This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

Chapter 514

After retracting its tentacle, the lighting puji obediently sat on the ground without moving.

After quite a while, several more puji were transferred in by Lin Jun.

First, the scout puji extended its perception in all directions. Aside from the information blocks and the treasure pile, it sensed no other objects or people.

To be safe, Lin Jun still spread his consciousness outward like rippling water, probing into the depths of the darkness.

“Uh… Lord of Light, are you there?”

“I didn’t mean to peek at your diary, I just fell in here by accident.”

“And, um… I also have a heart that pursues the light…”

A long time passed. There was still no response.

Tsk.

Only then did the puji start moving around again, swaggering as if nothing had happened.

Reading through the [Final Experiment Record] once more, in a sense, could this be considered an apocalypse notice?

After all, even an existence like the Lord of Light was praying to the “universe” for favor.

Of course, whether it really was the Lord of Light was still debatable. In theory, as long as someone knew how to create these information blocks, anyone could sign the name “Ixion” at the end. After all, the Lord of Light didn’t have some kind of irreplicable official seal…

Still, for now, Lin Jun chose to think of it as something truly left behind by the Lord of Light.

Recently, he seemed to be hearing more and more talk about the world ending. Lin Jun felt he was already getting numb to it.

At the end of the day, he was just a little mushroom still struggling to survive under the shadow of the Empire. Even if he wanted to save the world, he had no idea where to start.

Hopefully an ultimate existence on the level of the Lord of Light would find a solution.

Speaking of which, did this world even have the concept of a “universe”?

He asked Louisa and Aiden, and both of them were unfamiliar with the term.

As for the concept of “aether,” Lin Jun himself didn’t know exactly what it was, so naturally they had never heard of it either.

Still, Lin Jun silently noted this clue down.

From the description in the records, this thing seemed closely tied to the survival of the world.

There was also another point: the Lord of Light wanting to create souls—did that mean the total number of souls in this world did not naturally increase?

In other words, were existing souls truly just cycling endlessly through reincarnation?

Thinking about the souls he had stripped clean—souls that had directly merged into the world—it now seemed likely that they were being reclaimed by the world and cast into the next cycle.

Another thought suddenly popped into Lin Jun’s mind.

The final solution the Lord of Light thought of… couldn’t be becoming a thief, right?

If souls in this world didn’t naturally increase, then steal them from elsewhere—stolen souls would become heroes!

Thinking back to the heroes he encountered in the archipelago, the names on their panels clearly came from his own world. Obviously, heroes were not natives of this world.

But… that didn’t quite add up.

This dungeon had only appeared three hundred years ago, yet legends of hero summoning existed since ancient times.

So this wasn’t a solution, but some kind of delaying tactic?

Although he didn’t understand what benefit stealing a few souls every few hundred years brought to the world, this speculation didn’t seem entirely impossible.

Imagining the revered Lord of Light secretly being a habitual cross-world soul thief felt… strange.

For now, Lin Jun set aside the information about the end of the world.

As for artifacts, the Blood Calamity mentioned here was in the Emperor’s hands, the Heartwood Core had already been reclaimed by that old bastard Birthwood, but this “Void Realm” was something he had never heard of at all.

Although the Lord of Light said these were all failed projects, that was because they couldn’t create new souls, making them useless to an existence at his level.

The abilities attached to these failures, however, were something Lin Jun desperately coveted.

Blood Calamity and the Heartwood Core were out of reach for now, but the Void Realm could be something to have his subordinates look into later.

And finally…

Lin Jun looked at the vast number of remaining information blocks floating in this abyssal space.

One puji extended a tentacle into another information block.

[Experimental Subject Name: Sunstone]

[Nineteenth Experiment Record]

[Test Subject: Soul No. 734445]

[Soul Tier: B+]

[Using the Sunstone to continuously split the soul… reached the limit after seventy-five divisions…]

…

…

…

As expected, they were all experiment records related to the Sunstone.

This might actually be the true treasure of this abyssal space!

The artifact panel didn’t even give a proper explanation. Even now, holding the complete Sunstone, Lin Jun could only use it to knead a few mushroomfolk.

Compare that to Emperor Mortis’s Blood Calamity—those overwhelming crimson blood curtains were terrifying to behold. Lin Jun couldn’t help but feel envious.

If he could thoroughly study these experiment records, he didn’t dare say he’d master some earth-shattering technique, but at least he should be able to figure out the basic uses of the Sunstone, right?

That was far more tangible than any apocalypse prophecy.

However, just as Lin Jun was about to fully immerse himself in it, a small matter interrupted him.

The Sword Saint was back—but he came back dead.

…

For his second rebirth, the Sword Saint was already familiar with the process, breaking out of the cocoon with practiced ease. The moment he emerged, he saw the Marshal puji.

“Sword Saint, Sword’s Ultimate…” the Marshal puji looked down at him, tapping the Sword Saint puji’s cap with a tentacle. “How did you die?”

“Yeah… why did I suddenly die?” Completely unconcerned by Lin Jun’s tone, the Sword Saint puji rubbed the brim of his mushroom cap with a tentacle, pondering the question himself.

“You don’t even know how you died? Were you instantly killed by something?”

“That shouldn’t be the case. There were a lot of slimes down there, but their strength was just so-so. The scarecrows in the manor shouldn’t have come out either…” The Sword Saint recalled the final moments—one second he was cutting through slimes like melons and vegetables, the next his vision went black.

This piqued Lin Jun’s curiosity.

After all, even as a puji, the Sword Saint was still the Sword Saint. Although the granted [Qi Sense] was only LV6, far below his living standard, he hadn’t lost any other detection skills.

Combined with the [Sword’s Ultimate] realm, there was no reason for him to be instantly killed in a place like the Scarecrow Abyss.

If it were really that dangerous, no adventurers would be going to the Scarecrow Abyss in the first place.

The two puji discussed it for a long time, until the Sword Saint puji suddenly remembered No. 5, who was still waiting for him.

And when No. 5 learned that No. 14 had died and come back, he weakly chimed in on the fungus network, “Could it be… that you ran out of mana…?”

The two puji stared at each other.

“Wouldn’t you get dizzy first if you ran out of mana?”

“You’re a puji. Where did you even get a head?”

“Haha… I’ve never been a puji before. Still not used to it.” The Sword Saint rubbed his mushroom cap, looking a bit awkward for once.

“…”

Lost: one knight body, one S-rank magic crystal, two skill weapons.

Cursing under his breath, Lin Jun began preparing a second body for the Sword Saint. After all, aside from this Sword Saint, there really was no better candidate at the moment to dive deep into the Scarecrow Abyss to loot things.

This time, the Sword Saint even shamelessly asked for two extra swords, bringing the total to four.

Once everything was ready, just as the Sword Saint was about to set off, Lin Jun stopped him again.

“This time, you’re going with her!”

“Who?!”

“Don’t forget to hide your identity!”

…

Big niece?!

“This is… a new mushroomfolk? Carrying four swords—so cute!” Just rescued through the teleportation array, Inanna happily scooped up the Sword Saint puji in her arms.

The Sword Saint puji had originally wanted to dodge, but for some reason, his body lost control for a brief moment.

It was probably that Dungeon Lord.

Although their time together hadn’t been long, Elvian had already vaguely grasped Lin Jun’s personality.

This body, not entirely his own, really did hide all sorts of restrictions.

But why was Arama’s daughter in the mushroom garden?

The Sword Saint puji twisted his body, trying to break free from the not-very-strong arms.

Yet no matter how he adjusted his angle of force or applied unloading techniques, he simply could not escape Inanna’s embrace.

He quickly realized that this girl’s technique for holding puji was extremely professional. She understood the puji body structure inside out—even better than him, a current puji!

Unless he used brute force and injured her, escape was impossible. This was a pure, technical-level suppression.

Just what had this girl been spending her time on? How many puji had she held before?!

Watching Inanna’s nimble fingers reach toward his mushroom cap, Elvian felt that his nonexistent old face was facing an unprecedented crisis!

Chapter 515

The big niece’s technique was actually quite commendable.

Elvian had never imagined before that having certain parts of a puji lightly scratched could bring such an intense sense of relaxation.

The shallow indentation where the mushroom cap connected to the body, the joints at the base of the tentacles, or even having the short legs gently squeezed…

As for being pawed all over by Inanna?

The one being touched was Fourteen. What did that have to do with the long-dead Sword Saint Elvian?

Inanna’s stroking only came to an end when Number Four, who had already switched back to a normal body, tapped Inanna’s arm with a mycelial tentacle.

A true master of fairness, Inanna naturally wouldn’t play favorites. She picked up Number Four and gave it another round of practiced kneading.

Only Number Ten stood silently in the shadows, with no intention of joining in.

But it wasn’t spacing out. It was studying magic within the fungal network.

Dedicated fungal citizens were flipping through magic books at its request, then projecting the contents directly into Number Ten’s consciousness through the fungal network.

Number Ten knew very well that puji didn’t need to train skills. The great Fungus Lord could bestow most abilities directly.

However, this “most” did not include the knowledge required for spellcasting. That was something it had to learn itself, and Number Ten genuinely enjoyed the feeling of absorbing knowledge.

It planned to become a puji grand mage.

Though it never said it out loud, Number Ten firmly believed that it was the Fungus Lord’s most outstanding creation.

…

By the time Inanna returned, Fahl’s search teams had already begun trying to clear the passage that Number Ten had previously blocked.

Lin Jun directly used a bat puji to bring Inanna through the breach into the sixth floor, then took a hidden room straight to the first floor.

When Inanna emerged from the dungeon, Fahl, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, looked like he was just one step away from hugging her legs and pouring out his grievances.

Who could understand the pressure brought by the news that Duke Arama was rushing toward Mordu?

“Thank goodness… thank goodness you’re safe!” Fahl wiped the sweat from his forehead, then noticed an extra figure beside Inanna.

If it were another mushroomfolk, Fahl might not have been able to tell at a glance whether it was special.

But the Sword Saint puji’s eighty-centimeter-tall body, with four sword scabbards hanging from it, was far too eye-catching. One look and it was clear this was no ordinary puji.

Fahl didn’t ask any questions. With Arama about to arrive, matters concerning Inanna were no longer his place to meddle in.

And Inanna herself happened to want to talk to her old man about her desire to make a trip to the Dwarven Mountain Range.

Under Fahl’s arrangements, Inanna once again stayed at the Adventurers’ Guild, where she also met Fifteen, who had just returned and was temporarily staying in Mordu.

At first sight of Inanna, Fifteen smiled and walked over to greet her.

But the instant he caught sight of the sword-bearing puji at her side, his movements visibly stiffened.

Only after confirming that it carried four swords rather than the two from his memory did he quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Thinking about it, he had rushed back nonstop from Scarecrow Abyss.

Even if that puji that had utterly crushed him had immediately climbed out from the depths, there was no way it could be faster than him on horseback, nor should it be appearing beside Inanna.

Still, for some reason, he felt as if the gaze of that four-sword puji was fixed on him…

Sword Saint puji was indeed staring at Fifteen.

It was rare luck to run into Fifteen again. Its tentacles were itching, wanting to try four-blade style.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a dungeon encounter. Starting a fight here would be hard to explain.

So it could only give up reluctantly.

Even so, Fifteen still felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

On the contrary, Number Nine on his head was quite calm. It already knew that Sword Saint puji was one of their own.

Clinging to Fifteen’s hair, it hopped down with its short legs, its mushroom cap brushing against Fifteen’s cheek.

“Don’t panic, Little Fifteen. If a fight really breaks out, I’ve got you covered!”

After boldly talking big, Number Nine immediately went to join Number Four, chatting about internal mushroomfolk matters. It even got picked up by Inanna for a round of kneading, and afterward couldn’t help sighing about how its own Fifteen just didn’t have this kind of skill.

…

After settling Inanna in, Fahl finally dragged his exhausted body back to his office.

Lilian walked up behind him, her fingertips kneading his shoulders and neck with a relaxing rhythm.

Inanna’s disappearance over the past few days had truly drained him.

The pressure didn’t just come from Duke Arama. Calls from the people of Mordu demanding “greater rescue efforts” had been growing louder by the day.

How could a war hero simply vanish without a trace in a dungeon?

Because of this, Fahl had been forced to temporarily set aside other administrative duties, pouring most of his manpower and resources into the search. He had even risked angering the dungeon’s mushroomfolk by sending people to try digging into the lower-level passages.

Under pressure from all sides, Fahl felt like even his hairline had started retreating.

Fortunately, Inanna returned on her own, sparing him from an early baldness crisis.

Still, that didn’t mean things were easy now.

He wasn’t one of those useless parasites living off others. Having broken precedent to become the lord of Mordu, he had greater ambitions to fulfill. All the administrative work he had put aside earlier now had to be made up.

After a brief fifteen-minute rest, he sat back down at his spacious desk.

Most of the documents were various applications from subordinates, such as allocating materials to add magic arrays to the city’s defenses, or requests to purchase special materials from other regions…

Fahl skimmed through them quickly, approving them one by one, until one document made his pen pause.

“Mushroom Worship Cult…”

The content was simple. Recently, small gatherings worshiping mushrooms and puji had appeared in Mordu.

This world had never lacked such emerging faiths, and the vast majority never amounted to anything.

Normally, beliefs of unknown origin should be directly classified as cults. But the problem was that the kingdom and the mushroomfolk were currently in an initial contact phase, with many potential avenues for future cooperation.

And behind the Mushroom Worship Cult, it was hard to say whether mushroomfolk were secretly pushing things along.

If that were the case, how to deal with this group would, to some extent, become a diplomatic issue.

At present, the main members of this puji-worshiping group were the survivors of the Dragonroar Valley battle and their families. These people were indeed the most likely to become believers.

The numbers weren’t large yet. If they were going to suppress it, it had to be early.

Fahl also recalled recent reports from the fallen regions of the western frontier. Taking advantage of the chaos there, the cult known as the Hand of Transmigration had already quietly conducted several sacrifices.

Not only humans, but even demons captured by them were sacrificed without hesitation. Judging from the traces left behind, the scale of these sacrifices was growing larger and larger. Who knew what those lunatics were planning now?

He summoned Mirabelle, instructing her to arrange for agents to infiltrate and investigate. At the very least, they had to find out who was backing the Mushroom Worship Cult.

Fahl’s greatest fear was that this so-called Mushroom Worship Cult was merely a new skin worn by the Hand of Transmigration.

If the Hand of Transmigration really caused chaos in Mordu, he wouldn’t even know where to cry.

As for considerations regarding the kingdom’s relationship with the mushroomfolk… perfect timing. With the duke about to arrive, Fahl decided to ask Arama for his opinion then.

…

A few days later, when Arama finally arrived in Mordu, the one who greeted him was Inanna, currently holding Sword Saint puji.

That scene was enough that even with the Sword Saint’s thick skin, he couldn’t help but silently twist his mushroom cap to one side.