Chapter 15: The Fifteenth Cup

Chapter 15: The Fifteenth Cup

Not far from the safe zone, a group of five hid behind a large rock.

The middle-aged man in the center, who looked burly and tough, had a grim expression on his face. Two younger men, resembling henchmen, stood protectively behind him. The trio formed a tight-knit group, exuding an air of arrogance.

One of the henchmen kicked a Slime away, watching as it dropped some materials. He picked them up with little interest, muttering a curse under his breath.

The other one, looking worried, hesitated before asking the man in the center, "Brother Zhang, will they really come?"

Brother Zhang responded confidently, putting on a show for his henchmen, "Of course."

The henchman lowered his voice, "Brother Zhang, if they come and find out we tricked them, what if they..."

"What if they what?" Brother Zhang sneered, "Yi Luo is an official. He can't do anything to us."

"Even if something happens..."

His gaze swept around, landing on two people opposite them—a timid-looking man in his forties or fifties, holding onto a young man who was huddled and looking down.

The older man nodded obsequiously, adopting a protective stance. Behind him was a plain-looking young man who seemed unremarkable—this was the same young man who had been watching Yi Luo at the trading center.

Brother Zhang smiled, "Just say this little fool got scared by that transparent jelly and called He Wuning."

"After all, he put his number out there himself."

The young man, with his head bowed, showed no reaction to Brother Zhang's accusations. He remained huddled, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"Lao Qi," Brother Zhang put a cigarette in his mouth but didn't light it, just chewing on it to savor its flavor, "move aside and let him speak a bit more."

Lao Qi took a step forward, hesitating to move back. He whispered, "Brother Zhang, you know how this kid is. When he doesn't want to talk, nothing works..."

"Don't give me so much crap! Just ask him!" The henchman who kicked the Slime glared at him, "Our Brother Zhang has been good to this little fool, feeding him and giving him shelter. Without Brother Zhang, you two would have died long ago!"

"Yes, yes!" Lao Qi nodded repeatedly, "I know, I know! But this kid has always been like this, barely uttering a word..."

Seeing the henchman raise his fist, Lao Qi shrank back, nodding nervously. Reluctantly, he turned to the huddled youth.

He squatted down, softening his tone, and tried to smooth out the wrinkles on his face. He called out, "Nephew, nephew, look at your uncle..."

The youth ignored him, burying his head even lower. Seeing Brother Zhang's growing impatience, Lao Qi's tone became more urgent, "Nephew! Please say something!"

He lowered his voice, "If not, just repeat what you said earlier!"

The youth finally reacted, looking at Lao Qi timidly and asking softly, "Repeat... repeat what?"

"Yes, yes!" Lao Qi, overjoyed by the response, nodded vigorously, "Yes, tell Brother Zhang again."

The youth glanced around, then looked at Brother Zhang. His speech was slightly stuttered, especially when nervous. Pointing at Brother Zhang, he said, "I... I saw him being eaten by a monster."

Brother Zhang's face darkened, but the youth continued, oblivious, "It was Yi Luo who saved... saved him..."

Brother Zhang waved his hand impatiently, cutting him off, "Enough with those two lines!"

Lao Qi dared not criticize his sudden change, only smiling apologetically.

But the youth didn't stop.

His unfocused eyes suddenly focused, pointing directly at Brother Zhang, "Right here."

"He was eaten right here."

Brother Zhang's cigarette fell from his mouth as he caught it hastily, nearly losing his cool. He glanced around suspiciously.

A gentle breeze blew through the grass, and round, transparent jelly Slimes rolled carefree around, creating a somewhat pleasant scene.

Brother Zhang scowled, biting down hard on the cigarette, revealing yellowed teeth stained by years of smoking, "Do you think I'm scared of you?"

He took a few steps forward, intending to teach the fool a lesson. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew across the calm grassland.

Whether it was psychological or not, Brother Zhang felt something sinister about the wind and stopped abruptly.

In the next instant, a huge transparent jelly fell from the sky, landing directly on him.

"Ahh!" Brother Zhang screamed as the impact nearly crushed his organs. He flailed his legs, trying to crawl out from under the giant Slime, only to realize he was being swallowed alive!

"Ahhh! Help! Help!"

His legs trembled as he screamed desperately. The two henchmen were paralyzed with fear; the smarter one ran, while the dumber one threw an empty beer bottle, which was instantly swallowed by the monster, causing minimal damage. After a brief moment of shock, he too fled, determined to outrun his companion.

Only the seemingly dim-witted youth remained seated, looking up like a dispassionate narrator, "...and then it's my turn."

"Nephew!" Lao Qi shouted. This farmer, who had worked the land his whole life, still had strength in his late forties, and managed to pull the youth up, dragging him away in panic.

The youth, dragged along, neither resisted nor cooperated. He stared fixedly at the Slime, as if accepting his fate.

Brother Zhang was already halfway swallowed, the monster rolling towards Lao Qi. He realized his clothes were dissolving, and his legs, now inside, began to sting. His health bar was dropping rapidly.

"Help! Help!"

Before his head was fully swallowed, Brother Zhang's eyes filled with despair as he cried out for help one last time. Then he was completely swallowed, his face showing signs of suffocation.

His gaze grew unfocused, as if experiencing a deathly hallucination—a dirty milk tea cart rolled over the Slimes, charging fearlessly towards the giant Slime.

At that moment, no valiant general or summoned superhero could compare to this speeding milk tea cart.

"Thud!"

As Q-jam reported the decrease in durability, the giant Slime was forcibly knocked away. At the same time, both the driver's and passenger's side doors were kicked open. He Wuning leaped and slashed at the giant Slime, while Yi Luo's right hand, covered in exoskeleton armor, plunged into the wound, pulling Brother Zhang out.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Brother Zhang rolled on the ground, ignoring the slime-like clumps he was coughing up, and scrambled away from the monster on all fours.

Yi Luo glanced at the middle-aged man fleeing with his bare bottom exposed, then looked at his own right hand with a complex expression, as if he had touched something dirty.

He spoke sincerely, "Do you plan to take a shower later? Could you let me wash my eyes once more?"

He Wuning sneered, "If you don't want your eyes, I can help you donate them."

The Slime recovered from being knocked away and tried to swallow the milk tea cart whole. The two quickly dodged away from it.

"It doesn't have to be such a waste," Yi Luo raised his gun and fired, finally reducing the giant Slime's health. He still smiled, "I think it could still be used after a good wash."

Q-jam followed closely behind He Wuning, reporting, "Durability -1, durability -1..."

It seemed to be struggling to keep up and yelled, "Oh! It's about to break!"

Yi Luo raised his gun mercilessly, "No worries, it can be fixed."

Q-jam protested, "You've been using this car for so long, don't you have any feelings for it? Don't you feel any pain when it gets hurt?"

It screamed, "Aaaah! My little rainbow flags! My 'tsk' word rainbow flags are melting, waaah!"

"Ah!" Yi Luo actually sounded worried, "The car can be fixed, but the flags might not be!"

He Wuning: "..."

He suddenly felt an urge to feed these two nuisances to the Slime.

He glanced at the giant Slime, frowning deeply—he knew there were five new outdoor bosses. Logically, everyone would assume these bosses were evenly distributed across various levels, but this system didn't seem to follow logic.

Below level 10, there were already two bosses: Minotaurs and the giant Slime.

And...

No one knew the Slime's weakness.

This kind of small monster could be killed with a single kick; no one bothered to study its weaknesses. Now facing such a large one, it was unexpectedly troublesome.

He Wuning glanced at its health bar and suddenly frowned, "Hey, is it regenerating health?"

Though very faintly, he thought he saw its health bar tick upward slightly.

For some reason, He Wuning had a bad feeling.

—Unluckily, his bad feelings usually came true.

"First, couldn't you call me by my name?" Yi Luo retreated, trying to maintain a safe distance while attacking, "Second, it is indeed regenerating health."

"By the rule of three, do you have a 'finally'?" He Wuning struck the giant Slime with a slash, his expression unrelaxed—this monster was indistinguishable from head to tail, looking like it had no weaknesses at all.

"Finally." Yi Luo's expression also turned serious, "Other Slimes on the grassland are approaching."

He Wuning sharply turned his head. The harmless little monsters gathered around the giant Slime, hopping and bouncing as if in a pilgrimage.

* * *

Giant Slime: Please refrain from flirting while fighting monsters, thank you for your cooperation.