0054 - That time I got exploded as a slime.

The Chaos Essence rushed into Lu Sheng like a bursting dam, shredding through his meridians. His veins bulge out, pulsing hard with each panicked heartbeat. The Automated System tried controlling the wild force, but it twisted and thrashed like a striking snake in every path.

The Automated System could only instruct but couldn't bend the laws of physics as the Chaos Essence started wreaking havoc.

"Arghh! AH! AAAAAAAAA!"Lu Sheng's body jerked and convulsed violently. The pain was instantaneous, his eyes rolled back, showing just the whites as a gurgling scream ripped from his throat. Jagged streaks of multicolored energy arced over his shuddering body like possessed lightning.

" AAH! WHAAAA! WH-WHAT'S HAPPENING?" He screamed, his voice dripping with raw terror.

[Fruits of your idiotic gambling!]

A sickly green-yellow glow spread over Lu Sheng's skin. Bulging, oozy boils erupted all over, bursting to leak gross fluids down his body. His hair melted into dripping strands of fire red, bright blue, and glowing yellow all melting together.

"STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP!" His screams twisted into a deep, desperate growl.

[Stop it? You're the idiot who started this!]

Blistering pain shot through Lu Sheng, as his body deformed and reshaped grotesquely. His left arm stretched out freakishly long and rubbery. His right shriveled into a gnarled claw. His belly gurgled disgustingly, flesh bubbling like something wanted out.

It's too late to stop the crazy transformation. Lu Sheng melted into a heaving pile of slick ooze and putrid gunk. Veiny bolts of wild energy snaked through the amorphous blob as it spasmed, consumed by an unstoppable change.

Just when it looked too revolting…

KABOOM!

An ear-splitting blast erupted outward. Lu Sheng's warped body explosively burst apart in a dense spray of putrid sludge that splattered everywhere in arcing globs of foul gunk.

Silence, only broken by the sick splatter of raining filth.

No bones. No human parts left. Just puddles of smelly, thick ooze spreading out. It was as if Lu Sheng's entire existence had been wiped out in one huge, disgusting blast. An anticlimactic heavy, eerie quiet fell over the red dirt land.

Silence.

An ominous silence until finally…a wet sucking pop emanated from one of the thick gooey sludge puddles. A bubble slowly inflated, darker fluids dripping outward in thread-like tendrils as it expanded.

A low gurgling voice slowly intensified, breaking the silence. The puddle began to shudder and churn as more bubbles oozed out from its viscous form. Lumpy globs lifted and flowed together in slow, blobby movements.

Slowly, disgustingly, a kind of human-shaped shadow began forming. Shiny slime strands stretched between bulgy parts as the dripping, quivering mess kept congealing into a solid shape. Glowing flecks of energy blinked from within the thick ooze.

Finally, a wheezing, ragged breath escaped from the pulsating goop puddle.

"I…I'm alive?"

Lu Sheng's familiar voice came out distorted and gurgly, but one could hear the total confusion. The slimy, amorphous creature twitched like it was surprised it even existed.

Trickles of murky sludge shuddered from its body with each small movement. The dripping human shape was still changing, not fully re-formed yet. Fat frog-like limbs twitched and writhed blindly as Lu Sheng's awareness slowly kicked back within the grotesque, regenerating mass.

[That's it? I am alive? Is that your reaction? Do you even understand what just happened?]

"Um…wha…wha…what happened?" Lu Sheng stammered, trying to act innocent as he was fully aware the blame was all on him.

[Don't you dare act innocent here, because of your stupidity we died?]

"We…we died? But I am still alive." Lu Sheng sounded surprised as the sludge still took shape, getting refined in detail.

[You stupid! The real body, the original Lu Sheng's body is gone! All because of your stupidity.]

"Then why didn't you…" He tried to shift the blame as usual.

[NO! NO MORE! I've had enough of you! I warned you that we both don't have any knowledge of what we are about to do but you insisted]

"You could have mentioned that we could die." He still tried to sound innocent or unaware.

[Really? That's your innocence? That's your argument that you were not warned enough? that you were not warned that you could die?]

"But we are still here." He tried to sound optimistic.

[We will be in hell too, in the fire.]

"Then what is happening to me right now?" His sludge-like form tried to make sense of his own shape.

[I have no clue. Your Good and Bad Luck, both are playing it here. This is true chaos.]

"What is it?" he asked, confused, as all the puddles started to gather at the center and his form began to take its previous shape.

[I have no idea but it seems, the law of this place, this trial has worked in your favor against your stupidity.]

The Automated System responded with a hint of uncertainty.

"What do you mean?"

[How do you think the wolves keep on coming? Keep on respawning? Magic? No, this is the law of this trial, the moment we took in the Chaos Essence within our body, the law of this trial has marked us as one of its creations.]

"Wait? Does that mean we cannot leave anymore? WTF!" Lu Sheng cried in a panic.

[When did I say that?]

"Oh? I got scared for no reason," Lu Sheng said with a sigh of relief.

[I am not saying that either.]

"Are you playing games with me?" Lu Sheng asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.

[No, but I am not assuming anything, you might be right and wrong, both. Or, something completely different.]

"Speak Clearly," Lu Sheng demanded.

[I don't know, because of your stupid idea, we took Chaos Essence in and now in an hour when the trial ends, we will know what it means.]

The Automated System responded with a resigned tone, its logical warnings falling on deaf ears, as Lu Sheng remained clueless about his unique situation. The intense pain of his body exploding into sludge had been so overwhelming that his lazy brain didn't bother to register it.

As the puddles merged, Lu Sheng felt a mix of fascination and relief as his body began to reform. But his relief was short-lived when embarrassment washed over him. "Ah! I'm naked!" he exclaimed, frantically searching for his Spatial Ring. "Where is it?"

[Maybe it scattered far because of the explosion, we would have to find it.]