This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

[Why do these elementals look like they’ve been charmed or something?]

[This kind of large-scale charm—what kind of ability even is that?]

……

[Elemental spirits’ favor? Bullshit! It’s not like I haven’t seen that before—how could it have this kind of effect?]

……

[Boss, I’m not scolding you, I’m just too shocked…]

[Wait, Boss… don’t… don’t pull—owowow!]

……

The Yellow Book curled its pages inward, rubbing against the page that had been torn halfway off.

Since it hadn’t been completely ripped out, it only hurt a little.

“You’re saying you’ve seen this talent before?” Lin Jun asked through Piglet.

[Yeah, yeah]

[It’s that one that slightly boosts spells and makes elemental spirits not attack proactively]

[It’s useful, sure, but it’s absolutely not the same thing as this!]

“Then what do you think causes the difference?”

[Maybe this woman has something else special about her?]

The Yellow Book also looked uncertain.

What was special about the pink puji?

If one had to say something, it would probably be that her mother was suspected to have partial succubus blood…

The reason it was said to be partial was that if the pink puji’s mother were a full succubus, then she herself would inevitably show obvious succubus traits.

But in reality, aside from her rare pink hair and eye color, Inanna was no different from anyone else.

Most importantly, her status panel.

The panel clearly listed her as human.

That meant her bloodline was still predominantly human.

The most likely explanation was that her mother was a half-demon with both human and succubus blood.

However, this still couldn’t explain why the effect of her 【Elemental Spirits’ Favor】 was so overwhelmingly powerful.

Succubi charm had absolutely no effect on elemental spirits. Having succubus blood shouldn’t provide any bonus to this talent at all.

That said, Lin Jun wasn’t in any particular hurry to get to the bottom of it.

If the answer were readily available, he wouldn’t mind satisfying his curiosity.

But going out of his way to play a long, complicated detective game just for this? Forget it.

Even if he figured it out, it might not bring any tangible benefit. He already had plenty on his plate. As for the pink puji—she was fine as she was. As long as she worked, that was enough.

And the pink puji really was extremely useful!

Pink Ao Tian merely stepped forward, and these frost spirits—who had been utterly relentless against the puji—immediately started groveling like simps, surrendering all dignity.

It made Lin Jun more than a little envious…

But there was still one more question.

Would the elemental lord be affected?

The elemental lord was currently staying inside that massive spiral structure that occupied nearly one-fifth of the entire ruin.

Its internal layout was complex, filled with many high-tier frost spirits, and the temperature there had dropped to an extreme low.

Scout puji couldn’t withstand the extreme cold for long unless they heated themselves up—but once they did, the temperature-sensitive frost spirits would quickly detect them.

As a result, Lin Jun still hadn’t even seen the elemental lord’s true appearance.

However, one thing could be confirmed.

The elemental lord in this ruin was probably not a colossal being like the storm elemental lord.

To ensure safety, Lin Jun arranged an extremely luxurious guard detail for the pink puji.

Norris led the entire jida squad in close protection, with Number Ten and Number Four—who had just completed a body replacement—on either side.

Piglet followed behind with an elite team of puji masters. If necessary, they could even perform on-the-spot puji sacrifices to summon a colossal beast puji.

With this setup, as long as Pinky wasn’t instantly killed, she shouldn’t die.

And if she still died under these conditions…

Then it could only be said that fate had decreed it so.

At that point, Lin Jun would have no choice but to reluctantly shoulder the responsibility and become the second-generation elemental succubus himself.

……

At the same time, within the Empire, Ulbik Territory.

This was a marquisate composed of one castle and three surrounding cities, ruled by the blood race marquis Cassinar Ulbik.

Ulbik lay in the northern part of the Empire, though still some distance from the border.

The spreading cold from the north had caused nearby rivers to form thin layers of ice, but it was far from severe enough to force demon races to migrate.

This level of natural disaster didn’t concern Cassinar at all.

As a veteran blood race who had lived through two imperial dynasties, although his personal strength wasn’t particularly outstanding, his foundations were deep.

He wasn’t like some of the newly risen nobles in the Empire who lacked any real risk resistance.

Moreover, his thoughts were no longer focused on his territory at all.

“Two sets of backup constant-temperature items, repair materials in case the teleportation array is accidentally damaged, condensed blood crystals, mana potions, healing potions, thirst-sating blood potions… mana-interference dust, one-way holy light scrolls…”

A low voice echoed through the secret chamber as withered fingers traced over the supplies prepared for this operation one by one.

Marquis Cassinar’s steward was conducting a final inventory of the items, while several blood race stood behind him.

Each of them had their own strengths—some specialized in formations, some in scouting, some in delaying enemies…

Most importantly, they were all Cassinar’s blood-kin confidants, with absolutely no risk of betrayal.

He would take them to seek the blood race treasure recorded on that treasure map scroll, while the steward would remain behind to guard the teleportation array, preventing any accidents that might make their return impossible.

And the origin of the scroll in his hand was far from ordinary.

It had once belonged to the previous blood race grand duke—the leader of the blood race back when the Demon King still lived.

Back then, after the previous grand duke succumbed to incurable wounds inflicted by that terrifying hero, Cassinar discovered this scroll in one of the grand duke’s secret estates, which he learned of by accident.

To be honest, he didn’t know exactly what kind of treasure the scroll pointed to. But something that the previous grand duke had guarded so carefully was undoubtedly extraordinary.

The scroll recorded a teleportation coordinate. Cassinar had located it, but by then the teleportation array was already damaged, with only faint traces remaining to prove it had ever existed.

After the civil war between the blood race and werewolves ended and His Majesty Mortis ascended the throne, the victors redivided the spoils within the Empire.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cassinar requested the territory surrounding the teleportation array—what was now Ulbik Territory.

After that, he attempted to repair the teleportation array, but the result disappointed him.

The problem wasn’t only on this side. The array on the other end was damaged as well.

In hindsight, this was probably the reason the previous grand duke had hidden the scroll so deeply.

Over several centuries, Cassinar had tried multiple times to activate the array. From the degree of activation, it could be seen that the array on the other side was merely damaged, not completely destroyed. The core framework of the teleportation formation should still be intact—only the final confirmation runes were broken.

It was like part of the connection password had been altered.

In theory, it was possible to adjust the array on this side and attempt to reconnect.

But in reality, every activation of the teleportation array required an enormous expense. Even if the attempt failed, the cost would not be reduced in the slightest.

At the beginning, he had nearly gone bankrupt because of it…

Later on, although he still found ways to try once every decade or so, rationally speaking, he had almost given up. These attempts were little more than obsession.

Until recently, when he heard about a foxman named Gero, who had gained quite a reputation as a wise man in a neighboring territory.

A race not officially recognized by the Empire, yet still able to make a name for himself within it—this alone was proof of ability.

Coincidentally, it had been fifteen years since the last activation attempt. Cassinar thus had his steward invite Gero over for a meeting.

He didn’t reveal anything about the treasure scroll. Instead, as he had done countless times before, he took out only the portion requiring decryption and spoke with the foxman—who was accompanied by lizardfolk attendants—in the tone of a wager.

Even if the other party couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer, he would still treat him with courtesy.

“One of the few genuinely kind men in the Empire”—that was the face he showed to the outside world. Thick-skinned and black-hearted was his true way of survival.

However, what he never expected was this—

That foxman, truly deserving of his reputation as a wise man, actually succeeded!