"Booming rumble..."
The rain kept falling, with occasional flashes completely illuminating the pitch-black swamp forest, followed by roaring thunder.
Chen Yu rode Little Ka and worked busily until midnight, almost covering the entire area around the southern forest paths, absorbing a total of seven mana clusters.
This was far from the forest's limit. Lv.4 Devour Digestion required one to three hours to absorb a single mana cluster, while ordinary magical creatures needed at least a day.
There was simply too much gray mist mana—impossible to absorb completely.
Sigh.
Sometimes being too wealthy could be a burden.
With so much mana left unabsorbed, it would either be given to other magical creatures in the forest or dissipate after the heavy rain.
Such a terrible waste.
For now, it was time to return and sleep.
Actually, cultivators could remain energetic for days without sleep.
He'd heard that senior brothers working at the spiritual vein mine in Blackwind Gully often worked five or six days straight without breaks—born to be beasts of burden.
He could handle staying up, but Little Ka couldn't.
The little guy was already so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.
Since the mount had run out of energy, it was better to return and rest. Traveling place to place alone would be too much trouble.
After returning Little Ka to the swamp near the castle, Chen Yu inspected all the buildings in the castle again, making sure they wouldn't be affected by the heavy rain and strong winds, before returning to the tree house.
After charging the Gray Gravel Crystal, soft yet bright light instantly filled the entire tree house, even seeping through cracks in the doors and windows in faint strands into the noisy, dark world outside.
Imagine—outside, strong winds blowing and heavy rain falling, while inside, he comfortably lounged in warm light, with the white noise of wind and rain in his ears, drawing talismans, occasionally snacking on moss monster treats.
This little life had such promising prospects.
"With such heavy rain, I wonder how Yano and the others are doing."
He and the little slime were too far apart, the signal was poor, and with the heavy rain outside, receiving any message from Yano would probably take several days.
But since the corrupted lizardfolk had been eliminated, everyone could sleep peacefully.
Chen Yu moved aside a failed talisman drawing and looked toward the depths of the forest.
After the heavy rain would come summer—hopefully no strange magical creatures would emerge from there...
According to what he'd read in the geography books Yano brought, this swamp had an ancient name—the Putrid Marshwoods.
Translated from the demi-human language, the actual swamp area was much larger than his current territory.
Moreover, swamps didn't conform to human will to grow in neat squares;
they were more like dense green sores growing among the mountains, distributed with numerous swamp centers.
But since few adventurers ventured deep inside, they were all collectively called the Putrid Marshwoods.
The Oak Territory was located slightly off-center in the depths of this swamp. Continuing westward would take him through his swamp territory into a new swamp.
High mountains, hills, large lakes, dungeons, ruins... encountering anything was possible.
It was fraught with dangers yet filled with mystery and opportunities. Even long ago, when Ironboot Town was still a village, the Corruption faith had already spread in the swamp depths.
It had only now reached the riverbank.
As a slime adventurer, these swamp lands were like treasures waiting to be developed for Chen Yu.
These unclaimed lands had been lonely for too long, waiting for him for so long.
What could be more suitable than a slime to become their master?
Nothing!
Other magical creatures and demi-humans?
They were robbers occupying his territory, temporary guests borrowing residence.
They would become part of the future Slime Kingdom.
Calling him just a slime now was acceptable, but in the future, he should be addressed as the Great King Majesty.
The little slime stayed up late reading in the tree house, writing diligently with flying brushstrokes.
No one knew that a massive magical creature empire was about to be born from here.
...
The next day, before dawn broke, the rain continued. Chen Yu ate a delicious breakfast and, carrying the ideal of a great kingdom, diligently rode Little Ka deep into the swamp center.
The mana anomaly points gathered here were more numerous and denser, with more ruin structures appearing, like abandoned villages.
He also spotted several swamp crocodiles that had escaped earlier.
No words were needed when enemies met. Moments later, the magic organs of several swamp crocodiles had entered his stomach.
"Burp..."
Chen Yu was full.
The combined weight of these swamp crocodiles' magic organs was heavier than him, stuffing his stomach pouch so full that even Little Ka couldn't carry him.
So he could only occupy the mana anomaly point where the swamp crocodiles had been—a collapsed church—resting there with half-closed eyes to digest while absorbing mana to gain experience.
Little Ka curled up beside him. Although happy about the deaths of the bully crocodiles, feeling less fearful inside, these strange "trees" also worried it.
In its little head, there was no concept of "buildings"—buildings and trees alike naturally grew as they should.
Usually, places with strange "trees" housed many magical creatures.
The King had fallen asleep in such a dangerous place.
It was very afraid...
But remembering the delicious moss monster breakfast this morning, it thought that even giving its life for the King would be worthwhile.
It needed to properly guard its King and not let other magical creatures ambush him.
The little crocodile nestled against the soft, warm gel, its small eyes vigilantly watching the surroundings, just like a loyal guard.
...
The rain fell in a continuous drizzle, mercilessly enveloping this boundless forest.
Arthur still sat silently on a stone half-submerged in muddy water, cold rainwater sliding through the gaps in his rusted armor, converging into the mud at his feet.
He looked up at this seemingly endless gray-green maze.
Thinking, lost again...
The surrounding scenery seemed no different from half an hour ago, or an hour ago.
Where exactly was the Swamp Lord?
"Poof!"
A black feather wilted by rainwater exploded out of nowhere, and Count Bran appeared somewhat disheveled on Arthur's wet shoulder armor. It vigorously shook its head, splattering water droplets everywhere.
"Ah-choo! This damnable weather! Simply blasphemy against this Count's magnificent wings."
It complained, carefully smoothing its chest feathers that had become wet strands with a wingtip, then noticed the knight's silent gaze fixed ahead.
That posture, in its view, was full of silent reproach.
"Ahem... Arthur, what do you mean by this attitude? Sitting on a stone pretending to be melancholy, or questioning this Count's navigation abilities? Definitely! You're surely blaming this Count internally for leading us astray."
"Young undead, you know nothing of the esteemed Count Bran's wisdom! Do you know how vast this swamp is? It's easily ten times... no, a hundred times larger than this Count's territory in the Shadow Mountains!"
"Right now, we're undoubtedly still at its periphery! Periphery, understand? Like... like the steps outside the banquet hall doors! Still far from the main hall."
It pointed in a direction based on intuition with its wing.
"See that? Over there, the Swamp Lord's lair must be there."
After speaking, it struggled to maintain its chest-out, head-high posture, its small eyes nervously stealing glances at the knight's reaction.
"Alright."
Arthur said, then silently stood up and mounted his horse.
In his view, Count Bran was always full of wisdom.
Although the paths it pointed to were always so winding and long, they eventually reached the destination, didn't they?