Inside Rimuru's Stomach, the Box of Paradise rested quietly. Suddenly, the Box of Paradise emitted a soft glow, and the mouth of the Smiling Face quietly opened, a black hand reaching out to feel around. "Brother Ace!
A healing potion! Damn Akainu!" The voice echoed in the Stomach, startling the black hand into retracting.
If one were to follow the sound, they would see a colossal dragon lying on the ground, flipping through a manga, roaring and wiping its eyes with its claws. It was clear Veldora was deeply engrossed and quite agitated by the manga. After a while, the black hand cautiously emerged again to grope around.
Upon touching the healing potion extracted by Rimuru, it trembled slightly as if drawn by some powerful force. Immediately after, the Sad Mask also secretly opened its mouth, extending another black arm. Each black hand scooped up a palmful of the healing potion and quickly returned it to the mouths of the Smiling Face and the Sad Mask.
As the black hands retreated, the Box of Paradise trembled slightly and slowly dissolved. Veldora's golden vertical pupils glanced in the direction where the Box of Paradise vanished. "Dragonic aura?
No, it's… similar yet different. My sworn friend should be able to handle it."
By this time, Rimuru had returned to Mui's room, emerging from the bookshelf door. Rimuru's heart leaped; it clearly sensed that the Box of Paradise within its Stomach had vanished. \[Mind's Eye Clairvoyance] instantly located the aura of the Box of Paradise.
"It returned to its original location?" Rimuru was greatly astonished, knowing that the Stomach was an independent separate dimension, yet the Box of Paradise could return on its own. It seemed utterly inconceivable.
Following the same path back, Rimuru approached the Box of Paradise once more. However, the Box of Paradise was acting strangely this time. The Smiling Face's mouth opened, and a black hand extended, pushing Rimuru away, seeming to resist its approach.
Rimuru did not resist, deciding to understand the situation first. Its consciousness swept through its Stomach, and Rimuru ''whooshed'' out, transforming into human form. A large ball of healing potion condensed in its hand, which it then threw towards the Box of Paradise.
Upon contact with the healing potion, the Box of Paradise trembled, and its outer shell slowly melted into a black sphere. As the shell of the Box of Paradise melted, an overwhelming torrent of negative emotions surged towards Rimuru. Although she was mentally prepared and had already enhanced her resistance to emotions through \[Emotion Control] and the Great Sage's assistance, these accumulated negative emotions from thousands of years were too powerful, far beyond her imagination.
"Damn it..." Rimuru gritted its teeth, veins bulging on its forehead, circulating Magicules with all its might, trying to construct a solid defense in its consciousness. "I underestimated it again."
Rimuru used Thought Acceleration, increasing its mental activity speed a thousandfold to slow down the erosion of negative emotions. Its hand turned into a blue fluid, attempting to devour the Box of Paradise again. The blue fluid covered the Box of Paradise, but only managed to devour the melted shell.
"Hagoromo… Hamura… are you two drawing swords against your Mother?"
In a daze, Rimuru saw a scene: a tall woman with white hair and white eyes looked sorrowfully at two young men, and then a battle ensued. "Please, grant our wishes!" Rimuru then saw a mysterious ancient scene where people surrounded the Box of Paradise, praying fervently, seemingly entrusting it with various intense desires and emotions.
Time passed, but humanity's wishes remained unchanged. These emotions accumulated, and the Box of Paradise absorbed them, which is how the monster that guarded the Box of Paradise—Wu—was born. Scene after scene rotated in its consciousness.
\[Analyzing… Unique Skill \[Emotion Devourer] successfully obtained] \[Notification: Unique Skill \[Emotion Devourer] has been absorbed and integrated by Unique Skill \[Beast]. Unique Skill \[Beast] has evolved into Unique Skill \[Gluttony].]
There was no time to listen to what the Great Sage was saying. Rimuru felt the mental pressure instantly lessen and, relying on instinct, activated \[Gluttony]. All negative emotions were converted into Magicules by \[Gluttony].
A mechanical female voice spoke. \[Confirmed. Individual Name: Rimuru Tempest.
Magicule quantity has increased significantly. Commencing evolution to Demon Lord Species… Evolution successful.]
This was the first time Rimuru had heard the Voice of the World. Although it sounded the same as the Great Sage's voice, the feeling was entirely different. Rimuru felt the surging Magicules within its body, a flash of joy and pain in its golden eyes.
It had actually completed the evolution to Demon Lord Species by unexpectedly consuming the negative emotions of the Box of Paradise. But… why did consuming negative emotions feel bitter?
Rimuru stuck out its tongue, trying to dispel the bitterness, then asked the Great Sage. "Great Sage, what was that scene I just saw? Was it the memories of the Box of Paradise?"
"Crack…" Before the Great Sage could answer, a cracking sound echoed. A fissure appeared on the black sphere formed by the melted Box of Paradise.
"?" A question mark slowly appeared above Rimuru's head. This appearance…
could it be? The black sphere continued to crack, and soon a hole appeared. A white snake head poked out, tilting its head towards Rimuru.
No way, could the Box of Paradise really be some kind of creature's egg? "Mom... Ma?"
A childish voice echoed in Rimuru's mind. Rimuru's face darkened. Although it knew this was the creature's "Imprinting Effect," where it would regard the first creature it saw as family, being called "Mom" was too strange.
"At least call me older sister. You are not allowed to call me Mom!" Rimuru narrowed its eyes and said "kindly."
The snake head ignored Rimuru and bit off a piece of the eggshell. As it continued to chew, its body gradually emerged from the cracks in the black sphere. Only then did Rimuru get a clear look: it was a small snake, entirely white like jade, emitting a soft glow.
It had two pairs of wings, one black and one white, on its back, and its snake eyes were like two brilliant rubies. After eating the eggshell, the little white snake flapped its tiny wings and flew before Rimuru. "Mama is so clumsy, pushing Mama away so she couldn't get close."
"But Mama is really amazing, eating all those bitter things." Rimuru looked at the little white snake in surprise, ignoring its salutation. "You could sense things outside back then?"
"Yes, I've known about the outside world for a very long time. At first, someone prayed to me, and I granted his wish, receiving sweet things." "But later, when I helped him, I only received bitter things, and he brought a group of people who produced bitter things.
I had no choice but to kill them, otherwise, I would have died from bitterness." "After that, every time someone prayed to me, it was only bitter things." "Thanks to Mama, giving me sweet things and letting me hatch, though the taste is different."
Rimuru suddenly understood. It seemed the "sweet things" and "bitter things" the little white snake spoke of were human positive and negative emotions. The Box of Paradise, as its incubation vessel, continuously absorbed these emotions.
And the Hippocrates Grass healing potion was also seen as a "sweet delicacy" by it, helping it to break out of its shell. However, negative emotions were indeed bitter; Rimuru still felt a tingling sensation on its tongue.