Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 223 - 220: The Holy Scripture’s Advice
[Where’s Norris?]
[And what is Jijia?]
[What do you mean Norris and Jijia are doing fine in their new home and that I shouldn’t worry?]
The Yellow-covered Book heard the bad news as soon as it came out of seclusion—it’s outdated!
"With Jijia’s help, Norris can conduct extensive reconnaissance all by himself, so he really doesn’t need you anymore!" the voice of Puki spoke without a hint of warmth.
[But... I can still give Norris advice! That kid is so dumb!]
"By ’advice,’ do you mean telling him not to report you when you’re sneaking souls?"
[I can still tell stories!] The Yellow-covered Book still tried to argue.
Not saying anything was better, but once mentioned, Lin Jun couldn’t hold back and mocked: "Not to mention that telling stories doesn’t have any practical significance. I’ve seen a few of your stories, what are they even about?!"
"A fallen noble trying to revive his family honor starting from the bottom, only to be killed by two adventurers greedy for his ancestral ring in the wilderness."
"A princess of a fallen kingdom seeking revenge, who then bears eight children for her enemy in an attempt to assassinate him."
"Look at the depressing stories you tell all day long. What’s interesting about them?"
[Th-the-the-these are all true stories!] The pages of the book shook even more violently.
"Alright, alright, stop harping on your lousy stories!" the voice of Puki interrupted impatiently. "Hurry up and figure out how to deal with the core!"
[Core!]
As soon as the core was mentioned, the Yellow-covered Book indeed forgot about Norris and the like.
[Boss, have you finally found the core?]
[Fantastic news! This Underground City is ours for the taking!]
"What’s so great about it? We can’t even get through the door yet!"
Pukis took the Yellow-covered Book to the edge of the core area, pointing at the two Purple Crystal Puppets from afar.
[Combat Puppets?!]
[And they’re lavish enough to use S Level Demon Crystals as their bodies?!]
[No wonder, boss, you can’t get in. These things were lethal weapons during the Oath War!]
"What’s the Oath War?"
[It’s the founding war of the Human Kingdom three hundred years ago. Their capital is called Oath City.]
Lin Jun didn’t care much about history from hundreds of years ago: "So what about these... Combat Puppets?"
[The masterpieces of a Puppet Master, combat puppets powered by high-quality Demon Crystals. Usually, it’s just a few high-quality Demon Crystals, not like this where the entire body is made of S Level Demon Crystals.]
[However, with the interruption of intercontinental trade, the quantity and quality of Demon Crystals declined, and the raw materials are insufficient, this profession is almost extinct.]
[Now, maybe only Dwarves and some long-lived races still understand this technology.]
"Who asked you for a history lesson!" Lin Jun interrupted, "I’m asking, how to deal with these two gatekeepers!"
[No way to deal with them] the Yellow-covered Book replied straightforwardly.
"Huh?"
[Boss, these two in front of you might be the pinnacle of Combat Puppets!]
[Full body S Level Demon Crystals! Such a wasteful expense, unheard of before, and certainly extinct after!]
"You mean," Lin Jun’s tone turned dangerous, "we’re just going to stand here and stare at them, waiting for the Underground City to destroy itself?"
[Of course... not!] The Yellow-covered Book quickly amended, [They’re just automated Combat Puppets, why fight them head-on?]
"You’re not suggesting exhausting their energy, are you?"
[What?] The book’s pages flipped in confusion.
"The Magic Crystal Energy is directly supplied by the Underground City, there’s no way to deplete it!" Lin Jun retorted grumpily.
With [Magic Perception], Lin Jun could clearly see that during the battle, magic power from within the Underground City was continuously flowing into the two Combat Puppets.
In the face of such a massive magic power source as the entire Purple Crystal Dungeon, lacking magic is a joke!
[Boss, you might not be aware, but Combat Puppets themselves lack intelligence]
"No intelligence? You’re talking nonsense!"
Looking at the recent battle—ambushes, striking the backline, situational assessment... not to mention lacking intelligence, their intelligence was rather high!
[Their intelligence is completely dependent on the computations of the Dungeon Core!] The Yellow-covered Book quickly explained, [Now, isn’t the problem with the Underground City just the ’brain’ running low and about to fall apart? As long as we keep draining its limited computational power...]
"Wait!" Lin Jun suddenly interrupted, "You’re saying if I deplete its almost exhausted ’brain,’ won’t the Underground City collapse even faster?!"
[Indeed so]
[In fact, even if you leave it alone, in two or three months, these two Combat Puppets will become mere decorations as well]
[And rest assured, there’ll be a window of time for us to operate once the Combat Puppets halt and before the Underground City completely collapses!]
[The advantage of draining their computation is that you’ll know immediately when the Combat Puppets stop functioning.]
Mmm...
Lin Jun pondered for a moment; it seemed to make a bit of sense.
Moreover, this Yellow-covered Book has leaked a little more information.
Core Computational Ability!
The principle of maintaining the Underground City’s core turned out to be this!
Sounded just like a computer host.
"How can this computing power be restored?" Lin Jun asked.
[...]
[Boss, generally speaking, the core should sustain its computations on its own, but currently, as computing power continues to decline, there could be some internal structural problems]
[If we’re lucky, we might just need to tweak and repair a bit inside, but if we’re not...]
"What happens if we’re not lucky?"
[Boss, to be honest, if we’re unlucky and some components are completely scrapped, there’s no way I could fix them since we can’t get the corresponding parts.]
"Is there any way to get the repair parts from humans or Demon Race?" Lin Jun was still not giving up.
[If that were possible, humans wouldn’t even be unable to get in.]
"Alright then..." Lin Jun paused, then added, "Yellow-covered Book, if you do your best in this matter this time, I won’t restrict you anymore in the future and will consider making you a true member of the Mushroom Garden. But the premise is you must do your best, don’t let me down!"
[Boss! I will definitely do my best! For the Mushroom Garden! And for myself!]
Pukis nodded their mushroom caps and rolled the Yellow-covered Book to a safer area.
"I will begin to drain their computational resources, and you also need to stay in a nearby cavern. Bear with it for now. Once the Underground City is repaired, I’ll let you move freely!"
[Understood]
Settling the Yellow-covered Book three caverns away from the core, Lin Jun began continuously sending Pukis out to provoke the Combat Puppets according to the book’s suggestion.
From start to finish, Lin Jun never mentioned the third Mushroom Garden to the Yellow-covered Book.
That place was just a fallback for when the Underground City collapses, and if the Underground City does collapse, it means the Yellow-covered Book is either useless or maliciously plotting, making it more imperative not to share the third Mushroom Garden’s existence.
Of course, if the Yellow-covered Book truly helps him tackle the Underground City issue and gains control of the core, Lin Jun wouldn’t mind giving it significant freedom as promised.
