"Yo, Ke, you recovered quite fast!" Grey casually greeted his partner, who had returned after only lying in bed for a week. "Why are you wearing so much?"
"It's too cold, and my magic crests don't have your burning ability," Ke instinctively pulled his collar tighter.
He had bundled himself up tightly to prevent the mycelium, which had already spread to his limbs, from showing.
Fortunately, it hadn't been long since he was parasitized, and the mycelium hadn't yet crept up to his face; otherwise, it would be impossible to hide.
During this time, he had frantically searched for information related to mycelial parasitism.
However, the results disappointed him.
These parasitic mycelial threads were entirely different from any known parasitic methods, and they had appeared so recently that the Empire simply hadn't had the time to research a countermeasure.
Theoretically feasible methods included resurrection, the physical reconstruction of Demon-kin, or the effects of certain divine artifacts.
But regardless of which one, Ke had no ability to access them.
Even the most achievable one—physical reconstruction—required another Demon-kin of at least the Palace tier to voluntarily refine their own magic core into a body-reconstructing item.
Just as he was backed into a corner with no way out, a voice gave him another option...
After their greetings, Ke and Grey resumed their work of rooting out traitors within the city.
The Abandoned Alley had been destroyed, but the traitors spreading spores hadn't been completely caught; in fact, the situation was escalating.
The City Lord even had to reassign a portion of the manpower to specifically search for and clean up the mycelium inside the city, which made the exterior fungal-clearing work even more difficult.
After the Abandoned Alley incident, no matter which parasitized individual Grey looked at, he felt they were suspicious.
He knew it was wrong, but his mindset was involuntarily shifting.
Fortunately, they didn't find any traitors today.
Ke's mind-system magic—Emotion Perception.
He could roughly perceive the other party's emotions through physical contact. As long as the other party hadn't set up mental defenses or disguises, they couldn't escape Ke's magic.
The several groups they screened today had no issues. Grey thought that perhaps the situation wasn't as bad as previously imagined; the increase in mycelium inside the city might just be the final madness of a few remaining traitors.
With the mission complete, Grey patted Ke's seemingly exhausted shoulder. "Rest well, see you tomorrow."
After Grey left, Ke didn't return to his quarters.
Instead, he wandered unsteadily toward a corner of the city.
Along the way, he encountered several parasitized individuals, but no one came out to make things difficult for him.
Eventually, Ke arrived at a corner of the city wall, found a small patch of undiscovered fungal mat, and collapsed onto it with a thud.
"I— I have done as you said and let those traitors go... can you really... really help me?"
From within the mycelial network, a voice replied to him: "Traitors? What kind of talk is that? If they are traitors, what are you?"
"Everyone just wants to survive. The real traitors are those Empire nobles who treat the parasitized as cannon fodder! You and those parasitized are all just pitiful victims."
"As for helping you—of course. I am the future holder of the Virtue of Honesty, after all!"
Ke felt the fungal mat beneath him suddenly become active. The mycelium grew longer, connecting to his body bit by bit.
He instinctively wanted to recoil, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain perfectly still.
Ke felt mana flow from the mycelium, bringing about some sort of change within him.
He pulled open his clothes and looked down at his chest.
Following his will, the mycelium on his skin disappeared bit by bit, replaced by healthy, clean skin.
This sight felt somewhat familiar to Ke: "Is this... [Mimicry]? You... bestowed a skill upon me?!"
Ke subconsciously used the word "bestowed" because, in his view, granting skills was a means akin to that of the gods.
However, since he wasn't a believer of this unknown entity, there was bound to be a significant difference. Yet, it still filled him with a sense of awe and dread.
"Don't worry. Even if this city changes hands in the future, you will be completely safe—as long as you aren't stupid enough to be a snitch."
"Oh right, from now on, you can call me 'Boss'!"
After saying that, the voice vanished.
"Boss..." Ke muttered the title, recalling the bald Vampire's abnormal reaction to this very word earlier, and gained a hint of realization.
As for turning around and reporting this intel to his superiors?
During today's screening, with so many people lying, the proportion of traitors was obviously quite high already.
Had none of them thought about reporting it to claim credit?
The fact that so much time had passed and the higher-ups were still completely unaware of this "Boss's" actions proved exactly what fate awaited those who attempted to snitch. Ke didn't want to die.
He just felt a bit terrified. Standing from the perspective of the Demon-kin, he didn't even know how they were supposed to win this war.
Fortunately... he had another choice now.
"Why is there a ship coming from this direction?"
The intent that suddenly reappeared startled Ke.
"B-Boss? What is it?"
"Ah? Oh, sorry, forgot to disconnect the communication." The voice disappeared once more.
Ke remained paranoid and suspicious for quite a while. Seeing that the sun was about to set, he hurriedly rushed back to his quarters.
Lin Jun realized that, if he wasn't pressed for time, he could probably assimilate these border cities one by one just by pushing the fungal mat forward and inciting rebellions, without costing a single soldier.
Unfortunately, he truly was pressed for time.
According to Fatty Xi's perspective, the Emperor was now pouring all his energy into the Dragon Cliff Dungeon.
Although it wasn't explicitly stated to the public, based on the information Lin Jun had on hand, it wasn't hard to deduce that the Emperor was planning a final showdown with that Slime.
Lin Jun needed to take advantage of this window to swallow the several fortress cities in the north and subsequently remodel them as his bridgehead.
As for the Emperor and the Demon King, the best-case scenario was naturally one dead and the other heavily injured, allowing him to beautifully reap the fisherman's profit.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Cliff Dungeon was located in the central part of the Empire, which Lin Jun couldn't reach right now. Otherwise, he would have definitely stuck a foot in.
For now, he could only focus on eating the cake right in front of him.
Little Pig had already prepared the grand army. Thanks to the dwarven craftsmen, the soldiers marching out this time were all equipped with standard-issue armor, and several combat constructs were accompanying them.
They were just waiting for the dwarves to make their move before the grand army would march south, executing a pincer attack from both sides and taking the first step in coloring the map.
However, at this critical juncture, a ship appeared on the ocean.
It sailed through the swarms of glowing floating mushrooms spreading from the Tidal Sanctuary, heading in the direction of the United Kingdom.
And the direction it came from was the Archipelago, which should have already been swallowed by the Mist. Lin Jun had thought the people on the Archipelago were completely wiped out.
Not only that, but there was a familiar face aboard the ship.
"It's so beautiful!" A crew member leaned against the ship's rail, looking down at the glowing floating mushrooms covering the entire ocean.
It wasn't obvious during the day, but when night fell, the ship looked as if it were sailing through a galaxy of stars.
She called out toward the captain's cabin behind her: "Lady Bella, aren't you going to come out and take a look? It's truly beautiful."
A somewhat weak voice responded: "No... call me if any bugs try to climb aboard the ship..."
Inside the captain's cabin, Bella, who had already vomited once during the day, leaned back in her chair, trying hard to banish those chaotic colors from her mind.
Although she wouldn't suffer a direct visual shock as long as she didn't use [Truth Vision], having already seen the true nature of those glowing floating mushrooms, Bella could no longer deceive herself into ignoring it.
But thankfully, it was only this patch of sea that was like this. Once she was ashore, she wouldn't have to worry about it.
This time, she had come bearing the mission entrusted to her by Lady Sophia, and...
She looked toward the east, murmuring to herself: "Father... are you doing well?"
(End of Chapter)
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