Lucien feels that he's definitely screwed, baked, roasted and ready to be served on a silver platter to the slimes.
On the other hand, seeing his kin coming to help, the slime in Lucien's arms seemed to be injected with a new found courage.
It flipped its body around, raised its head high and snorted.
"Mu! Mu!"
My people are coming to save me!
Bad human, release this prince in this instant!
Unfortunately, Lucien couldn't understand slime language, but sensing the slime cub's sudden pride and arrogance, Lucien twitched his lips.
Dude. You fear the strong and only dare to bully the weak—
But who said that I'm weak?
At least, I'm stronger than a brat like you!
Instead of releasing the slime cub, Lucien held the slime tighter and took a step back!
Tap.
Sizzle....
The giant slime slid one step forward, and so did the other slimes.
Gulp.
Lucien's face was still calm and cold, as if he was just walking back casually, but inside, Lucien's soul broke into cold sweats with tears flooding his heart.
Ahh! Don't get closer! Or— or—
...wait, something is wrong.
It's too quiet.
Lucien slowly peeked at the sea of slimes around him.
They were indeed menacingly marching forward, but at a snail speed.
And even more strange, their bodies trembled slightly.
None of those slimes actually used their corrosive saliva to attack him.
Even the slime cub who was struggling in Lucien's arm slowly quieted down, belly up, its body shivering slightly.
"Muuuu…"
Spare the child…
? What's going on? Why are the slimes acting weird?
Are they afraid of accidentally hurting the slime cub?
But he heard that slimes are immune to their own corrosive saliva?
As if to answer Lucien's confusion, a new system interface popped up and one skill listed on the status window was shining brightly.
[Dungeon Landlord's innate skill: ]
[Land Conqueror (Legendary) (Passive Skill)]
[Description:
A landlord's dignity is everything.]
[In the eyes of your tenants and potential tenants, you are emitting an aura one rank higher than their rank, no matter what the landlord's true rank is.]
[Applies anytime and anywhere.]
[Reminder: If the landlord loses their dignity, the passive skill will not work!]
Lucien's eyes widened and he almost lost his composure.
What? What kind of OP skill is this??
So as long as he pretended— ah no, kept being cool, others would be fooled?
Indeed.
In the eyes of the slimes, Lucien's figure suddenly became like a looming mountain, mysterious and distant.
If Lucien understood the slimes' words, he would definitely hear the slimes' chattering noisily.
Glurg! T-that's definitely not an F-rank bipedal monster!
Glurg! Must be an E-rank!
Glurg! Scared!
The slimes were scared, the landlord was also scared, but the giant slime wasn't really scared.
Glurg! I'm an elite slime, glurg! I can tackle an E-rank solo!
And what if it's an E-rank bipedal monster, glurg?
There are so many of us, glurg!
We can definitely gang him up, glurg!
The elite slime's words immediately boosted the other slime's confidence and their entire aura changed.
Lucien was just feeling relieved when the shivering slimes suddenly stirred, their tiny eyes becoming sharp.
Lucien's keen coward— animal instinct immediately rang.
Uh oh. Somehow, those slimes suddenly become rebellious?
Did his passive skill fail? Is he not dignified enough??
If his aura didn't work...
Lucien's eyes immediately landed on the shivering slime cub in his arms.
Speaking of this cub, those slimes were all reacting because of it.
Is this cub...special?
Of course, it's special.
Only the little cowardly guy was still shivering, not showing any signs of being rebellious, unlike other slimes.
As the saying goes, pick the softest persimmon to pinch.
If he didn't choose this guy, who else could he choose?
Unfortunately, before Lucien could pinch the persimmon, the closest giant slime slowly moved, its corrosive saliva gathering in its mouth—
And then it spat out with great vigor.
"Ptui!"
A blueish-black liquid instantly flew in the air and Lucien subconsciously stepped to the left, narrowly avoiding the corrosive saliva.
Splat!
The saliva instantly dissolved the innocent pebbles on the ground, just an inch away from Lucien's shoes.
A shiver crept up Lucien's spine.
If that hit his body....
Lucien's legs almost turned into jelly, but his mind was moving extremely fast.
[System! Find me a contract-related skill!]
There should be the one he's thinking about—
DING! [Opening your status window ••• ]
[Sign A Contract (Legendary)]
[Description: What is a landlord without a tenant?]
[Sign a tenant for a certain period of time by asking for a deposit. The deposit can be anything of value.]
[Reminder: Every tenant will bring the landlord different surprises.]
[Your current limit: 1 month contract]
[Tenant: 0/2]
[Estimated skill usage recovery: 24 hours]
Yes, it's really there!
How could a capitalist landlord not have a cheat item such as an unequal contract?
If he contracted this special little thing—
Lucien grabbed the shivering slime cub with equally trembling arms.
Before the cub could even scream, the bad landlord immediately visualised creating a contract and "chanted" the spell.
"Sign a contract!"
A strange energy flowed out of Lucien's fingertips, forming a translucent, glowing piece of blank paper in the air with only a few sentences.
[Trial Tenant Contract]
[Deposit: An ??? Slime's saliva]
[Absolute rule:
The tenant must not harm the landlord's dignity. All interpretation belongs to the landlord.]
[The landlord must ensure the tenant's safety and comfort. All interpretation belongs to the tenant.]
[In the case of either party's breach of contract, there will be a penalty for the party involved.]
[Landlord's signature here]
[Tenant's signature here]
Before the giant slime could recharge his saliva bazooka and the other slimes could follow suit, Lucien pressed this thumb on the [Landlord's signature] column.
"Okay, your turn!"
Then, he plastered the slime cub's body onto the [Tenant's signature] column.
Squeeze.
The moment both sides signed the contract "willingly", Lucien felt a mysterious thread connecting him to the slime and a similar thread connected the slime to his house.
A beat later, the system notification sounded.
DING! [Congratulations, landlord, you have signed your first tenant!]
[Tenant: 1/2]
[You can now check your tenant's status window]
DING! [Every tenant comes with a surprise.]
[You have unlocked a new dungeon facility!]
[Landlord, you can choose your facility once you're inside the main dungeon.]
A flurry of notifications popped up but Lucien swatted his hands over the panels and immediately raised the slime cub high in the air.
As the giant slime's cheek bulge and the other slimes were about to shoot their salivas—
Lucien shouted on top of his lungs, his eyes squeezed shut but his back as straight as a steel.
"Freeze! Don't move! I— got a hostage!"
The slime cub felt a strange connection with the scary bipedal, its eyes widened, the tears gathered in his eyes froze, unwilling to slide down.
The giant slime's bulging cheek froze stiff. Its throat immediately moved, swallowing the corrosive saliva.
One by one, the other slimes froze, as if someone cast a time-stop skill.
They could sense a strange connection between the slime cub and the despicable human…
Glurg! What's going on??
Lucien held his breath, his heart pounding to his ribs.
Did it...work?