Chen Yu splatted over.
He may have looked like a harmless ball of Slime, but to the Beetles, the scent of their dead comrades clinging to his ferocious-looking shell was an assault on their senses.
With every inch he drew closer, they felt themselves sinking into an abyss of fear.
In the end, the Beetles left a few more corpses behind and retreated from the base of the tree, abandoning the territory they had fought so long to claim.
The war came to a rather anticlimactic end.
Yet it was a deserved victory.
The Slime had defeated its natural enemy, completely taking over the Oak Territory and becoming the true Oak Dominator.
However, from Chen Yu's perspective, something else was far more exciting.
"Sergash, help me collect the Beetle corpses."
The thought of the delicious Beetle meat he would soon be eating made Chen Yu's Gel body bubble with delight.
"Are you going to use these Beetles to craft new armor?"
Sergash cradled a Beetle larger than her fist, her gaze landing on the Beetle-shell helmet the Slime was wearing.
"That's something you wouldn't know."
"These Beetles are delicious."
"Food?"
'A Slime treating its natural enemy as food?'
Fortunately, Sergash was already used to her Messenger's peculiarities.
What she was more curious about was whether these Beetles were truly delicious enough to make her Messenger so excited.
These burrowing Beetles were rock-hard monsters that usually lived underground. She'd hardly ever encountered them, let alone considered eating one.
"Oh, right. Help me gather the Poisonous Sting Bee corpses, too."
Chen Yu bounced to the entrance at the base of the tree.
All the Beetles inside had already left. All that remained were some strange, glittering stone lumps he didn't recognize—treasures hoarded by the Beetles, he presumed.
'Since the Beetles are gone, these are all mine now.'
Chen Yu swallowed all the stones at once and carried them outside in his body.
"Sergash, help me figure out what kind of treasures these are."
Chen Yu spat the glittering stones onto the ground, still coated in slime.
"Let me see."
Sergash picked up a stone from the ground, examining it intently with her vertical, amber-colored pupils.
"Huh?"
"There are Gray Gravel Crystals here, too?"
"What's a Gray Gravel Crystal?"
"They're gray Crystal Stones you can occasionally find by the riverbank. I don't know what they're used for, but the humans on the opposite bank seem to love them. They often trade food for these stones."
"Maybe they're a type of Magic Material," Sergash said, her tone uncertain.
"Let me take a look."
His interest piqued, Chen Yu swallowed the small Crystal Stone fragment again to study it more closely.
'Corrode it with acid?'
'No change. It's harder than an ordinary stone; I can't digest it.'
'Move it closer to my Magic Organ?'
'The Magic Power replenishment I was imagining didn't happen.'
'So what on earth is this thing for?'
'Is it really a Magic Material?'
As Chen Yu listlessly tumbled the Gray Gravel Crystal around inside his body, he suddenly thought he saw it flash for an instant.
'Hm?'
'I don't think I was imagining it.'
'Wait, could it be...?!'
Chen Yu's entire Gel body trembled and bounced a few times, a clear sign of his shock.
'What just reacted with the Gray Gravel Crystal... it seemed to be the Spiritual Power I've gathered.'
As he continued to channel Spiritual Power into it, the Gray Gravel Crystal began to emit a soft glow, just as he'd expected. It lit up his Slime body from the inside like a light bulb.
For a moment, it was as if he had become light itself.
"Ah! Are you returning to Putu's Divine Kingdom?"
Sergash stared blankly at the glowing Slime and instinctively began to pray.
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's the stone that's glowing."
Chen Yu spat out the glowing Gray Gravel Crystal. It landed on the ground and began to radiate a bright, gentle light.
'Compared to Gray Gravel Crystal,' he thought, 'the name Light Bulb Stone might be more fitting. Or maybe I should call it Zeyarira's version of a Spirit Stone.'
'It's a little bright, but it genuinely stored the Spiritual Power I channeled into it.'
'If this isn't a Spirit Stone, then what is?'
Chen Yu felt as if the gates to a new world were opening for him. With Spirit Stones, the concepts that had only existed in his mind now had a chance of becoming reality.
'What are Spirit Stones used for in the Void Profound Heaven?'
'Besides being used as currency, they're used for cultivation, restoring Spiritual Power, setting up arrays, drawing talismans...'
'They're basically the cultivation world's version of batteries. The uses are endless.'
He couldn't help but think of the Illusionary Array Map he possessed. 'With Spirit Stones, maybe I can...'
Chen Yu's mind wandered for a moment before he snapped back to reality.
"Did you say there are a lot of these Gray Gravel Crystals by the riverbank?"
"Not a lot, you can just find them occasionally."
"If you want some, I can sneak back and gather a few."
"No, forget it. The corrupted Believers are lingering by the riverbank. It's too dangerous for you to go out there."
He wasn't about to let Sergash get captured by those crazed Believers just for a few Spirit Stones.
Chen Yu swallowed the Gray Gravel Crystal again, slipped into the swamp, and returned to the Slime Nest.
'It's fantastic that these Gray Gravel Crystals can store Spiritual Power, but it's just too conspicuous when it glows. I'll have to bury it in the nest for now and figure out what to do with it later.'
As for now...
He was hungry!
...
In the camp, a campfire crackled. Sergash had used a wolf fang to pry open a Beetle's shell and was now roasting it over the flames.
The meat inside was a glistening gold, looking much like rich crab roe or an oyster slathered in minced garlic. The dense, savory aroma it released hung in the air around the camp, lingering for a long time.
"It smells... so good."
Sergash's nose twitched, and she had to stop herself from drooling.
Chen Yu was too focused on devouring his meal to notice her expression.
With a SLURP, he sucked the Beetle paste mixed with the meat of a Poisonous Sting Bee into his Gel.
The Beetle paste was rich and savory, with a peculiar, fungal aroma.
The Poisonous Sting Bee meat had its own distinct flavor. Once cooked, it became stringy like melted cheese, and was full of savory flavor.
'Delicious!'
Chen Yu scarfed everything down, losing count of how much he ate. By the end, his body had swelled up a size, becoming perfectly round. He finally lay back on a rock, bubbling with pleasure.
'So satisfying.'
'Though I think I ate too much. I can barely move.'
'Oh well, who cares.'
Chen Yu happily relaxed, his body gradually enveloped in warmth as he drifted off to sleep.
Seeing this, a curious Sergash picked up a warm Beetle shell. She cautiously brought the rim to her lips and took a small, tentative slurp.
The moment the scalding, thick, golden paste slid into her mouth, the flavor exploded on her tongue. An intense, savory sweetness washed over her taste buds. The paste's texture was unbelievably delicate, with a slightly sticky feel to it. It melted gently on her tongue, releasing an even richer and more complex aroma.
She could even hear the faint, tempting GURGLE of the thick juices swirling in her mouth.
Mmm?!
Delicious!
Her amber, vertical pupils grew brighter, and her tail began to sway back and forth, unable to hide her delight.
'So this is how delicious burrowing Beetles are?'
She took another bite of the Poisonous Sting Bee, which was roasted to a perfect crisp on the outside and was tender on the inside.
She was rendered speechless with bliss...
The campfire burned on, casting a peaceful and serene glow over the camp. But at the edge of the swamp, a storm of blood and violence was brewing.