He was actually living inside a "box"!
What was even more absurd was that this box was pieced together with random scraps!
The so-called "boundaries" that Lin Jun had detected before, which he had thought were some kind of sturdy magical formation barriers, turned out to be the walls of small dimensional spaces.
Humans had even studied the illusion techniques of spatial walls—from the outside, they still appeared as ordinary soil, but this was merely a layer of false projection. To put it crudely, it was just a texture map.
Most of these small spaces hung suspended "outside the world." Without stairways connecting them, they would be completely sealed, independent prison cages.
Unfortunately, regarding the specific meaning of "outside the world," Inanna hadn't recorded it—perhaps she hadn't found the relevant materials.
Worth mentioning was that unlike other completely severed independent layers, the sixth layer was originally physically connected to the deep zone.
It was just that in the ravine area connecting the two, powerful rule restrictions had been imposed, forcibly designating it as a separate layer.
No wonder the collapse starting from the deep zone would first affect the sixth layer.
As for the dungeon absorbing magical power from the outside, this explained why the magical power concentration inside the dungeon was higher than in the outside world.
However, this made Lin Jun even more curious about the so-called "outside."
Speaking of which, could Little Black's fall into the void and loss of contact mean he had fallen to the "outside"?
Were there other worlds outside?
Was his original world among them?
He wondered if he'd ever have a chance to find answers.
But even if he found his original world, he probably couldn't return... He was now a mushroom who couldn't survive without magical power...
---
**The Surface**
The formation experts led by Guge, after resting for just one night upon reaching the surface, set out on their return journey to Covenant City.
Though the Sword Saint didn't travel with them, he too departed hastily.
This top-tier powerhouse, despite having no fixed territory or binding responsibilities, ultimately couldn't truly live carefree in these turbulent times.
Having received some unknown message, he headed straight east.
Fifteen also left with him—the Sword Saint said he wanted to take him along to train his brain.
Inside the Adventurers' Guild, the atmosphere was somewhat delicate.
"Miss Inanna, thank you very much for your assistance. Should you need anything in the future, please don't hesitate to ask—I will certainly do my utmost," Fal spoke sincerely.
Though with the dungeon entering its collapse countdown, the puffshroom problem was no longer important, the favor of having a duke's daughter personally come to help was very real.
Fal didn't mind having more connections with the duke's family, but...
"No need for courtesy. I merely came at Edin's request." Inanna, cradling the Knight Puffshroom, replied in a formulaic and distant manner, clearly unwilling to elaborate.
"Of course, we're also grateful to Mr. Edin." Fal hadn't forgotten his promised thanks—as soon as they exited the dungeon, Edin received a bag of gold coins and several rare materials suitable for crafting illusion items.
"By the way, Miss Inanna," though he seemed to be disliked, Fal still tried to maintain good relations, so he proactively reminded her, "I heard the puffshrooms collected quite a few treasures and hid them away. Now that you control the Puffshroom King, you might be interested in searching for them."
"You... you're actually coveting the puffshrooms' treasure?!" Inanna's voice suddenly rose sharply, and she unconsciously hugged the puffshroom in her arms tighter.
Eh?
Was it his imagination?
Fal felt like the gaze directed at him seemed even colder than before.
"No! I absolutely wasn't coveting them!" Caught off guard, he rarely stammered, "I just feared you might not know about this, so I... I mentioned it as a reminder! I have absolutely no intention of getting my hands on them!"
It took Inanna quite a while to nod and say, "Sorry, I misunderstood. Thank you for informing me, Guild Leader."
Before leaving, Inanna even patted the puffshroom in her arms and added, "Oh, and from now on, it's called Knight!"
After Inanna left, Edin followed suit and took his leave.
Only after both figures disappeared outside the door did Fal slump into his chair like a deflated balloon, rubbing his temples: "Lilian, tell me... where exactly did I offend this young lady?"
Lilian walked behind him, her slender fingers gently pressing against his temples: "Young ladies raised in pampered seclusion have unpredictable thoughts to begin with—isn't it normal for them to be moody? Think about when you first got involved in guild affairs—didn't you also cause a bunch of laughable mishaps?"
"Did... did I?" Fal's voice came muffled from between his fingers.
After a brief rest, Fal suddenly gave an order: "Go call Mirabelle over."
...
"Guild Leader Fal, you wanted to see me?" Mirabelle quickly arrived.
"Mirabelle, increase the purchase prices for all guild materials by ten percent, effective immediately."
"All materials?" Mirabelle was clearly stunned, confirming with some hesitation.
"Yes, all of them." Fal's tone brooked no argument.
"Guild Leader," Mirabelle looked troubled, cautiously raising an objection, "High and mid-tier materials are one thing, but low-level basic materials like ordinary slime cores, cooling flowers, and green scorpion tails already rely on volume to maintain themselves, with meager profits. If we raise prices by another ten percent, I'm afraid... there won't be any profit left."
Fal's gaze turned toward the window, as if penetrating the building to look at the dungeon walking toward its end: "Not only must we raise this ten percent, but in a month, we'll raise it another ten percent. We must stimulate all adventurers' enthusiasm now. The collapse will start affecting the upper levels in about three months—before then, let's gather as many resources as possible..."
...
...
...
"Miss, shouldn't we also be departing for home?"
Inanna hadn't come alone on this trip—three Gold-rank guards followed behind her.
However, with the Sword Saint clearing the way, the journey had been smooth sailing, and the three had spent almost the entire time guarding against thin air.
According to the original plan, they should indeed be setting out for home now, but Inanna clearly had other intentions.
"I..." Inanna's eyes rolled around, and she suddenly lifted the puffshroom in her arms high up, "I still need to find the puffshrooms' treasure!"
Though that Guild Leader Fal coveting the boss's things was annoying, this excuse was ready-made and useful!
The three guards exchanged glances, assuming their young lady was just being playful. What rare treasures weren't in the duke's treasury? What decent treasure could a bunch of monsters have hidden away...
"But Manager Eric instructed..."
"We'll go back once I find the treasure!" Inanna cut him off decisively.
"Then we'll..."
"You're not allowed to follow!"
"This is absolutely impossible! Your safety..."
"I have Knight protecting me!" Inanna patted the puffshroom in her arms, then glanced around and grabbed Edin, who was passing by and preparing to return to his room, "And... and there's Edin too!"
"Ah? Me?"
Edin instinctively wanted to refuse—entering the dungeon scared him!
However, after seeing the puffshroom in Inanna's arms, he hesitated—could this be the boss's intention?
In the end, he could only change his tune: "Ah, right, right, I'll accompany her..."
The guards persisted for a few more exchanges but ultimately couldn't overcome their young lady's stubbornness.
After all... the three of them together really couldn't beat the puffshroom in their lady's arms...
Finally finding an opportunity, Inanna enthusiastically led a worried-looking Edin back into the dungeon.
She even extravagantly rented three illumination puffshrooms to go with them—in the entire dungeon, Inanna's vicinity was the brightest.
Following the direction the boss had indicated, they made their way to the mushroom forest on the fifth level.
Inanna marveled at the beauty of the mushroom forest while spontaneously drilling into a mushroom house.
Before long, Edin watched in astonishment as what emerged wasn't Inanna, but a... pink puffshroom!
This pink puffshroom tilted its round body and spoke in the duke's daughter's voice through the fungal network, kindly offering: "Don't you know transformation magic? Want me to help you transform?"
Edin's pupils contracted slightly as he declined this corrupting invitation: "No, no need."
What the two didn't notice was that in the distance, behind a mushroom tree, a large black mushroom was peeking out half of its cap...
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