Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 513 - 503: Professionals

There’s actually such a large ruin under my home?!

Most of the main structure of this city, sealed by ages of dust, remains intact, while the rest, like those scattered voids they previously excavated, is scattered among the surrounding rock layers.

Uncovering a ruin, should... be considered a good thing?

Lin Jun is not sure either.

After all, the rescued dwarf mentioned some ancient combat puppet technology inside, which reminded Lin Jun of the two combat puppets guarding outside the core area of his Underground City.

As the exploration of the Crystal Stele neared its end, Lin Jun’s control over those two combat puppets had increased considerably.

At least now he can set up friend or foe recognition when they are activated.

He also found a mode that turns the Demon Crystal of the entire puppet from purple to red, suspected to be the Frenzy mode.

He also discovered a special mode that turns the Demon Crystal of the entire puppet from purple to red, suspected to be a Frenzy state.

The suspicion mainly comes from the fact that there’s no safe method to test the combat strength of the puppet.

And last time, during an accidental trigger, even though he did nothing, upon returning to normal state, he still found slight cracks on the Demon Crystal, clearly not something to mess with.

The combat puppets in the ruins differ significantly in appearance from those in the Underground City, but the technology within still makes the mushroom eager.

However, exploring the ruin is not that easy, the biggest problem being the Frenzy Spirit.

Originally, two Frenzy Spirits were pulled out from the Abyss, one transforming into the Storm Elemental Lord on the spot, the other fell to the Northern Territory, seemingly transforming into the Frost Elemental Lord.

The Storm Elemental Lord only caused destruction along its path and didn’t stay long, resulting in elemental chaos lasting nearly three months.

And this one in the Northern Territory, it seems to have settled there and never moved.

According to the Yellow-covered Book, the environment of these ruins is already close to being completely transformed.

By then, even if the Elemental Lord is eliminated, the elemental chaos in this area will not recover over time, unless you are willing to gather a large number of Water Mages to painstakingly restore it little by little.

At one corner of the ruins, in a newly established temporary camp, Louisa is arranging guards rotation for her soldiers.

The sounds of battle outside are relentless.

Shortly after Norris rescued three missing personnel, Louisa brought a Puki Master troop and established this camp.

The Cold Spirit is not difficult to deal with, even those that flew and released ice crystals, posed no threat in front of the troops from Fungus Castle, at most consuming some Puki.

However, their undying nature still proved frustrating.

Louisa tried trapping the Cold Spirit, but after being trapped for a while, it would abandon its shell, revert to its original untouchable state, and find a spot to reform its body.

[Don’t waste your efforts, stupid troll]

[Only the environment can truly resolve Elemental Spirits]

[Either restore the elemental balance of this area or drain the magic power of the entire ruin, clearly you’re incapable of either]

Ignoring the Yellow-covered Book Advisor’s sarcastic remarks, Louisa directly applied to Lin Jun:

"Boss, as long as the Elemental Lord is dealt with, this matter can be resolved."

"Please allow me to deploy all Fungus Castle troops to suppress these endlessly regenerating Cold Spirits and fight our way to the Elemental Lord to finish it!"

Louisa pointed her finger at the giant spiral building far away, the source of elemental chaos lies there.

Tolin and his team were lucky to land on the edge, with weaker Cold Spirits, thus achieving an opportunity for rescue.

Currently, solving the Elemental Lord is imperative!

The cooling seems to haven’t brought disaster to Fungus Castle, instead helping North Alliance absorb nearby tribes.

But despite Fungus Castle’s thriving appearance, the current Northern Territory has long become a life-forbidden zone.

Over ninety percent of the already scarce wild demons died from freezing, tribes that did not join Fungus Castle migrated to the edge of the Northern Territory, fighting other migrating tribes for survival.

The prosperity of Fungus Castle is built on the foundation of Fungal Mat mushrooms, Puki heating, and the universal [Cold Resistance Level 10].

Moreover, the key issue is that cooling hasn’t stopped.

Though slowed significantly compared to initially, the temperature is still gradually dropping, where the limit is unknown.

Little Pig’s strategy is straightforward.

No point battling these Cold Spirits in a futile war of attrition, push forward in one go, and strike the Dragon’s Den directly.

Once the Elemental Lord is swiftly dealt with, whether letting it naturally recover or deploying mages for active restoration could be chosen with ease.

However...

Lin Jun recalled the Storm Elemental Lord from back then.

Although the Puki he controls was killed without even seeing what the Storm Elemental Lord looks like, collated intelligence from various sources afterward still revealed a rough semblance of its power.

On paper, it’s lord-tier at seventy-plus, yet its combat performance far exceeded that of dukes on both sides.

Lin Jun isn’t sure whether this Frost Elemental Lord is weaker or stronger, but if analogizing from the Storm Elemental Lord’s power standard...

Victory is possible, yet the losses estimated wouldn’t be minor.

And resolving the Elemental Lord would gradually warm the climate.

With no hindrance, the Empire will certainly quickly notice the changes in the Northern Territory.

Fungus Castle’s current strength is noteworthy, but considering the North Alliance as a faction within the continent’s framework, they are evidently the weakest.

Thus, every ounce of strength is precious, best not squandered.

It’s time to employ the Pink Puki...

...

Duke Saint Clair’s Mansion.

The Kingdom is focusing all efforts on military reconstruction and establishing new defense lines.

Alama is fully responsible for defensive projects, while Warren, Inanna’s former deputy, manages the reorganization of the Puki Army during new recruit training.

War hero Inanna, on the contrary, has idled back to the Duke’s Mansion.

But Inanna never craved power, now accompanied by two numbered Puki, naturally she’s unconcerned.

Number Ten is silent and reserved, unless necessary, always quietly hiding among the Puki crowd, dutifully executing its task to protect the Pink Puki.

Yet there are mushrooms who remain displeased.

Number Four is quite unhappy.

Since last time being beaten violently in rage, reborn Number Four reverted back to a cannon fodder Puki.

Experiencing power...

Although constantly struck, was indeed formidable...

The gap between such power and its current cannon fodder body is too great.

More importantly, the Duke’s Mansion is dull!

Frequently borrowed by that stern-faced human butler for various magic instruments.

Rude non-mushroom...

Such a life couldn’t be less honorable!

It began to yearn for days of battling the black demon...

Then, a new decree from the Mushroom Lord was like dawn, illuminating its dim life again!

"Yay!"

Excitedly, Number Four pulled Number Ten from the Puki pile, jumping continuously, but with the latter’s dragged appearance, clearly it held great disdain.

Meanwhile.

With a mouthful of snacks, Inanna queried Lin Jun within the Fungal Network: "Boss, I inexplicably leveled up twice recently, is it the effect of the water you fed me?"

"Hush—! Don’t randomly tell others about this, find an excuse if anyone asks! Good stuff should be shared among ourselves discreetly!"

"Boss, you’re so great!" Inanna narrowed her eyes in happiness.

"Oh, Pink, there’s something requiring your help on the Underground City side, but it might be a bit dangerous..."

"I’ll help! I’ll help!" The girl eagerly raised her hand, allowing tentacles to rub her head, her "hehe" chuckle spread in the sun-filled room.

Vaguely hearing some sounds, Eric looked towards the direction of the lady’s room, his eyes full of worry—Miss’s mycophilia is worsening...