Querying several skills—what Adin had originally thought would be a simple task turned out to be unexpectedly complicated.
The Yafeng Town branch had limited resources to begin with, and a significant portion had been destroyed in the previous Magic Tide.
With no other option, Adin had to approach Farr to apply for access to the headquarters' database.
Accessing the information itself wasn't the problem—the main issue was needing to use communication crystals, which came at considerable cost.
Fortunately, Farr approved it directly without even asking Adin why he needed the information. The distance they maintained in their relationship was just right, which was exactly why Adin enjoyed working with Farr.
That very afternoon, Lin Jun received Adin's intelligence report:
[Mental Guidance]
One of the innate abilities of the extinct magical creature "Dream Flower."
This flower grew on Dream Island in the western archipelago, and the island was named after it.
Those who landed on the island without proper protection would be lured into paradise-like illusions by its deadly pollen, sinking into false happiness until death, ultimately becoming fertilizer for the flowers.
This island was swallowed by mist 20 years ago, and the Dream Flower has been extinct ever since.
[Resonance]
The similarly extinct magical creature "Long-song Bee" might have possessed this ability, but due to its ancient extinction, the specific effects and mechanisms can no longer be verified. Records are vague and incomplete.
[Negative Energy Collection]
This skill is confirmed to exist. First, it is possessed by specific high-tier Grass-men active in the deepest layers of the Scarecrow Abyss, in the "Forgotten Mansion" area.
Second, it is possessed by Death Soul Moss growing deep within the "Ancient Catacombs," a semi-abandoned ancient dungeon within the Empire's territory.
...
This report before him left Lin Jun quite satisfied.
His careful selection of Adin back then hadn't been in vain—the efficiency was simply outstanding!
While the neighboring Pink Puffshroom was still foolishly sending people home to ask around, Adin had already delivered his assignment.
Combined with his consistent messaging work at the temporary camp, Lin Jun decided to splurge a bit and give him a small S-rank Magic Crystal to play with later.
Having subordinates was truly wonderful!
With humanity's vast knowledge database backing him up, the convenience was extraordinary!
Regarding [Negative Energy Collection], since there were clear sources available, Lin Jun dismissed the thought of using his precious opportunities to extract it. He'd find a way to delve into the deeper layers of the Scarecrow Abyss later.
If he really couldn't get down there, he could consider posting a quest for adventurers to search for it.
Failing that, he could even consider buying some of this Death Soul Moss from the demon tribe!
The effect of [Mental Guidance] seemed to match his speculation pretty well. Though it seemed interesting, he felt it wouldn't help much in combat.
After all, the prerequisite for using this skill was first inducing hallucinations, and if he'd already made enemies hallucinate, why bother expending effort to weave illusions?
It might be useful for interrogating intelligence?
Too bad Puffshroom currently had no enemies, so naturally no need for interrogation.
Old Dylan might really like this skill though...
The only one without much information was [Resonance]—the guild's information was even less than what he'd seen in his interface panel.
Through process of elimination, Lin Jun was inclined to choose this one.
However, Lin Jun held back. Pink Puffshroom had different channels, so maybe she'd have different results?
...
A full two days passed.
During these two days, Lin Jun basically spent his time accompanying the elf in playing the dungeon's "party adventure game."
The elf's return journey wasn't going smoothly.
Not that she encountered any danger—Airaven was obviously quite familiar with the Divine Tree Dungeon. Occasionally when Puffshrooms scouted Diamond-class magical creatures from afar, before they could even give warning, Airaven had already taken a detour.
It was just that the elf's luck wasn't great—she happened to run into the "Migrating Trees" moving house.
An entire massive forest was relocating. Regardless of how powerful individual trees were, just their terrifying size and overwhelming numbers could crush anything in their path.
Even native elves had to obediently stop and wait for them to finish moving.
So for these two days, Airaven just watched that foolish bird Fly-fly constantly provoke Puffshrooms, then get caught by Puffshrooms in various creative ways, swallowed, and then pitifully cry to her for rescue from inside the Puffshroom's belly...
What was rather magical was that this was her first time learning that Puffshrooms, like plants and flowers, also needed sunlight!
Though after sunbathing, they also needed to drink water.
These were all things she hadn't known before—quite educational!
...
Two days later, Pink Puffshroom's intelligence finally arrived.
The result left Lin Jun somewhat disappointed.
It was identical to what Adin had obtained, not a single word different. Obviously both came from the same database.
Lin Jun even had reason to suspect that when the duke's mansion received the request, they directly went to the guild for this information.
However, he couldn't criticize Pink Puffshroom for this.
With Adin, Lin Jun maintained a business-like relationship—reward when deserved, punish when necessary. They had a good superior-subordinate working relationship.
It was just that Adin had been doing well all along, so there had been only rewards and no punishments so far.
Pink Puffshroom was different. She had no needs from Puffshroom other than psychological ones.
So Lin Jun had to coax her.
Besides, she hadn't botched the job—she just hadn't dug up more information as Lin Jun had hoped.
Lin Jun gave Inanna a few small compliments through the Mycelial Network, then had Knight Puffshroom use tentacles to rub her head, which made Inanna happy and cheerful.
Just as he finished handling this and was about to open his interface panel to make the final choice, Inanna suddenly piped up: "Boss, are you looking for these things?"
"Mm... something like that. What's up?"
"Well, my family might actually have Dream Flowers..."
"Huh?" Lin Jun immediately perked up. "Weren't they extinct?"
"Not living ones! They're sealed up as magical potion ingredients," Inanna explained. "When I was little, Mother needed potions with this added to be able to sleep. After Mother left, the remaining Dream Flowers were sealed in the storeroom. I don't know if they're still there... Boss, do you want them?"
Inanna looked up at the knight in her arms expectantly, as if she'd be disappointed if Lin Jun said "no need."
Of course Lin Jun wouldn't disappoint Pink Puffshroom!
"Need them! Of course I need them! Little Pink, you're amazing!"
Something that had been extinct for 20 years, and she still had some!
Truly worthy of being a duke's daughter! Truly worthy of the ducal house!
Knight Puffshroom vigorously rubbed Inanna's head, this time with all six tentacles working together, three times more enthusiastically than before.
"Hehehe!" Inanna gradually lost herself in the rubbing of the mycelial tentacles and her boss's continuous praise.
...
What more was there to say?
Ordinary heroes make choices—this Mycelial Lord wants them all!
Pink Puffshroom's matter reminded Lin Jun that he could specifically search for skills suitable for himself, then see if he could buy ready-made materials on the market.
While he couldn't directly consume them to high levels like finding the original source, unlocking skill entries was still super convenient!
He'd assign this task to Adin later, after giving him that S-rank Magic Crystal.
But now...
Lin Jun decisively opened his interface panel!
[Acquired Skill: Resonance LV1]
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