Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 474 - 464: Some Things Are Inevitable

Inanna’s room, the magic wand lay lonely on the carpet.

Nearby, a pink Puki and two blue-gray Pukis huddled together, forming a small circle.

"So you really are a Puki!" said the fourth Puki, full of surprise after witnessing Inanna’s transformation scene. "What was that form just now? Was it a super disguise? How could you grow so much bigger?"

"It’s transformation magic," the tenth Puki explained.

"So that’s how it is!" The fourth Puki realized, but then a new question arose, "Why did you transform into a Mushroom Servant? And the ’Pink Puki’ name... don’t you have an official number from the Mushroom Lord?"

Its thoughts involuntarily carried a hint of sympathy, pitying a fellow Mushroom Race member, who didn’t even have a number.

The tenth chose silence. It was tired of explaining to the straightforward fourth that "Pink Puki" was likely what the Mushroom Lord called this special being.

After all, the Mushroom Lord’s decree was only to protect her, not to get along with the fourth.

"Tenth, fourth..." Inanna softly repeated the names the Pukis had reported, full of curiosity. "You seem different from the other Pukis?"

"Other Pukis?" The tenth Puki awkwardly used the Detection Skill of this mushroom body to sense the ordinary Pukis outside the room, immediately understanding Inanna’s meaning. "Those are just extensions of the Mushroom Lord, while we are the Mushroom Race with independent will."

"Mushroom Race... does the Mushroom Lord mean leader?" Inanna continued to inquire.

"How can you call the leader?!" The fourth Puki immediately corrected, straightening up slightly. "It’s our Mushroom Race’s privilege to respectfully refer to the Mushroom Lord!"

Inanna felt both love and intrigue for the two lively, distinctive Pukis before her, questions bubbling one after another.

Most of the time, the tenth answered with concise and clear thoughts, satisfying nearly all of Pink Puki’s curiosity, except for parts the Mushroom Lord explicitly required secrecy for.

And whenever the fourth was about to say something wrong, the tenth would timely interrupt.

The three of them continued their lively conversation for quite a while until footsteps gradually approached from the hallway outside the room...

...

"Alama, is the new arm created by the Regeneration Potion showing any abnormalities?" Lorenzo’s voice preceded him through the door.

He strode into the room, pulling out a potion with a glowing green hue from the inner pocket of his Mage Robe. "I’ve adjusted a new Nutrient Potion, it should help speed up your recovery. You warriors who specialize in honing the body, the recovery process after damage is always more troublesome than for us spellcasters..."

His voice gradually lowered, noticing something was off in the room’s atmosphere.

Alama sat alone in the corner’s shadow, maintaining a posture with his head buried in his palms, like a statue, showing no reaction to his arrival.

Lorenzo raised a puzzled brow, moved to his old friend’s side, and leaned down: "Hey, what’s with you again?"

Alama slowly lowered his hands, raising his head to meet Lorenzo’s gaze with empty eyes.

Lorenzo never expected to see such... confusion and despair in the eyes of this hard-edged man, who remained unflinching even when facing the Demon Race army siege.

"I suddenly feel," Alama’s voice was hoarse, filled with the fatigue of a spirit drained dry, "I’m a complete failure as a father..."

Lorenzo felt a bit relieved at Alama’s words.

It turns out to be small family matters; he feared Alama had suffered some irreversible bodily damage.

"Why say that?" Lorenzo sat next to him, trying to comfort in a relaxed tone. "Didn’t Inanna do well this time? Though she borrowed external power, she did save us from a desperate situation, far better than my two troublemaking sons!"

"I just... went looking for her," Alama’s voice was stilted, "found her secretly in the room... with... with..."

Seeing Alama’s difficult expression, as if his worldview had suffered a devastating blow, Lorenzo instantly understood, showing an "I get it" expression.

He patted his old friend’s shoulder, counseling with the tone of someone who has been through it:

"Sigh, kids grow up, some things are inevitable. I was also furious when I discovered my eldest son was involved with his maid, but later I thought, young people are hot-blooded, it’s not such a big issue. So tell me, which guy has the niece taken a liking to? Is it the adjutant who came with her, Warren? If it’s him, I think that’s acceptable. Despite lacking background, he’s capable and handsome, resembling me eight-fold in my prime. You can find the right time, talk to them, make things official..."

"It’s Puki!" Alama suddenly interrupted, the usually steadfast man nearly collapsing, his voice trembling, "I saw her... she turned herself into a pink Puki! Head-to-head with two other Pukis! Why has it come to this?!"

Lorenzo’s understanding and comforting expression instantly froze, his mouth slightly opening, emitting a sound full of bewilderment: "Ah?"

...

On the other side, Inanna also suffered a heavy blow.

"What do I do..." She sat on the bed hugging her knees, her pink long hair veiling her frustrated face.

The valley’s conditions were truly limited; having an independent room was already a special privilege as a commander, as for locks and such facilities, there was no way to talk about them.

Upon hearing the footsteps outside the door, Inanna instantly knew trouble, leaping toward the magic staff like a frightened rabbit, attempting to undo the transformation before anyone entered.

But ultimately she was a step too slow, caught perfectly by Alama as he pushed the door open.

Fortunately, her Transformation Technique was quite mastered now, allowing her to transform clothes along with it.

Otherwise, standing naked transforming back in front of father Alama... the scene would be unthinkable, surely a hundred times worse than now.

But the current situation was also enough to make her want to hide.

Alama saw her in Puki form, huddled with the other two, and though he said nothing, his frozen expression and slightly swaying back as he left vividly, made Inanna realize the trouble.

Beside her, the tenth was deep in self-blame—it severely failed its duty.

It felt it should have become familiar with its body’s skills immediately upon rebirth; had it proficiently used those detection methods, it wouldn’t have made such a basic mistake, letting people walk into the room before they noticed.

Fortunately, the other party wasn’t hostile; if the enemy were present, the Mushroom Lord’s just assigned task might have already failed!

"This error... cannot happen again!"

The fourth completely failed to grasp why Pink Puki was so downcast.

After Inanna simply explained "being seen by father in a weird form is very troublesome," the fourth suddenly recalled the noble status the Mushroom Lord had just granted them.

"We embody the great Puki’s will! Glorious Mushroom Race!" Its thoughts filled with sincere pride, "How can we hide? Come, let’s go clarify to those non-Mushrooms! Let them know your identity is so distinguished!"

Saying so, it extended its mycelium tendrils, wanting to pull Inanna along to declare their status. Yet seeing her human hands made it hesitate, the tendrils paused briefly before enduring a hint of disdain for Pink Puki’s ’non-Mushroom form,’ lightly wrapping around Inanna’s wrist, leading her out.

The tenth promptly followed, ready to step in at any moment to prevent the fourth from causing trouble.