Not before long, night settled in. The forest was already dark to begin with, but as time passed, this darkness grew worse, enough for even his eyes to notice it. He could hear distant croaks and howls beyond the woods, and the rays of moonlight peeking through the gaps of the canopies were even more visible than the earlier’s sunlight.

So far he still hasn’t seen any potential locations to set up his base. Looks like he’s not so lucky today.

Well, he already understood that the moment his ship entered this planet’s atmosphere though.

“Buruburuburu.”

The creature sets out to find a temporary camp of some sort. After a quick check on the surrounding trees, he found one where its insides were carved out; it looks comfy and dry, plus the grass beneath it feels soft. He can probably sleep here.

He splayed down onto the carpeted ground, followed by a tired groan rumbling inside his body. He had been dragging the case— which has double the size of his body— all over this forest for six hours. [Red Fleshlings] aren’t known for their amazing endurance. More like they’re infamous for being weak. His two tentacles, in particular, are on the smaller side too, and that certainly did not help him in any way.

He wondered what would have happened if he had landed safely. Most likely, he’d already been customizing his new base, genetically engineering and evolving his body, and scaring the pesky humans he’d have enslaved. The next day, his glorious plan of invading the whole world would commence, and everyone would cower in fear to his fully evolved body…

The cold breeze of the night rudely snapped him awake from his thoughts.

He knew reality can be harsh, but he never imagined that it was this cruel. No matter what comforting words he’ll say to himself, nothing will change the fact that he’s living inside a tree right now…

“Puru…”

Depressed, the strange creature drifted into slumber.

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“Grrrrr!”

A loud growl grumbles right beside him!

The alien jumped up in the air in surprise. Alerted, he began to search outside his literal tree house. He grabbed the edges of the tree with both of his tentacles, then snapped his ‘head’ from side to side. Did something sneak up on him while he was sleeping?

“Grrrr!”

He paused. That was… his stomach. Now that he’s aware of it, he does feel hungry.

The thing that he ate yesterday definitely sated his stomach. It was almost twice his size, the meat was tender, and the bones snapped with just a little bit of squeeze. It actually took him ten minutes to fully digest, which is quite a long time for a member of his species.

But that was yesterday. Today’s food is another thing.

He remembered the food case he was dragging all over the forest. It was there inside the tree, innocently lying down on the grass while keeping his last supply of food locked and tight.

He crawled near and placed his limbs on either side of it. After having clicked the necessary buttons, the case opened up to reveal a dozen of silver capsules.

“Kururu!”

Looking at those small pills brightened his day. Each one can last him for twenty-four hours, and they’re not heavy for his stomach at all!

He took a single one with a tentacle. He retracted it back inside his body, directly dropping it inside his stomach. Upon opening up a hole for his tentacle to enter from, some gastric juices within his internal cavity spilled on the ground.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Nom nom! Now he’s full!

He should start searching for a base again. Hopefully, he’ll find something today. Linking a tentacle with the handle of the case, he started dragging it again like last time, eager to find himself a home once and for all.

Behind him, a patch of melted grass and rocks can be seen.

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Trudging through the quiet forest calmed his mind. Not that he was panicking, but yesterday was really a hectic one. Now that he got the chance to actually explore the forest with a rested mind, he began to admire the beauty and tranquillity of this place.

“G-Garoo!”

Was his stomach rumbling again? That can’t be possible. He just took a food fill.

“Garo!”

“Garoro?”

“Garoro!”

Oh, it was those strange, green… animals, again. The ones he met yesterday. It looks like they multiplied this time, with their number reaching around fifty to sixty.

Walking foods, he thought.

“Garoro?!”

They sounded like they’re angry. Well, he did eat one of their kinsmen, so… maybe they want to eat him now, too?

A flying wooden spear whooshed past his side.

Or they just want to outright kill him. That’s a logical reaction too.

Every direction was blocked by one of them. He didn’t notice it before, but they must have encircled him while he was mulling over his thoughts. Each one carried a primitive weapon of some kind, ranging from ‘sharp sticks’ to ‘sharper sticks’. They probably intended to use them as swords and the likes.

Looking back, that thrown spear before actually looked decent. Why did they throw that one instead of those sticks?

“Garoooo!”

All of those idiots yelled as they ran towards him.

“Suro, Ruro.”

He shook his head. These guys… are really stupid.

He let go of his case. He stretched both of tentacles to his side, followed by a small, pointy white object poking out of the tip of his limbs…

With a sudden burst, a pair of one-meter ivory bones extends from his tentacles. Not only the tip, but the edges themselves look jagged and razor-sharp. Transparent slimes are visible all over it, even dripping down to the ground with a loud hiss.

The grass melted right where it landed.

“Kuro…!”

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Everything was going to plan. They’d entrap the monster in an enclosed space, encircle it, then hit it with all they’ve got all at once.

And then the first head flew away.

Right when one of them got near the creature, it slashed those white sword-like bones on its arms, cleanly cutting the goblin’s head off from its body. Some part of its neck even melted, exposing things that the goblins never knew were inside them. Crimson liquid sprayed all over the group of goblins, tinting them red from the blood of their own comrade.

The slime-like thing wiped off the blood from its bone. Even though it had no eyes, they felt like that thing was looking right through their souls.

“Huro?”

It said in its dark, demonic language. They cannot even fathom just what this monster is talking about right now. It must be mocking them for their weakness!

Fear gripped the hearts of all the goblins. They do want to kill it, and they’re scared of disobeying the guardian as well, but they also do not want to die. Looking at it, it must be a really strong monster. Something that doesn’t belong to this forest, or maybe even anywhere for that matter.

Shortly after, several screams of the remaining goblins rang out everywhere. Some foolishly tried to fight the monster by ganging up on it, by they were all bisected with just a simple rotation. Some that ran away amidst the chaos luckily escaped, while some got caught by its tentacle. They were promptly stabbed, effectively melting them inside out.

Before the lone goblin knew it, he was the only one left. Everywhere he looked, dissected body parts and entrails painted the whole forest. A huge pool of blood soaked the ground beneath his feet, while patches of crimson splattered on the roots and trees littered all over the place.

He heard it crawl towards him. Its body is so small, he wouldn’t have even registered it as a threat if he had met it before this day. But looking at its blood-soaked bones and tentacles, the piece of hand slipping out from the mouth under it, and the melted head of one of his fellow goblin stabbed on its ‘sword’, he’s now sure that this thing is his nightmare.

“Puro…”

It raised its unoccupied limb and aimed it to his eyes. Everything fades to black soon after.

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The alien retracted both of his bone inside his tentacles. He could have finished this without being so messy, but it already happened. All he can do now is… probably ‘clean up’.

He crawls to a nearby corpse and opens his maw…

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 [https://i.imgur.com/iHq30IX.jpg]