How About Taking a Free Ride?

How About Taking a Free Ride?

Boom!

The slender arrow cut through the air and landed right in the middle of the group of goblins. A spark flared up, then instantly turned into a massive explosion. The Hobgoblin, who had been scratching at his trouser pocket a second earlier, was blown away from the center of the blast. The battered iron pot was blown to pieces, and jelly-like black liquid splattered across the ground.

The dozen or so goblins that had been lazily sprawled on the ground were sent flying by the shock wave. The few that had been too close were instantly set ablaze. Screaming, they threw themselves into the filthy ditch. Judging by how they lay motionless in the foul water, they were most likely dead.

"Who is it? Who did this?"

The next second, a tall figure rose from the flames. His green skin was covered in charred wounds, and his savage face, with flesh torn open, made him look like an evil spirit. His murderous roar echoed through the pitch-black sewer.

Amid his roar, the Hobgoblin walked toward the weapon that had been blasted away. He gripped a thigh bone nearly half his height in his hand, then used the remaining firelight to look in the direction the arrow had come from. If he had not instinctively sensed the danger and grabbed the nearest goblin to shield himself before the explosion, he would most likely have died in the blast.

However, even though he had survived, he was now gravely wounded. But the Hobgoblin had no time to care about that. The pain in his body and his fury at being ambushed had completely destroyed his already fragile sanity. His mind held only one thought: tear the enemy apart.

"Humans! Adventurers!"

The next second, the Hobgoblin spotted Tuka near the exit in the distance. Roaring, he charged over with the bone club in his hand. His towering body and evil-spirit-like face were immensely oppressive. The other goblins that were still alive also picked up corpses and Forest roots nearby, then charged after him with loud howls.

"Get ready! The goblins are coming!"

Seeing the goblins charging toward him, Tuka calmly retreated, perfectly avoiding all the traps as he reached his companions. He casually handed the bow to Nina, then took the round shield and longsword from his back and stood in front of everyone, watching the incoming goblins with a solemn expression.

Swish!

The next second, an arrow flew past Tuka. One of the goblins that had just charged in immediately collapsed. The arrow had pierced straight through its throat. Its ugly face wore a ferocious grin, but its eyes were filled with a longing for life.

"Good shot, Nina!"

Looking at the fallen goblin, Tuka smiled faintly. Nina was still just a girl, but her archery was already more than enough to make her one of the team's core members.

"It's because you chose such a good position, Captain."

Hearing Tuka's praise, a shy expression appeared on Nina's delicate face. The reason she had been able to shoot the goblin through the throat so easily was mostly because of their location. The narrow passage allowed only two goblins to advance side by side, while the traps had turned them into targets. Furthermore, with only one exit, there was no risk of them being surrounded.

On top of that, the goblins had already suffered considerable injuries in the explosion, which was why Nina had been able to kill one so easily with a single shot.

"Damn humans! I'll eat you all!"

Suddenly, a tall figure squeezed through the entrance. The two goblins blocking his way were casually smashed aside, and amid flying flesh and blood, the Hobgoblin charged forward. All the traps that had been set in advance were triggered.

Before the Hobgoblin could reach them, arrows were already sticking out all over his body, and each of his feet was caught in a beast trap. Blood continuously flowed from his wounds. Strangely, the blood that should have been bright red now looked somewhat black and viscous.

The other goblins were able to follow safely only because the Hobgoblin had triggered and cleared all the traps for them.

Seeing this, the smile at the corner of Tuka's mouth grew more pronounced. He exchanged a glance with Gordon, then raised his shield and directly blocked the bone club swung by the Hobgoblin. The others took the opportunity to swing their weapons at him as well.

Moreover, because of the terrain, the goblins behind the Hobgoblin could not attack at all. They could only anxiously watch as more and more wounds appeared on his body.

Elsewhere, Lu Minghao was hiding in a crack in the corner, carefully observing the outside as he cautiously tried to crawl out. The three giant rats had already left some time ago, and, beyond Lu Minghao's expectations, no pursuers had appeared even after so long.

Only then did Lu Minghao dare to carefully leave the hiding place. Even so, he remained ready to hide again at the slightest sound. After all, he was only a weak slime now. Relying on his physical abilities, he could at most fight an unarmed ordinary person to a standstill. Of course, if he used poison to launch a surprise attack, even an entire ordinary village would not have enough people to kill him.

After all, with his terrifying toxicity, he could secretly poison a village's well with all his strength and send every villager to their graves before long.

"Hm? Could it be that there really aren't any pursuers? Or did those humans decide that those giant rats weren't worth wasting their time on?"

After a while, Lu Minghao, who had already left the crack and was hiding in a corner, cautiously extended part of his body outward. After confirming that there were no enemies, he jumped to the spot where the giant rats had run past earlier and muttered to himself while looking at the bloodstains left behind by the injured giant rat.

After all, those traces were so obvious that humans could easily follow them with their intelligence. Yet so much time had passed without any pursuers. Either they had decided it was not worth continuing the hunt, or something had held them up.

Boom!

The next second, a muffled explosion came from the distance. The tremendous sound reverberated through the sewer, and the stagnant wastewater rippled. After the explosion faded, Lu Minghao, who had hidden in the corner crack the instant he heard it, cautiously poked his head out again.

"That was an explosion. Does that mean the humans who fought those three giant rats have run into trouble?"

Lu Minghao examined the direction from which the explosion had come. The three giant rats had also fled from that direction earlier, which meant that the humans over there were fighting something—and had encountered a powerful magical creature that forced them to use a powerful attack.

"Huh? What's this?"

At that moment, something drifting over from the ditch caught Lu Minghao's attention. It was the corpse of a giant rat identical to the three that had escaped earlier, except that its head was missing.

Plop!

The instant he saw the giant rat's corpse, Lu Minghao leaped onto it. His jelly-like body completely enveloped it and began rapidly absorbing it. A few seconds later, Lu Minghao had fully absorbed a large amount of nutrients. Not only had his body grown considerably, but his magic power had also increased significantly. He had even obtained a brand-new skill.

"How about taking a free ride?"

Looking at the new skill he had obtained, Lu Minghao turned toward the direction from which the explosion had come. If this had happened before, he would have run as far away as possible. But his newly acquired skill had given him an entirely new idea. After all, those humans clearly did not care about the corpses of the magical creatures they had killed. In that case, making use of the waste himself seemed perfectly reasonable.