「Zeyarira.」
The Swamp Forest was busier and more bustling than ever after the torrential rain. Many foreign Slimes were vying for territory within the swamp.
The arrival of these monsters, whose ecological niche was equivalent to that of grass or the humus layer, didn't have much of an impact on the Swamp Forest. Like grass sprouting after a downpour, they simply grew quietly in corners no one paid attention to.
The Poisonous Sting Bees continued to manage their Moss Monster farm under the trees. Compared to the Moss Monsters, they weren't particularly interested in these slimy creatures crawling everywhere. They mostly used Slime Gel as an adhesive for their nests or as an emergency food supply.
But because of the actions of a certain Slime, the Poisonous Sting Bees' attitude toward these foreign Slimes had undergone a subtle change, and they had slightly expanded their hunting grounds.
Many unlucky Slimes met their end under the Poisonous Stings of the bees.
Whether it was due to the storm or the bees' transgressions angering some other monster colony, the usually peaceful and quiet underground welcomed an uninvited guest today.
A field of growing grass might be worthless in the eyes of a predator like the Poisonous Sting Bee, but to certain monsters, it was no different from a buffet that had fallen from the sky.
Especially for the burrowing Beetles, bouncy and juicy Slimes were the perfect choice for a meal.
These monsters, covered entirely in a chitinous carapace, were adept at burrowing and moving stealthily underground. They loved to seek out subterranean Slime Nests, hook their barbed limbs onto a Slime, and extend their long, slender mouthparts to feast ravenously.
After a full meal, they would occupy the Slime Nest as their habitat to breed and raise the next generation.
They were also a band of thieves, occasionally preying on the Moss Monsters farmed by the Poisonous Sting Bees. Their diet was quite broad.
Beneath the swamp, mud worms squirmed through the damp soil as usual, using their mouthparts to absorb the rich nutrients of the humus layer to sustain their daily growth.
But faint vibrations soon caught their attention. The slowly wriggling mud worms silently picked up their pace, burrowing away from the source of the vibrations.
HSSSSSS...
One slow-moving mud worm suddenly convulsed, its body shriveling and drying up at a visible rate, leaving only a desiccated husk behind in the soil.
The perpetrator of this act was none other than a burrowing Beetle that had intruded upon the Poisonous Sting Bees' territory.
Its carapace was jet-black, exuding a sense of ferocity and hardness, like a Knight clad in heavy armor. The sharp, arched horn on its head was the sharpest Knight's Sword.
BZZZZ...
The Knight's Sword chopped at the mud, the resulting vibrations seeming to announce the arrival of death.
At this moment, this Death Knight was searching for traces of monsters in the soil, then began crawling steadfastly toward the upper right.
And in that direction was the Slime Nest where Chen Yu resided—the only Slime Nest currently in this part of the swamp.
As a subterranean creature, a Slime possessed a faint "vibration sense," just like a mud worm.
When the bouncy, sensitive Slime Gel began to tremble slightly, a sense of unease would spread like an electric current through the Slime's nerves, forming the prototype of an ability akin to "danger perception," allowing them to detect approaching predators in advance.
Chen Yu was startled from his slumber by his body's instinctive tremors. The faint, imperceptible underground vibrations were amplified in his auditory tissues, creating a RUSTLING, chaotic cacophony that was harsh and jarring.
A sense of vexation inexplicably welled up inside him, as if warning him of approaching danger.
The usually mischievous little ones also sensed the coming peril, trembling in their grassy nest and pressing close to Chen Yu for comfort and security.
'Something is approaching from underground?'
While on alert, Chen Yu hurriedly went SQUISH SQUISH out of the grassy nest, pulled out the dozen or so Poisonous Sting swords hidden among the nest's tree roots, and absorbed them into his body, fully prepared for battle.
A few breaths later, the ground suddenly shook violently!
A hard, arched horn, like a sharp sword bursting from the earth, tore through the tranquility of the nest. Immediately after, a ferocious, gleaming black carapace erupted from the ground with the force to crush everything, and a giant Beetle, the size of Chen Yu himself, barged into the Slime's territory, carrying with it the stench of soil and the deep earth.
The gleaming black carapace refracted a ghostly light of death in the dim light, its menacing horn looking as if it could easily pierce the hardest rock.
Though it was a Beetle, its aura was as solemn and terrifying as a Knight.
'Is this the monster that invaded the Poisonous Sting Bees' territory after the storm?'
The moment the colossal shadow crashed into his vision, an alarm originating from the dawn of life, etched into his very instincts, detonated in the depths of Chen Yu's Gel!
Every inch of his gelatinous body was screaming frantically—Danger! Extreme danger!
Without a single thought, his viscous body, under the absolute dominion of instinct, contracted and trembled violently, on the verge of uncontrollably recoiling and fleeing.
Standing before him was, without a doubt, a Black Iron Lv. 3 predator!
[Will Check: Success!]
[Race Check: Failure!]
[You have entered an abnormal state (Fear)]
'Not this again.'
For Chen Yu, the problem wasn't just the burrowing Beetle, but also the Slime's instinctual fear.
It was like being hit with a debilitating debuff before the fight even started.
He wanted to move, but his body continued to tremble violently, refusing to obey. Each contraction pulled at his clear thoughts, as if his soul and his gelatinous body were being forcibly torn apart.
This fear, originating from his very bloodline, enveloped his will to resist like a layer of thick, cold sludge.
His body was completely immobile.
But fortunately, the Artifact Manipulation Skill had nothing to do with Slime instincts. It was a pure technique, a spell that he could barely manage to cast even in this state, as long as he concentrated.
Just as he was about to make a move,
The giant Beetle turned its massive body, giving up on the seemingly troublesome Chen Yu. Its menacing horn pointed directly into the depths of the grassy nest—where the little, trembling Slimes were huddled together.
Their pure, fragile light flickered under the Beetle's enormous shadow, like candles in the wind.
"——!!!"
The moment he witnessed this, for reasons unknown, Chen Yu felt an unprecedented rage for the first time.
Even though he sometimes found these little guys annoying, that didn't mean just any monster could bully them.
No matter what, this Beetle had managed to piss him off.
He was very angry, and the consequences would be severe.
A completely different, scalding torrent suddenly erupted from the deepest part of his Gel.
The instinct of fear still howled; every part of the Gel that made up his body was still screaming.
But the faint points of light in the grassy nest, like a red-hot branding iron, seared themselves into his consciousness. A more primitive, more fearless emotion erupted! It savagely tore apart the cold shackles woven by his fearful instincts!
An unprecedented power began to gather madly! The Gel that had contracted and tried to disperse in fear was now forcibly fused together by his will.
It was as if his soul had grabbed his Slime instinct by the throat, slapping its face repeatedly, asking if it would submit.
Would it submit?
If not, it would slap it again, and again, until it did.
In that instant when will overwhelmed instinct, when his soul broke through the wall of separation built by his body's instincts, reason and intellect returned to his body. A screen of light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
'Huh?'
'A reputation title?'