Influenced by some unknown law, wherever there are dungeons and ruins, there are bound to be treasure chests… and Mimics.
Adventurers slay Mimics, thus obtaining the treasures they’ve hoarded.
Or, the Mimic devours the adventurer, absorbs their resentment, and seizes their weapons and items to fill its treasury, thereby evolving.
From a lowly Mimic that follows only its instincts to trap adventurers and plunder riches, it evolves into a ‘Mimic’ with a degree of sentience, its internal world expanding tenfold.
A sentient ‘Mimic’ has essentially abandoned the crude, bandit-like behavior of the Mimic. They are gentle in temperament, possess refined tastes, and every ‘Mimic’ is a commercial prodigy with Space Magic.
If you get any ideas about the treasures in her belly, be warned… every ‘Mimic’ is a Gilgamesh, capable of unleashing a Barrage of attacks upon you using the method of Gate of Babylon.
Giving you money?
No, you have to be alive to receive it. Under the effect of their innate passive, 【Spend Money Like Water: True Heroes Smash People with Cash】, the Mimic’s launched Gold Coins or treasures carry kinetic energy like cannonballs, enough to pierce shields.
Furthermore, based on the type and value of the treasures a Mimic collects, the System will judge them, evolving them into higher forms of Mimic.
A Mimic whose wealth surpasses its peers can become a ‘Gem Mimic’.
An ‘Item Mimic’ that likes to collect weapons and tools can reach its highest form as an ‘Artifact Mimic’.
There are also ‘Dream Mimics’ who love to run around dungeons and the human world peddling the heresy of “ten-pull guarantees, single-pull miracles.”
As well as ‘Coin-Scattering Mimics’, ‘Fapping Mimics’, and so on…
Within the Eternal Mineshaft, the Mimics form a faction of their own. They often operate near the third layer’s 【Eternal Interval】, using their Space Magic to travel between various dungeons and human towns to collect treasures.
And the one universally acknowledged “King” by all Mimics on the continent, who is also one of the guardians of the Eternal Mineshaft, is named the ‘Illusion Mimic’!
If a ‘Gem Mimic’ (Lv. 80) holds the wealth of a city, and an ‘Artifact Mimic’ (Lv. 80) is covered head to toe in treasures, then the ‘Illusion Mimic’ truly holds a universe in her bosom, vast as the ocean’s embrace…
Within the ‘Illusion Mimic’s’ body are stored up to a hundred different Small Worlds with various effects.
There is a Lava Purgatory, Floating Glaciers, Poisonous Gas Swamps, and more… Among them, the Illusion Mimic’s greatest pride is the World Item, spoken of in the same breath as the Aether Gate… 【Garden of Eden】!
…That’s right. Almost no one would believe that the Divine Soil of Eden, which allowed the Grand Elder Doma to eke out a living for a thousand years, the Divine Soil of Eden which can cause crop yields to skyrocket without Jinkela [T/N: a Chinese internet meme for a miracle fertilizer], is everywhere within the Illusion Mimic’s 【Garden of Eden】 Small World.
?
?
The perspective shifts back.
Weilin fired a ‘Vertical Aether Wormhole’ upwards above the mineshaft.
Although the wormhole saved on teleportation Magic Stone costs, its construction price of 10,000 Aether Energy was still quite considerable.
Thankfully, its lifespan was a full seven days.
Within these seven days, traveling back and forth would cost nothing, but if a being with an “excessively high energy level” passed through the wormhole… such as existences at Lv. 100 like the Time Devourer or the Clay God, the wormhole might collapse and vanish, unable to bear it.
The pale white light shot straight to the top of the mine’s first layer, adhering to the rock wall embedded within the inner core layer.
Vertically, an Aether ray unexplainable by magic opened up a narrow, thumb-wide tunnel, penetrating 600km of the inner core, 800km of the liquid outer core, 2000km of the mantle, and the thin crust, straight through to the surface…
The tiny white light twisted, stretching to its limit, forming a shape like a white bottleneck. The deep, swirling black clouds within the neck, reminiscent of a black hole, signified the completion of the wormhole tunnel.
“Alright…!”
Weilin looked up at the formed wormhole and let out a light breath. “But with our energy levels, the wormhole might collapse. Gelun, assign a few Scouts to go up and investigate.”
【Clay God, Lv. 100】
“Got it, guh…”
The Clay God turned around gravely, extended a massive stone hand, and casually grabbed a large black bird flying nearby. Bringing it up to His eyes for a thorough look, His voice was deep and terrifying:
“The last time I saw you, you weren’t this fat… Did you sneak a lot of mineral snacks?”
【Giant Crow, Lv. 50】
“Caw—caw caw—!! (I didn’t, I haven’t!)”
Even though the Giant Crow wasn’t very intelligent, over the years, watching the Clay God always find various fabricated reasons to eat Moles and birds, it should know what the phrase “eaten a lot” implied…
(The Clay God is Neutral Evil, only eating those that haven’t evolved sentience.)
“Caw! Gawk—! (I didn’t sneak any food! Lord Gelun doesn’t even remember which one I am!)”
Struggling and squawking in the Clay God’s grasp, the Giant Crow’s feathers flew off in clumps.
A fierce will to survive. jpg
“Consider your sneaking of food forgiven. I do not feel like eating you today. You are to quickly notify the Crystal-Eating Mole King and the Giant Crow King, and tell them to come here.”
Having said this, the Clay God released His grip.
As if receiving a divine decree, the Giant Crow didn’t dare delay a moment. Frantically using its 【Black Feather Whirlwind】 magic, it curled its body into a black whirlwind and fled into the distance at high speed.
Getting fat was considered stealing food; being skinny meant being useless for labor. If you dared to get depressed or suffer heatstroke, you could just wait to die. Because the Clay God did not eat sentient beings and could not create life, only mating and evolution allowed them (referring to Slimes, Moles, and Giant Birds) to barely maintain a semblance of life…
Just as the bamboo rats in another spacetime also lived in constant fear, Weilin deeply felt the hardship of the Moles’ existence. With a pained expression, she said, “…Send me a few Moles when you go, too. I haven’t had meat in a while. I’ll take some for Huan Xuezhi to try as well.”
“…Who is Huan Xuezhi!?”
The Mushroom Empress suddenly asked, on high alert.
The Time Devourer remained silent, but a strange light flickered in her eyes.
“Uh…” Weilin had planned to bring this up later, but seeing the Mushroom Little Girl’s face gradually distort, the fungi on her body emitting an aura of chaotic evil…
Silently, the world changed. Around them, brilliant and colorful flowers bloomed in competition, butterflies danced gracefully, birds chirped melodiously, and a rich floral fragrance mixed with a faint, fresh air scent filled their noses.
…It seemed they had instantly transitioned to another space.
Weilin’s eyes lit up: “…Menghuan!”
One of the guardians, the ‘Illusion Mimic’ who freely controlled one hundred “Reality Marble” Small Worlds, whom Weilin also affectionately called “Menghuan.”
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