Outer Gods invade, stuff them all into your equipment inventory.

The underground cave was much longer than Sean had originally expected; he walked for more than twenty minutes without reaching the end.

In the widest parts, three carriages could pass at the same time, but in the narrowest parts, Sean had some difficulty walking through.

"That is to say, as a slime race, the Steel Slime does not have a fixed body shape; its body can deform and flow at will, allowing it to move freely in these complex passages..."

Sean thought to himself as he struggled to squeeze through a crevice in the rock.

This characteristic of slimes allows them to place their nests in locations inaccessible to humans or most other creatures. This in itself is an excellent form of defense.

The jagged rocks almost grazed his shoulder armor and the slime hammer on his back.

Perhaps it's because the Steel Slime frequently squeezes through these narrow passages, constantly grinding and grinding against them. The soil and rock surfaces in these areas are exceptionally hard, and the rock walls are covered with fine particles that shimmer with a dull metallic luster, scraped off from the mutated Steel Slime.

Sean stopped and carefully scraped off a small amount of the fine, shimmering metallic particles from the rock face with his fingertips, examining them closely in his palm.

The particles were very small, but extremely dense and heavy. He squeezed them hard with his fingertips, feeling their immense hardness.

"So hard... In terms of hardness alone, it's probably no less than high-quality steel."

"These particles can be used as a high-quality alternative to steel."

"This is perhaps the greatest value of this mutated steel slime..."

Ordinary steel slime's body tissue doesn't have this kind of strength.

Otherwise, the entire eastern wilderness would be teeming with adventurers hunting Iron Slimes.

"How much usable material can a mutated steel slime weighing ten tons produce?"

In that instant, Sean almost considered abandoning the idea of ​​turning the mutated Iron Slime's corpse into equipment and instead selling it directly as materials.

This is practically a mobile, high-quality ore vein. If this news were to leak out, even B-rank heroes would probably come to hunt this mutant. Sean was increasingly glad he had made the decision to hunt down this steel slime first.

If it had been a few days later, he probably wouldn't have been able to touch a single hair of the mutated Iron Slime.

After walking for another ten minutes, Sean's view suddenly changed.

"This...this is..."

This cavern actually connects to an extremely spacious underground space.

Unlike the previous passage, this is a huge, surprisingly spacious cavern.

The cave ceiling is over ten meters high and is exceptionally spacious.

What is most awe-inspiring is not the space itself.

In the center of the cave, a distinct silvery-gray metallic vein can be seen by the faint light emitted from the glowing minerals on the rock walls.

Vast mineral veins emerge from underground, meandering and occupying most of the cave.

The surface of the ore vein is covered with rough crystalline surfaces, emitting a cool luster characteristic of metal.

Sean's target for this trip—the high-risk mutant Iron Slime—was currently lying quietly on the section of the metal vein where the ore was most concentrated.

Its enormous body, composed of metal particles, has now shrunk into a rather irregular, huge metal "droplet" with a diameter of more than two meters.

It remained quietly attached to the mineral vein, its body rising and falling slightly with the flow of internal energy.

"Finally found it!"

Sean held his breath.

He finally understood why this steel slime had mutated.

Such a large and obviously high-quality natural metal vein.

For a metal slime that feeds on metal, this is practically an inexhaustible "super buffet".

It doesn't need to go out and hunt hard; it can simply lie here and continuously absorb and assimilate the metallic substances in the ore vein.

By absorbing metals to continuously strengthen itself, it accumulates the vast resources needed for evolution and gains immense power.

"Looks like I was wrong before..."

The reason this steel slime left this place and went outside was not for hunting or prey.

With such a large mineral vein, how could it possibly lack food?

I was just so full that I went out for a walk four times to digest my food.

"And while I'm at it, I'll have two more 'Hero's' to change things up..."

After eating too much meat, I sometimes crave some light porridge and side dishes, or even a snack.

"Thank goodness..."

If this steel slime hadn't been so restless and wandered around, prematurely exposing its whereabouts and being captured by the Hero Association's intelligence network...

"If we let it lie dormant here quietly, completely digesting and absorbing this entire metal vein..."

Sean couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"By then, its accumulated foundation will be unimaginably profound."

This might be enough to cause a qualitative change, evolving into a powerful golden slime, and even potentially breaking through the threshold of a diamond slime!

If that's the case, then any hero who encounters this place in the area surrounding Settlement No. 13 will only face certain death.

Even the entire Thirteenth Settlement risks being destroyed as a result.

"This story teaches us to stay calm and not be reckless!"

"When you're developing, you should just stay put and develop quietly, and never get carried away."

"Otherwise, even with a cheat code, there's only one way out: death."

This is the foreshadowing.

Sean silently warned himself.

"Good news—the high-risk mutant Iron Slime is indeed asleep, and sleeping very soundly."

"Bad news—this steel slime is bigger than we thought."

Sean had previously guessed that the Iron Slime weighed about ten tons.

But now it seems that it might not even be able to handle thirty tons.

The greater the weight, the greater the strength, defense, and kinetic energy generated by the impact of this steel slime, all of which far exceeded his initial estimates.

The risk factor for engaging in combat suddenly skyrocketed.

The urge to retreat was hard to suppress rising in Sean's heart.

However, it only lasted for a few seconds.

"The higher the risk, the bigger the fish... and the stronger it is, the more valuable the 'remains' you can obtain after killing it!"

Sean's gaze hardened again, becoming even more intense.

"This steel slime is strong, but I'm not weak either."

With a Strength attribute of 54 points, it possesses powerful skills granted by the Elite Fallen Body and Gel Slime Body.

"And all this gear I'm wearing!"

Isn't it just an exceptionally heavy mutant steel slime?

"I can totally eat it!"

"The hunting plan... continues!"

"Beat it up!"

He took a deep breath, completely dispelling the last trace of hesitation.

Sean lowered his body even further, looking like a cheetah poised to pounce. Sometime during the night, he had taken the Slime Hammer from his back and was now holding it in both hands in front of him.

His gaze was fixed on the sleeping metal behemoth, and he began to slowly approach it with the slightest movement.

A thunderous strike is about to erupt.