Chapter 20 The Brown Mud Monster

Accompanied by a resounding "clang—" that echoed throughout the city above, the entire city suddenly lit up.

The abrupt change in lighting left Ybur momentarily disoriented. After two seconds, its visual capability recovered. Hiding under a sewer manhole cover, it extended an Eye Point to carefully peer outside. Only then did it realize that the source of the light came from a series of giant lamps situated at the top of the cave—the entire city was built within a massive underground cavern, and all of its illumination was provided by those giant lamps.

This made Ybur feel slightly incongruous.

In Ruby's memory, the city shouldn't be underground. Was this the impact of the Sun Meteor event?

The Sun Meteor event, the fall of a deity, was but a fleeting mention in Ruby's memory. It was less that Ruby was unclear about the event, and more that she seemed to deliberately avoid discussing it.

A bit curious.

But right now, Ybur was truly hungry, so other matters would have to wait.

Slime could endure hunger for a long time if it remained still, but Ybur's activity level was too high, many times greater than that of others of its size—most Slime would move only once or twice a day if not necessary, whereas Ybur was constantly on the move except when meditating, hence it would quickly become hungry.

"...No."

Sherry was getting a bit tense, "This place is a sewer, for God's sake, don't start feeling hungry here! You son of a bitch, you better not be thinking about eating shit!!"

Ybur fell into a contemplation.

Theoretically, it wasn't exactly impossible... The sewer really isn't very clean, but it actually doesn't matter! We Slime don't care about these things at all!

If it weren't for that last shred of human dignity acting up, given the wide range of Slime's culinary repertoire, Ybur felt it should have joyfully indulged in the toilet by now...no no no, better not to imagine such taboo things!

Ybur shuddered, casting those images out of its mind.

Insects like silverfish scurried all over the ground, and in the adjacent gutter, creatures similar to loaches swam through the flowing wastewater. Some rats ran back and forth, catching silverfish and holding them in their paws as snacks to nibble on.

These rats looked exceedingly plump, much larger than those at the Cherie family house, suggesting perhaps that the Cherie sisters were too poor to provide much for the rodents.

These rats showed no fear of Ybur.

Perfect.

Ybur also treated these rats as snacks.

It killed them instantly with Spikes or Acid, and then ate them.

Some rats scattered in terror, but suddenly the rubbish heap beside them moved, and an even larger rat crawled out, eyeing Ybur.

This rat was almost the size of a cat, matching Ybur in size. It sized up Ybur, its eyes seemingly glittering with excitement, clearly considering Ybur as prey.

But Ybur only felt bored.

If this had been when it had just been born, then such a large rat might indeed have been a troublesome enemy. But now, it had already acquired the formal profession of a Shapeshifter, dealing with such an enemy hardly required any effort.

It adopted an unchanging stance in deliberate indifference, as a Digestive Acid-filled Spike quietly accumulated inside.

Perhaps because Ybur's round body looked utterly non-threatening, the large rat showed not the slightest trace of fear, and even approached closer, wanting to sniff Ybur.

At that very moment.

Spike launch!!

Ybur's body first contracted slightly, then rapidly swelled! The Acid-laden Spikes, like artillery shells, shot out, the rat emitting a "squeak" as it leapt to the side! But Ybur was still a tad faster; its Spikes smashed into the rat like a heavy punch, and what burst forth was the corrosive Acid!

The rat tumbled and fell to the ground.

The force behind Ybur's Spike launch was similar to the punch of an adult, and of course, a rat couldn't withstand such force, but what caused greater damage was the potent Acid! Its wounds fizzed as it smoked, and Ybur's hit had landed on its left paw, which corroded within seconds, the flesh falling to the ground like rotten meat. The rat screamed in agony and, struggling, ran away on three legs.

Ybur followed at a leisurely pace.

It was quite confident about the lethality of its Acid.

Body Secret Source originates from the physical form, so after becoming a Shapeshifter, even though the profession itself did not specifically enhance Acid strength, Ybur's body still experienced considerable enhancement in all aspects, which also made the Digestive Acid secreted by his body stronger.

As expected, the rat had only run about ten meters when its speed began to slow, and finally, it collapsed to the ground with a plop. Ybur moved slowly towards it, about to swallow the large rat, when suddenly a numbness struck his heart, and a strong sense of crisis surged forth!

The danger was coming from—

"Above!!" Sherry screamed.

Ybur concentrated his Eye Points to look upward, just as a large clump of mud-like substance smashed down from above, enveloping both him and the rat within.

This is bad...

Ybur's heart skipped a beat.

The surrounding "mud" began to contract inward with astonishing strength, causing Ybur's body to slightly deform, while strong acid flowed out from inside the monster.

This thing was a "Brown Mud Monster"!

Brown Mud Monsters are Shapeshifters within the mud monster classification, but they can also be considered distant relatives of the black pudding creatures because they too possess the ability to secrete strong acid. While the body of a black pudding creature is somewhat solid, a Brown Mud Monster is truly like a sloppy mud puddle, capable of squeezing itself into the cracks of floor tiles and various other inconceivable nooks. However, at the same time, this soft and floppy monster also possesses surprisingly powerful strength.

Without the developed Eye Points of Ybur, which could sense light, heat, and Magic Power, Brown Mud Monsters are still highly sensitive to vibrations. Under most circumstances, these Brown Mud Monsters would lurk calmly like real rotten mud in certain places, such as puddles, corners, or clinging to ceilings. However, when stimulated, Brown Mud Monsters would instinctively attack, either by pouncing down to envelop their prey or by stretching out pseudo-feet that whip with strong acid.

Ybur felt his body's surface being scorched by acid.

Contrary to intuition, black pudding creatures are not completely immune to strong acid; only their Predatory Sack is completely resistant to it. Therefore, Ybur normally needed to contain the strong acid within his Predatory Sack.

His body's surface is relatively fragile and sensitive, still susceptible to being burned by acid, but Slimes inherently lack pain sensation and have a certain tolerance to acid. It was irrelevant if a small amount of their own acid splashed onto them.

But this time it was different.

He felt his body rapidly dissolving.

Ybur panicked momentarily before calming down.

He had intended to use Sherry as a sort of umbrella, but after hesitating, Ybur chose to turn his Predatory Sack inside out, enveloping the upper part of his body like an umbrella to cover himself—the Brown Mud Monster's secreted strong acid was not much different from his own, and the Predatory Sack was immune to this type of acid.

Either way, the effect was the same; it served as a protective umbrella.

Immediately after, Ybur contracted his body inward and, a second later, a multitude of Spikes burst outward!

But it was useless. The Brown Mud Monster's body was too soft, and Ybur's attempt was like striking cotton—it had no effect. The soft and floppy fluid form of the Brown Mud Monster continued to envelop him like a sack and tightened inward—a strange sensation. While the Brown Mud Monster had no muscles and bones, when it exerted effort, a "tendon" would form within its soft and mushy body, and then that rubber-band-like thing would start to contract.

Ybur could distinctly feel several of these 'tendons' encircling him, constantly tightening.

...but there seemed to be no way to combat it.

Ybur tried to use God Secret Source, but after a series of teachings in his dreams, he was extremely exhausted and mentally sluggish, making it impossible to activate God Secret Source for the time being.

A subtle feeling arose within Ybur; he had no way to deal with this mud monster. The Brown Mud Monster's resistance to acid was stronger than his; this creature was practically immune to acid. At the same time, its body was a pool of fluid, so his spikes could not damage it. Neither could consume the other, resulting in a stalemate where neither could do anything to the other. The Brown Mud Monster was bigger and heavier, making it challenging for Ybur to move while being pressed down.

All he could do was swallow the remains of the rat into himself, then digest while waiting for this creature to leave.

"Why don't you just take a nap," Sherry suggested. "It can't do anything to you anyway."

Ybur responded with resignation, "Seems like that's all I can do for now…"

But suddenly, an intriguing idea occurred to Ybur.

The Brown Mud Monster was a type of mud-shaped monster, and the Shapeshifter [Mud-shaped Monster Mimicry] ability that he had mastered actually imitated the broader category of mud-shaped monsters... It was a crude mimicry, but it had its advantages because it meant that the Brown Mud Monster was within the scope of his Mimicry.

Currently, he and the Brown Mud Monster were at an impasse, unable to devour one another, but this provided him with an excellent opportunity to mimic the Brown Mud Monster...

If he could not digest the other, why not attempt... [Assimilation]?