Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Things That Have Changed
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Slimes climbing up against the river current sadly become delicious, nutritious snacks for our community.
Those sluggishly making their way up finally notice the predators too late and transform their bodies into leaves or twigs to hide, but about half of them fail to hide properly or escape and get caught without a chance to move.
"There are so many slimes!"
Aria's face is filled with a joyful smile. Her basket, woven from seaweed stems, is already wriggling with seven or eight slimes.
Arachne's spiderweb net and Nephyr's gourd already contain a few each. The girls are smiling so brightly that I can't bring myself to complain that the slimes are pitiful.
"It's unfortunate for your kin, but there's no helping it. I'll let you go when I get the chance. No one will notice if one goes missing."
I whisper softly to the purple slime peeking its head out from the inside of my palm. She just stares blankly at my approaching face and grins goofily, as if she doesn't care about anything else.
She's far more docile and naive than I expected. This one doesn't seem to think about her own fate or that of her kin. She doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent.
"So... why are the slimes suddenly coming up the river? Is something happening out in the sea?"
Now that I'm certain they won't attack us, it's time to discuss this mysterious mass emergence with Amy.
Amy, deep in thought about the current situation, runs her computation circuits at full capacity to find connections between the sea, the slimes, and the survivors, but...
In the end, she arrives at the same vague conclusion as I do.
"We should hurry. It's not certain, but something bad may have happened to the Paradise Ship's crew."
"I think so too. I hope everyone's okay..."
After diligently collecting slimes, we decide to force ourselves to sleep even if we have to. Regardless of our impatience, failing to get enough sleep will make it hard to complete the journey.
To walk hard, we need to sleep.
Me, Isaac,
and everyone else needs to wrap up the slime frenzy and get to bed soon.
But I toss and turn for a while, thinking about the purple slime snoring contentedly in my pocket and the Paradise Ship's crew,
"...Alraune, you hear me? Help me sleep. At this rate, I'll be up all night."
In the end, with Alraune's help inside my body, I forcibly secrete sleep-inducing substances and fall asleep against my will.
Day 174 of isolation,
6:52 AM by planetary rotation,
Weather: rain, average 15mm per hour,
11 degrees Celsius.
I wake up earlier than usual.
The pattering rain echoes around my head. But thanks to the small tent that somehow got pitched over us, blocking all the rain, thankfully no one got wet.
"Did you sleep peacefully last night?"
Nephyr greets me first. She runs over with a bowl filled with rainwater and holds it out for me to wash my face.
"Yeah... it's raining. Not cold?"
"It's colder than the desert, but it's fine. I can just layer more clothes, so it seems easier to live here than in that scorching heat."
I splash cold water on my face a couple of times to shake off the drowsiness and glance around. Everyone else is already awake like me, so we can probably start earlier than yesterday.
"Everyone eat something light and let's head out. We've got a long way to go."
Amy is already by the rocks, preparing preserved food kits. No need for a fancy spread—just warm up the consomme inside and eat.
"Damn, everything else is fine, but I can't stand these preserved rations."
"Why? This is pretty good. Everyone likes it."
"Sure at first. But after 30 years of this crap, your brain starts rejecting it."
Isaac shakes his head and spoons a few meager bites of consomme with a dejected face, but actually, everyone else raves about the human consomme loaded with artificial seasonings.
Especially Nephyr and the slime.
Nephyr isn't used to soups that you add water to and boil, so she finds it a novel taste, and the slime probably likes anything it can shove in its mouth.
"But Joo-ho, you gonna keep raising that one? We caught plenty yesterday, so why not just eat it now?"
Aria says something terrifying to the slime, who's stuffing its belly full of soup.
Thanks to that, the slime chokes mid-meal, coughs, and hides inside my palm. It seems to see my palm as a safe haven now.
"No, I... kinda wanna raise it a bit. I'm curious how big it'll get. It'd be better to eat it after fattening it up... Can't raise them all, so just this one..."
"You don't just wanna keep it around?"
Arachne pierces my true intentions with a displeased look but doesn't insist on kicking the slime out.
Yeah, Arachne's fine.
It's Jenny who's been glaring at the slime with sharp eyes. Every time, the slime sweats profusely and trembles pitifully.
"Jenny, ease up."
"What'd I do?"
Jenny seems seriously annoyed that I'm pitying and caring for the slime.
Is she jealous of the slime or something? I treated her like a daughter, and now feeding and tending to the slime must irk her.
"Jenny's just observing primitive creatures diligently, like Daddy does. If you don't like it, should I just pop it in my mouth like old times?"
Jenny approaches and pinches the slime's head between thumb and forefinger, lifting it up.
The fist-sized slime flails in the air, squeaking, but Jenny ignores it and opens her mouth wide as if to swallow it.
"Stop it!"
The slime goes rigid like stone right above the apex predator's mouth and faints. Only then does Jenny giggle and drop it back onto my palm.
"Just kidding, why get so mad? Daddy, you got attached to this slime or what?"
It's awkward to get mad.
Jenny stopped the moment I warned her, denies any intent to harm it, and even points out my impure motives.
"...Whatever! Let's go. We'll talk slime later. Sea comes first."
I hurriedly finish my consomme and pack up. Continuing here feels like I'd lose more than I gain.
"Amy, how much farther?"
"About 52km from our current position."
"Two days... or three? Not much left."
And right now, searching for Paradise Ship survivors and wreckage is priority. No time for slime squabbles.
Jenny's grown bigger-headed along with her body, picking fights constantly. Can't let things keep straining like this.
"Kyit-"
Jenny swishes her tail and climbs onto a rock. She looks all ready to go.
"Daddy's too soft. Reach out to weaklings like that, and someday ingrates will bite the hand that feeds."
Jenny says, not even a year old. But I can't refute her.
"Jenny knows Daddy knows... Is he just pretending not to?"
We just stare at each other, eyes wide.
Our journey down the river,
brings us closer to the Paradise Ship with every moment.
The closer we get, the more unease swells in my heart.
An indescribable, primal fear of the [unpredictable] gnaws at my mind.
This fear isn't limited to me.
Isaac, riding quietly on Arachne's back, unconsciously bites his nails at the uncertainty of whether his wife is dead.
"Dr."
5km from the beach,
Amy and Jenny, leading, halt.
"Paradise Ship crew. Unique pattern detected."
Isaac and I exchange glances.
Hearts feel ready to burst.
"Who is it?"
"No precise biometric data yet, but definitely Paradise Ship crew. Radio signals and biometric GPS on my radar match Paradise Ship's exactly."
Here, only Isaac and I should approach.
No telling how old colleagues will look, but seeing our natives or Amy might shock them badly.
"Keep distance from here. Isaac and I'll take point."
"But, Dr..."
Amy grabs my hand.
Her unchanging eyes
overflow with worry and fear for me.
"Could be dangerous. Stay in my response range."
My reflection in Amy's blue eyes.
"Crew might be wary of you and Isaac—"
"What're you talking about?"
I'm different now,
but still me.
"..."
"What?"
Amy's hand slides from my hand to my arm, then shoulder. She grips as if to steady me and speaks.
"Objectively, chances of crew accepting you two are very low. Especially you, Dr."