Ball of Nothing

Chapter 9 It“s a Bird! It“s a Plane! No, it“s NAMEKUJI!

What in creation is that?

The new creature was black with white spots but the appearance didn’t deter me. In fact, that was the least of my concerns.

There were a few things about this new creature that had me completely stumped. Firstly, it was the size of this newcomer. It didn’t fall through immediately like the rest. In fact, it was still making its way down the bird’s throat slowly. From what I could see, it had a very slimy fluid covering the entire of its body. The creature was long and from the way it squirmed, it was very flexible... probably had no hard structures in its body.

Secondly, it was in the way it moved. From memory of the other creatures, they either hopped, flew or wriggled. They were movements with a very distinct aim to get from one point to another. This newcomer had none of that intention as it moved. In fact, it didn’t seem like it wanted to get anywhere. It merely wanted some physical contact with anything it could get itself on. As such, I saw how it tried to cling onto the bird’s insides with its very sticky and slimy fluid. How was I meant to absorb something I couldn’t touch?

Putting these two thoughts aside, this was the first time I saw something still alive inside of the bird. Was this new creature secretly very strong that it could defy its fate even after being eaten? Would I be able to take it on in my current condition?

No, I decided that it was a fool’s errand to take on the unknown. Hence, I waited with all the patience I had. To defeat the enemy, gathering information was crucial. I can’t defeat the bird without knowing how it looked like. Without the memory of the poor creatures I absorbed, I would’ve been defeated if I decided to challenge the bird.

All the animals had the same concept. When it came to the unknown, they either flee on sight or wait to understand more before taking action. Charging head first was possibly the worst thing one could do... it often resulted in death.

*Wriggle* *Wriggle*

It has been a while and by now, most of this new creature’s body was in the bird’s stomach. The creature stubbornly clung onto the walls of the bird’s stomach and I admired its tenacity.

Finally, its head appeared and I could now see the creature’s body in its full glory. The body was long and surprisingly flat even though movements can cause it to seem bigger. It had tiny eyes at the end of two stick-like structures on its head. I did not see a mouth and didn’t know if it could eat. It had two strange smaller stick-like structures below its eyes that seemed to always be searching for something. It made me uncomfortable to know that it was probably observing me as well.

The newcomer wasn’t as impressive as the bird but if anything, I was impressed by how it wasn’t dead yet. That sticky fluid would be extremely useful if I could absorb the creature. Imagine having the ability to hang upside-down and stick onto surfaces without having to worry about being swept away.

I stared at the creature and briefly remembered a creature that the newbie created on Earth. That creature was called "Snail". This newcomer looked very similar but it was missing of the iconic shell on its back.

*Wriggle* *Wriggle*

At this point, I had a brilliant idea. If there wasn’t a name for this creature, why don’t I give it one?

Since the creature looked very much like a tongue, I’m going to name it after the act of licking from its weird movements. From today onwards, you shall be called "Namekuji" - The Licking Bug.