Total Annihilation

Chapter 16: Total Annihilation

Deep within the sewers, in an area never before reached by any Elirila Adventurer, hundreds of thousands of Giant Rats were gathered. The pitch-black space was filled with constant rustling sounds, punctuated by the squeaks of the Giant Rats. Strangely, their cries were filled with fear.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that within the vast space, the hundreds of thousands of Giant Rats were all clustered in the center. There were many open areas around the edges, but the densely packed Giant Rats, even when deformed by the pressure, refused to leave their spot for the nearby open ground.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

In the center of the ocean of Giant Rats, several Shadow Rats, the size of ordinary humans, warily scanned their surroundings. Eight days prior, the mass disappearance of Giant Rats had already caught the attention of the Rat King, Dikas. However, at that time, Dikas, whose attention was solely focused on the Ancient Hero Bloodline gene, had not personally investigated. Even though the Giant Rats above were the breeding grounds for the entire Underground Kingdom, providing a large number of elite Giant Rats and a small number of Shadow Rats for the entire Rat Kingdom.

Dikas had only dispatched ten Giant Rats from his personal guard to the sewers above to protect them. In its opinion, the strength of the hidden assailant must not be strong, otherwise, it would only dare to hunt and prey on Giant Rats, which were Lesser Demons. With the protection of the Shadow Rats, which had awakened the Shadow Escape skill and become Lower Demons, it could at least slow down the assailant's hunting speed.

The remaining nearly five thousand Shadow Rats and nearly three hundred thousand elite Giant Rats were all guarding the Underground Kingdom. The closer they were to the center of the kingdom, the more Shadow Rats and elite Giant Rats there were. As long as Dikas successfully devoured Diri, who possessed the modified Ancient Hero Bloodline, in a while, it would personally tear apart the unknown thief as a celebration of its becoming a "Perfect" being.

"Squeak squeak!"

In the center of the Giant Rat ocean, a Shadow Rat suddenly sensed something. A sharp cry echoed through the dark sewers. The previously calm Giant Rats all looked around. In the pitch-black space, a purple mist had somehow permeated the area, and there was a sweet, fishy smell in the air.

The purple mist completely enveloped all the Giant Rats. In just a few minutes, the initially thin mist had become thick and rolled towards the central rat group.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

The next second, the shrill screams of the Giant Rats at the very edge, before their deaths, rang out. The moment they came into contact with the purple mist, their bodies were completely dissolved, even their bones corroding into a pool of thick liquid. As more and more Giant Rats died, the thick mist rolled faster and faster.

In the blink of an eye, nearly ten thousand of the hundreds of thousands of Giant Rats had died, and with the rolling of the thick mist, the death rate was increasing.

Facing the threat of death, some Giant Rats began to charge forward, wanting to escape before they died. However, every Giant Rat that stepped into the thick mist died instantly, turning into a pool of thick liquid.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

In the center of the rat swarm, the anxious cries of the ten Shadow Rats, which possessed intelligence no less than that of ordinary humans, became increasingly desperate. They knew that if they stayed here any longer, all the Giant Rats would die under the eerie mist. Therefore, they decided to defy the Rat King Dikas's orders, have all the Giant Rats burrow into the Underground Kingdom, and then seal the entrance to block the mist.

"Is there enough time?"

Within the purple mist, Lu Minghao absorbed the corrosive liquid of the dead Giant Rats on the ground into his body while watching the ten Shadow Rats in the center of the swarm. They were the main course for his meal before he left. How could Lu Minghao let them escape?

That's right, this purple mist was created by Lu Minghao. Based on his "Poison" skill, Lu Minghao had silently left a sufficient amount of poison in all directions of the sewer and transformed it into a mist.

Relying on the sealed environment of the sewer and the cost of nearly depleted Magic Elements, Lu Minghao successfully trapped all the Giant Rats with the poison mist. Furthermore, to prevent the Giant Rats from escaping into the Underground Kingdom from the start, Lu Minghao had weakened the toxicity in the air.

This way, while the poison mist caused mass casualties upon contact with the outermost Giant Rats, the remaining Giant Rats would surely panic. During this time, the weakened toxicity in the air would gradually erode the bodies of all the Giant Rats. By the time they reacted, the poison would have already deeply penetrated their bodies, and there would be no chance to escape.

In addition, to take away enough food, Lu Minghao thought of how spiders eat. He directly used poison to corrode the bodies of the dead Giant Rats into a condensed liquid. This way, compared to their original cat-sized bodies, Lu Minghao, combined with Gluttony's powerful digestion and absorption, could eat at least ten times more food than usual.

On the other side, under the command of the ten Giant Rats, the remaining over a hundred thousand Giant Rats calmed down slightly and began to crawl towards the nearest hole. However, after only a few steps, one Giant Rat after another fell, and many dead Giant Rats even blocked the hole with their bodies.

"Where do you think you're going?"

In less than half a minute, just as the remaining ten Shadow Rats, sensing that something was wrong, were about to escape, a round, sky-blue body suddenly appeared from the shadows in front of them. The moment it appeared, the shadows began to twist and finally transformed into sharp thorns aimed at the remaining Shadow Rats.

"Slime?"

A Shadow Rat looked at the jelly-like, sky-blue monster in front of it, its rodent-like face showing disbelief. It simply couldn't believe that a Slime, which was usually food for their Giant Rat race, possessed such immense power.

"Oh? So you can talk too."

On the other side, Lu Minghao was also surprised that the Shadow Rat in front of him could suddenly speak. However, Lu Minghao then realized that in this world, communication between monsters only required using Magic Elements to carry one's thoughts to vocalize, and his surprise disappeared.

After all, he, a Slime who didn't even have a mouth and ate entirely with his body, could speak, let alone the Shadow Rat in front of him with a mouth.

"Slime, what exactly do you want? Are you trying to save your kin?"

A Shadow Rat secretly exchanged a look with its companion. The other nine Shadow Rats subtly spread out. Then, the Shadow Rat that spoke looked at Lu Minghao and asked. The only reason it could think of for Lu Minghao attacking the Giant Rat race was this. After all, with the vast numbers of the Giant Rat race, one of the largest food sources was Slimes.

With the Slimes' asexual reproduction ability, they could produce in large quantities as long as there was enough food. Moreover, Slimes were not picky eaters; they could even consume the excrement of the Giant Rat race. Therefore, after conquering the Giant Rat race, Dikas had long ago established a huge Slime farm in the Underground Kingdom.

"Save my kin? You're thinking too much. I just want to eat you!"

The moment Lu Minghao finished speaking, the Shadow Rats that had already spread out and surrounded Lu Minghao rushed forward, their sharp claws whistling as they struck Lu Minghao's round body.

"Really, haven't you understood why I spent time chatting with you yet?"

The next second, the Shadow Rats lunging at Lu Minghao in mid-air froze. The poison that had long entered their bodies finally flowed through their blood into their brains. Immediately, sharp shadow thorns pierced through their bodies.

It has been changed to a contract status. Please follow up, collect, and vote monthly. Most importantly, follow up, friends. Daidai wants recommendations entirely based on the 24-hour follow-up numbers.