The two chubby ones wriggled behind Big Brother Slime along the narrow, damp secret path for an indeterminate length of time. At last, soft light spilled ahead, accompanied by the "plip-plop" sounds of little collisions.

They slipped out of the tunnel and the scene opened up.

Inside was a natural cavern lit by a cluster of enormous glowing crystals. When Chen Yu looked around, he actually saw a lot of... slimes!

Silver-gray Metal Slimes rolled slowly near the cave entrance like sentries, patrolling.

There were translucent Splitting Slimes that would occasionally go "pop" as they split into smaller individuals, teaching a bunch of baby slimes survival tricks in the corners.

But the majority inside the cavern were ordinary Slimes.

Some of them bumped against each other with soft "plip-plop" sounds, exchanging pheromones and chatting;

some queued up to gnaw on a type of moisture-rich moss growing on the cave walls;

others lazed on smooth stones, basking in the crystal light.

The whole slime nest was orderly—like a closed little society.

"I didn't expect a place like this inside a dungeon."

Chen Yu felt a surge of wonder.

A brilliant idea bubbled up in his mind.

As an ambitious Slime Lord, how could he not have plans for a fertile dungeon?

Especially when it opened right at his doorstep.

This was practically a gift from the Slime God.

Perfect for placing spy slimes here and slowly taking over the dungeon...

When Big Brother Slime returned to the nest, a few larger Metal Slimes rolled over and lightly bumped him with their bodies, transmitting pheromones like "You're back" and "Good work."

When they saw the two strange little slimes trailing behind, they gathered around curiously, gently touching them with their bodies and sending simple, friendly thoughts like "Welcome," "New here?" and "Are you hungry?"

Big Brother Slime: "...Found...little brothers..."

At those words, all the slimes' eyes went watery as they emitted pheromones—"Poor thing," "Orphan," "Look how swollen—must have been abused by two-legged beasts"...

Especially one plump, cream-colored Slime, which radiated an intense "tender care" emotion.

It nudged the two little ones with its soft body and guided them to a relatively quiet corner nest deep within the cavern.

"...Rest...here...safe..."

Sister Slime conveyed soothing pheromones and even rubbed her body against the Life Slime, as if to say, "Poor child."

After Sister Slime left, Chen Yu let the two small slimes flop down on the soft moss and focus on digesting the food in their bodies.

Some unknown time passed, and when the two small slimes felt their stomachs had mostly digested the food and their bodies had lightened considerably, urgent "pa-ji" scrambling sounds suddenly came from the cave entrance, accompanied by panic pheromones spreading outward.

A mud-splattered Slime whose color had dulled rolled in in a mess, urgently transmitting information: "...Outside...bad things...bullying...companions...!"

Filthy Descendants!

They were harassing the slimes on the perimeter again.

The previously peaceful Slime Kingdom instantly exploded into chaos.

Big Brother Slime's body vibrated with a low hum, like a cold snort. Without hesitation he rolled toward the cave mouth, and several patrolling Metal Slimes immediately followed, radiating the aura of "we're going to fight."

Go fight?

He loved watching a ruckus.

Besides, with Filthy Descendants here, they might lead to Arthur and Count Bran who'd entered the dungeon.

Chen Yu slipped the two little slimes silently out of the safe nest and followed behind the line of Metal Slimes.

They hadn't gone far along a sulfur-scented fork when they heard the teeth-gnashing scraping and hissing of the Filthy Descendants.

A few larger Filthy Descendants were using their sharp forelimbs to drive back and even try to spear some Slimes trapped in a corner.

Big Brother Slime snapped. His body accelerated suddenly, like a heavy metal cannonball, and slammed into one Filthy Descendant.

"Bang!"

That Filthy Descendant staggered back, its shell dented, emitting an enraged hiss.

Other Metal Slimes joined the fray, smashing and squeezing the Filthy Descendants with their hard bodies.

For a while the scene was chaotic: metallic clanging against shell and the hisses of the Filthy Descendants mixed together.

It was hard to tell who would win;

several slimes sustained varying degrees of injury.

Chen Yu had the two small slimes hide in the shadows to observe.

The Life Slime quietly activated four tiny stone swords, while the Hallucinogenic Slime exhaled a thin swirl of confusing mist toward the densest cluster of Filthy Descendants.

Mud Pellet Sword Crafting

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Four gray-white flashes of cold light cut precisely through the air and instantly pierced the vulnerable joints and compound eyes of three Filthy Descendants!

The Filthy Descendants shrouded in the hallucinogenic mist visibly faltered and their movements became chaotic.

The Metal Slimes seized the opportunity and with fierce ramming quickly finished off the few isolated Filthy Descendants.

When the fight ended, Big Brother Slime turned his body in puzzled circles, as if trying to find who had secretly helped.

He inspected the unusually precise wounds on the Filthy Descendants' corpses, glanced at the faint purple mist lingering around, and the hum from his metal body sounded confused.

In the end, unable to find the helper, he escorted the rescued ordinary Slime casualties back to the nest with care.

In the corner, Chen Yu guided the two small slimes out to quietly scavenge the bodies, digging out the mana glands from the Filthy Descendants.

Looking at the Filthy Descendant's appearance and the pale soft gland, Chen Yu told himself, "Not a cockroach, not a cockroach..." and swallowed it down despite the nausea.

To his surprise, the gland didn't taste as vile as he'd imagined.

If he had to describe it, it was like a slightly sour cheese with that unique sulfur tang of a demon.

Strange, but not unpleasant.

If forced to choose between old Beijing fermented mung drink and a Filthy Descendant gland?

He'd pick the fermented drink.

"Chomp chomp chomp..."

The two small slimes chewed and digested diligently, and soon their status panels popped up.

[Proficiency +30]

[Acid Secretion Lv.5 → Acid Secretion Lv.6]

Huh?

He had thought talents and skills capped at Lv.5.

Now it seemed even a garbage Acid Secretion could possibly upgrade to the power of a dragon's corrosive breath.

Excited by the thought, he perked up.

He was about to hunt down a few more unlucky Filthy Descendants when intense fighting sounds, Filthy Descendant hisses, and a noisy familiar voice came from a deeper passage:

"Oh... damn it, chop at the joints! Right there! Idiots, left... left again!"

"Ah! My noble feathers! It's all those damn slimes' fault! Count Bran will not let you off!!!"