"You. Say that again."
Duke Alama's knuckles turned white as he gripped the armrest, the mahogany throne letting out a groan of distress under the strain.
Butler Eric felt cold sweat break out on the back of his neck, yet he still clearly enunciated each syllable.
"After Pero and Ox deceived the young miss away under your name, they first went to the Amethyst Underground City, then crossed the border and fled to the Hermit Empire. From their direction, they appear to be seeking refuge with Duke Sigismund."
"Damned traitors! Damned bloodsuckers!" The solid wood armrest crumbled in his grip as blood-red flames churned in the Duke's pupils. "Inanna is still alive—the tracking mark remains, and the revenge seal hasn't transferred. I must go rescue her."
"My lord!"
Seeing the Duke reach for his greatsword, ready to charge off recklessly to save his daughter, Eric had no choice but to shout out loud.
"The moment you leave, Sigismund will bring the Crimson Knight Order and raze Highland Fortress to the ground.
Without Highland Fortress, there'll be no natural barriers left to defend. Then not only your duchy, but the entire Southern Federation will be in danger."
"So you want me to just watch Inanna die?"
The stone tiles beneath Duke Alama's feet cracked open, spider-web fractures spreading continuously. The aura of a Level 70 peak human powerhouse pressed down so heavily that Eric was forced to one knee.
"The Diamond-rank adventurer party 'Silver Thorn' is operating nearby. We could privately commission them to search for the young miss in the Amethyst Underground City.
Here at Highland Fortress, you could create the illusion of departure to lure Sigismund in, then give him a devastating counterattack to avenge this betrayal."
After saying this in one breath, Eric nearly collapsed to the ground.
The pressure gradually lifted as Duke Alama settled back into his chair. With a gesture, he crystallized Inanna's coordinates into a crystal and handed it to his butler.
"Do as you say. Tell those adventurers—bring Inanna back alive, and I'll give them an entire city!
But if my daughter suffers even the slightest harm..."
"Yes, my lord."
————
Deep in the underground city, in the mushroom garden.
Completely unaware that her father had begun commissioning people to search for her, Inanna was staring in slight horror at the scene before her at the edge of the breeding area.
Beside the deep pit where slimes were bred, a hollow Puchi had filled itself with ordinary mushrooms to feed the slimes.
But as it was pouring the mushrooms, a slime bounced up and stuck to its foot, dragging the Puchi down.
The next second, slimes in the deep pit swarmed up and completely enveloped the Puchi.
The wrapped Puchi was still struggling—it looked like it could still be saved.
"Lin Jun, Lin Jun! Your slime is eating a Puchi!"
Hearing the call, Lin Jun, who was busy elsewhere, briefly shifted his attention over.
"Got it, I'll assign a new Puchi over there. I already told you the breeding area is dangerous—stay away from there."
Inanna really wanted to say that wasn't what she meant, but watching the Puchi in the slime mass, which had already stopped moving completely and begun being dissolved, she swallowed her words.
The underground world truly was cruel.
————
The underground world was indeed cruel.
To survive in such a harsh place, Lin Jun never had a moment's rest.
The Puchi themselves had intelligence that at most reached the level of being able to automatically pathfind after receiving commands.
Whether breeding or mining, everything required Lin Jun's divided attention for micro-management, not to mention the mushroom garden's borders were constantly harassed by various magical beasts.
Even with his Level 5 Mental Integration, Lin Jun found the operations quite taxing.
Being able to spare energy to familiarize Inanna with the environment was actually quite remarkable.
Though he didn't show it, Lin Jun was actually very happy to have someone he could communicate with.
At least he wouldn't need to talk to himself anymore to prevent his language skills from deteriorating.
But after that, he had no time to mind her, only letting her wander around on her own.
Lin Jun needed to focus his energy on the mushroom garden's borders—fire mosquitoes were swarming over again in groups.
These flying insects that looked like mosquitoes but were slightly larger than Puchi averaged around Level 20.
Far from being the strongest magical beasts here, they were definitely among the most annoying.
They could fly, were agile, appeared in swarms, and would use their sharp proboscis to pierce and carry off isolated Puchi at any opportunity—they were Lin Jun's greatest enemy during his early development.
Fortunately, Lin Jun already had a mature countermeasure.
Facing the swarm of incoming fire mosquitoes, several Puchi with mushroom caps replaced by nozzles forcefully squeezed out clouds of slime mucus.
This mucus had strong adhesive and corrosive properties—fire mosquitoes that got stuck couldn't fly and were forced to land.
Meanwhile, patches of purple mushrooms on the ground sprayed hallucinogenic spores that incapacitated the grounded fire mosquitoes.
Soon, after losing seven companions, the remaining fire mosquitoes fled without looking back.
But Lin Jun knew these creatures had no memory—they'd be back next time.
Puchi with armored heads went around finishing off the unconscious fire mosquitoes, and these magical beast corpses were subsequently thrown into the mushroom garden as fresh fertilizer.
【Seven Sins: Greed Activated】
【Plundered Skill: Heat Resistance LV5→LV6】
Leveled up?
Excellent. Once his heat resistance got higher, he could try sneaking past the flame demon's lair to see what the upper levels looked like.
He opened his status panel.
【Race: Mushroom - Mycelial Lord】
【Level LV42】
【HP: 420/420】
【MP: 8045/12450】
【Racial Talents:
Mana Absorption (Mycelium can absorb environmental mana to continuously provide experience)
Scavenging (Breaking down corpses grants nutrition and experience)】
【Fixed Status: Connected to Mycelial Network】
【Skills: Puchi Creation LV5, Mana Storage LV4, Mana Sense LV4, Entangle LV3, Mushroom Cannon LV6, Precision LV4, Mimicry LV2, Storage Sac LV4, Mycelial Network LV6, Minion Control LV6, Mental Integration LV5, Air Current Sense LV6, Heat Resistance LV6, Dodge LV6, Peck LV7, Hallucinogenic Spores LV4, Chitin Shell LV4, Digestive Mucus LV3, Rolling Charge LV5】
【Titles:
Seven Sins: Greed (Unique Title): Randomly plunder skills/permanent buffs from corpses
Mosquito Slayer: +10% damage against mosquito-type creatures
Hero: Not restricted by racial level limits, can randomly draw one special title or skill (already used)】
Lin Jun's status panel didn't even have attributes—his main body was just an ordinary-looking mushroom.
Having only 420 HP at Level 42 was what a mushroom should have; someone like Inanna with over 3000 HP was truly absurd.
As for Lin Jun's abnormally high MP, that actually included the entire mushroom garden.
The most ridiculous thing on his panel was undoubtedly the Hero title—even he found it absurd.
How did a mushroom like him get such a title?
Lin Jun had never seen his summoner and didn't know if they were a mad archmage or a deity with a twisted sense of humor.
But one thing was certain—whoever it was definitely wasn't mentally normal.
Would anyone really specifically summon a mushroom hero?
Still, thanks to that title, Lin Jun had drawn Greed through the Hero privilege, then used Greed to continuously plunder skills from underground magical beasts, finally using those skills to arm his Puchi.
From initially being chased around as food by slimes to now claiming territory and farming in this corner of the stratum—the entire process was nothing but heartache and tears.
It was hard to imagine what he would have done without drawing Greed back then. He'd probably already become fertilizer.
So why summon him as a mushroom in the first place?
This question had almost become his obsession, second only to reaching the surface.
...
After dealing with the fire mosquitoes, Lin Jun finally had time to see what his new little friend was up to.
Ah... she was sneakily collecting the amethysts they'd mined...
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