novelraw Chapter 504 - 494: The City That Should Not Exist
Chapter 504 - 494: The City That Should Not Exist
Lin Jun is a mushroom with a broad mind.
Putting the Sword Saint into the Puki was merely to test the Sunstone’s capabilities.
As for the [Delicious] and [Enticing Aromas] skills, they were purely random choices when testing the skill loading function, and not lingering resentment towards the Sword Saint’s indifferent attitude of taking the Puki for granted, whether to kill or release him.
The terrifying might of the Blood Calamity Divine Artifact is still vivid in front of me. Even if the Sunstone, as a divine artifact, is not adept in attack or defense, it surely shouldn’t have such a singular function of cutting and shaping the soul of the Mushroom Race. There must be functions I haven’t discovered yet.
It seems now that this divine artifact’s purpose is closely related to souls.
Theoretically, Lin Jun can use it to put any soul into the body of a Puki.
But in reality, ordinary people’s souls are sucked away by [Greed], and merge into the world, leaving Lin Jun with no means to keep them.
The Sword Saint’s soul was only held because [Extreme Sword] is hard to digest.
Interestingly, when the Sword Saint possesses a mushroom body, the digestion process of [Extreme Sword] halts.
And when the Puki body dies, digestion resumes.
The experiment is almost over whether to let the Sword Saint continue being a Puki or to thoroughly digest [Extreme Sword] and send him off.
Lin Jun is kind-hearted, so he decided to keep him for the time being.
Anyway, everything about the Sword Saint is under Lin Jun’s control now, and the Sword Saint’s greatest rebellion would be non-cooperation.
Moreover, as long as the Sword Saint still cares about the fate of humanity, has concerns like Shi Wu, and is still concerned about the world’s future, Lin Jun trusts the former Sword Saint will know what choice to make.
...
Facing the Marshal Puki who revealed its identity, sitting on the heavy armor throne, draped in a scarlet cloak, countless thoughts ran through Elvyn’s mind.
"Are you the Mushroom Lord?"
"Authentic in every sense." The Marshal Puki’s mushroom cap tilted gracefully, the cloak gently swayed in the breeze.
Suppressing the urge to mock the ceremonial Puki fanning nearby, Elvyn lifted his mycelium tendril, pointing at the short and stout Puki body: "What is your intention?"
"Why don’t you find out for yourself?" Lin Jun controlled the Marshal Puki to extend its tendril towards Elvyn.
Without any hesitation, Elvyn’s tendril coiled around it.
Having nothing left, he had no need to be apprehensive; the truth was all he sought.
The heavy armor Puki set off slowly, surrounded by the ceremonial team.
The surrounding numbered Pukis cast envious ripples of consciousness as whispers echoed through the Fungal Network saying, "It’s so nice; I wish I could stand there too."
Standing on the heavy armor Puki, Elvyn witnessed an unbelievable scene.
Initially seeing the Lizardman, he thought he was in the territory of the Demon Race, but soon realized he was mistaken.
Lizardmen, Half-demons, Demon Race, Humans, Dwarves, and even Elves?!
So many races living mixed together, not existing in a master-slave relationship.
He saw a Dwarf chatting happily with a Lizardman, a Demon Race squatting to carefully record materials needed by a Little Elf, and a Half-demon sharing steaming Fluorescent Mushroom Porridge with a Human at the same table.
They seemed to ignore racial barriers and hatred altogether.
For Elvyn, who fought the Demon Race all his life, this scene completely overturned his understanding.
He wasn’t stubbornly believing all Demon Race members were villains; in fact, during his long career, he had met many respectable Demon Race opponents.
However, he knew well that racial hatred isn’t easily resolved.
Perhaps individuals can become friends, but mass groups will never peacefully coexist.
This harmonious scene surpasses his understanding.
Elvyn didn’t speak much; he continued observing the surroundings from atop the heavy armor Puki.
As the ceremonial team stepped out of the Stone Castle Dungeon, cold winds wrapped with snowflakes rushed against them.
Looking far and wide, the world was a desolate white.
Elvyn finally realized he was in the Land of the Far North.
As the heavy armor Puki headed towards the Fungus Castle, Elvyn saw more races.
Bearmen, Snake-men, Horned Demons, Shapeshifters, Enchanting Demons...
This place is like a melting pot embracing everything, and Elvyn noticed the common characteristic of these residents.
Each person is symbiotically integrated with mycelium, followed by a few warm Pukis.
When the Marshal Puki passed by, regardless of race, everyone would pause their work, bowing from afar.
Not like the cautious respect of Kingdom civilians encountering nobles.
In fact, once they passed, the people would eagerly discuss where the Marshal was going to wander off to next.
What surprised Elvyn even more was their way of communication; almost everyone used telepathy—a skill the Kingdom’s Puki Masters lacked.
The more Elvyn saw, the more questions arose in his heart.
Until the ceremonial team arrived at the Fungus Castle—an unimaginable prosperous city in the Far North!
With numerous tribes in the Northern Territory gradually joining out of love’s beckoning, even though Lin Jun worked on relocating population and building new cities, the Fungus Castle remained the most complete metropolitan currently, with an unprecedented population scale.
The streets bustled with people, the residents naturally avoided the giant Drilling Pukis emitting heat to warm the city.
Chatting about winter’s severe cold, newly announced mission rewards, or who paid a deposit and settled in the Fungus Castle.
The lively scene made Elvyn feel momentarily in Oath City.
It was then he was finally certain the city achieved harmonious coexistence across multiple races.
"How is this possible?" Elvyn couldn’t suppress his confusion anymore, "Why can they coexist without any animosity with races like eternal enemies?"
The Marshal Puki’s mycelium tendrils elegantly curled over itself: "It’s simple, really, treat each member equally..."
Elvyn doubted it would be as simple as the so-called "Mushroom Lord" said.
His gaze swept past the overly new cityscape, the openings in the stone still clearly marked, indicating the emergence of this power wasn’t long ago.
The Empire would never tolerate such a potential threat in the North, rising quietly during the distraction of the human-demon war.
Thinking about the human-demon war, Elvyn finally asked the question concerning him the most:
"How is Three Mountains City now? What about humans? You probably know, right?"
Lin Jun didn’t hide anything: "After you fell, due to some unexpected occurrences, humanity avoided a catastrophe for now. However, this peace probably won’t last long. In fact, the Empire is far from the greatest threat humanity faces!"
"Didn’t you ask my intentions?" The Marshal Puki stood on the throne with a playful nod of the cloak behind him, "I want to save humanity, save the Demon Race... save this world!"
A Puki exaggeratedly claiming to save the world, yet Elvyn didn’t laugh. Instead, he had some suspicions.
"You can check humanity’s situation personally if you wish, but before that, how about a deal?" The Marshal Puki came closer, "Rest assured, we have common interests, and the terms won’t be too challenging for you."