"My Lady, there are residual traces of high-tier earth magic."
Listening to her subordinate's report, Elinore unconsciously raised her hand, resting her fingertip against her lips and biting down lightly.
This hideout had already been turned upside down. Not only were there traces left by battle, but the outline of a ritual magic array also remained inside.
The Hand of Passage?
Or some restless neighboring Lord secretly pulling some little tricks?
Regardless of what it was, Elinore felt a sense of crisis.
She had finally managed to see some improvement recently. Relying on that silly Mushroom Tribe member, she had sold quite a lot of Delicious Mushrooms to other Lords. Research into the Blood Jade Wine also seemed to have made some progress lately. Everything was moving in a good direction.
But looking at it now, someone was already jealous.
Wanting to cause trouble? Or wanting to take a share of the pie from her hands?
A worried Elinore returned to her manor and took a box out from a hidden compartment.
Inside the box lay a red ribbon quietly.
The material was soft, and the color was as bright as if it had just been fished out of fresh blood, yet it carried no scent of blood whatsoever.
Only by leaning in close and looking carefully could one discover countless dense runes flowing deep within that red—a Slave Mark Curse Ribbon.
It was a precious item she had acquired from Prince Vesalius at a tremendous cost.
The Prince had a smile on the corners of his mouth when he named his price, obviously knowing she had absolutely no room to bargain, and ruthlessly fleeced her.
A high-tier contract item. As long as she used it to restrict No. 13, Elinore wouldn't have to worry about other factions abducting her Mushroom Tribe member.
But she didn't act immediately.
The Empire had done quite a bit of research on Puchis. Judging from the results, the path of mind control didn't quite work, and the test subjects mostly died from the obliteration of their spiritual energy.
Not to mention No. 13 was of the Mushroom Tribe, which inevitably had even greater differences from ordinary Puchis.
Even though this item was a high-tier contract that hadn't been used before, Elinore didn't have full confidence.
If it failed and instead caused her to fall out with No. 13, that would be bad.
After thinking about it, Elinore still put it away again, keeping it as a backup plan.
Ultimately, recently was not suitable for taking this kind of relatively forceful measure.
The forces under her command had already been cut in half by His Majesty, and recently another matter had occurred that troubled her.
Elinore pulled out the intelligence report that made her burn with anger from deep within her drawer. The edges of the parchment had even been crumpled by her grip.
A portrait was drawn on the intelligence report. It was a tall vampire woman, dressed so boldly she looked like a succubus, the sparse covering allowing the lines of muscles tempered through battle to be fully displayed on the outside.
She stood on a high platform, and below her were swathes of tribesmen, as well as densely packed Puchis beside them.
That face, Elinore recognized.
Louisa.
The portrait was drawn from a bird's-eye perspective, obviously done by some vampire capable of transforming into a bat.
The intelligence was sent by Duke Eugene from the north through a communication crystal. Although the message didn't explicitly say it, anyone could see the underlying questioning intent.
Why did Louisa, who she thought had already died in the Human territories, appear in the Northern Territory? And looking at that posture, she even mixed her way into becoming some kind of leader?
But according to the unwritten rules of the vampires, if a traitor appeared among her blood kin, she inevitably couldn't escape the blame.
Eugene obviously also had the intention of making her send someone over.
"That damn piece of trash!" Elinore slammed her palm fiercely onto the table. "If you can't complete the mission, then go die! To actually dare betray me, betray me!"
But no matter how fiercely she cursed, it couldn't change the current situation.
Eugene had already come knocking on her door; she had to take some action.
She had to at least put in some effort, otherwise, if the matter was brought up at the council, the price she would have to pay would only be greater.
"Call Yvette here!"
The servant's footsteps hurried away. Not long after, a figure knelt before her desk.
It was another vampire woman. In fact, most of those under Elinore's command were female blood kin.
The vampire named Yvette had a slightly more slender figure than Louisa, but similarly exuded a sharp aura. She lowered her head, her posture impeccably respectful: "My Lady, what are your orders?"
Elinore didn't tell her to rise, merely looking down at her from a commanding height: "Select the elites from the Third and Fourth Armies and make a trip to the Northern Territory to assist that guy Eugene."
"The Northern Territory?" Yvette's brow furrowed slightly, her tone carrying a trace of incomprehension. The territories of the two sides were separated by a vast distance. Even if Duke Eugene was looking for reinforcements, he should look nearby.
"You'll have to ask your good sister about this!" Saying that, Elinore threw the intelligence report containing the portrait directly in front of Yvette.
Yvette looked down. The instant that familiar face entered her eyes, her scarlet pupils dilated slightly.
"Louisa actually didn't die?!" A trace of undisguisable joy was hidden in that tone.
Seeing this, a cold sneer pulled at the corner of Elinore's mouth: "Not only didn't she die, but she seems to be living quite well! What, do you want me to send someone else, lest you can't bring yourself to strike?"
"No, My Lady, please rest assured and leave it to me!" Yvette straightened her body as if afraid the opportunity would slip away. "To deal with Big Sister Louisa, who is still stuck at the Diamond tier... letting this subordinate go is just perfect!"
...
While Eugene was organizing his subjugation army with great fanfare, pulling people from all sides, the Mushroom Fortress side was quiet. The Mushroom Citizens didn't even feel that the flames of war were approaching.
After all, Lin Jun's mind was indeed not focused here at the moment.
The Sword Saint (now blackened) was still carrying that stone, drilling through the underground network and crawling back.
Lin Jun, meanwhile, went to find the Murloc Elder Gururu first.
At this time, more than half of the murlocs in the Tidal Sanctuary had formed a symbiosis with mycelium, wandering around the sanctuary carrying Sea Puchis every day.
Without any idle chat, Lin Jun locked onto the old murloc and cut straight to the chase: "I saw the God of Death."
The usually aloof Gururu actually straightened its body abruptly this time: "Lord of Puchis, what you said... is it true?"
Lin Jun briefly described the scene of the God of Death's descent. After hearing it, Gururu knelt down directly on the spot: "It's true... It truly is Our Lord!"
Seeing this, the other murlocs around also fell down in a large swathe.
The Puchi Fish beside them yanked the old murloc up: "Don't be so busy kneeling. Tell me first, you've been so cooperative all along, did you know something?"
The old murloc's somewhat cloudy eyes glanced at the Puchi and knelt down again, this time kneeling to the Puchi.
"You are the envoy of the Goddess; I will tell you everything I know."
The old murloc detailed the reasons, but it wasn't that he knew some secret as Lin Jun had thought.
Back when Lin Jun first arrived in the dungeon, Gururu, who had long lost contact with the God of Death, sensed a fluctuation carrying the God of Death's aura in the deep-level zone. Although it only existed for an instant, it was still firmly engraved in his heart.
Subsequently, Dungeon No. 13 underwent various mutations under the spread of the fungal mat. Gururu viewed the Puchis that brought the mutations as the handiwork of the God of Death.
Although he couldn't be one hundred percent certain, he still chose to firmly believe his guess.
And now, for Gururu, his guess was confirmed!
"Great Lord of Puchis, envoy of the Goddess, the Murloc tribe... not just us, but all murlocs are willing to become your strength. Please do not spare our lives, use us as you wish. Everything for Our Lord!"
Around them, other murlocs pledged their allegiance in the mycelial network.
Alright, although it was a bit different from what he had thought, this result was still acceptable.
However, they still believed in the God of Death, so they could only be treated temporarily as the subordinates of a partner. His own core grand enterprise still had to be grasped in the hands of "his own mushrooms."
That mystifying, riddle-speaking God of Death—even if She was the one who summoned him, Lin Jun wouldn't completely trust Her.
Also, Gururu said all murlocs would listen to the Puchis, but... where else were there any murlocs?
(End of Chapter)
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