnawing at soaked, blackened fallen leaves.

The thick moss layers covering tree roots and stones resembled sticky blankets. Moss Monsters hid within them, their backs perfectly camouflaged and difficult to spot.

Chen Yu was in no hurry to leave the mud pit. His gaze remained fixed on the unbroken stretches of moss as he secretly tried to locate the Moss Monsters.

The only thing threatening about Moss Monsters was the Acid secreted by their mouthparts.

Chen Yu had personally seen droplets of this Acid fall to the ground and corrode a huge hole into a stone.

Its corrosiveness was terrifying!

A Demonic Beast was still a Demonic Beast. Even decomposers possessed the ability to kill.

Of course, harmless Demonic Beasts like Slimes were exceptions.

If Slimes had to be assigned an ecological niche, they were not decomposers. They were merely the lowest-tier food—humus layers or patches of grass.

These creatures might even suddenly sprout batch after batch wherever there was enough moisture. No Demonic Beast knew exactly how they were born.

Like tender, juicy grass on the ground, they would cover the earth after a rain.

Moss Monster Acid was terrifying. Acting rashly made it easy to be ambushed by Moss Monsters, and his tiny body could not withstand much punishment.

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

If a Slime dared to leave its nest openly to forage, he imagined the predators in the sky and on the ground would not mind having a hearty meal.

And in the eyes of these Demonic Beasts, Slimes seemed quite delicious?

At least judging from the Moss Monsters' intense desire to attack Slimes, their deliciousness was beyond doubt to Moss Monsters.

"But they probably never imagined that this tiny Swamp Forest would welcome a Slime Transmigrator amid odds of one in a hundred billion."

Thinking this, Chen Yu silently squeezed out the Toothpick Flying Sword and lay in wait for an opportunity.

The sun's shadow gradually shifted, and noon arrived. Moss Monsters occasionally moved about the mossy ground—secreting Acid to gnaw through wood and soil, or fighting over mates, mating, and reproducing.

Chen Yu could naturally see every wisp of green smoke rising from the Acid while hidden in the mud pit.

Once he felt he had grasped the positions of every Moss Monster, he quietly swam toward the tree root nearest the mud pit.

There were three lone Moss Monsters there. As long as he struck quickly enough, taking out one or two would not be a problem.

Chen Yu swam very slowly, and the Moss Monsters on the tree root did not notice his approach.

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

[Object Manipulation Technique]

Whoosh!

The Toothpick Flying Sword struck the nearest Moss Monster squarely in the forehead. Its previously arched back immediately collapsed flat.

"Hiss, hiss!!"

The scene startled the other two Moss Monsters. As they retreated in terror, their mouthparts sprayed Acid, which landed on the ground with sizzling smoke, warning the enemy not to approach.

Chen Yu knew that Moss Monsters needed two seconds before they could spray Acid again. Seizing that opening, he immediately bounced out of the mud pit, splat-splat ran over to swallow the Moss Monster corpse and the flying sword into his body, then turned and rushed back into the mud pit.

He had chosen the position cleverly. By the time the Moss Monsters reacted, he had already run beyond the Acid's spray range.

Looking at the two furious Moss Monsters, Chen Yu felt immensely pleased with himself.

After half a month of probing and testing, he had long figured out the intervals and range of Moss Monster Acid sprays... With Object Manipulation Technique in hand as well, these Moss Monsters had no way to deal with him.

Chen Yu lay back in the rotten mud, his eyes vigilantly watching the surroundings and observing the activity in the mossy ground while patiently waiting for the Moss Monster inside him to be digested bit by bit.

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

Soon. Just one more remained.

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