Chapter 16: The Sixteenth Cup

Chapter 16: The Sixteenth Cup

The vast sea of Slimes surrounded them, and the faces of Brother Zhang and his two companions turned green, thinking they were about to be attacked. Fortunately, these monsters still had their passive nature and only blocked their path without initiating any attacks.

They could only retreat bit by bit, gradually being herded into the encirclement formed by the Slimes.

"This isn't right," He Wuning said solemnly. "Focus fire, attack quickly!"

Yi Luo clearly shared the same thought; both of them increased their attack frequency, causing the Slime's health bar to slowly decrease.

—This transparent jelly-like creature had impressive health and defense, even regenerating health on its own. It was clearly a grinding type of monster, but so far, it hadn’t displayed any offensive capabilities.

Swallowing people was dangerous, but its movement speed wasn’t fast. Any physically capable human could outrun it. Moreover, it was now stationary, focused on digesting the milk tea cart in front of it.

Q-jam screamed, "Ah! Durability zero! The milk tea cart is unusable!"

At the moment the milk tea cart’s durability hit zero, it seemed to lose all appeal to the monsters. The giant Slime finished eating and slowly swayed its body.

But its health bar stopped regenerating.

It seemed to regenerate health only while eating.

After tasting the pink milk tea cart, the Slime suddenly opened a round hole. He Wuning cautiously stepped back, but it didn’t attack; instead, it opened its mouth and let out a long "Burp—."

He Wuning took a second to realize that might be its mouth?

Yi Luo found it quite novel, "Does a Slime make sounds?"

He Wuning hesitated, "Maybe it’s burping?"

Only Q-jam sobbed uncontrollably, "Wah, my cart! My cart!"

The giant Slime swayed more and more, and Yi Luo slowly spoke, "Don’t you think it looks like a bobblehead?"

He Wuning looked somewhat puzzled, suspecting this giant Slime might also be a non-aggressive monster. Perhaps if they turned and left, it wouldn’t follow...

Just as this absurd thought crossed his mind, the Slime lost balance and rolled down like a bobblehead, heading straight towards Lao Qi and the others with a thunderous momentum.

He Wuning couldn’t help but "Tsk" in frustration, and Yi Luo raised an eyebrow, "Who suddenly made you angry?"

"I did."

For a moment, he had thought the monster wasn’t very aggressive.

Yi Luo didn’t expect him to be so self-righteous about being angry at himself and immediately followed him.

He Wuning didn’t look back, "Why are you following me? Stay there!"

Yi Luo looked surprised, "Are you planning to protect me?"

He Wuning brandished his knife, and Yi Luo promptly shut up, fearing that if he continued talking, this hot-tempered partner might send him to his death.

He Wuning chased after the Slime, his heart racing—its target seemed wrong. Its aggression should be directed at him or Yi Luo, so why was it heading towards those two people?

He frowned and crouched low, dashing out like a nimble leopard, slicing off a large chunk of the jelly-like body of the Slime.

The separated jelly-like substance turned into a corrosive gel, which He Wuning carefully avoided.

The giant Slime seemed to have no sense of pain, continuing forward regardless of He Wuning and Yi Luo’s attacks—just like the stone giant, it had locked onto its target!

It might drop fragments!

He Wuning watched the two fleeing figures, wondering who its target was—the panicked uncle or the young man who had “bumped” into Yi Luo in the trading hall?

"You can’t run, turn around and attack!"

He Wuning shouted, and Lao Qi turned back in panic, seeing the Slime looming over him, his eyes filled with despair. Then he pushed the young man towards He Wuning.

He Wuning caught the young man, who finally reacted, widening his eyes in surprise and instinctively reaching out, "Uncle..."

Lao Qi closed his eyes, expecting the crushing pain, but instead felt icy liquid flooding his nose and mouth, burning coldly like drowning in boiling water.

Lao Qi’s mind echoed He Wuning’s words, "Turn around and attack," like a battle cry. The farmer, who had never fought in his life, gritted his teeth and raised his hand.

In the next instant, a burst of flames exploded inside the giant Slime!

Brother Zhang, who had been running and then blocked by the Slime, returned, covering his butt and shouting, "What the hell!"

Yi Luo glanced at him, and he immediately fell silent, smiling ingratiatingly and hiding behind Yi Luo. His two subordinates mimicked him, hiding behind Yi Luo like chicks in a game of tag.

The giant Slime’s health bar dropped significantly!

He Wuning’s eyes lit up, "It’s afraid of fire!"

Realizing it had swallowed something hot, the Slime abruptly opened its mouth and spat Lao Qi out with a "Puff."

Lao Qi flew through the air, eyes tightly shut, not daring to look down. Suddenly, the young man broke free from He Wuning’s grip, ran towards where Lao Qi was falling, head tilted back, mouth open.

—And tripped over a rock because he wasn’t looking at the ground.

He Wuning almost knelt before these two clowns, his face darkening as he pulled the young man away from the Slime’s corrosive liquid, throwing a wave of items towards Lao Qi’s landing point.

Lao Qi landed with a thud, sinking into a sea of pearls, taro balls, and coconut jelly.

Coughing up the sticky liquid in his mouth, he grabbed some of the milk tea ingredients that saved his life.

He Wuning rushed to his side, "Don’t just stand there! Keep attacking!"

Lao Qi quickly raised his hand, his face turning red with bulging veins, and then he collapsed back into the pile of milk tea ingredients, leaving a mess behind as he fainted.

He Wuning's face went blank.

"Great, the lighter was disposable," Yi Luo's voice sounded from behind him. He Wuning turned to look; Brother Zhang and his trio were holding Yi Luo's large shield, trembling. Somehow, they had ended up beside him.

Yi Luo looked unperturbed. "Looks like it's down to us in the end."

The giant Slime shrank considerably after expelling a large amount of slime, but before they could celebrate, the surrounding Slimes rolled over to the giant Slime. It absorbed its companions, rapidly reconstructing its body.

Brother Zhang broke down on the spot. "This is too cheap! It's like having an entire division of health packs!"

He Wuning remained expressionless. "Do you think it's still worth calling headquarters now to send a flamethrower?"

Yi Luo said seriously, "Maybe just in time to collect our bodies."

He Wuning: "..."

Yi Luo chuckled at his expression, pulling out something resembling a long-necked bottle from his backpack and tossing it to him. "Can you find a way to get this thing into its mouth?"

He Wuning's expression was subtle. "What is this?"

Yi Luo gave a brief explanation. "Incendiary grenade."

He Wuning fell silent for a moment. "...It even drops this in the game."

This must be an attack item from the game, taken from Yi Luo's system backpack.

Yi Luo let out a light laugh, raising his gun and loading a bullet. "This doesn't drop in the game; it's a synthesized item made by the tech department—it's the power of science."

He nodded toward He Wuning. "We need some coordination, partner. This is our only shot. Can you deliver it to it?"

He Wuning caught the incendiary grenade and glanced at him. "Throwing it would just make it swallow it before it explodes."

Yi Luo tapped his sniper rifle. "That's why we need manual detonation."

"Remember to run fast, or I might have to take responsibility for your future."

He Wuning lifted an eyelid. "No need."

Without hesitation, he sprinted out agilely. "Test."

He tossed a candy box, and Yi Luo's gun slowly followed its trajectory, firing the instant it entered the Slime's mouth. The candy box exploded, and the giant Slime froze as if someone had kicked over its food bowl.

Satisfied with his accuracy, He Wuning aimed and threw the incendiary grenade without hesitation.

Yi Luo's smile faded, his focus reaching its peak. His dark pupils reflected the grenade as if in slow motion.

The trigger pulled, the bullet fired, and sparks erupted. The giant Slime swallowed what seemed like a dangerous, scorching red lotus!

Smoke filled the air, and He Wuning, close to the grenade, ducked and rolled into the giant Slime's body.

"He Wuning!"

Yi Luo, surprised that the madman didn't plan to dodge, changed his expression and rushed into the smoke—only to find He Wuning retrieving a dagger from the giant Slime, which finally dissolved into a pile of shimmering data.

He Wuning glanced at Yi Luo indifferently. "Damage was a bit low, needed a finishing blow."

He paused, as if remembering something, looking displeased. "What did you call me just now?"

Yi Luo was stunned; in the heat of the moment, he had called him by his name...

He Wuning narrowed his eyes, not in a good mood. With holes in his clothes from corrosion and a scratch on his face, he looked arrogant despite his battle damage. "Call me Brother He when you need something, He Wuning otherwise, right?"

Yi Luo's heart finally settled. He sighed. "I'll call you anything, even ancestor."

"Can we talk? Next time, can you give a warning before jumping in?"

Thinking about it, even if He Wuning had said "I'm going in" beforehand, his heart wouldn't have fared much better. So he closed his mouth, frustrated. "Forget it, no demands."

Yi Luo: Whatever works, I'll adapt.

He Wuning: ...

Thank you to everyone who supported me during the period from August 9, 2021, 04:38:07 to August 10, 2021, 03:08:49 by voting or providing nutrients.

Thank you to those who provided nutrients: Jin Hua (50 bottles), Bai Qingning (24 bottles), Ru Ruo Chun Xin (15 bottles), Jia Le (10 bottles), Yi Quan Da Fei Ni (5 bottles).

Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard!