289 Before the Storm

[BONUS]

Jibblinplip continuously moved forward, but it was visibly slower as the ooze reached a deep canyon.

The rumors of it approaching a canyon spread, and everyone hoped that it would slow the ooze down. There were also rumors saying the same about it leaving the canyon.

But they were all wrong.

When Jibblinplip reached the canyon, it quickly plummeted to the bottom, and the momentum caused the rest of the ooze to hurl forward. As its mass struck the wall of the canyon, it sped itself forward, spawning more oozes, which immediately started looking for food.

The ooze barrelling to the bottom had set off a few minion quakes, causing everyone to keep their eyes on Jibblinplip in panic.

Even the whole world that monitored Jibblinplip's movement was surprised to see it shorten its distance from the nearest Town instead of slowing down. Some were even panicking, worried about the calamity it would cause.

By this time, serious efforts by both players and inhabitants alike had been made to discover the history of Jibblinplip and ways to kill it.

Inhabitants of Roselake Town had already begun their evacuation before Jibblinplip even arrived. The commoners had been running all morning, screaming about 'the ooze' that would eat their Town, saying it was as big as a mountain.

With nothing else to do, every guild opted to help Roselake Town evacuate, hoping to trigger some kind of dialogue or quest that would give them a clue as to how they could defeat the giant blob of ooze. Unfortunately, their numbers only added to the crowd, turning the Town even more chaotic within seconds.

There were hundreds of players eager to know the clues, and with limited time to go around to ask for hints regarding the approaching Jibblinplip, a riot was bound to happen.

"What do you mean you were here first? I was here first!"

"Wait for your turn! Can't you see that I'm still talking to her?!"

"Hey! Who are you to cut in line?!"

"This is my NPC! Go find someone else, asshole!"

It didn't take long for players to start smacking each other on the face, and some were already wrestling one another to the ground. Since they were inside a Town, there was no PvP, and they could only use their fists and legs to attack each other.

It only stopped when the town guards finally arrived, kicking the players who caused trouble in the city and banning them from entry for a month or so.

The peace was restored, but it only lasted for a few seconds. Jibblinplip was sighted kilometers away from Roselake Town. Although it still looked like a dot from afar, no one would take chances of it getting near. The inhabitants panicked and hurried out of the city, even ignoring the player's questions.

In times of crisis, it was every man for himself. The same logic was also applied to NPCs.

"You remembered to clear out the lab right before we evacuated, right?" an inhabitant asked.

"Isn't that your job?'

"Is it? Damn. Well, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

That conversation happened a moment before the worst possible thing that could happened.

Not far from the commotion, Ren's party was still observing the situation. Leonel was getting more impatient as more time passed by. He was not the type to just stand and do nothing. His nerves would tear him apart from lack of activity.

"Are we still going to wait here and observe the situation? Isn't it better to just grind instead?"

Ren barely spared him a glance. "Don't be impatient. This place will soon turn into a battlefield."

He then smiled at Leonel, eyes glinting with meaning. "Don't you want to see what an army of trained soldiers look like when battling a World Boss?"

Leonel's ears perked. "Is it finally happening?"

". . . Soon"

After hours of waiting, Jibblinplip was already near Roselake Town. Every effort to stop it had been futile, and everyone could only watch when Jibblinplip suddenly leaped forward.

A massive pseudopod engulfed the small Town of Roselake, vanishing into the greenish mass that was Jibblinplip.

All manner of questions and cries were mixed in the air, but Jibblinplip didn't even hear any of it. It was the calmest among the living creatures present like it had no troubles as long as it consumed everything in its path.

Jibblinplip's consumption of the Town was quick for an ooze. It only took about thirty minutes to engulf everything, but thankfully, almost everyone made it out alive. After that, Jibblinplip stopped consuming. It would occasionally shudder and twitch, prompting anyone to leap backward in panic.

[Jibblinplip gained +2 to all its ATP from eating Roselake town and digesting raw materials. It also got a little indigestion from eating too much and released a foul-smelling odor.]

Even from kilometers away, the smell was so foul that some people vomited on the spot.

[You have suffered from POISON!]

Most players were immediately healed by their respective group's White Mage. At this point of the game, the spell [Dispel] and [Cleanse] were readily available to all healers.

Although Ren and the others didn't have a healer with them, they still had all types of antidotes in their inventory, which could easily be bought in big cities.

"I think we should recruit a healer into our ranks," said Evie after drinking an [Antidote].

"Evie's right," seconded Ragnar. "That monster's attack contained Poison, and its humming sound spells trouble. Without a White Mage's support, we'd easily fall victim to its hum."

"Not to worry. We'll get that healer," said Ren and added, ". . . soon enough."

"G-guys . . . ," Leonel stuttered and pointed his shaking finger to the Continental Ooze. "I think something is happening to Jibby."

Everyone suddenly turned alert when Jibblinplip's color changed to bright blue. It was impossible to miss since it was literally the size of a mountain, and it was starting to look bigger as it headed in their direction faster.

The snail-like ooze from earlier suddenly turned into a running fat ooze, covering a kilometer distance in just minutes when it took hours just a while ago.

At this rate, it would reach the next Town in an hour, and who knew how many cities and forests would perish in just that day alone?

"W-what's happening?!"

"Everyone! Stop it!"

Stop it? The players lamented.

How would you even stop a ravaging mountain?

"Where are the Kingdom's soldiers?!"

"Why is the Emperor not sending his battalion yet?!"

Before changing its color and going faster, Jibblinplip consumed an alchemical lab and a sorcerer's grove. When the two combined in its tummy, it turned Jibblinplip blue and increased its speed.

Luckily, it gradually slowed down after thirty minutes, and it went back to its normal green color. Its speed was no longer ten times faster and the rest of the world breathed a temporary respite.

The Human Continent and the players remained vigilant, though. If it could spike its speed like that once, the same thing might happen again.

Unless the two stupid inhabitants stood up and admitted to leaving powerful substances for the ooze to consume, no one would ever know why it happened.