Chapter 1600 – When Plans Go Well

[See? Everything’s fine.]

[I fail to see how this is fine, Master!]

[What do you mean? We aren’t going to die. In the next few minutes.]

[That we know of!]

[Look, I’m not saying it’s ideal, but it isn’t as bad as it could have been. There’s probably heaps of people out there who have it worse than us.]

[You threw yourself into the fifth stratum during a wave!]

[I mean… that’s… that’s true. On the other hand, we aren’t hungry. See? Could be worse!]

[…]

Now, I could consider that Crinis has fallen silent because she now agrees with my position and is reflecting on the relative merits of our current state, or she has given up on me entirely and is now trying to find her own way out of this mess. I choose to believe we are in agreement. It’s more fun that way.

[Oooo, they’re moving us!]

[THEY SHOULD GET THEIR FILTHY CLAWS OFF!]

[Hey! Whoa! Do not extend your limbs out there. We have enough toxin problems to deal with as it is.]

Currently, the two of us are nicely cocooned by the slime-nets of the Krath, which have expanded out and melded together to cover my entire carapace. Normally, that wouldn’t be a good thing, but it’s literally the only reason I was able to survive inside the mucus. The Krath have either engineered or bred these things to be incredibly resistant to the acidic and toxic influence of the fifth, which means very little is actually getting through to me.

Makes perfect sense when you think about it. If they want their captives to survive long enough to be corrupted, they have to have a way of getting them to their evil goop pools alive. With all of my minds dedicated to breaking down invading mana, along with the enchanted equipment I got from Smithant, I’m actually doing alright, despite everything.

The only problem is, I can’t break out of this slime covering. Not until I’m either much closer to the fortress, or I’ve recovered a heck of a lot more than I have right now.

For the moment, the best course of action is just to go with the flow and keep a low profile. The problem is convincing Crinis of that.

[LET ME OUT, I’LL TEAR THEM APART!]

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[Oookay. First, no. Second, you need to chill out, and before I forget, I order you to never use your weird tentacle things on my brain slash brains ever again.]

[You were going to order me to go back to the fortress!]

[Of course I was! I didn’t want you to get hurt! You know perfectly well that this environment is more dangerous for you than for any of the rest of us!]

[But how else am I supposed to keep you safe?]

She sounds so worried, so helpless, I can’t help but take pity on the poor little ball of infinite darkness and eternal despair.

[Hey,] I tell her gently, [Sometimes I’m going to be in danger. You’ve just got to trust me. I’ve always made it out before, and I will again.]