Return

The Stone Fort Dungeon had undergone tremendous changes.

The middle-level ancient castle section now presented a semi-abandoned state, with nothing but omnipresent mycelium growing through the cracks of the mottled stone walls, devoid of any human presence.

According to idle chatter among the demon-kin, this place used to have moving armor guardians, monsters disguised as treasure chests, and other magical creatures. Unfortunately, after the Zerg arrived, they had all gone extinct.

The ancient castle was now just an empty stone-brick clearing. Even if one wanted to lay fungal carpet here to grow mushrooms, it was far less suitable than the underground sections. Naturally, this area had been overlooked by Lin Jun.

The upper canyon area had almost become a ranch for the puffshrooms. The demon-kin led their subordinate puffshrooms there daily at scheduled times, feeding prepared mushrooms to those grubs.

Occasionally, they would select individuals suffering from heatstroke and send them to the fungal carpet for treatment.

Lin Jun had completely delegated these tedious daily tasks to the demon-kin. So far, aside from the occasional puffshroom being devoured by grubs, no major problems had occurred.

Incidentally, having puffshrooms eaten would result in contribution point deductions.

With Lin Jun's current reduced puffshroom capacity but ever-expanding territory, he naturally preferred to delegate various miscellaneous tasks to his employees whenever possible.

For convenience, many demon-kin had simply applied for mushroom houses in Mushroom Garden No. 3. For this group of demon-kin, Lin Jun even thoughtfully provided magical power replenishment services, making those who had undergone mycelium fusion more willing to stay in the mushroom garden.

After all, while they could consume mushrooms to convert magical power, the efficiency and satisfaction were far inferior to direct charging through the fungal carpet.

The large influx of demon-kin residents had also brought life to Mushroom Garden No. 3.

Norris had successfully blended in among them as a tailless lizardman, and to this day, no one knew he was human.

Little Black had gradually grown accustomed to the presence of these demon-kin. Initially, Lin Jun had worried that Little Black might secretly extract a demon-kin's magic core while he wasn't paying attention!

But in reality, due to the dark and dim coloration of magic cores, Little Black showed little interest in them.

As for the demon-kin, as long as they didn't approach her mushroom house, everything was fine. If they did approach, Little Black would poke out her head and stare at them intently with those golden vertical pupils.

Given that Little Black's glorious record of instantaneously tearing apart powerful magical creatures had already spread among the demon-kin, naturally no one was willing to risk their lives testing her limits.

Therefore, a ten-meter radius around Little Black's mushroom house had tacitly become a forbidden zone among the demon-kin.

In the most conspicuous location of Mushroom Garden No. 3, beneath the largest mushroom tree that emitted gentle fluorescent light, hung a bulletin board made of "cowhide."

Written in slightly crooked, rounded demonic script was a "Contribution Point Exchange Item List," ranging from the cheapest mushrooms to magic crystals, various potions, and even custom mushroom house expansion services!

Lin Jun had included everything he could think of to entice... inspire the demon-kin's work enthusiasm, with plans to add anything he hadn't thought of later.

As for why the demonic script, which should have been angular and powerful, appeared so rounded on this list?

You couldn't expect a puffshroom to write sharp, impressive characters on rough "cowhide" using soft mycelium tentacles!

At least the demon-kin seemed to understand it...

---

Shou, having just completed his cave guard duty handover, returned to Mushroom Garden No. 3.

Sharp weapons were bound to his two severed arms. Even disabled, his level remained intact, making it quite easy for him to eliminate magical creatures wandering through the caves.

With Qiong's assistance, he removed the weapons from his arms.

Subsequently, he gathered his tribesmen currently assembled in the mushroom garden. After brief deliberation, Shou submitted a special exchange request through the mycelium network to Lin Jun—a magic core.

These magic cores belonged to the thirty-plus demon-kin who had unfortunately perished in the Zerg trap.

After taking over the Zerg territory, Lin Jun had found these indigestible magic cores deep within the clumsy worms' stomach pouches. Following Little Pig's reminder, he had collected them all.

Including magic cores in the exchange items was Lin Jun's deliberate decision.

If magic cores were truly as important to demon-kin as Little Pig had described, they would certainly motivate more tribesmen to work hard to exchange for these cores as soon as possible. This would benefit Lin Jun's accelerated control over the entire tribe.

Now it appeared Little Pig's intelligence was correct!

This time, Shou wanted to exchange for one magic core first.

Lin Jun didn't immediately approve the request. Instead, through the mycelium network, he required every demon-kin present to clearly state their position: whether they voluntarily contributed their personal points for this exchange.

While Shou was the tribal chief, within Lin Jun's system, he held no special privileges over other demon-kin. He had no authority to force his tribesmen to sacrifice their contribution points. Even though Lin Jun knew all present demon-kin agreed, this confirmation step still held significance.

Indeed, as expected, no demon-kin objected. Everyone felt that prioritizing the return of their companions' magic cores was only natural.

Soon after, a round puffshroom struggled to emerge from the mycelium tunnel beside the giant mushroom tree.

Twisting its mycelium tentacles, it produced from within its body a magic core retrieved from the boss's treasure vault of unknown location—one that emitted a dim glow!

Qiong trembled as he extended his hands, gently cradling the magic core the puffshroom handed over.

The magic core's surface was covered with fine cracks like a spider web, yet miraculously maintained its complete form, with weak, familiar magical power fluctuations still remaining within.

Tears fell without warning as Qiong hoarsely called out the magic core owner's name: "Zhiyan...!"

The surrounding demon-kin all lowered their heads as silent grief permeated the air.

Although Zhiyan had been the original proposer of the plan that led to such devastating losses for the demon-kin, he had acted solely for the tribe's benefit and had ultimately stood alone at the narrow passage entrance, using his body to block the swarm.

None of the demon-kin had expected that the first magic core retrieved would be his.

"Let's bring Zhiyan... back to the tribe," Shou's voice was also somewhat heavy.

Before leaving, Shou turned once more toward the puffshroom that had delivered the magic core.

He straightened his spine and, in a gesture full of ceremonial significance, bowed deeply—a bow Lin Jun had never seen before.

"Boss, thank you," Shou's voice was low and clear, filled with sincere gratitude. "Not only for giving the tribe hope, but also for allowing Zhiyan, for allowing our kinsmen... the chance to come home."

Another round puffshroom beside them suddenly made a short running start and nimbly jumped onto the wide cap of the magic core-delivering puffshroom, standing steadily stacked on top.

Mycelium tentacles patted Shou's head, then "accidentally" brushed across his severed arms.

"This is all earned through your own efforts—well deserved! Work hard, and not only magic cores, but your hands can also be restored! Even becoming stronger, or securing better living spaces for the tribe—none of these are mere dreams!" Lin Jun skillfully painted another promising picture.

"Your words, we shall keep in our hearts."