Chapter 359 : Cooperating Partners
With Suling's command, Senior Luozhi Sheng's slime was first to rush out!
This was a brown slime that, although unremarkable in appearance, was the strongest in overall ability among all the slimes.
It was very obedient to commands. Wherever the master's whistle and flag pointed, it would jump. Even when obstacles appeared on the path, it could push through directly with its sturdy body.
Beside the brown slime was an orange slime.
And this slime looked even more amazing.
Its luster was crystal clear, like a walking orange gemstone. Even though its master (Yicheng) had never issued any commands, it would cleverly cross obstacles and continue forward.
"Senior Yicheng, excellent, we're in first place."
"Mm, keep up the good work."
......
......
This was the first tier, with Senior Yicheng and Luozhi Sheng in the lead.
Following closely behind them?
Were Bai Ye and Zhou Mixue.
Zhou Mixue's slime was light pink, like a peach-flavored Hi-Chew candy, looking extremely delicious!
Bai Ye's slime was dark green, not transparent... but it looked a bit like matcha-flavored strawberry daifuku, also soft and fluffy.
Let's call these two slimes the food group!
Although the food group's slimes weren't as fierce as the mineral group's slimes, under their masters' commands, their movements were very methodical.
They never rushed ahead recklessly. When encountering difficult obstacles, they would cleverly work around them to trigger mechanisms before carefully advancing.
This way, although they were a beat slower, they could conserve their stamina well. They might have a chance to catch up to the mineral group's slimes later.
"Zhou Mixue, should we speed up?"
"No, let's observe for now. Don't fall too far behind."
......
......
And the two groups further back?
Could simply be called two disasters!
The light blue-silver slime chosen by Princess Sethilu was very obedient, constantly trying hard to advance.
But the red slime teamed with it was very hot-tempered!
It completely ignored Candel's commands. When told to go east, it went west. When told to jump up, it crawled down.
Even worse, this red slime was full of aggression and was actually trying to attack the light blue slime that was its teammate.
"Wahhh, you! Why are you so disobedient!! That's sister's slime!"
Although Candel was so frustrated she almost wanted to transform into a slime to compete herself, the fiery red slime remained very disobedient, constantly causing trouble.
"Sister Sethilu, what... what should we do?"
"Mm... Candel, I'll try to keep our rhythm consistent. If this continues..."
......
......
Although the sister group's slimes were fighting internally, they were still barely advancing.
But that last group?
Had completely chosen to give up!!!
Whether it was the silver slime or the black slime, both lay at the starting line. No matter how the girls commanded them, they wouldn't budge at all.
"Run quickly, black slime! What are you doing lying there!!!"
"Woo woo... why won't it follow commands? Could it be that I haven't mastered how to use the flag properly?"
Both Elucia and Lonis were bewildered, but they could only worry helplessly without any solution.
Lonis's silver slime was soft and fluffy, looking very afraid of the track ahead. No matter how she commanded it, it didn't want to leave the starting area.
And that black slime was very "leisurely" curled up in a corner... as if saying: Not enough food, I don't want to participate in such a childish track!
This made the girls so angry they didn't know what to do.
"Dummy Lonis, it's all your fault."
"Why is it my fault? I'm helpless too."
"Hmph, just obediently transform into a slime and compete, wouldn't that work?"
"How could I possibly transform!!!"
Just like that, the race quickly entered the middle stage.
Although Suling wasn't personally commanding a slime, she seemed to be experiencing it firsthand and became incredibly excited:
"Hooray, now the mineral group has entered the swaying drawbridge... will they be able to successfully pass this obstacle~~"
"Senior Yicheng, should we charge through?"
"Mm, hesitation leads to defeat."
Although the mineral group's chosen tactics were very decisive, this drawbridge wasn't as easy to cross as before.
Since slimes advance by "bouncing," every time they moved forward on the bridge, it made the drawbridge sway left and right.
And at this moment, with just one careless mistake...
"Oh no, wrong command!"
Luozhi Sheng didn't time the advance rhythm properly, and the slime she commanded accidentally fell down.
Although there were still soft cushions below, being dropped like this still made Luozhi Sheng feel sorry. She quickly asked:
"Slime, are you okay?"
"Jiji."
The fallen slime quickly climbed back up, but just then, Bai Ye and Zhou Mixue's slimes also caught up.
They didn't choose to pass over the drawbridge, but instead chose a longer route to the side.
"Slimes, do your best, don't be hasty."
"Yes yes, after winning, we'll reward you with little cookies."
Under Bai Ye and Zhou Mixue's encouragement, the food group's slimes began to keep pace with the mineral group, even having the possibility of victory—because both groups had passed the halfway point, but the food group's slimes clearly had more stamina.
......
And in the distance...
The sister group's slimes had finally passed the first obstacle.
Candel was so anxious she was jumping around, and only then finally mastered the trick to commanding the red slime.
That was...
The neglect method!
Although this slime was unruly, it seemed like it didn't want to be abandoned.
So, as long as Princess Sethilu commanded that cute slime to keep moving forward without paying attention to the red slime teammate, it would stop making trouble and chase after directly.
Conversely, the more anxiously you tried to command it, the less it would obey commands and would only cause trouble.
......
"Candel, watch out for the small canyon ahead. I'm going to command my slime to jump over."
"Mm, my slime should see it too."
Just like that, after recovering their speed, the sister group also rallied to catch up, gradually closing the distance with those ahead.
......
And the only combination making no progress was...
"Dummy maid, why are you so stupid? The slime you chose is just like you, not even bothering to move."
"What can I do about it! Besides, isn't Elucia being silly too? And you're calling me out?"
......
Although not winning wouldn't really matter for Lonis and Elucia.
But...
During the previous little fox racing, the two of them had been dead last.
And if they were dead last again now, that would be too embarrassing... as if both the master and servant were complete idiots.
So...
What should they do?
Lonis was extremely nervous, but just then...
She suddenly thought of a possibility.
Although she and Elucia had both chosen slimes most similar to themselves.
But what if... that wasn't how it worked at all?
She and Elucia were different from everyone else.
It wasn't that the most similar was the best,
but rather...
"Lonis, what are you doing?!"
Elucia's eyes widened, not expecting this maid to be so brazen as to suddenly snatch the flag from her hand.
However, Lonis blinked and said seriously:
"No, Miss Elucia... we've got it all wrong!"
"Eh?"
"I think if we swap slimes, we might be able to win."
Lonis handed her slime's flag to Elucia.