Chapter 155: Slime Squad

Filmos had reached his way to the unrecorded exit border. The reason he knew this neglected part of the city was because of the many times he had to escape his way out of the city, attempting to extend his quiet recollection away from the oppressive guards.

But this time, it wasn’t just a simple escape. He had to do this to survive, for sure.

As he passed through the ruined border with a person guarding there, collecting illegal tolls and entry fees for a broken wall of the city that anyone had to crouch down to pass through, he finally felt a taste of freedom and a better chance at surviving in the wild unknown.

"Hey! Hold it right there, something is up!"

The border toll collector called out sharply, taking a step toward him.

Filmos sensed a deep spike of anxiety in his chest; he knew he shouldn’t stop now.

Ignoring the aggressive calls of the toll collector, he scrambled and made his crawling faster, his knees scraping against the jagged concrete. Finally reaching the other side, his heart was beating fast against his ribs like a trapped bird.

His breath hitched in his throat as he stumbled back onto his feet, only to freeze dead in his tracks.

Standing right in front of the exit were two stern-looking soldiers, their cold eyes locking directly onto his trembling frame. Panic surged through Filmos’s veins like ice water. His skin broke into a cold sweat; he knew with absolute certainty that if he let them apprehend him now, his life was completely over. He had to escape, no matter what it took!

Driven by pure, frantic survival instinct, Filmos didn’t hesitate. He reached out for his Pocket Sanctuary Card and summoned his Green Anaconda.

The serpent materialized in a flash, instantly rearing its massive head and violently spraying a thick stream of blinding corrosive liquid straight at the two soldiers’ faces!

Filmos thought he had caught them off guard, but the two soldiers didn’t even flinch.

In a terrifyingly fluid motion, two mysterious beasts hidden beneath their tactical jackets suddenly reacted. The creatures slipped out from under the fabric like slimy, blue blobs, rapidly merging and hardening in mid-air to form a solid, liquid-crystalline shield right in front of the soldiers.

SPRIIIT!

The acidic spray slammed harmlessly against the slimy barrier, dissolving into useless mist.

Filmos’s jaw dropped in absolute horror as he backed away, his eyes wide with terror as he stared at the two blue, blob-like beasts hovering silently beside the armored soldiers.

’Are those slimes?’ he thought, but he quickly shook off the idea. It had to be something entirely different. There was simply no way a common slime could defend against the Green Anaconda’s potent acidic attack so easily.

In a split second, Filmos spun around and started sprinting away from the perimeter of the city.

With his back turned to the wall, he ran with everything he had, disregarding any possible consequences of his reckless escape. All he knew was that he had to get as far away as humanly possible, as fast as his legs could carry him.

His lungs burned and his chest heaved, but these soldiers were not to be underestimated. Despite wearing tactical gear far heavier than Filmos’s light tunic and trousers, they effortlessly closed the distance, their heavy boots thundering over the rocky ground.

Realizing they were rapidly catching up, Filmos threw his arms forward toward the lead soldier and shouted a frantic command.

"Spray them again!"

His Green Anaconda lunged from his side, rearing its heavy jaw to launch another burst of acidic liquid straight at their pursuers.

However, the soldiers were far too competent. Before the acid could reach them, one of the soldiers casually raised a hand. The slimy blue blob hovering beside his shoulder expanded instantly, forming another impenetrable barrier that absorbed the corrosive spray without breaking a sweat.

Filmos’s teeth chattered in pure desperation. He knew he couldn’t afford to slow down for even a fraction of a second, so he kept running like hell itself was chasing him.

"Kid, stop right now!" one of the soldiers shouted, his voice booming with authority.

In a terrifying burst of speed, the second soldier leaped over a fallen boulder, vaulting through the air and landing just three feet behind Filmos. He reached out with an armored hand, grabbing Filmos by the hood of his hoodie and yanking him backward off his feet.

"Got you!" the soldier growled, raising a pair of heavy restraints.

Filmos choked as the collar dug violently into his throat, his boots sliding uselessly in the dirt. Panic completely overtook his mind—he was about to be caught!

Just as the second soldier moved in to pin his arms behind his back, the Green Anaconda acted on pure survival instinct. Instead of attacking the soldiers directly, the serpent coiled its thick, muscular tail around the soldier’s planted leg and yanked with immense force.

The soldier lost his footing with a sudden grunt, his grip slipping from Filmos’s collar as he crashed heavily onto the hard dirt.

Seeing the temporary opening, the Green Anaconda violently whipped its massive body across the narrow path, slamming into a rotten fallen log that had blocked their path earlier. The log shattered instantly, exposing a rough, overgrown dirt slope leading straight into the dense forest below.

"Filmos, go!"

Filmos thought he heard his snake hiss those exact words, though he knew it was just his imagination. Still, that was the overwhelming, desperate signal his beast was relaying through their bond.

Without a single second of hesitation, Filmos threw himself down the dirt slope. He tumbled head over heels, sliding through tall grass and thick bushes as the dense foliage swallowed him whole, leaving the angry shouts of the two soldiers echoing far behind him in the distance.

He rolled to a painful stop at the bottom of the incline, his hands covered in dirt and scratches. He scrambled back up to his feet, gasping heavily for air, believing for a brief second that he had finally shaken them off.

THUD.

However, just as he thought he had escaped, a tall, imposing figure stepped out from behind a massive tree trunk, blocking his path entirely.

It was another soldier, but far bulkier than the previous two. Wrapped tightly around his massive forearms were glowing, liquid gauntlets forged entirely from... a pair of blue slimes.

Filmos froze in place, his knees trembling as his breath hitched in his throat. Now, Filmos realized with absolute clarity that their beasts were indeed slimes.

His mind raced in pure bewilderment. What kind of specialized squad in their right mind would ever use slimes as their primary, frontline combat beasts?

The heavy soldier raised his slime-encased gauntlets, staring down at Filmos with cold, predatory eyes as the slime writhed and hardened around his fists like living steel.