Slime Immortal.

Chapter 156 Seed Reappears
With Calvin's defeat and capture, the remaining Blackfang mercenaries completely lost their will to fight, discarding their weapons and crouching on the ground dejectedly, accepting their fate of defeat.

The war is finally over.

After taking stock, the elite regiment, originally composed of fifty men, now had fewer than ten prisoners left. Some had died in battle, and some mercenaries had even taken advantage of the chaos to escape.

Most of the mercenaries who managed to escape the battlefield were agile, lightly armed rangers and assassins. The remaining heavily armored warriors and mages suffered heavy casualties and were unable to escape the repeated bombardments from the artillery and the suicide bee soldiers. They had no choice but to surrender on the spot.

Chen Yu's losses were also considerable. More than fifty Stinger Bees were lost, two Goblin Ripper cannon arrays were severely damaged and required major repairs, and half of the stored magic leaves were used up.

Although some stinging bees carried magical leaves for defense, they could easily be overwhelmed by concentrated fire if logistical support was even slightly slowed down in the face of the mercenary group's magical firepower.

However, considering the elite status of this mercenary group—its equipment and combat power even surpass those of most kingdom lords' regular armies—the cost of achieving such a victory is within an acceptable range.

Moreover, not only did they manage to defend it, but the main body of the city wall also miraculously remained intact, with only some parts damaged.

Just then, Little Ka flapped its wings and flew back from the forest. Although it looked a little listless, it was fine.

Behind it, the little earth elementals hopped and skipped along, and the short, stocky figure of the anvil also appeared at the edge of the battlefield.

"Hahaha, Your Majesty is mighty!" Iron Anvil walked over carrying his great hammer, his hearty laughter breaking the silence of the battlefield.

The little earth elements chimed in, boasting about how many cannons they had fired and how fast they had run.

Seeing this, Iselin finally relaxed completely, put down the staff she had been holding tightly, carefully held Chen Yu, and slowly floated down from the city wall to the battlefield.

Arthur led Calvin over and asked, "Your Majesty, what should be done with these prisoners?"

Chen Yu thought for a moment: "It won't do to just let them go back and report. Let's temporarily detain them in the prisoner camp and let them contribute to the construction of the territory."

After he finished speaking, his gaze fell on Arthur.

-

Reputation Title: Frostwolf Sanctuary

Acquisition Requirements: A humanoid creature (Knight/Warrior/Barbarian, etc.) whose primary attribute is Strength. They must hone their physique in the extreme cold of snow, conquer the snow wolf pack with pure strength and win their respect, and finally comprehend the true meaning of the coldness and resilience of ice and snow in the winter storm.

Title effect:

1. Reputation Mark: The name "Frostwolf's Protection" will be sung among strength-based professions, inspiring awe and recognition for survivors of extreme conditions.

2. Wolf Spirit Summoning: Can summon the spirit of the Frostwolf to fight alongside you (duration and intensity depend on the user's willpower). The wolf spirit possesses the power to track and tear.

3. Frost Forged Form: Can use willpower to condense the frost and cold in the air and create a temporary weapon made of solid ice with bare hands. It can cause additional frost damage and release a small-area freezing air impact when it shatters.

Note: This is not forging, but rather the will that compels the frost to submit and take shape. The wolf pack bows its head, the ice prostrates itself—both are testaments to the strength and conviction of winter.

-

He suddenly became curious, "Arthur, just how many trials have you passed?"

Arthur hesitated, "If there are no other forgotten trials, there should be four—Knight, Frostwolf, Deadfire, and Steelbody."

Huh?
Are there really such big differences between the four trials?

After thinking for a moment, his gel-like body swayed slightly, shaking off his irrelevant thoughts, and he revealed an expectant look. "Take a look, what have these guys left us?"

The anvil immediately sprang into action, calling out to the little earth elementals: "Kids, get to work! Find all the valuable things you see."

The little earth elementals immediately scattered like freed groundhogs, struggling to squeeze into the backpacks and pockets discarded by the mercenaries, taking out their contents one by one.

"Hey, this scroll looks pretty good!"

"Gold coins! So many gold coins!"

"What does this medicine taste like? Let me try it... Ugh! It tastes awful!"

Wow! This gem is so sparkly!

They brought out all the loot they had plundered, including but not limited to bags of gold coins, bloody scrolls with various effects, healing potions, antidotes, magic gems, spare weapon parts, and even some rations and personal belongings.

Then they were placed on the broad carapaces of the beetle engineers who came to help with the transport, and they carried them back to the fortress warehouse in trip after trip.

"You! Yes, it's you! What are you doing hiding your hands behind your back? Hand them over!" Iron Anvil glared at a mercenary whose eyes were darting around.

The mercenary's face turned bright red, and after fidgeting for a long time, he slowly pulled out a... crumpled pair of underwear from behind his back.

The other prisoners around them quietly moved a little further away without making a sound.

Iron Anvil's beard bristled, his expression turned strange, and in the end he just waved his hand dismissively: "Go away, you can keep this thing yourself."

Soon, the spoils piled up into several small mountains in the center of the open space: glittering coins, scrolls and potions, and excellent weapons and equipment... a dazzling sight.

This gain was quite substantial, enough to make up for most of the losses, and even leave a surplus.

At that moment, Arthur came over and handed him a seed that was carefully preserved in a special metal box.

"Your Majesty, the scent we found on the mercenary is very similar to the one from last time, but there are also some differences."

"These seeds again?" Chen Yu asked curiously as he took one. He could sense that the peculiar life force contained within it was similar to the last one, but the frequency of its fluctuations was slightly different.

He tried to devour it.

[Devour and Digestion Lv.7 Triggered - Recorded ??? Trait, Talent in Development (2/3).]

It really is the same thing.

Unfortunately, we were just one short.

He glanced at Calvin, who was tied up to the side with a blank expression, then at Arthur, and asked curiously, "Judging from your conversation just now, this guy used to be your friend?"

Arthur paused for a moment before replying, "We were knights who trained together, friends, rivals, and now enemies."

Upon hearing this, Calvin raised his head, his face displaying the calm of a loser and the pride of a knight: "A bet is a bet. If you want to kill me, then so be it."

Chen Yu ordered, "Take him back to the fortress and lock him up alone. I still have some questions to ask him. All the other prisoners are to be sent to the prisoner camp and kept under strict guard. We will start arranging labor for them tomorrow."

He knew that ropes alone wouldn't be enough to restrain the knight, and Arthur would have to keep an eye on him alone.

“Yes.” Arthur nodded and led Calvin toward the fortress.

The other prisoners, under the close watch of the stinging wasps, dejectedly moved toward the prisoner camp.

Meanwhile, slime engineers were busy repairing the damaged walls and cannons, while other slimes helped clean up the bloodstains and filth on the battlefield, and beetles were carrying building materials... The territory was rapidly returning to order.

Iselin walked up to Chen Yu, gave an elegant bow, and said solemnly, "Lord Slime, after this battle, I have personally witnessed the strength and potential of your kingdom."

“I, Iselin Moonlight, on behalf of Lord Viola and the Root Forest, formally agree to form an alliance with the Slime Kingdom.”

"From this day forward, the Treant Territory will provide your country with a stable and sufficient supply of food to support your military operations and future development."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu's small eyes lit up immediately. "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you!"

Previously, the number of Stinging Bees could not be expanded on a large scale due to limited food production capacity. Now, with the Treant Territory as a "granary" as a backing, they can finally mass produce troops.

It is foreseeable that the territory will experience rapid development in the near future. At the very least, the expansion of the territory's territory can begin now.

His mind began to race, and he started planning for the future.

“The Western Swamp…and even deeper into the underground city…it’s time to bring them all under our control and begin the third phase of the project.”

The western swamp is much larger than the eastern swamp, rich in resources, and farther from the border of the White Horse Kingdom, giving it greater strategic depth.

As long as the threat from the goblin army in the south can be effectively defended, that place will be the ideal location to build the true capital of the Slime Kingdom.

How can a true kingdom be without a magnificent capital city befitting its power?

Afterwards, Iserline bid farewell to Chen Yu, citing the need to return to the Treant Territory as soon as possible to guard against possible retaliation from the Black Fang Mercenary Group.

They came as an inspection team, but left with a small aid force.

Peggy led the way, huffing and puffing, while Little Ka flew low to scout ahead, followed by dozens of elite stinging wasps and a beetle transport team carrying some strategic supplies.

They will return to the tree spirit territory with the elf gates to help them strengthen the territory's defenses.

Iselin promised that once settled, she would immediately arrange for an elven team to deliver the first batch of food the next day to support the Slime Territory's military expansion plan.

On the other side, the little earth elementals were clamoring, "Ore! We're hungry! Time to eat!" as they dragged the still-unsatisfied anvil back to the obsidian mine.

After the battlefield experience, he found that the earth elemental giant was indeed as agile as expected, but the firepower of the artillery array was slightly lacking.

We can go back and continue to debug and improve it, try to install more cannons, or find a way to improve the power of the artillery array...

Chen Yu watched them leave one after another, and the once noisy fortress suddenly became much quieter.

He suddenly remembered that Earl Bran, that chatterbox, was usually around, but he didn't know where the guy had gone to pick up treasures and hadn't returned yet.

He strained, and gel wings sprouted from his sides, fluttering as he flew back to the castle tree hall.

As soon as they landed, Slime Mom hopped over with concern, while the Slimes, who had been waiting for a long time, happily rushed over, jumping and making "splat splat" sounds to celebrate their victory.

Even the usually quiet little flowers seemed more cheerful than usual.

Chen Yu glanced at the little guys and was pleased to find that his territory had unknowingly gained more than a dozen slime scholars.

Some slime engineers even earned the title of "Slime Craftsman," which grants them a special bonus to reflected damage against constructed structures, though it's a low 4%.

After calming the excited little ones down, Arthur quickly led the silent Calvin to the Tree Hall.

Calvin's gaze swept over everything in the Tree Hall. Although he was shocked by the level of civilization of these monsters, he showed no emotion on his face and maintained the cold and hard demeanor of a defeated general.

He simply sat down silently in front of the green slime that looked like the leader.

Before Chen Yu could speak, Calvin broke the silence and asked directly, "What do you want to know? The Black Fang Mercenary Group's deployment, their resource points, or some other intelligence?"

At Chen Yu's prompting, Arthur placed a pea-sized amount of gel behind Calvin's ear.

Immediately afterwards, Calvin was surprised to find that a soft, jelly-like voice rang out directly in his mind.

"I thought you would show loyalty to the Black Fang Mercenary Group and choose to say nothing."

This slime can actually talk, amazing... Now I can understand his submission to Arthur a little better.

He smirked and said indifferently, "Loyalty? No, I have no feelings for the Black Fang Mercenary Group whatsoever; it's just a matter of mutual exploitation."

“They provided me with shelter, allowing me to evade the border guards, and I, in return, provided them with the force of elite professionals, nothing more.”

"Nine and a half out of ten mercenaries come here for gold coins, and I'm no exception."

"Gold coins? Do you really need gold coins?" Chen Yu asked curiously.

Calvin lowered his head, revealing a weary expression.

"I'm tired of living on the run. This mission is to completely abandon my identity as a knight, forget all the truth, leave the kingdom's borders, leave this quagmire of the Underdark, and go to a small country in the south to buy a small manor and live out the rest of my life in peace."

He paused, his tone tinged with self-deprecation, "But in the end... I still couldn't get what I wanted, and instead I fell into the hands of my former rival."

As he spoke, he glanced at Arthur, who stood beside him like an iron tower.

Chen Yu was very interested in their past and wanted to know what exactly happened back then that caused Arthur to become a ghost.

Arthur spoke slowly, his soul fire steady: "My memory is very vague... I only remember that Calvin and I were stationed in Ironboot Town at the time. Later, we took on a mission and left Ironboot Town for the outpost ruins."

He paused, the skull head shaking slightly. "As for what happened after that... I have no memory of it."

Calvin grunted, "You'll be relieved to be dead. As for me, I've been hiding for so many years."

“I advised you before that you shouldn’t follow those knights in the name of justice. You’ve exposed the dirty deeds of those big shots in the border garrison. How could they possibly let you off the hook?”

"You mean... Arthur was killed by the border guards?" Chen Yu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes and no."

He took a deep breath. "To be precise, they are the devil's minions."

"I clearly remember that day was very hot and humid, with continuous rain."

"We received a distress call from the Adventurers' Hall at the Cados Chapel in Ironboot Town. Our mission is to investigate the unusual magical fluctuations near the outpost ruins and rescue the adventurers who have strayed inside."

"The mission went smoothly at first, until we unexpectedly encountered a group of border guard knights deep in the ruins who were supposed to be patrolling the border defense line."

"They were acting suspiciously, making a deal with a group of mercenaries who were clearly not good people."

“We secretly followed them all the way and found that the mercenaries eventually transported the goods into the outpost camp set up by the goblin army. Moreover, the goblins seemed to be used to it, and there were even some minor leaders who came out to meet them.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur's soulfire flickered violently: "You mean... the border guards have knights who are colluding with the goblin army, but what does that have to do with the demons you mentioned?"

"Of course it can't be as simple as collusion. The reason why the goblin army has been able to thrive and grow in the obsidian mining area for so long, and even assemble into such a large army, is that it is inseparable from the support of that great demon."

His expression became more serious than ever before.

"Continue westward through the Dark Lands and enter the only plain valley in the mountains. There, you will find magnificent ruins left by an ancient empire and gold and silver treasures everywhere. Therefore, this plain is also known by adventurers as the 'Golden Valley,' meaning a place where gold coins shine."

"And in the shadows of this valley flowing with gold and silver, there dwells more than one powerful evil being, among whom is a great demon who has successfully smuggled himself from Hell to the material plane—'Lord of the Furnace' Kasarik."

"I have very little information about this great demon, except that his form resembles the remains of a giant that has been thrown into a furnace, repeatedly forged and twisted and reshaped."

"His huge horns on his head were curved like a ram's, and his skin was cool, cracked obsidian with an inextinguishable flame spewing from the cracks. Every breath he took brought out sparks and ash that smelled of sulfur."

"Kassarik is adept at manipulating the flames of evil, igniting the ambition, greed, and envy of his targets, causing them to self-destruct from within."

"Like many lords of hell, he is a master of seduction and deception, adept at designing textual traps to lure mortals into the abyss with seemingly fair deals, ultimately filling their souls into his burning furnace as fuel and currency."

"He controls the legion's goblins, making them mine oresite gems at the Rift Pass year-round, and handing over most of them to be transported to the Golden Valley, but the ordinary goblins seem unaware of this; he is very well hidden."

"If Arthur and I hadn't happened to witness that transaction, we would never have imagined that there were knights in the legion whose souls had been enslaved by demons."

(End of this chapter)