"Ah... I'm truly sorry for making you all worry." Vera pulled everyone to sit down and served each person a bowl of mushroom soup that glowed with a warm red fluorescence.
The swordsman took a sip, his eyes brightening slightly, but his thoughts quickly drifted away from this strange delicacy as he asked, "How did you end up stranded here for so long? Did you run into some trouble?"
"We... were entrusted by the puffshrooms and tree spirits to restore life to this floor." Vera pointed to the various magical plant sprouts emerging sporadically from the surrounding soil, explaining somewhat sheepishly.
In the end, he couldn't bring himself to admit that they had been kidnapped and forced into labor after angering the puffshrooms.
"Fortunately, we're almost finished."
The swordsman shot Vera a slightly suspicious glance, muttering inwardly—had this guy's bleeding-heart tendencies deteriorated to the point where he'd extend his care to magical creatures too?
Still, the fact that everyone was alive was the best news possible.
With his mind at ease, the swordsman focused his attention on the mushroom soup, trying his best to ignore his two other teammates.
Those two were now clustered around the elf, fussing over him with concern, looking absolutely smitten. Even if the elf was indeed quite attractive, this was still utterly embarrassing.
"Eh? A male?!" Not knowing what topic they'd stumbled onto, the mage suddenly exclaimed loudly.
Immediately, both the mage and hunter collapsed to the ground, looking deeply traumatized.
The difference was that the mage rolled back to the swordsman's side with a dejected expression, while the hunter, after a brief moment of disappointment, perked up and became even more enthusiastic toward the elf!
Watching this unfold, the swordsman silently decided he would never party with this hunter again—who was dangerous in a very particular sense...
...
Half a day later, the elf Cyrian finally completed the restoration work in the last corner. Though their meals in the dungeon had been quite good recently thanks to the red mushrooms, everyone was already eager to return home.
The only uncertainty was whether the puffshrooms would truly let them leave...
Leading the confused trio of swordsman's party, Vera tentatively approached the stairway entrance leading to the fifth floor. Upon reaching the entrance, Vera's heart sank—a group of puffshrooms was blocking the way.
"No way..." Vera's face darkened.
Cyrian sighed, "Perhaps... if only I stay behind, you could try leaving first?"
"Absolutely not!" Vera immediately refused. "I was the one who came up with that idea back then. If we're leaving, we leave together."
"Vera, what exactly is going on here?" The swordsman was even more confused by their conversation.
Just as Vera was about to explain, they saw the lead puffshroom wiggling its soft body, extending a tentacle into its white, bulging form and rummaging around. After a moment, it extracted a pure purple magic crystal the size of a fingertip!
"A... A-grade magic crystal!" Phiyin immediately recognized the crystal's quality and cried out in surprise.
Everyone's gaze was instantly captured by this tiny crystal, and Phiyin unconsciously swallowed, for no mage could resist the temptation of a high-grade magic crystal!
Fortunately, everyone present had a certain level of moral standards. Such an A-grade magic crystal could trigger betrayal scenarios if dropped into some parties.
The puffshroom used its tentacle to curl around the precious magic crystal, finally presenting it to Cyrian—after all, the restoration of life had depended entirely on his nature magic.
Though the others felt envious, they ultimately looked away.
As for Vera's trio, each received a small pouch of red mushrooms.
The puffshrooms then leisurely dispersed, going about their own business and completely clearing the path to the stairway.
"Does this mean... they're letting us go?" Vera tentatively took a few steps forward, and no puffshrooms came to stop him.
Seeing this, everyone hurried to follow.
Just as they were about to leave the sixth floor, Philing couldn't help but look back at the puffshrooms' retreating figures and whispered, "Vera, do you think... puffshrooms would make good familiars?"
...
Fifth floor, deep in the dank swamp, Lin Jun was organizing his recent plans.
The dungeon repairs were nearly complete. Though the ecosystems of each floor had changed somewhat, they were still generally under his control—not a major problem.
The surface had also successfully gained official backing with the cooperation of the pink puffshrooms, allowing for unrestricted development.
The only unexpected obstacle to the mycelial network's expansion was something Lin Jun had once desperately craved—sunlight.
The photosynthesis brought by sunlight was considerably more efficient than the mycelial network's natural absorption of magical power, and the temperature from direct sunlight wasn't an issue either—his [High Temperature Resistance] could handle it completely.
But... water shortage.
Forest and underground environments were naturally moist, with sufficient natural moisture to sustain mycelial vitality. However, in open areas under direct sunlight, dry soil would cause the mycelium to gradually wither and die.
He had to redirect moisture from surrounding areas to maintain the mycelial network in these regions, but this greatly limited the network's extension range in unshaded areas, unless there were stable water sources nearby.
The solutions were nothing more than extracting groundwater or using water magic to condense moisture from the air.
However, groundwater was also limited—manageable for small patches of mycelium, but insufficient for large-scale expansion. As for magic, that would require Lin Jun's personal involvement, and even with his abundant energy, he didn't want to waste it like that.
It would be better to guide humans to do it, just like rice farming—setting up some irrigation channels for his mushrooms too...
Meanwhile, Lin Jun was producing a batch of Scout Mark IIs. Their strength was positioned between knights and elite puffshrooms, specifically bred for particular tasks.
Most of the dungeon's rifts had been repaired by Lin Jun, with only a dozen or so remaining, scattered across different floors. These rifts led to various otherworlds, some possibly pointing to the same regions.
For example, there were four leading to dense forests, three emanating faint cursed auras...
The rifts affected the dungeon's normal operations, and maintaining them without further expansion also consumed processing power.
The current number was still too many. Lin Jun planned to ultimately keep only a few key passages, naturally requiring him to select the most suitable future footholds from among the rifts leading to similar regions.
The Scout Mark IIs were born for this purpose.
This was also Lin Jun's exploration of the regions beyond these rifts. At minimum, he needed to determine whether the other side was a dungeon and its location before making targeted decisions in the future.
—
Mushroom Garden No. 3.
Beside a warm self-heating puffshroom, Qiong sat with several tribesmen, heartily enjoying hot mushroom soup. He had even invited that tailless lizardman to join them.
As for the dragonman watching from afar, Qiong had tried to engage him in conversation but was ignored, so he could only let it be.
Ever since Qiong had shared this delicacy with Shou and witnessed the instant relaxation and enjoyment on his face, he had become unstoppably devoted to recommending this ultimate delicacy to his tribesmen.
At this moment, watching everyone enjoy the food carefree and chat happily, Qiong felt an indescribable satisfaction. He thought nothing could make him happier than this.
Just then, Shou's figure approached from the distance.
Qiong's eyes lit up, and he immediately waved happily to invite him over: "Shou, come quickly! It's freshly made!"
Shou approached, his gaze sweeping over the relaxed smiles on his tribesmen's faces before settling on the bulging leather pouch beside Qiong, filled with delicious red mushrooms.
He was silent for a moment before asking, "Qiong, how many contribution points... do you have left?"
"Cough!" Qiong, who was drinking soup, suddenly choked. He didn't look up, his eyes darting around as he stared intently at the bowl in his hands.
Shou sighed softly, his voice heavy: "Qiong, red mushrooms are indeed delicious, and enjoying them occasionally is nice, but like this..."
He paused, his tone growing heavier: "We still have companions' cores that need to be redeemed, and Starfire is counting on the tribe to have new life born—we need enough contribution points to exchange for fat beasts from the breeding grounds..."
"Sorry..." Qiong's head drooped even lower, his voice barely audible. The few demon descendants dining with him also stopped eating, their faces full of guilt.
Shou said nothing more, only extending his severed hand to pat Qiong's head comfortingly.
In the corner, Norris held his half-bowl of mushroom soup that still emanated an enticing aroma, feeling the bowl's rim burning his hands. He froze in place—drinking wasn't right, putting it down wasn't right either. He only wished he'd asked the boss for a burrowing skill...
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