When the main force rushed out with Louisa, some soldiers still remained behind to process those surrendered snakefolk prisoners.
They fitted each snakefolk prisoner with a Puchi lock—basically a Puchi hanging on their backs, restraining their arms.
A soldier waved, signaling the next snakeman forward.
That snakeman hung his head, dragging his tail as he slowly swam over, eyes filled with grayness—the look of one who'd completely accepted fate.
"Hayi?" The soldier suddenly spoke, calling out a name.
The snakeman blankly raised his head, looking at the half-demon soldier's face. He had no impression.
"So you really don't remember." The soldier pulled at the corner of his mouth, self-deprecatingly saying, "That's normal. Back then you were an upper warrior in a large snakefolk tribe, while we were just a medium tribe. I was merely an ordinary warrior who'd seen you twice during material trades. Of course you'd have no impression."
"Half-demon tribe... from the Northern Territory?" The snakeman was stunned for a while before reacting. "You... actually joined the Empire early and didn't perish in that great cold wave!"
He still firmly believed these soldiers before him belonged to some Empire lord's regular army. After all, Northern Territory tribes had no ocean-voyaging capability.
Moreover, from what he knew, the Northern Territory had become a forbidden zone for life due to that sweeping temperature drop. Even several Empire northern border cities were now nine-tenths empty, rarely visited.
Even Empire citadels were like this—those tribes originally struggling in bitter cold lands, their fate was predictable.
Either they'd sought Empire protection early, or frozen into ice sculptures tribe by tribe in endless snowstorms.
Precisely because of this, though snakefolk tribes' current Empire circumstances fell far short of expectations, they still privately celebrated that original choice—at least they survived.
Suddenly encountering a "former acquaintance" from tribal times, he figured the other could only have similarly taken refuge under the Empire's banner to survive.
However, the half-demon soldier opposite, after hearing this, laughed as if hearing the world's greatest joke, nearly doubling over.
After quite a while, he finally stopped laughing and patted the snakeman's shoulder: "Forget it... you'll understand yourself later. What a shame you chose the Empire back then... you really missed a great opportunity."
The Puchi lock was already secured. The soldier casually waved, signaling this former superior warrior to swim to the prisoner pile himself.
Snakeman Hayi was thoroughly confused, but as a prisoner, ultimately didn't dare ask more and could only silently turn around.
Just as he slowly swam toward the prisoner formation, on another side, a diamond-level snakefolk warrior he knew, seeing the half-demon soldiers no longer strictly guarding after completing binding and the main force temporarily departed, actually conceived the idea of breaking free and escaping.
He suddenly exerted force, his form shooting out like an arrow, directly lunging at the dungeon exit!
Arm muscles bulged. The mycelial tentacles wrapped around him showed signs of rupturing under monstrous strength.
Hayi watched that rapidly receding figure, his heart involuntarily pounding wildly.
If he could escape... then could he also...
"Sigh, there's always this kind of fool." A half-demon soldier's flat sigh came from behind.
Only then did Hayi realize in shock that not one of the surrounding guards had risen to give chase.
The escaping snakeman burst out with tremendous strength and finally broke the tentacles restraining him!
Then with a "boom," he exploded into large and small fragments.
Shattered scales, broken bones, and chunks of flesh slowly sank before numerous blood-drained snakefolk.
Hayi obediently swam into the prisoner formation while working hard to relax his tense body, afraid that one careless move would snap the mycelial tentacles on him...
...
Lin Jun paid no mind to losing one diamond-level prisoner.
This was merely normal attrition from making an example of one to warn a hundred.
Similar probing and purges would occur several more times in the coming containment phase.
Thereafter, these snakefolk would gradually be reformed into qualified Mycelium Puchi Fortress prisoners, willingly devoting every ounce of their strength to Mushroom Garden's great construction in exchange for freedom.
Compared to prisoners, Lin Jun's attention was now almost entirely focused on the seal before him.
Outside the dungeon, soldiers cleared wandering mist monsters while spreading out to surrounding seas, trying to search for traces the ship might have left.
However, Lin Jun no longer held much hope for this.
The seal's condition—it appeared one corner was damaged by that strange item seized by the knight Puchi, but the overall structure still operated.
Just from the chaotic magic power continuously escaping from that breach, if left unattended, collapse was probably only a matter of time.
The problem was, Lin Jun didn't know how to repair it!
Or rather, did anyone really understand how to repair seals inside dungeons?
Speaking of which, what was going on with this Tidal Sanctuary anyway?
His own Puchi Dungeon's core still had two gatekeeper uncles. Why was this place empty, allowing people to come and go, purely relying on an air wall to block people?
Perception spread to surroundings. Besides one broken giant metal ring, there was nothing special.
After pondering briefly, Lin Jun still notified the old fishman, asking him to come take a look.
Actually, the yellow book most likely knew knowledge related to repairing seals.
But Lin Jun didn't dare risk it. What if that cheap book suddenly went mad and would rather stake its own existence to release its old master? That would be quite the entertainment.
Norris and Ming also hurried over from the rear at this moment.
Ming looked very dejected. He felt he'd barely helped this time and probably wouldn't get Boss's praise.
He was still a weak mushroomkin needing Brother Norris's care... He had to become stronger—strong enough to truly become useful assistance to Boss!
During the wait, Lin Jun suddenly felt an unusual magical fluctuation.
Its source was... inside the seal!
Had the escaping magic power been utilized by the Demon King inside the seal for spellcasting?
But such thin magic power... what could be cast with it?
Despite harboring doubts, the knight Puchi, Norris, and Ming still entered alert status at the first moment.
Knight tentacles slightly raised, Ming tensed his entire body, while Norris's controlled super Puchi even charged the resonance cannon's magic to overflowing. The cannon muzzle faintly trembled, awaiting one strike.
Time slowly passed in silence.
Lin Jun could clearly sense the magic beneath the seal gradually taking form.
What was frustrating was his helplessness. A seal separated both sides. He couldn't very well "to prevent the Demon King from using magic to damage the seal, Lin Jun first breaks the seal to interrupt the Demon King's spellcasting," right?
The army was already rushing over. If the Demon King really broke through the seal, then... see the opponent's strength before making plans.
As the magic beneath the seal took shape, something drilled out from inside.
The knight Puchi readied itself, Ming clenched his fists, and Norris controlled the super Puchi's resonance cannon charged full of magic power, ready to blast out at any moment.
Finally, the seal surface's faint light flickered as something slowly seeped through from inside.
All gazes locked dead onto that point.
In the atmosphere taut as a bowstring, a gelatinous-feeling phantom wobbled and appeared outside the seal.
Lin Jun recognized this magic—second-tier imaging technique.
Zero offensive power. It didn't even count as a physical projection, too crude even for deceiving enemies.
Made sense too. With just that bit of escaping magic power, no threatening magic could possibly be cast.
The earlier strict formation was truly because the pressure from the "Demon King" title was too heavy.
However... what exactly was this phantom before them?
Ming blinked and muttered in a low voice: "A slime?"
The phantom turned around: "How rude, young man. I'm clearly a slurry person... Whoa, since when could Puchis go underwater?!"
(End of Chapter)
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