After enduring countless battles, Golden Valley City's guard was no ragtag militia.
The moment they saw their comrades arguing with adventurers, over a dozen nearby guards stood up in unison, circling them with unfriendly expressions.
"Starting a fight now would be messy," Sirian murmured, glancing around.
Not that they couldn't win. These dining guards had no Puchi with them. With just their bronze and silver-tier personal strength, they were far from a match for Vera's party.
On their side, only Phiyin was still a bit short of gold tier. If it came to blows, they wouldn't lose.
But this was Golden Valley City—someone else's territory.
Once conflict escalated, endless reinforcements would come. And if things blew up, adventurers like them would gain nothing good from it.
Vera quietly nudged Philin's waist. She realized her impulsiveness and reluctantly clicked her tongue, ready to let it go.
However, the other side clearly had different ideas.
The guard deliberately stepped forward, standing almost chest-to-chest with Philin. "What? Told me to stop. Here I am."
Philin clenched her fists, forcibly holding back from throwing a punch.
The guard didn't dare actually strike either. The adventurer badges on Vera and the others' chests proclaimed their strength.
He knew perfectly well that if conflict broke out, he'd be the first to get beaten.
So after tossing out this final provocation to save face, he was ready to call it quits.
"Hmph!" Turning to pass by the woman again, the guard casually kicked out.
"You dare!"
Philin stepped forward...
Crack—
"AAAAH!" The guard's agonized scream rang throughout the square.
But the strike hadn't come from Philin—her hand was still suspended in midair.
Thousand-Commander Angela stood between them. She had just stomped and broken her subordinate's leg.
Seeing their superior appear, the surrounding guards silently sat back down.
"Stop howling. Lie there for a bit and it'll heal." Angela said, lightly kicking the injury twice more.
The guard immediately clenched his teeth, not daring to make another sound, cold sweat beading densely on his forehead.
"Causing trouble in the city. You'll receive punishment when you get back." She waved for other soldiers to drag away their broken-legged comrade, then turned toward Philin.
Her gaze held little warmth. "I hope you adventurers came here to help, not to start conflicts with the city guard."
"We were impulsive. Thank you, Commander, for intervening justly," Vera stepped forward, shielding Philin behind him and apologizing to Angela.
"Justice, huh." Angela's gaze swept over the woman still curled up on the ground. She said nothing more and turned to leave.
After the crowd dispersed, Vera turned to Philin, his tone serious. "Philin, you need to fix this impulsive streak of yours. You won't be lucky enough to have someone bail you out every time."
"I just... I just couldn't stand seeing them treat her like that..." Philin muttered.
"But did this really help her?" Vera's voice softened. "After we leave, what if those guards come back to harass her again?"
"I..." Philin lowered her head. After a long silence, she said quietly, "I know I was wrong."
Vera's expression eased. He reached out to ruffle her hair. "Next time, at least make eye contact with me first. I'll figure something out."
"Mm..."
Then Vera crouched down to be at eye level with the woman. "I'm sorry. We may have actually caused you more trouble."
"No... you don't need to apologize." The woman's voice was still barely audible. "Thank you."
Up close, Vera noticed that the woman's left hand only had four fingers—missing the pinky. Her clothes were ragged and filthy, but the fabric itself was of fine quality, with remnants of embroidery at the edges. Clearly not the style commoners could afford.
A fallen noble?
But recalling the guards' earlier attitude, new questions arose in Vera's mind.
"Can you tell me your name?"
The woman lifted her head, timidly glancing at Vera. Those eyes were full of caution. "I'm... Lucia."
...
Divine Tree Dungeon, lowest level.
Over a dozen mushroom-sprouted treants stood guard at a cave entrance.
After the fungal mat had spread through nearly the entire Divine Tree Dungeon, Lin Jun had his treants relocate here.
Little Green and its kin praised the grace of the Ancestral Tree while sincerely thanking their boss for the arrangement that allowed them to return.
As native creatures, the treants had considerable advantages in the Divine Tree Dungeon.
In the Divine Tree Dungeon, monsters that weren't berserk almost never actively attacked treants, even ones covered in mushrooms. Little Green and the others could move around even more freely than Lin Jun here.
Puff—
A Puchi shot out from the mycelium tunnel, flipping in midair before landing and immediately assuming a defensive stance.
Then came a second, a third... until several hundred Puchi had surrounded the cave entrance inside and out. Only then did the knight Puchi emerge.
Safe!
The Puchi circle then began moving with the knight Puchi, their synchronized "puchi-puchi" sounds echoing far and wide.
Whenever they attracted some monsters, if they were plant-type, the treants would step forward and use plant affinity to make them retreat.
If they were animal-type monsters, the Puchi wouldn't attack either. Instead, they'd split off some cannon fodder Puchi as bait while the main circle accelerated past.
One principle! The artifact must be foolproof! If the underground tunnels weren't so small, Lin Jun would have brought Little Black, Little Pig, and everyone else along.
Fortunately, the Divine Tree Dungeon's ecology couldn't recover in just a day or two. Without consuming too many cannon fodder, the Puchi circle reached the bottom of the spiral.
A voice Puchi was rolled by tendrils to the sapling's side. "Boss! You there? I really brought the goods this time!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the knight Puchi vanished from the center of the circle.
This time, the knight Puchi didn't land directly on the ground but on a web of branches.
Tendrils coiled up along the knight Puchi's body, and before the knight could act, they proactively extracted the Wood Core fragment from its belly.
"I thought you'd take at least a year or two. To get it this quickly... not bad!" With the artifact fragment in hand, the Divine Tree rarely praised Lin Jun.
"So then..."
Lin Jun had barely begun when the Divine Tree, having collected the fragment, delivered the promised item as agreed—a softly glowing fruit appeared before the knight Puchi.
Life source!
"What I promised you—we're even. Don't come back anymore." With that, the tumbleweed began dispersing, ready to eject the knight Puchi from the space.
"Wait!" Lin Jun shouted urgently.
"What else?" The Divine Tree really didn't seem to enjoy talking with Lin Jun.
"Can I ask one more question?"
"Ask."
The voice Puchi's unpleasant tone carried a rare note of tension. "Boss, you said before that this world is doomed but refused to say why. Can you at least tell me how long until complete destruction?"
"Since you brought it back so quickly... if left alone, probably about ten years. If those ones up in the sky have methods that work, maybe it could last another fifty or sixty years? Heh. Just prolonging the suffering for a few more decades."
"But what exactly is the cause—"
Puff—
The knight Puchi was unceremoniously flung out, landing heavily on the ground...
Tch!
Lin Jun thought about it but ultimately didn't go back to pester the Divine Tree.
Carefully taking out that fruit, he tossed it onto the fungal mat!
[Seven Sins: Gluttony Triggered]
[Plundered Skill: Life Source]
(End of Chapter)
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