From Li Wei's limited understanding of an existence like this, even the occasional waves of consciousness it emitted in its sleep could have a tremendous effect on any nearby creatures that heard them. At the same time, the consciousness waves of highly intelligent creatures could also stimulate it in turn.
That left Li Wei with only a handful of options: purge all intelligent creatures from the surrounding area, build it an iron shell for a coffin, and dispatch Slimes—whose individual minds barely produced any thought waves—to guard its tomb as Silent Ones.
Until the day he had the ability to come back and make closer contact with it.
Or the day he was discovered by the gods and left with nowhere to run.
By then, it would also serve as Li Wei's "nuclear deterrent" against beings like the gods. If those beings seated in their Divine Kingdoms really stooped so low as to insist on killing him, Li Wei wouldn't mind forcibly waking "it" up and letting it give all the intelligent creatures in Coriel a dose of "mental pollution" debuffs first. That would drag the gods' avatars down to his level, and then they could settle things mano a mano!
As the saying went, there was no such thing as an absolute misfortune. It all depended on how you looked at a problem and how you made use of it.
Although this sudden intruder had thrown many of Li Wei's plans off track and seemed to do more harm than good, it had also, in a way, given him a trump card—a weapon of mass destruction that could send the whole world into a panic at the drop of a hat.
It was also the only solution Li Wei could think of on the fly, backed into a corner as he was. He called it—
The Silent Plan!
That was right: a knockoff, budget version of the Wallfacer Plan from Three-Body.
He had no choice. The smarter the creatures he was dealing with, the more likely they were to go insane.
On the other hand, the Slimes, who were too stupid to even qualify as intelligent, were the perfect sword-wielding Slimes.
"Things are so hard for me."
Li Wei sighed, then reminded Remlu of a few more things before hurrying away. He was worried that his vigorous thoughts, blazing like a bonfire, might resonate with the sleeping being—
And wake it up.
Remlu watched Li Wei leave and silently sighed as well. Her little body seemed to sag with dejection, as though she were bearing burdens far too heavy for someone her age.
Then she took a deep breath, and her whole Slime body stretched upward into a cylinder. Standing straight like a groundhog, she let out a mighty cry:
"Mm-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!"
An invisible wave carried the will of Remlu, the Slime King, and in just a few moments, spread across the surrounding area for more than six hundred miles.
Before long, countless Slimes emerged from who knew where—from cracks in the rocks, from the underground river, from the Fluorescent Moss, and from every nook and cranny imaginable.
In less than fifteen minutes, the entire thirteenth underground mining level was packed with Slimes. There were at least a million of them, and more than half glimmered with silver—the evolved Slimes.
They lined up neatly and listened in silence to their Slime King's orders.
Thanks to the enormous, reliably plentiful supply of Li Wei's excrement over the past five years, one dragon had not only raised these Slimes into a chubby, blue, endlessly multiplying population, but had nearly lifted the Slimes around Zelandia as a whole into an entirely different species.
After being digested by him, all kinds of metal ores became high-quality M Food that living things could easily absorb.
It didn't contain the same violent elemental power as dragon blood, but it did contain some of the tissue waste Li Wei shed while sleeping, growing, and metabolizing. This gave the Slimes that ate it a small chance of awakening the ability to control metal, along with a major boost to their defenses. The Primal Slimes loved it, giving it rave reviews.
The only one who wanted no part of it was Remlu, who had awakened and mastered the collective consciousness. She was the king of all Slimes!
How could a king eat something so filthy? It was far too undignified! Even if it was really "delicious" to Slimes.
Remlu, tentacles on her hips, launched into a long "mm-e, mm-e" speech. The Slimes below her all prostrated themselves, cried "mm-e," and then quickly dispersed, just as they had come.
But from an angle where no one could see, the Slimes could be seen digging into cracks in the rock around the entire "giant." Some of them began chewing through and digesting the mineral layers that bound it, using the most primitive method available.
Digging something this huge out by such a crude method would probably take decades, if not a century. But that was exactly what Li Wei had ordered. If they combined into higher intelligent creatures, the resulting waves of thought would create a risk.
On the surface, meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Slimes merged into low-level creatures such as Koutao Fishmen, Cavens Rats, and Myconids. Using their overwhelming numbers, they purged every intelligent species in the surrounding area.
As the Slime horde began its sweeping campaign—later known throughout the Underdark as the Great Purge—Li Wei was on his way back. At the entrance to the thirteenth mining level, he saw three Orcs brought by Tiger, along with an armed Chapter of Duergar. Huozi's Chapter of Gnolls arrived right behind them.
But aside from their weapons, the Duergar had brought mostly smelting tools and building materials.
Li Wei had requested those too.
He turned to the Old Dwarf and spoke gravely. "Tiger, I know you're confused, but I can say with near certainty that it probably isn't your creator, the Titan. It's something even more terrifying. So don't try to kneel and pray to it again! Otherwise, you might die without even knowing what killed you! Understood?"
"Yes!" The Old Dwarf was shaken, and couldn't help feeling a pang of lingering fear.
There was no helping it. The word "it" was terrifying enough. The Old Dwarf's thoughts had already turned to divine abominations.
"Have someone put out a notice later. Because of the Beast Tide's attacks on the thirteenth mining level, I'm ordering the entire level sealed off. From now on, don't dig any deeper. Mine sideways instead."
Li Wei couldn't be bothered to explain everything to each of them. The fewer people who knew about this, the better. He continued, "Get started! Our lives are at stake! I want every entrance and exit to the entire thirteenth mining level sealed up as soon as possible! Don't let a single mouse crawl in!"
"Yes, Boss! We'll get it done! Also, these are the three Orcs you mentioned, the ones who discovered it first."
Since the matter involved a god, Tiger didn't dare ask more questions, for the sake of his own hide. He left the three nervous Orcs behind and took most of his men off to work as construction laborers. The Gnolls' job was to quickly clear the mutants wandering near the surrounding caves and guard the Dwarf craftsmen.
As for the Duergar, they would follow Li Wei's orders and turn the thirteenth level into an enormous, completely airtight coffin!
No damn well way was anyone going to knock on that thing's coffin!
Only then did Li Wei turn his attention to the three trembling Orcs. At a glance, he recognized an old acquaintance.
Wasn't the one in front the ruthless Orc he'd met when he first arrived in Zelandia—the one who'd followed his suggestion and castrated himself with a wave of his hand just to get a job at Hogg Mining?
That brawny man had since grown considerably thinner, as if he'd been haunted by nightmares for ages. His eyes were clouded with confusion and fear of the unknown.
In fact, Li Wei's confidence in his own guess had already risen by another thirty percent.
Still, he calmed the Orc down, baring a mouthful of savage fangs in a grin as he said:
"Don't be afraid. You're all miners at Hogg Mining. As Chairman of Hogg Mining, it's my duty and responsibility to keep my employees safe. Tell me, what exactly did you encounter while mining on the thirteenth level? Oh, and I still don't know your names."
Please give me those votes.
Before you continue