Chapter 413 - 21: Bee Swarm Gluttonous Slime
The three new traits, "Mimicry," "Corruption," and "Hive Mind," were all quite good.
Among them, "Corruption" granted the Slimes the ability to corrupt, an ability the territory’s Corruption Spreaders already possessed.
The Slimes’ version of this trait was mainly useful for creating corrupted items to feed themselves. It also diversified the essential substances they could refine while eating. It was basically a production skill with some offensive potential.
The Corruption Spreaders’ ability, however, was far stronger. It was significantly more lethal and came with specialized propagation skills. Aside from taking effect a little slower, it was much more useful than the Slimes’ "Corruption" trait.
Therefore, Lin Yu eliminated this trait from consideration first.
The "Mimicry" ability was also quite good. Its disguise effect was maxed out. If a Slime devoured an enemy, it would obtain the enemy’s memories, wisdom, skills, and talents, allowing it to perfectly impersonate the enemy and infiltrate their ranks.
It was an incredibly useful disguise ability that also enhanced intelligence and provided new methods of attack, meeting the expectations Lin Yu had before using his "Enlighten" skill.
There was just one problem. ’How are the Slimes supposed to devour an enemy?’
’Without help from teammates, it seems a bit difficult for the Slimes to devour anyone.’
The "Hive Mind" ability, however, made Lin Yu’s eyes light up.
This ability had no other effects; it simply increased the Slimes’ Spiritual Power and intelligence and gave them the skill of Telekinesis.
If he chose this trait, the effects wouldn’t be as immediate as "Mimicry," which only required a teammate to help secure a powerful lifeform for a Slime to swallow and instantly receive a super-enhancement.
However, "Hive Mind" would grant the Slimes unparalleled group combat capabilities.
Due to the network effect, even an individual Slime could become a late-game powerhouse. As long as their level was high enough, they would become incredibly strong.
Furthermore, Slimes could merge, stacking their levels and easily forming a super Slime.
After comparing the options again and again, Lin Yu chose "Hive Mind" as the new trait for the Gluttonous Slimes.
...
The number of Slimes within the territory was immense. Since the territory was vast, they didn’t lack food. Coupled with the Slimes’ nature as semi-corporeal energy beings, they had no lifespan limit as long as food was plentiful.
With sufficient food, a Slime could level up once every 10 days on average, after which it would split off a new level-1 Slime.
During the territory’s period of rest and consolidation, the Slimes had, on average, split 20 times.
The total population reached 1.048 x 10^11 (104.8 billion). This was only because their sheer numbers had caused a food shortage, preventing them from continuing to split on a massive scale.
Even so, the territory had a density of 2,805 level-1 Slimes per square kilometer.
Fortunately, the Slimes were able to merge. Most maintained a level of around 10, resulting in a density of just over 50 Slimes per square kilometer.
This was the only reason the territory didn’t look like it was being completely overrun by Slimes.
After "Hive Mind" was chosen, the Gluttonous Slimes became Bee Swarm Gluttonous Slimes.
At that very moment, Lin Yu’s clone, which was merged with the World Tree, instantly sensed a violent energy storm brewing within the territory.
’Did something happen?’
The clone immediately notified the main body. Lin Yu instantly entered a state of deep fusion with the World Tree, merging with his clone.
High above, all the white clouds vanished. The sky was clear for miles, and the sun shone brightly.
If he ignored the distorted air and the forests that were now missing a great many leaves, Lin Yu would have thought it was a beautiful day for sunbathing.
On the ground, the territory’s citizens also sensed something was wrong from the howling, chaotic winds.
The ordinary citizens hurried back into their homes, while the soldiers and heroes emerged with grave expressions.
Sensing the rampaging energy in the air, they nervously scanned their surroundings, on guard for any potential enemies.
’What a violent energy storm!!!’
The moment the fusion was complete, Lin Yu "saw" the energy storm that spanned the entire territory through the World Tree’s senses.
The invisible energy storm erupted from various locations, throwing the territory’s Spiritual Energy into complete chaos.
Lin Yu immediately used the World Tree’s authority to suppress the energies and keep them from running wild.
After consuming a considerable amount of the territory’s Spiritual Energy reserves, he finally managed to force the rampaging storm back to its sources.
’Where is all this energy coming from?’
Puzzled, Lin Yu narrowed his perspective to get a closer look at the places where the energy was originating.
And then he saw them: destroyed buildings, one after another, and inside them, clumps of transparent jelly...
’The Slimes?’
’So that’s how it is...’
Lin Yu understood in an instant. The places where the energy had erupted were all locations of Natural Essence Manufacturing Plants.
These were also the places where the Slimes gathered in large numbers. After gaining the "Hive Mind" effect, the Slimes began to amplify one another. This, combined with the attribute increase from their rank-up and their newly acquired, uncontrollable Telekinesis, caused their powers to go collectively haywire.
Upon closer inspection, Lin Yu also detected many smaller energy fluctuations in other parts of the territory.
These fluctuations were also caused by the Bee Swarm Gluttonous Slimes, but since they didn’t have as many companions nearby, they hadn’t triggered a chain reaction, and the resulting energy surges were much smaller.
’Looks like I picked a good trait. I thought it would be a late-game skill, but I didn’t expect it to be this powerful right out of the gate!’