Slime Immortal.

Chapter 198 Child Trafficking, You're Finished
Nelly's suspicious voice came through, "Hey, you're not thinking of some plan to betray your allies, are you?"

Chen Yu remained as calm as an ice hockey puck.

"Of course not. Dealing with these goblins is simple. We just need to set up defenses along the edge of the fluorescent forest."

“That’s it?” Nelly said, somewhat disappointed.

"I thought you'd have some good suggestions."

"You should have seen the terrain over there in the fluorescent forest. Apart from the rocks that are everywhere, there is almost no natural terrain that can effectively stop the tidal wave of attacks from those green-skinned guys."

Chen Yu instinctively wanted to jump up and down, but found his body stiff and unable to move, so he simply said:

"If we don't have one, we'll build one. Before the goblin army invades, we'll choose a suitable location on the edge of the forest and build a strong bridgehead specifically to defend against and wear down the goblin attacks."

Nelly, who was far away, couldn't help but poke his clone, sending the sensation back to him. "That's easy for you to say. We Stoneborn have been passing down the Way of the Shadows and the skills of assassins for generations, not bricklayers and engineers."

“Auntie, I’m good at digging traps and hiding sentries, but I can’t do this kind of work of building walls and bricks and constructing large defensive fortifications. Since you said so, you must have a way. Tell me quickly.”

Chen Yu suppressed his instinct to jump around, "The Stone Race isn't good at it, but we Slimes are."

"If our allies are generous enough, our Slime Kingdom is willing to provide military assistance to Stone Castle and send our architects to help you build a solid defensive line on the edge of the Fluorescent Forest."

"Well, so that's what you were after." Nelly's shadow flickered, as if she had already seen through him.

But instead of refusing outright, she said in a sly tone, "However... if you really have the ability and are willing to help stop those annoying green-skinned guys, I can try to persuade those old guys in the family who are more stubborn than stone to make an exception and allow the Slime Kingdom's army to enter and garrison in Gore to assist in the defense."

"How about it? Aren't you tempted? This is a rare instance of trust that we, the Shi Yi, extend to outsiders." Her tone was full of allure.

Chen Yu remained completely unmoved.

Although I don't know why she agreed so readily this time, it's obvious that this guy probably wants to get something for free again.

He gestured to the little card next to him and patted the shadow cast by Nelly with his paw to express his dissatisfaction.

"This time, payment must be made."

Chen Yu emphasized: "Our army is taking a huge risk by entering Gore through unstable dimensional rifts. It is easy for accidents to happen during the teleportation process or for our whereabouts to be exposed in advance."

"I won't do it without pay."

Nelly's shadow shrugged, her tone innocent: "Okay, okay, let's talk about compensation then."

"So, dear Slime Lord, what do you need? Let me make it clear beforehand, our Stone Castle is very poor. We have no gold coins, and we probably won't be able to get any magical materials either."

Chen Yu was prepared and asked directly, "The corpses of shadow creatures. I need a lot of shadow creature corpses. Do you have a way to get them?"

Nelly's shadow paused, her voice tinged with confusion: "The corpse of a shadow creature? What do you need that for, to refine illusion potions, or to grind shadow dust?"

"As far as I know, apart from some unorthodox necromancy and special alchemy, this thing is not very useful and is also very troublesome to deal with."

"This is a secret of the Slime Kingdom, I can't tell you," Chen Yu said matter-of-factly.

Of course it's a secret; I can't exactly tell her that the king of the Slime Kingdom is a glutton.

Nelly thought for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons carefully, and finally said, "Okay, we will try our best to collect them."

"However, you need to act quickly, because no one knows when those goblins will suddenly attack."

"Pleasant to work with."

"Pleasant to work with."

After Chen Yu and Nili finalized the details of their cooperation, the shadowy creature vanished in a flash, leaving Arno behind.

He hurriedly informed him of the outcome of his meeting with the ancestors of the Shi family the previous day.

"In fact, there is no clear record of how to command the gargoyle army, even in the traditions passed down from our ancestors."

“Castor’s ancestors ventured deep into the gargoyle lair in the heart of Gol when the family faced a life-or-death crisis.”

"No one knows what happened. When he returned, he had already ascended to the transcendent and led the subjugated gargoyle army to turn the tide of the battle."

Arno concluded, "Therefore, if one wants to uncover this secret, all the later Stoneborn must personally venture into the depths of Gor and retrace the path that the Grand Duke once walked before they might find the answer."

Chen Yu was taken aback upon hearing this.

These Stoneborn themselves were unaware of the trials that would lead to becoming Grand Dukes.
No wonder they have strictly followed the path of the Shadow Assassin for so long; they were afraid of missing a certain necessary condition and failing the trial.

Since Grand Duke Castor, the Stoneborn have indeed failed to produce a second Grand Duke.

"What are your thoughts?" Chen Yu asked.

Arno took a deep breath. "I want to give it a try."

"To this day, no Shadow Assassin has been able to successfully recreate the Grand Duke's trial. I think perhaps the profession of assassin is not a necessary ritual."

"As a Stoneborn Knight, perhaps I also have the opportunity to touch this power."

Chen Yu patted Arno's shadow: "This doesn't sound like something you would normally say. Don't forget, your family is still waiting for you to return safely to the White Horse Kingdom."

"When I conquer the Underdark and blow up the gargoyles' lair, I'll help you find a way to become a Grand Duke. Why take this risk?"

Arno was somewhat touched that his boss still cared about him as always, but he still insisted, "If a fledgling bird always hides under its parents' wings, it will never become an eagle soaring in the sky."

“I can’t spend my whole life running away and retreating. I want to become a true knight and embark on the heroic path of Atlas, the ‘North Wind Sword Saint’ sung about in epic ballads. I must move forward and face the challenges head-on. No one can help me.”

"With my current strength, I believe I am qualified to pursue that dream I once had. If I back down now because of fear of risk, I might... regret it for the rest of my life."

His voice lowered, filled with resolve: "Actually, I've been struggling with this decision for a long time. If I don't come back in the end, please... take good care of Laura and the children for me."

Okay, Chen Yu admits that he underestimated Arno.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly simple and family-oriented middle-aged man harbors such great determination and courage deep within his heart.

Back then, he was forced to withdraw from the Cavaliers training camp due to petrification syndrome. How much of his life that should have been his was taken away?

Moreover, the reason a trial is called a trial is that it is a challenge of constantly climbing upwards and facing difficulties head-on.

Perhaps it would be nice for Arno to be a stay-at-home dad, but it would be better to be an epic knight hailed as a hero.

"Since you've made up your mind, then go. Remember to bring my clone with you; it might be of help in a critical moment, or at least it will let me know your situation."

To be honest, with Arno's current strength as an elite professional, he could easily handle even the gargoyles that once forced him to flee.

His Stoneblood grants him immunity to petrification, and he possesses the strength of a knight and the agility of a shadow assassin—he was practically born to hunt gargoyles.

Perhaps Arno's mission deep into Gore this time was not as dangerous as he thought.

But it's always better to do more preparation.

"It's not too late to set off after the Kingdom Legion arrives in Gore and brings the things I've prepared."

"What did you prepare?" Arno was a little confused.

……

The loyal Peggy was left to continue guarding the dimensional rift and keeping an eye on the goblins' movements.

The orange-red sunset cast a soft glow on their returning figures. Chen Yu, riding his little truck, arrived back at the swamp fortress just as dusk fell. He had barely jumped off the truck when he heard Little Flower bouncing over to report the good news.

Although they couldn't find the blood-sucking bee the queen had mentioned, they did find a fat mosquito that liked to store blood.

After consuming all the magical organs, the panel changed.

[Devour and Digestion Lv.7 Triggered - Some characteristics of the Vampire Mosquito have been recorded, and the talent "Blood Storage Lv.3" has been obtained.]

That's right, it's this talent.

Chen Yu couldn't wait to feed the talent ball to the queen bee, and under the effect of "rapid reproduction", the first blood-sucking bee was born when night fell.

It flapped its blood-red wings and emerged from its nest, curiously gazing at the moon overhead, which radiated a cool, clear light.

Then it flew to Chen Yu, bowed its head respectfully, and gently rubbed the gel with its forelimbs as a sign of respect.

Unlike other stinging bees, this blood-sucking bee possesses auxiliary talents such as "tough carapace," "blood regeneration," "blood storage," and "blood baptism," completely abandoning all offensive methods. Its tail also looks much larger than that of ordinary stinging bees, making it less convenient to move around.

As the core spring of the Blood Legion, the only function of the Bloodsucking Poison Bee is to "transfuse blood" to other poison bees, while attack and defense are left to the Blood Poison Bees in the legion.

In just half a day, the number of Blood Poison Bees had reached fifty, all equipped with "Tough Shell", "Blood Recovery", "Blood Energy" and "Blood Frenzy".

It is expected that the Blood Legion will be able to form a considerable size and have initial combat capability in a few days.

As the first independent legion in the Stinger Bee Swarm, Chen Yu decided to hand over the management of the legion to Beetroot.

As the wisest among the stinging bees, Beetroot awakened its water manipulation abilities early on, making it one of the best among the silver monsters.

However, cultivation is not something that can be accomplished overnight, so he planned to help it become a qualified legion commander more quickly.

His command, sent through the gel network, quickly brought back the beetroot.

"king."

Beetroot approached him respectfully and performed the unique friction ritual of stinging wasps.

"See these stinging bees? From now on, you will be the commander of the Blood Legion."

"Commander?" Beetroot was a little confused, but the king's order was an order, and it nodded immediately.

Then he absorbed the vampire talent orb given to him by Chen Yu.

In an instant, the black venomous bee underwent a tremendous transformation, not only growing larger but also developing mysterious blood patterns on its black carapace.

"Hmm, that's strange?" Chen Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.

He hadn't expected the beet to change so much; it seemed quite different from ordinary blood bees.

Seemingly in response to the king's confusion, Beetroot tilted its head and pondered for a moment. With a flick of its limbs, blood-red light shone from its wings, seeping out and condensing into a blood spear which it then launched.

[Water Control Divine Power]

[Blood Energy]

[Magic Explosion]

"call out!"

The blood spear flew through the air and landed on an open ground ten meters away.

"Snapped!"

The violent magical explosion blasted a crater in the ground, and blood splattered out as if it were alive.

It was as if a blood-red spider lily was blooming under the moonlight, its dark red blood etching mysterious patterns on the ground.

With an effective range of nearly ten meters, its power is far more terrifying than a simple magic explosion, and it can also cause widespread corrosive damage. This is even more powerful than the vampire magic cast by the vampire himself.

"Beetroot, you've become even more vampire-like than a vampire!" Chen Yu jumped up in surprise.

Beetroot tilted its head, seemingly pondering the meaning behind Wang's ingenious metaphor.

Chen Yu said with satisfaction, "Very good, as expected of the commander of the Blood Legion. Our Stoneborn allies need assistance, so you should lead the legion there to test the legion's strength."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Beetroot's serious voice came through the gel communicator, and then he led more than fifty Legion Bees to training.

The night passed quickly.

The next morning, Chen Yu dispatched the Blood Legion as guards to escort the supplies and the Slime Architect through the rift in the Ice Elemental Plane, embarking on their journey to Gore.

Under the cover of the Stoneborn Shadows, the team successfully traversed the unstable rift, entered Gore, and headed towards the Fluorescent Forest.

Chen Yu originally planned to go and take a look after the legion entered Gore, and also to conduct an on-site investigation of the terrain of the fluorescent forest in order to better plan the defensive fortifications.

But before he could leave, the trading caravan led by Iron Anvil and Turck returned ahead of schedule.

He had expected to hear good news about purchasing enchanted equipment, but instead saw the anvil immediately jump down from the carriage.
His rugged face was filled with panic. He ran up to Chen Yu, panting, and shouted:

"Your Majesty, we're doomed! This is a terrible disaster!"

This was the first time Chen Yu had ever seen the dwarf blacksmith look so flustered, and his round body involuntarily tensed up.

"What happened? Did the slime that was with the group accidentally get exposed in a human town?"

"No! It has nothing to do with slimes."

Iron Anvil hurriedly waved his hand, swallowed hard, and said with difficulty, "Yes, it's us...we found a child!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yu's previously tense gel body instantly relaxed, leaving him speechless and bubbling with frustration.

"Is that all? You just found a lost human child. You could have just handed him over to the guards or the church in Iron Boots. Why are you so scared?"

He thought it was some earth-shattering event.

"Oh dear, Your Majesty, it's not what you think."

"Never mind, please save me first, this matter... it's inexplicable!" The anvil stamped its feet in frustration.

After saying that, he turned around helplessly, revealing his broad and thick back.

Chen Yu then noticed that there was a little girl lying behind the anvil.

She was about seven or eight years old, with a delicate face like a porcelain doll meticulously sculpted by an elven craftsman, still covered in a little mud.

What is most striking is her pair of slightly pointed ears that naturally protrude from her black hair, which are the most distinctive mark of an elf.

At that moment, her little hands gripped the straps of the anvil apron tightly, as if it were her only lifeline.

Upon seeing Chen Yu, her little ears twitched, and then she stared at him nervously with her clear, azure eyes, like those of a newly formed lake, her gaze filled with both wariness and a hint of curiosity.

The moment Chen Yu saw the little girl, the entire slime froze, its round eyes widening in surprise.

A spirit or elf child?
Anvil, you rascal... you went to a human town to do trade, and ended up bringing back an elf?!
"Child trafficking? Anvil, you're finished."

(End of this chapter)