Escape

Chapter 18: Escape

Inside the damp, dark sewer, a Slime was fleeing rapidly forward, completely disregarding the commotion it was causing, which attracted a large number of Monsters living in the sewer. It was as if some terrifying creature was chasing it down the pitch-black, gloomy passage behind it.

"Tsk! I knew that damn place was no good. Lucky I ran fast!"

On the moss-covered stone slabs, Lu Minghao was leaping meters at a time, fleeing forward at high speed. Ever since he left the deepest part of the sewer not long ago, the unease in Lu Minghao's heart had become increasingly apparent. Out of caution, Lu Minghao no longer bothered to conceal himself and began to sprint at full power.

While sneaking through the shadows to escape was indeed safer, its speed was nowhere near what he had now. Furthermore, moving quickly through the shadows would consume too much Magic Element for Lu Minghao at his current level. Once his Magic Element was depleted, he would be completely incapable of resisting.

"Speaking of which, what the hell is chasing me? I've already escaped this far, yet it can still accurately pinpoint my direction?"

Half an hour later, in a dry riverbed within the sewer, atop an unknown pile of garbage, Lu Minghao looked back at the bottomless, dark passage behind him with a grave expression. He knew that with his current strength as a peak Lower Demon, half an hour was enough to escape nearly a hundred kilometers.

Moreover, to prevent being caught, Lu Minghao had been deliberately choosing the most difficult paths: openings only ten centimeters wide, riverbeds filled with filth and waste, and even squeezing through a sewer choked with garbage. In short, Lu Minghao had completely disregarded everything else in his desperation to escape. Yet, the sense of threat from behind had not diminished in the slightest. In fact, Lu Minghao instinctively felt that the entity pursuing him was constantly getting closer.

During this time, Lu Minghao had considered escaping the sewer altogether and running out of the city. Once out in the vast world, he wondered how the pursuer would find him.

However, this thought was discarded by Lu Minghao less than a second later. After all, if the other party could follow him so closely in the complex environment of the sewer, he feared he would be caught shortly after leaving the sewer.

"No, I can't continue like this. The other party can follow me closely without leaving a trace in this complex sewer, and is even getting closer. Their strength must be greater than mine, at least a peak Middle Demon."

Lu Minghao silently turned around and continued to flee forward. However, this time, instead of running aimlessly, he began to carefully observe his surroundings. Although he hadn't yet identified his pursuer, he was certain it was one of the entities behind the entire Giant Rat Kingdom.

Furthermore, the other party must possess some ability to track his location. This meant that for Lu Minghao to escape successfully, he needed to find a place only a Slime could enter, using the terrain to temporarily block his pursuer, and then use that time to escape far enough away that the other party could no longer lock onto him.

Swish!

Just as Lu Minghao was carefully observing his surroundings, he suddenly felt the air behind him vibrate. His Magic Element surged within his body, and he instantly sank into the shadow beneath him. The moment Lu Minghao completely submerged into the shadow, a tentacle covered in suction cups smashed heavily onto the ground.

"Huh? It dodged?"

A voice tinged with surprise echoed from the dark passage in the distance. Number Four had initially believed its attack was more than enough to take down that Slime, and that the Slime's speed would make it impossible to evade its attack.

"Why the hell are even tentacle monsters showing up?"

From the shadows not far away, Lu Minghao emerged with a grim expression, looking at the tentacle that had gouged cracks into the ground. In the next second, the tentacle retracted back into the darkness. Seeing this, Lu Minghao disregarded his Magic Element consumption and plunged into the shadows, fleeing the area at full speed.

If it weren't for his instinct sensing the air vibration and his body automatically dodging, Lu Minghao would have been captured by the other party. And once captured, Lu Minghao didn't believe he would have any chance of escaping, especially with the suction cups on the tentacle clearly not being for show.

"Slime, surrender to me! With the power granted by Lord Charles, you have no hope of escape!"

From the shadows, Lu Minghao heard the voice from behind. His speed did not slow down; instead, it increased. Gluttony also seemed to sense Lu Minghao's intentions, frantically digesting and absorbing the food Lu Minghao had previously consumed. With the supply of nutrients, Lu Minghao's Magic Element did not decrease; instead, it increased.

Moreover, the mist-like Magic Element within Lu Minghao's body began to thicken, and his body continued to evolve with the enhancement of his Magic Element. However, Lu Minghao, whose attention was entirely focused on escaping, didn't notice any of this. He relied solely on the Slime's ability to sense air vibrations to find a passage to escape successfully.

"Hmm? This feeling is...?"

Suddenly, Lu Minghao sensed a strange fluctuation in the air. His body, which had been submerged in the shadows, emerged halfway. The surrounding environment had become increasingly dim, and the air carried a hint of moisture. The sewer, originally filled with foul odors, now had a fresh scent. Most importantly, Lu Minghao heard the sound of flowing water.

"Underground Water Vein!"

Listening to the sound of flowing water in the distance, Lu Minghao leaped out of the shadows entirely and rushed towards the direction of the sound. In the depths of the earth, the only thing that could cause such rapid water flow was an Underground Water Vein.

Behind him, Number Four seemed to sense something was wrong and began launching a barrage of tentacle attacks towards Lu Minghao.

However, because Number Four was still nearly a thousand meters away from Lu Minghao, its tentacles could only just reach him. The speed and reaction time of its attacks were inevitably affected.

Suddenly, as Lu Minghao hurried forward, he spotted a whirlpool about a meter in diameter in the center of the sewer river. Unceasing sewage was flowing into an unknown location through this whirlpool.

This was the entrance to the Underground Water Vein that Lu Minghao had been searching for. If he could escape into it, Lu Minghao was confident he would succeed. After all, Slimes were a species that did not need to breathe. Lu Minghao didn't believe his pursuer was the same, and judging by the appearance of the whirlpool, the entrance wouldn't be very large either.

Crack!

The moment Lu Minghao saw the whirlpool leading to the Underground Water Vein, a tentacle suddenly appeared behind him and struck his body directly. Instantly, something on Lu Minghao's back exploded, and he was sent flying. A section of his originally round body was missing.

However, with that thrust, Lu Minghao successfully fell into the whirlpool and was sucked in within the blink of an eye, disappearing into the river.

"Damn it! I didn't expect this Slime to have such an ability. It actually escaped! How am I going to explain this to Lord Charles when I get back!"