Chapter 541, Section 540: The Fifth Level of the Scarecrow Abyss
Scarecrow Abyss, the fourth layer of overlapping space, the Forgotten Mansion.
The long corridor appeared dim and decaying in the candlelight.
The space is filled with an invisible yet extremely concentrated corrosive curse. Ordinary people without protection cannot even last half a minute here before they are corroded into a pile of rotten flesh.
What's even more frightening are the scarecrow guards in tuxedos at the mansion, along with their subordinate monster servants, not to mention the most terrifying butler in the mansion.
Even true powerhouses must be careful. If they get entangled with the guards and attract the attention of the Scarecrow Butler, it's not uncommon for a Hall of Fame level expert to die here.
However, at this moment, the scarecrow guards, dressed in black tailcoats that were completely out of place with their straw bodies, had lost their threat.
They lay sprawled and crooked at the base of the walls and in the corridors in various incomplete and broken postures.
The terrible corrosive curse still lingered in the air, but to the victors in the mansion at this moment, it seemed to be nothing more than a seasoning that added flavor.
*Kiss...Kiss...*
Red and green slimes hopped and skipped happily in the corridor.
They completely ignored the curse and gathered around the remains of the scarecrows, digesting the vile grass that made up their bodies.
These slimes were originally confined to the Lost Manor on the third level, acting as watchdogs, but now they have turned on their master and even won.
Hollow, flowing figures walked rhythmically through the corridor.
His body was composed of a constantly flowing gelatinous liquid, maintaining a human-like outline and even wearing clothes, but his insides were empty, with magical aura occasionally flowing through him.
He casually held the remains of the scarecrow butler in one of his hands, which was made of sap. The lower half of the remains had disappeared, and the edges were being slowly digested by the sap-filled hand, turning into pure energy.
A red and green slime was perched on his shoulder, and the slimes currently feasting in the corridor were all its offspring.
As the slime-like figure passed by, the slimes that were feeding on both sides of the corridor abandoned the partially digested remains of the scarecrow beneath them and hopped and skipped into the following group.
Then, a magical resonance rippled between them, and the slimes gradually merged into one.
When the slime-man arrived at the door of the study at the deepest part of the mansion, the slimes behind it had merged into a giant python that almost filled half of the corridor.
Upon entering the room, the bookshelves were not filled with books, but rather with bundles of weeds, as if there was nothing else worth exploring in the entire forgotten mansion.
This is indeed the case for the vast majority of adventurers who venture into this place.
But the visitors knew that this underground city had a fifth layer of overlapping space.
A magical glow emanated from the forehead of the man with the flowing fluid, and a hidden magic lock appeared on the bookshelf.
Just as the man with the flowing fluid raised his arm, preparing to touch and unlock the intricate magic lock, his movement suddenly stopped.
After a while, it slowly lowered its arm, temporarily putting the matter of unlocking it out of its mind, turned around and sat on the only chair in the study, remaining in a state of deep thought and falling into silence.
The giant slime python obediently coiled up and remained motionless, while the two-colored slime seemed somewhat impatient, jumping back and forth between the man's shoulders and head.
After a long while, the man who was oozing liquid, or rather the demon king, came to his senses.
Just now, the slime he was remotely controlling was surrounded by three Puji and stomped to death in an extremely humiliating way.
The malice contained within was conveyed without any attempt to conceal it, leaving him somewhat puzzled—what grudge could there be?
That slime was originally meant for him to gather intelligence and monitor the movements of the Crossing Death.
Even though the organization with a true god behind it is not powerful, its intelligence is given higher priority than the Empire's intelligence.
Unexpectedly, the slime suffered an undeserved misfortune, running into...
"Pfft..."
He had naturally observed this thing secretly, but he had never been able to figure out how it existed.
He has a far greater understanding of the world than ordinary people. Therefore, the existence of Puji, which ordinary people have accepted and even become accustomed to, is almost incomprehensible to him.
These Puji clearly possess a unified will; they may be the Mushroom Clan, or there may be beings even above the Mushroom Clan.
But this still doesn't explain why they are so large in scale and so...homogeneous in structure.
Even the Qis, which is most similar in form to it in my memory, has an astonishing number of them, which is based on the premise that the ocellus is the core control node.
For Keith, the ogre is the true extension of its will, and its number is extremely limited. Ordinary Keith individuals separated from the ogre, no matter how strong they are, are nothing more than mindless zombies lacking instinct and autonomy, and cannot be considered complete lives.
But Puji is different; each one is complete.
What puzzled him even more was that they did not contain false souls, but real souls.
This is not surprising when it happens to independent life forms with their own will, but Puji happen to be a gregarious species...
It's as if all the Puji are actually one individual, sharing a single, enormous soul.
This inference is utterly absurd.
Its absurdity is comparable to calculating running speed and arriving at a result that exceeds the speed of light.
The Demon King had a vague premonition that these poops might become stumbling blocks in his plans in the future.
Therefore, when the time is right, he intends to investigate the secrets behind it.
Of course, the most important thing right now is to restore our strength as soon as possible, at least to the point where we can protect ourselves.
A pseudo-foot emerged from its body and touched the magic lock.
Just two seconds.
The complex magic lock was easily unlocked.
The surrounding space then blurred, and he and the slime fell again, arriving at the true core of the Scarecrow Abyss.
There is no light here, only pure darkness that devours all vision.
“You… shouldn’t have come here now.” A hoarse, withered voice came from the depths of darkness, echoing in the pitch-black space. “The three hundred and thirty-three-year deadline hasn’t expired yet.”
"Plans never keep up with changes," the Demon King's voice came from the liquid body, peaceful and wise. "Because of some unexpected events, I came out ahead of schedule."
"An agreement is an agreement! The deadline hasn't passed yet, so even if you were a party to the agreement, you have no right to set foot here! Leave!"
In the darkness, countless dark purple points of light lit up one by one; they were eyes, densely packed and layered, each one filled with evil.
Under the reflection of dark purple eyes, the body of a huge monster made of weeds was faintly visible.
“I know,” the Demon King was not surprised by this development, otherwise he would not have needed to create that giant slime python. “It’s really pathetic. No matter how well you simulate thoughts and reactions, a false soul is still a false soul and can never give birth to a true self.”
The giant slime serpent lunged forward, and the radiance of magic converged within the demon king's translucent body.
The dark core space was quickly filled with surging magic and terrifying screams.
(End of this chapter)
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