How to Deal with Someone Just Like Me, Just in Case?

Chapter 22 · How to Deal with Someone Just Like Me, Just in Case?

Splash.

In a lake near a human village, right at the foot of a great mountain, a huge black shadow suddenly rose from the water. Its hideous maw opened, and a sapphire-like slime leaped out from within, landing steadily on the surface of the water.

"All right, you can go back now."

On the lake, Lu Minghao waved at the stingray, which had completely transformed into a Gluttony Monster, signaling for it to return to the Underground Water Vein. Only after the stingray had left did Lu Minghao turn around and survey everything around him.

Behind him stood a densely wooded mountain. From time to time, some animals or Lesser Demons could be seen drinking at the lakeside. Farther away, a human village had appeared, with wisps of cooking smoke drifting above it. It was clear that quite a few residents lived there.

"Come to think of it, where have I been brought?"

Lu Minghao carefully observed the surrounding environment and discovered that everything around him was completely unfamiliar. Combining that with the time he had spent in the Underground Water Vein, he guessed that he was now far from the sewer where he had been born. His most important task at the moment was to figure out where he was.

After all, Lu Minghao was worried that if he had not left the Eastern Empire's territory, the person who had chased him before might come after him again.

"All right, then it's decided. I'm heading for the human village."

The next moment, the water beneath Lu Minghao began to surge. Propelled by a tremendous force, he shot toward the human village like an arrow leaving the bow. At the same time, his sapphire-like body began to change, reverting to the sky-blue color he had possessed before evolving. He now looked no different from an ordinary slime.

Before leaving the Underground Water Vein, Lu Minghao had devoured an octopus-like monster and acquired the ability Camouflage, which allowed him to freely change his body color. Although it was not a powerful skill, it was perfect for disguising his body, which was now completely different from that of an ordinary slime.

Besides, after confirming the changes brought about by his evolution into a Mid-tier Monster, Lu Minghao had considered whether he should kill the stingray that had devoured him. But after thinking it over, he realized that it had already been completely eroded by the Original Sin of Gluttony and had become a monster he could control at will.

Moreover, it had provided him with a safe "evolution site" during his slumber—the inside of its stomach—as well as a large amount of food. Thus, Lu Minghao chose not to kill it. He merely had it send him out of the Underground Water Vein before returning there to grow freely.

As the first monster transformed by his Gluttony talent, Lu Minghao still had certain expectations for it. Perhaps it would prove useful in the future.

Smack!

A few minutes later, Lu Minghao's body landed steadily on the grass beside the lake. Like an ordinary slime, he bounced toward the nearby human village. From a distance, he could already see quite a few people moving around inside it.

Outside the village, rows of neat farmland were planted with large quantities of crops. The air carried a faint, refreshing plant fragrance, utterly different from the stench and rotting garbage that filled the sewer.

As he drew closer to the village, Lu Minghao clearly heard the sounds of children playing and humans conversing coming from within. Judging from their faint smiles and healthy complexions, the village could be considered quite prosperous. At the very least, its residents did not lack food or clothing.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

His round, elastic body bounced across the grass. The wooden fence outside the village had already appeared before Lu Minghao, and in the watchtower above the village gate, the guard saw the slime heading toward the village.

"Uncle Oster, look! There's a slime!"

On the watchtower, a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen pointed excitedly at the distant slime and shouted. Beside him, the middle-aged man named Oster looked at the excited boy and smiled with a hint of nostalgia, as if he were seeing himself during his first watch.

Back then, he had also been full of energy, excitedly staring at everything outside the village and fantasizing about a monster attacking. He imagined that he would discover the danger in advance and successfully drive away the invading monster, winning over the village's most beautiful girl with his courage and wit and living happily ever after with her.

"Ah, youth really is wonderful!"

Oster looked at his rough hands. He had long since abandoned the fantasies of his youth. Their village was nothing more than an utterly ordinary village in the Kingdom of Blumert. Because the kingdom earned massive profits through trade, the king had lowered the taxes on its residents.

That was what allowed everyone in the village to live without worrying about food or clothing. Moreover, their village was located relatively deep within the Kingdom of Falmut, and powerful monsters had long since been exterminated by adventurers. The mountains outside their village contained only some Lesser Demons.

"Uncle Oster, should we notify everyone? What if it's a monster attack?"

At that moment, Oster was interrupted while reminiscing about his youth. Seeing the boy's excited expression, Oster smiled and casually handed him his bow and arrows.

"What are you talking about? A monster attack? That hasn't happened in many years. But since you're interested, I'll leave that slime to you."

After saying that, Oster waved dismissively, signaling the boy not to bother him again. It was merely a slime, hardly worth making a fuss over. After guarding the watchtower for all these years, he had killed more slimes than he could remember whenever they approached the village.

After every rainfall, large numbers of slimes would emerge from the mountains and forests, hoping to sneak bites from the crops in the fields that contained trace amounts of magic essence.

"Thank you, Uncle Oster."

The boy excitedly fiddled with the bow and arrows in his hands, completely ignoring Oster's dismissive expression. At that moment, his mind was filled with images of himself stylishly killing the slime with a single arrow.

"Hm? Is he planning to attack me?"

From not far outside the village, Lu Minghao spotted the boy in the watchtower raising his bow and struggling to aim at him. The boy's clumsy appearance was so amusing that it made Lu Minghao want to laugh.

"However, I can now confirm that this is just an ordinary human village."

In a large tree one thousand meters outside the village, Lu Minghao's main body was hiding. Given his caution, he naturally would not charge into the village openly. Instead, he had split off a clone and maintained its magic essence at the level of a Lower Demon, using it to test whether there were any powerful figures inside the village.

However, judging from the current situation, this village truly contained only ordinary people. If there really were any powerful figures, Lu Minghao's clone would never have been able to approach the village so easily. After all, even the strength of a Lower Demon was enough to easily kill ordinary humans.

"Still, I'd better play it safe. What if there's someone just like me hiding in this village?"