On the grayish-white, colorless rock wall, dark green moss clung stubbornly. A viscous, pitch-black liquid dripped continuously from above. At the base of the wall, on the worn steps, thumb-sized purple mushrooms sprouted from cracks etched by corrosion.
Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!
A strange sound suddenly echoed in the dim space. Soon after, a deep blue slime appeared, its jelly-like body bouncing as it moved forward.
"Not bad, there are some here too."
Before long, Azuro stopped in front of these few colorful mushrooms. Skillfully, he enveloped them within his body, dissolving them. Immediately, a faint purple hue appeared on Azuro's originally blue body, and his magic essence strengthened slightly.
Poisonous mushrooms. Azuro had discovered these things accidentally a few days ago. After devouring them, not only did they provide a large amount of nutrients and a slight increase in magic essence, but they also granted Azuro his first offensive ability: Poison.
After discovering the effect of the poisonous mushrooms, Azuro had been searching non-stop in the sewer where he was born for the past few days. As for these few here, they should be the last poisonous mushrooms nearby.
"Speaking of which, I should be the strongest slime in this area now."
After absorbing the last few poisonous mushrooms, Azuro turned around and looked at the other slimes in the sewer behind him. Relying on his Gluttony ability and the poisonous mushrooms, he had recently begun to grow rapidly. The magic essence that had just been born in his body had increased several times.
Moreover, in addition to magic essence, Azuro had also tried out his new ability recently. A single drop of venom, only the size of a raindrop, directly corroded a basketball-sized pit in the ground. Even the slimes nearby died instantly just by being exposed to the lingering poisonous gas.
At that time, even Azuro was taken aback by his own toxicity. Completely unexpected, it was far more terrifying than he had imagined. Not to mention the corrosiveness, just the raw toxicity alone could kill ordinary humans on the spot within seconds.
After witnessing the power of his own toxicity, Azuro, in order to prevent annihilating all nearby slimes except himself, directly consumed all the corroded ground and also laid to rest those slimes that had been poisoned to death.
"It's time to leave. Staying here can no longer satisfy my growth needs."
The next moment, Azuro looked at a small mountain of garbage not far away. At the top was a man-sized gap—the exit from this sewer. Azuro had already discovered it two days ago, but had been too busy searching for poisonous mushrooms.
Now, the poisonous mushrooms in this sewer had been completely devoured. Even the rocks, plants, old weapons, and bones of unknown creatures had been eaten. All that remained were the walls, dirt, and filthy garbage.
In other words, in less than half a month since his birth, this sewer had been almost emptied by his bottomless Gluttony and digestive power. Unless he gave up rapid growth and chose to eat dirt, he would have to leave this place next.
In fact, Azuro had another option: devouring all the slimes here, his own kind. However, he abandoned that idea. After all, they were his own kind. If they were slimes from elsewhere, he wouldn't hesitate—but for these, he let it go.
"I'm leaving. If I have the chance in the future, I'll come back and see you."
Saying that, Azuro jumped toward the pile of garbage. His elastic body leaped to the gap in a few bounds. Finally, he looked back at his compatriots, a trace of complex emotion stirring in his heart.
In his previous life, he had been human, but now he was a slime. And the slimes below were, in a sense, his only relatives, yet he felt a strange incompatibility.
"The current me is a demon!"
The next moment, Azuro gazed at his sky-blue, jelly-like body, and his heart shifted slightly. Whatever he had been in the past, he was now just a slime. Treating himself as human because of his past life was completely impossible.
Not to mention, if humans in this world discovered him, they would kill him without hesitation. Whether their structure matched humans from his previous world was unknown.
"I'm just a slime who wants to survive!"
Finally, he looked at his carefree compatriots behind him. Azuro left the sewer where he was born. As for those slimes, it was better to let them live here. That filthy, smelly sewer, which even goblins disliked, was a paradise for weak slimes.
....
The grayish-white rock wall, devoid of color, was covered with cracks corroded by time. On the damp, slippery sewer floor, Azuro carefully moved forward. On the side, garbage and filth floated on the foul-smelling sewer water.
This was the scene Azuro saw after leaving the sewer where he was born. According to his observation, the sewer had been located downstream—a gathering place for large amounts of garbage and filth.
Precisely because of this, that foul, filthy, and even toxic place became a paradise for slimes. In that environment, besides slimes and insects, even goblins could hardly survive. After all, goblins still needed proper food.
"This is?"
Suddenly, Azuro, moving forward, heard a rustling sound from a distance. Judging by the vibrations in the air and the sound transmitted, there was clearly more than one creature. They were likely running toward Azuro.
"What exactly is it? Logically speaking, I've only just left the sewer where I was born."
Azuro looked at the approaching movement. Though doubtful, he crawled toward the corner. His liquid body squeezed into a crack, secretly sizing up the source of the sound.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
Before long, several giant rats, the size of house cats, appeared in Azuro's field of vision. Whether due to the influence of magic essence or because the sewer was ideal for rats, each of them was surprisingly fat.
The giant rats had no idea that a slime was observing them. They ran forward in panic, seemingly frightened by something, and one of the rats clearly had wounds on its body.