Under the coercion and enticement of the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap, more and more monsters joined its sphere of influence. Regarding this, the Slime Queen merely smiled faintly and paid it no mind, allowing the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap to court neutral forces, or even poach the Slime Queen's subordinates; the Queen didn't care.
This continued until the day the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap triumphantly led its army of monsters up to the hundredth floor, intending to seize the Slime Queen's position.
The scene before it instantly shocked him.
There sat the Slime Queen on the throne, looking at him with a smile, unangered no matter how he provoked her. When the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap demanded the Slime Queen call out her subordinates so the subordinates could compete against his own.
The corner of the Slime Queen's mouth curved slightly.
She gently raised her hand and waved elegantly, and the sight before them astonished the world.
Thousands upon thousands of Slimes emerged from the rocky peaks, the flowing water, the giant stones, and even the pebbles beneath the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap's feet, and from among the subordinates behind the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap.
Such a massive number and such exquisite camouflage sent chills down the spines of the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap and its followers.
It turned out everything was under the Slime Queen's control.
After that day, the originally arrogant Dark Ancient Geo Vishap began to keep a low profile. However, everyone in the Underground Mine knew that the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap had absolutely not given up on challenging the Slime Queen; he had chosen to lie dormant, quietly awaiting the moment his opponent revealed a flaw.
The Slime Queen merely smiled faintly in response. Her expression appeared gentle and adorable, but her eyes revealed deep disdain and mockery—an arrogance even more deeply rooted than the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap's.
It was precisely because he had witnessed the Slime Queen's methods that, despite feeling intense aversion toward her, the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap obediently attended the meeting convened by the Slime Queen. The reason he dared to be so overtly mocking was because he knew the Slime Queen would not act against him over such a minor matter.
Otherwise, it would ruin the saintly persona she had painstakingly cultivated for years.
In the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap's view, the Slime Queen was a monster who hid deeper than he did. He merely detested humans, whereas the Slime Queen was trying every means possible to learn about, understand, and ultimately control humans.
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap firmly believed the Slime Queen would inevitably become a great enemy to the humans outside. Being extremely averse to humans himself, he would welcome this. If necessary, he could even set aside his disgust for the Slime Queen and lend her a hand.
After all, on the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap's most detested blacklist, the Slime Queen only ranked second, while humans held the number one spot.
The Slime Queen looked at the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap and smiled calmly, saying, "Ah Long, do not underestimate the enemy. This enemy is not like those coal miners who blundered in here last time, completely defenseless."
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap scoffed, "What's different? I'll kill whoever comes!"
The Slime Queen laughed, "Of course it's different. You all probably don't know yet, but just now, the boss of the eighty-fifth floor of the Underground Mine, the Purple-Winged Bat, was killed. The one who killed it was this current enemy."
The Purple-Winged Bat was dead. All the bosses present were instantly shocked.
Although the Purple-Winged Bat was considered one of the weaker existences among the many monsters present, the fact that it was invited by the Slime Queen to attend the meeting proved that the disparity in strength between the Purple-Winged Bat and many others present was not large. Moreover, in actual combat, the Purple-Winged Bat could even achieve surprise victories by relying on its skill advantages.
This news immediately silenced the monsters who had been nonchalant moments before.
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap sneered, "How did the Purple-Winged Bat die? Don't tell me you don't know!"
"That noisy, stinking bat's lair is on the eighty-fifth floor of the Underground Mine. If the enemy had already taken down the eighty-fifth floor, I don't believe you would still be leisurely gathering us here for a meeting; you surely would have fled with your underlings long ago."
The monsters present started discussing amongst themselves, but due to the prestige of the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap and the Slime Queen, none dared to speak directly.
The final-boss monsters who could obediently attend this meeting were certainly not the type to be unyielding; they were all relatively timid beings. Because they cherished their lives, most of them had secretly pledged allegiance to one of the two big shots separately.
And since the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap chose to cooperate with the Slime Queen against outsiders concerning the human issue, this meeting, though appearing noisy, had actually already reached an unspoken understanding.
The Slime Queen showed an overly sweet smile, calmly and elegantly stating in a sweet voice, "The Purple-Winged Bat was the one I sent to guard the entrance on the first underground level."
"Last time, humans mistakenly entered the Underground Mine area—our beautiful homeland upon which we depend—which caused a great disturbance to our peaceful and tranquil life. To prevent humans from mistakenly entering again, I sent the Purple-Winged Bat to the first underground level and ordered it to send away any humans who wandered in."
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap sneered, "Peaceful and tranquil! You truly know how to lie with a straight face."
"Isn't everyone here a result of bloody slaughter? Ah! Look at that fellow over there—wasn't he a rabbit yesterday? Today he's turned into a fox."
"Heh heh heh, that rabbit wasn't feeling well today, so I'm filling in for him."
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap pointed at its own mouth, "Truly worthy of being called a cunning fox. You haven't even wiped the rabbit fur off the corner of your mouth."
"Rabbit fur? Ah, hey, that's just something I accidentally got stuck on while playing with my rabbit friend, Boss Ah Long."
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap laughed, "Do you see? Is this what you call tranquil?"
The Slime Queen maintained her sickly sweet smile and spoke with a sweet voice.
"Oh, it's clearly very tranquil. Rabbit fur on a fox's mouth? This is clearly a rabbit! Ah Long, perhaps your eyes are failing you."
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap paused, turned to look at the fox, and instantly felt a chill run down his spine.
The fox, which had just been smirking slyly, suddenly underwent a dramatic change in demeanor and turned into a whimpering rabbit.
The rabbit let out a painful screech but could not utter a single sound. Its eyes held pleading, filled with despair.
The Dark Ancient Geo Vishap closed his eyes, opened them in fury, and then roared, "How dare you deceive me! You deserve to die!"
Saying that, the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap spat out a stream of flames, burning the rabbit-shaped Red Fox to ashes. In its final moments, a flicker of gratitude and relief flashed in the Red Fox's eyes.
The Slime Queen showed no reaction to this. To her, the Dark Ancient Geo Vishap was an important pawn, and some insignificant concessions meant nothing.
"Since none of you have any objections to what I said, I shall continue."
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"