Chapter 380: Who Knows What This Thing Will Evolve Into
Setting aside that lazybones who's probably beyond saving at this point, Steven soon walked out of the company. The little shark was nowhere to be seen on his minimap. He hesitated—should he drop by the Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub first, or visit Nearl's place?
Before he could decide, his pocket began to stir.
Steven narrowed his eyes and pulled out the Pokéball that held Shoggy. He honestly didn't expect it to get restless—wasn't this the kind of thing only that certain electric rodent was famous for? Since when did his own pet start developing a similar personality?
Still, he didn't think too much about it and casually released the creature.
This wasn't the icy wasteland of Ursus anymore, and in its current form, no one could possibly recognize what it truly was. Compared to those hideous, obviously evil-looking eldritch monsters, this little green blob of slime didn't exactly scream "demon spawn."
Besides, Steven had confidence in his own strength. Even if the thing somehow went out of control, he could flatten it into goo before it caused any trouble.
Wearing the same kind of expression one might have while teasing a kitten, Steven poked at the tiny creature that had just popped out of the ball. The slime seemed to sense the danger radiating from its master and obediently rubbed against his fingers, looking as innocent and harmless as ever.
"How come you're not growing at all? I was hoping you'd at least get big enough to repay me someday."
Steven sighed as he looked at the tiny blob. He'd been feeding it quite a bit these past few days, yet no matter how much it ate, it stayed the same palm-sized lump. It wasn't like those Ditto-like creatures that could transform into whatever they wanted—it could barely mimic anything beyond its own size.
He couldn't even figure out where all that food was going. In terms of combat power, this thing wasn't much better than a regular slime.
If its true form wasn't likely a Shoggoth, he might've handed it over to Alina and the others as a pet. But given the current situation, Steven figured it was safer to keep it himself.
Maybe the slime sensed what he was thinking, because it suddenly slipped out of his palm and began squirming toward a nearby display.
Puzzled, Steven followed its gaze—and saw a decorative art piece sitting on the counter, made from materials that clearly contained traces of Originium. The faint glow it gave off suggested there was quite a lot of the stuff mixed in.
Sometimes, Steven really had to admire humanity's self-destructive creativity. People could turn anything into art, huh? A dirty bomb glows in the dark too, but you don't see anyone making necklaces out of that.
He didn't understand Kazimierz's art scene, but Shoggy's intentions were easy to read.
"You want to eat the Originium?"
Steven scooped it up again and rummaged through his inventory, pulling out a Originite Prime he'd traded from Kal'tsit. He dangled it in front of the little blob.
Shoggy didn't bother to act polite. The moment Steven took the crystal out, its body expanded rapidly and engulfed the stone whole.
The golden-orange light of the crystal shone through its translucent body, casting soft ripples of color.
Steven couldn't help but grow more curious.
If this little thing could really digest Originium, then he had plenty to feed it. Forget the pile of Originite Primes—he still had that Pure Originium Core dropped by the Fallingstar Beast stashed away in his inventory. If he let Shoggy munch on that, wouldn't it just straight-up evolve on the spot?
Not to mention, those Seaborn monstrosities he'd fought some time ago had dropped a bunch of core-like materials too. With a body as adaptable as Shoggy's, maybe it could even absorb those.
If it could combine the strengths of creatures from land, sea, and air… he might actually end up raising the ultimate lifeform without meaning to.
That said, seeing how the little blob was already struggling to digest a single Originite Prime, Steven decided not to rush things. He just slipped it back into his pocket and continued walking toward Nearl's house.
Whatever Shoggy might evolve into, that was a problem for future him. Right now, he has other matters to handle.
Tracking down Specter wasn't going to be easy, so the next step was obvious—head to Nearl's place first. He had a promise to keep with those two sisters. Once that was done, everything else would fall into place.
Before long, Steven found himself standing in front of the Nearl residence and pressed the doorbell.
From the outside, the place hadn't changed much since his last visit—except now it clearly looked lived-in. The flowerbeds by the gate were freshly trimmed, and the lawn bore signs of recent care.
Compared to the rundown, fallen-noble atmosphere it had before, the house now felt warmer, more alive. There's no doubt it's thanks to the return of the Radiant Knight herself.
A moment later, the door swung open to reveal a cheerful golden-haired girl—the reason for all this change.
"Mr. Steve, you're back?"
Margaret greeted him politely, stepping forward with her usual composed grace. His visit didn't surprise her; after all, he'd promised to come. Seeing him arrive of his own accord meant only one thing—he was here to fulfill that promise.
"Maria, go wake Liz up for me, would you? She was reading late last night—probably still asleep."
Nodding toward Steven, Margaret turned to her younger sister, who hurried off to fetch the still-sleeping Nightingale. As the key figure in this upcoming treatment, Margaret had been waiting for this day for quite some time.
"No rush," Steven said casually, waving a hand. "We can have some drinks and talk first. The treatment can be done anytime."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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