This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

This seemed to be a collection room displaying weapons and armor. The cleaning and maintenance magic inside had continued operating through the ages, so there was not a speck of dust anywhere.

Because the room had fallen during the collapse, all the items were piled up in a corner. It took the puji quite some time to sort everything out.

What they found was a suit of equipment that resembled armor.

It was described as “resembling” armor because this thing looked completely different from ordinary protective gear.

Normal armor wraps around vital areas of the body. Some third-rate fodder types like to add spikes that look scary but are actually useless.

This suit of armor also had spikes.

But they pointed inward…

Lin Jun counted carefully. If someone really put this thing on, their body would probably end up with forty-eight extra bloody holes.

What an iron maiden.

And the shape of this armor was also very strange.

Its design was downright bizarre. Armor has always prioritized coverage—there has never been such a thing as “less coverage means higher defense.”

Yet this set not only had very limited coverage, it even deliberately exposed several vital areas.

On the right chest plate, there was a line of dwarven script. After translating it, the text read:

“To my beloved.”

Lin Jun felt his mycelium about to flip over.

This wasn’t some kind of perverted specialty fetish gear, was it?

What do you do when archaeology uncovers something you don’t recognize?

Obviously, you ask the Yellow Book.

And the Yellow Book really did know.

[Boss, this is magic crystal equipment.]

[See these large and small grooves on the gear? They’re all for embedding magic crystals.]

“That sounds a bit like war constructs?”

[Because it comes from the same technological lineage.]

“Then how effective is this kind of equipment?”

[I’m not sure about this specific piece, but when fully powered, magic crystal equipment can be considered an enhanced magic gear set. It should be stronger than the vast majority of modern equipment.]

“So strong? Why have I never heard of it? Is this the only one left?”

[Because there are no magic crystals, boss!]

[Count those slots. Every battle consumes an entire set of high-quality magic crystals!]

[It’s not like modern mage staves that can keep working as long as they aren’t broken. With this equipment, a single fight can scrap a whole set of crystals.]

[And the crystal quality can’t be low either. Low quality gives poor results, sometimes even worse than modern equipment.]

[Even back then, this was an extremely extravagant armament. Once cross-continental trade was cut off and high-quality magic crystals became scarce, naturally no one could afford to use it.]

[And this equipment has significant side effects. While it grants power, it also causes severe mental impact. If the user’s will isn’t strong enough, they either develop magic addiction or go insane after a single use.]

[Not to mention other places—dwarven and imperial vaults definitely still have similar gear. But unless there’s absolutely no other choice, no one would take it out to use.]

[In the end, this is a technology that has already been phased out. Its versatility is far inferior to modern forging techniques that rely on stimulating the inherent properties of materials.]

Smack, smack, smack—

The puji beside the Yellow Book clapped its tentacles repeatedly.

“To have one Yellow at home is like having a treasure.”

[You flatter me, boss. Easing your worries is my duty.]

After the Yellow Book explained things, Lin Jun suddenly remembered that this kind of equipment wasn’t completely extinct.

At the very least, that halfling mage named Ivan from the Silver Bramble Squad had a similar socket device embedded in his abdomen. Lin Jun had personally seen him insert magic crystals when fighting a flame demon.

Compared to the finely crafted magic crystal equipment in front of him, Ivan’s device was far more crude.

Thinking of Ivan, Lin Jun searched along the fungal carpet based on his memory and found that Ivan was currently still in Norwid, next to Mordu, and was unconscious, apparently being looked after by his teammates.

According to what Aiden had said back then, Ivan had inserted an S-rank magic crystal and almost instantly cast a teleport, which led to his collapse.

Lin Jun felt a bit curious about Ivan’s coma dreams, but for now, he focused on dealing with this equipment first.

This set had been specially preserved in a secret chamber—there was no way it was weak.

He selected a few lucky D-rank personnel to participate in this highly meaningful experiment, including the blood race member captured this time who had been guarding the teleportation array.

Just the spike-filled appearance alone scared the wits out of quite a few people.

Thanks to the selfless dedication of the D-rank personnel, Lin Jun quickly figured out the general effects of this thing.

Blood race–specialized magic crystal armament.

The effect was simple yet brutal. While strengthening basic physical attributes, it greatly amplified blood manipulation abilities. Even non–blood race users could gain partial blood control.

Once activated, hardened blood crystal layers would condense over the gaps in the armor, providing excellent defense and allowing real-time repairs using blood.

The paired greatsword was terrifyingly powerful. One D-rank user even developed the illusion that they could fight their way out with it.

Then Lin Jun planted mushrooms on them.

As expected, the side effects the Yellow Book mentioned also appeared.

Aside from the one who tried to resist and was executed, among the six test subjects, two non–blood race users developed the delusion that they themselves were blood race and tried to bite others.

One developed magic addiction.

A fifty percent rate—this was with Lin Jun only letting them use B-rank magic crystals.

Ironically, the least harmful part of this equipment turned out to be the terrifying inward-pointing spikes.

As long as they didn’t pierce vital organs, a few extra holes in the body really weren’t a big deal for fungal beings.

……

“So, how do you choose?”

Among Lin Jun’s subordinates, the only one truly compatible with this equipment was Piglet.

From Lin Jun’s perspective, whether she used it or not was fine.

“How much of an increase are we talking about?” Louisa asked.

“If you use all A-rank magic crystals, you’d probably be able to crush sanctum-level blood race members.”

As for S-rank magic crystals, even Lin Jun wouldn’t squander them just to test power.

“Boss, why are you so good to me!”

Louisa directly picked up the bracer covered in inward spikes and, without hesitation, slid it onto her right wrist. The sharp metal pierced her skin, and the sensation of embedding into bone made her breathing quicken. Sweat beaded on her forehead, yet the corner of her mouth split into a chilling, excited grin.

She didn’t stop to staunch the bleeding, nor did she slow her movements.

Piece by piece, Louisa fitted the entire “instrument of torture” onto herself, her eyes filled with an intense hunger for power.

“Mmm… ah… boss, I am willing to become your sharpest blade!”

Burning eyes, blood flowing without end.

Watching this scene, Lin Jun silently generated a puji.

“Huh? This is… Lord of Fungus, do you need me to—eeek!!!” Number Nine puji fainted on the spot, its short legs twitching.

Lin Jun had originally wanted to say she should only wear it during combat, but seeing Piglet’s impatient enthusiasm, he didn’t know what to say anymore.

More importantly—why was she so motivated?

The pressure was enormous.

Lin Jun fell silent for two seconds.

“…Alright.”

From an angle Louisa couldn’t see, the Yellow Book quietly flipped a page, revealing a single line of small text:

[Told you so. Vampires are all perverts.]