In the early morning, golden sunlight streamed through the verdant leaves, illuminating the earth. Beside a soft meadow, a clear stream gurgled merrily. Sally sat on the grass beside the stream, her two fair, jade-like feet dipped into the water, her large purple eyes fixed with lively interest on the fish swimming within.
“Awoo!”
Suddenly, while playing, Sally opened her small mouth and swallowed a bee that flew past, the sweet taste bringing a happy smile to her adorable face.
“Ming Hao, did you catch any?”
The next second, Sally squinted her big eyes, watching the black-haired boy in the center of the stream. With a plop, she jumped into the knee-deep water and ran to Lu Ming Hao, tilting her head as she asked.
“Enough for you, little glutton.”
Lu Ming Hao looked at Sally, who was beside him in a pure white dress, resembling a porcelain doll, and smiled gently. He raised a string of fish he had just caught, saying, just a day before, Lu Ming Hao had brought Sally back to that former small village.
Compared to when Lu Ming Hao and Sally had just left, the original village had completely changed. Under the erosion of the Gluttony Sin, all the villagers had mutated into Gluttony monsters, but because they were transformed from ordinary humans, they didn't have much power.
In addition, the village was located in a relatively remote area within the Gluttony Kingdom. All the villagers who had become Gluttony monsters were merely driven by endless hunger, devouring each other until they became a grotesque monster nearly fifty meters tall, covered in heads and tumors.
At that time, after seeing the village transformed into this state, neither Lu Ming Hao nor Sally felt any emotion. After all, neither of them cared about the humans in this village, or rather, the living humans.
Afterward, Lu Ming Hao and Sally went together to see the grave of Grandma Oran, who had adopted her. In front of Grandma Oran's grave, Sally no longer acted like the Gluttony Tyrant, but sat in front of Grandma Oran's tomb like an ordinary little girl, telling the deceased Grandma Oran with a happy smile that Sally was happy every day.
After that, Lu Ming Hao took Sally away from the village and went directly to the Jura Forest, officially stepping into it this morning.
“Mmm-hmm!”
Sally looked at the string of lively fish in Lu Ming Hao's hand and nodded her little head vigorously, obediently following behind Lu Ming Hao to the grass, where they started a fire.
“Sizzle, sizzle.”
Under the crimson flames, the golden-brown grilled fish sizzled continuously, the rich aroma drifting far away on the wind. Beside the fire, the porcelain doll-like girl stared intently at the grilled fish in front of her with a pair of large purple eyes, as adorable as a little glutton.
“Ming Hao, where are we going next?”
A few minutes later, Sally grabbed a grilled fish in each of her small hands, her little mouth stuffed full, looking at Lu Ming Hao in front of her with curiosity. Although Sally knew that they were here to find Luo Yina, she had no idea where Luo Yina was.
“To the Lizardmen's territory.”
Lu Ming Hao looked at Sally, who was like a hamster, and smiled gently. He raised his head and looked into the depths of the Jura Forest, in the direction of the largest lake in the Jura Forest, and the Lizardmen lived in the nearby wetlands.
According to Luo Yina's information, two days ago, the Lizardmen's envoy, Gabiru, was knocked unconscious by Gobta's little brother, and then taken away by the remaining three followers. According to the original plot, Gabiru, who had been unconscious, returned to the Lizardmen clan last night under the instigation of Laplace, a member of the Moderate Clown Troupe, forcibly seized power and became the leader of the Lizardmen clan, and then declared war on the Orcs.
By the way, on the same day, Souei rushed to meet with the Lizardmen clan and the Lizardmen leader before Gabiru and the others returned, reaching an alliance. However, on the evening of the same day after the alliance was just reached, Gabiru, who had returned, seized power.
“The Lizardmen's territory? Is Luo Yina there?”
Sally raised her little head, swallowed all the fish in her mouth, and looked at Lu Ming Hao with curious eyes, but her little head was full of thoughts about whether Lizardmen were delicious or not.
“No, Luo Yina is in a Goblin village, and the leader of that Goblin village is a slime like me.”
Lu Ming Hao lowered his head to look at Sally, raised his hand to wipe the grease from the corner of her mouth, and said.
“Slime! Ming Hao, is that slime very strong?”
After hearing the word 'slime', Sally showed a strange expression on her little face. After all, Sally now is not the thin and weak little girl who could only survive alone in the forest by relying on wild fruits. Now she is the Gluttony Tyrant of the Gluttony Kingdom, the strongest existence among the Demon Lord species.
As for the slime race, most of the slimes Sally had seen were low-level monsters, so weak that they didn't even have complete intelligence. By the way, the Gluttony monster that Sally liked to use the most was the one that had mutated from a slime.
Therefore, when she heard Lu Ming Hao say that Luo Yina was staying in a Goblin village ruled by a slime, she asked the question of whether that slime was very strong.
“Well, in terms of strength, under normal circumstances, he shouldn't be your opponent, Sally, but…”
Speaking of this, Lu Ming Hao raised his hand and rubbed Sally's hair. Under normal circumstances, Rimuru, who had just been reincarnated into this world not long ago and had just left the Storm Dragon Veldora's sealed cave, was indeed not Sally's opponent. After all, Rimuru's strength was only barely reaching the level of a Demon Lord species.
How could he be a match for Sally, who had become a Demon Lord species and had received the Demon Lord's blessing? But don't forget that Rimuru is the reincarnation of the Star King Dragon God of this world, and he also has the Storm Dragon Veldora and that pile of cheat-like unique skills in his body.
According to Lu Ming Hao's estimation, after Rimuru devoured the Orc Lord this time and grew for a while, his strength would be almost the same as Sally's. After all, Sally is now only less than 50,000 magicules away from awakening and becoming a True Demon Lord.
“Then Ming Hao, shall we eat him?”
The next second, Sally stood up and walked to Lu Ming Hao, then her small body sat in Lu Ming Hao's arms, raised her little head and asked. In Sally's opinion, since that slime's strength was quite good, then it must be a special individual among slimes like Lu Ming Hao.
Such a slime must be good nourishment.
“No, let's be friends with him for now. As for the future…”
Lu Ming Hao looked at Sally in his arms and shook his head gently. If the current Rimuru was in the state of just being reincarnated into this world, then Lu Ming Hao would not mind directly swallowing him, and would be too lazy to care about what protagonist or reincarnation of the Star King Dragon God.
But, now that Rimuru has become a Demon Lord species, and also has the Storm Dragon Veldora in his body, then he has to temporarily change his strategy. After all, even Lu Ming Hao, who has now become a Demon Lord, is not sure of killing the current Rimuru.
Not to mention the Disaster of the Storm, Storm Dragon Veldora, in his body, and the ultimate simp, Noir, who is waiting for Rimuru, who knows if he will pop out during the process of devouring Rimuru.
Of course, more importantly, Lu Minghao had suddenly thought of something not long ago, which was that temporarily becoming Rimuru's friend would bring Lu Minghao greater benefits. Specifically, at the beginning of this world, in addition to the creator god Star Dragon King, there were also five great gods.
Moreover, this world has a total of fifteen world lands.
Simply put, the world where Lu Minghao is now is called the [Material World], which connects to the fifteen world lands of this world, also known as the main world. The other fourteen worlds are [Real World], which is the world where Rimuru originally was, and also the world where all reincarnators, people from other worlds, heroes, and the like are summoned.
[Hell World] is the world where demons are born and grow, [Netherworld] is the final gathering place for all undead and the dead, the place of reincarnation, [Otherworld] has now been almost completely occupied by the insect demon race, [Heaven World] is the world where angels are born, and is ruled by Feldway, the leader of the original angels of this world, [Radiant World] is dominated by the King of Dawn, and is constantly invading other plane worlds due to material scarcity.
In addition to the worlds mentioned above, there are also several major worlds such as [Evil Demon World], [Star World], [Ephemeral World], [Dream World], [Sky World], [Void World], [Abyss World], and [Demon World].
A total of fifteen worlds are simply the most perfect nourishment. What's more, the [Evil Demon World], [Ephemeral World], [Dream World], and [Void World] all seal the four gods from the beginning of creation, which in Lu Minghao's view is top-level nourishment for growth.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Lu Minghao's strength must continue to become stronger. Otherwise, with his current strength of just awakening to become a True Demon Lord and his magic essence only breaking through one million, he can only become food.
Therefore, Lu Minghao needs a shield, no, a beloved friend, to help him attract everyone's attention, so that he can develop secretly behind the scenes. Who is more suitable for this beloved friend than Rimuru, who is the creator god Star Dragon King?
"Shali understands, become friends with him, and then eat him later, right?"
At this time, Shali raised her small hand like a good student waiting to speak in class, looking at Lu Minghao, her cute and delicate little face full of happiness at having learned new knowledge.
"Yes, Shali is so smart."
Lu Minghao smiled lightly and touched Shali's little head, but in fact, if he really succeeded in devouring other plane worlds and those gods born at the beginning of the world as Lu Minghao expected, then Lu Minghao wouldn't mind letting Rimuru become his first surviving beloved friend.
After all, he still has the [Otherworld Encounter] talent, and at that time, he wouldn't mind handing over the tattered world he had gnawed on to Rimuru.
[Otherworld Encounter] (Red): Coming from another world, you possess truly infinite potential.
Ability 1: Plunder the origin of the world. After accumulating to a certain extent, cross to other worlds at the cost of consuming the origin of the world.
Ability 2: After crossing to a new world, you will randomly obtain a brand new purple talent.
"Ahem, so Shali, remember from now on, the two of us, one is a kind slime, and the other is a kind ogre, understand?"
In the next second, Lu Minghao stood up, touched Shali's little head, and said with a serious face. After all, although Lu Minghao has always claimed to be a kind slime, he still has some idea of what he has done. He is definitely one of the most evil demon lords in this world.
However, that was in the past. He had no choice in the past, but now he wants to be a kind slime... well, temporarily.
"Got it, Shali is now a kind ogre girl!"
Feeling the gentle and familiar touch on her head, Shali nodded sensibly. From now on, she is a kind ogre, and she must successfully infiltrate the enemy and become their beloved friend.
"Yosh, then let's go."
"Mm-hmm, target the lizardmen territory."
Looking at Lu Minghao with a smile like sunshine on his lips, Shali raised her small hand and pointed in the direction of the lizardmen territory. Then, Lu Minghao directly transformed into a slime, was gently lifted up by Shali, and directly inserted into her ogre horn, heading towards the lizardmen territory.
............
At the same time, on the other side, inside the lizardmen territory.
Inside the originally dark and humid cave, braziers lit up the cave, and the lizardmen chief was discussing with the captain of the guard on the stone throne in the center of the cave about resisting the invasion of the orc army.
"Chief! Chief! There are intruders, saying they want to see you!"
At this time, a loud roar suddenly came from the entrance of the cave, followed by a lizardmen guard wearing gray leather armor and a gray-green body running in in a panic.
"Intruders... never mind, bring them in."
The chief looked at the panicked guard below, remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked him to bring the intruders in, because even from a distance, he could clearly sense the powerful magic essence aura of the intruders. He clearly knew that he couldn't stop them at all.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
As soon as the lizardmen chief finished speaking, low footsteps accompanied by a powerful aura came from the entrance, followed by a black-haired Tsucikage with a white horn on his head walked in expressionlessly in the nervous gazes of all the lizardmen in the cave.
"Sorry, because we are very busy now, we can't entertain you properly."
"It doesn't matter, I am just an envoy, and I am here only to convey the master's will."
Tsucikage casually glanced around at the lizardmen present, completely ignoring their vigilant appearance, and said directly to the lizardmen leader opposite.
"So, what's the matter?"
"My master hopes to form an alliance with the lizardmen."
"Alliance? But I don't know your master?"
"My master is Rimuru Tempest, who accepted the direct commission of the dryads and decided to conquer the orc army."
"Hmm! The direct commission of the administrator of the Great Forest!?"
All the lizardmen present showed shocked gazes and looked at Tsucikage after hearing Tsucikage's words. It was simply unimaginable in their eyes that the administrator of the Jura Forest would directly commission such a thing. After all, for the lizardmen, the administrator of the Great Forest was a legendary existence.
"It is said that the leader of the orcs is the Orc Lord, and now the orcs already have an army of nearly 400,000. I hope you think carefully about what this means, and then give an answer."
On the opposite side, Tsucikage ignored the shocked lizardmen around him, and just calmly told the lizardmen chief the information about the orcs, waiting for his reply.
"Hmph! Rimuru what? I've never heard of him. I'm afraid that guy is also afraid of the Orc Lord, so he came to beg us! Can't you be a little more frank and ask for help obediently?"
