The nine slimes all fired acid straight ahead.

Even so, the giant slime did not slow down at all when their acid reached it, as if the acid was completely ineffective.

Hence, the slime which had been the furthest ahead did not even manage to scream when the giant slime pinned it down beneath itself and assimilated it within its own body.

"My summoned beast is dead."

The man with the crewcut exclaimed in heartache, making a face right then.

Meanwhile, the three goblins were stabbing viciously at the giant slime with sharpened branches, leaving three holes in its body. The goblin in the middle had stabbed the deepest, and half of the front end of its branch snapped off.

It would have been a serious injury to other monsters, but for slimes, that level of injury was no more than some jelly off its body.

That was when the center of the giant slime's belly split open in a vertical slit, and it shot out a thick deep-purple liquid!

The goblin in the middle was hit directly and its flesh instantly began to melt.

"Argh~"

The screams echoed afar.

Chen Yining could hear it even with so much distance between them.

That goblin had been hit squarely in the face, and all the flesh on its cheeks melted off, exposing the stark-white bone into the air.

The maimed goblin loosened its grip over the branch and dropped to a crouch as it tried to rub its cheeks. However, more flesh would drop off the more it did so.

In the end, it fainted directly from the agony.

"Let's go." Chen Yining turned and left without watching whatever happened next.

It served no purpose.

Normal slimes were completely ineffective against the giant slime.

Their acid breath was futile, as it would only strengthen the resistance that the giant slimes had toward normal slimes.

A flamethrower would be much more effective.

And though those were not easily available, they could make a Molotov cocktail or two.

It was not difficult to make one, since the materials needed were gasoline, alcohol, a bottle, and other items frequently used in daily life.

Moreover, the lasting devastation of gasoline and alcohol was especially destructive.

***

It took them an hour return the way they came, after having carved markings on the trees they passed by on the way in.

They ran into a group of goblins on the way. There were less than ten of them this time, but Chen Yining did not attack them after a few moments of hesitation, and merely noted down the scenery around, although it would be futile to do so in the forest.

They did not venture too far inside the forest so that they did not lose their way, and they finally returned to the border of the city by moving along the way they came in.

Be that as it may, they returned to another street instead of the position from which they entered the forest. They had to ask directions to learn that they were around one kilometer away from their entry point.

It was fortunate that the city was vast, and it was like a magnet stuck fixedly in the middle of the forest—anyone could return to the magnet as long as they did not venture too far.

"Let's go back," Chen Yining said. "We could buy some items along away."

The experience in the forest had somehow given Chen Yining the feeling that, if there was no other influencing variable, most modern items in the city—and not just food—would become rare in the days to come.

Many shops on the way were closed, while crowds were competing to make their purchases in the occasional shops still open.

The situation was most serious on the city's edge, though it eased up on the way to the center of the city.

Still, Chen Yining could see that many people were driving toward it.

With communications down, exchange of information became stagnated.

However, no paper could extinguish fire.

When the truth was revealed, a raging storm would engulf the entire city.

Chen Yining was suddenly pleased that he still had kin with him, so that he was not alone against the oncoming storm.

"Summoned beast," he murmured.

Having seen the strength of the summoned beasts and other monsters, he knew very well that in the upcoming revolution, one must strengthen their own summoned beasts!

Then, on one of the streets they passed by on the way back…

"No sale. I'm not selling anything now." An argument could be heard from a nearby shop.

The shop owner, a middle-aged woman, was yelling, her hands of her hips as she stood off against several of her customers.

"Am I not paying you enough? I could give you more!" a middle-aged man dressed in a suit said with composure.

"No, I mean I'm not selling!" the woman said, pointing at the two large bags of instant noodles the man was holding. "I'm not selling anything not matter how much you pay me. Put the goods down and I'll give you a refund."

"For what reason? None of us are saying a thing even though you are selling your stuff at five times the normal price. What you're doing is price gouging—don't you believe the Bureau of Industry and Commerce would get you for this?" another customer grumbled.

"Heh. Call them then, go on. The bureau? Does your phone have signal?" The woman sneered. "Fine. I won't refund the stuff I've sold, but I'm not selling anything else."

As she spoke, the shop owner packed up, ready to close shop.

After all, there were many people nearby arguing, with many of them having weird looks in their eyes, as if expecting something.

In fact, they were like a pack of hyenas, quietly looking as if awaiting a certain signal.

On the other hand, the woman's movements were a little rushed, and her husband who had been sitting inside the shop all along stood up to help then.

Thud.

A bottle of water dropped on the floor then and rolled away.

The atmosphere stiffened a little just then.

A red-shirted man stepped out from the cloud, arching himself to pick up the bottle.

Then, with a hasty 'thanks' to the husband, he threw a five dollar-bill on the ground and ran off.

He ran so quickly that he was gone in the blink of an eye.

It was just a signal for a charge.

The onlooking crowd raged then and rushed toward the shop.

"What are you doing! It's robbery, robbery!" the woman shrieked, ignoring the money on the ground and clawed at the people trying to steal food.

Her sharp nails left bloody scratches all over the people's faces.

Her husband, on the other hand, was not so overbearing. He simply mumbled quietly in his attempt to stop the people trying to get inside the convenient store.

However, there were too many people, and they all dropped some money before running off.

Then, one of them slammed heavily on the husband's shoulder, and he dropped on his bottom, staring helplessly at the sight.

There were also those who ran away after stealing what they wanted.

The entire shop erupted into chaos from front to back.

Many would join the fray from time to time, while others looked on, hesitating.