Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 265 - 257: Puki Underground City

"This... this damned mushroom... why... is it... so hard to chew!"

Gleam grimaced, even his jaw seemed to be exerting effort, his fingers’ veins bulging as he violently tore a small clump of mushroom fiber off its resilient cap and stuffed it into his mouth.

He remembered the mushrooms in his home mountains were crisp, easily snapped with a bite, so why are these so chewy here?

Could the differences in species be this big?

Thinking about those terrifying Puki with combat power off the charts...

Alright, even Puki can mutate like that, it seems quite... reasonable for mushrooms to be tougher to chew?

"You probably didn’t cook it enough," Tolin, who just pushed the door open, replied, "The mushrooms here are tough by nature; they need to be stewed for a while longer until they’re tender before you can eat them easily."

As he spoke, he sat down on a sturdy low stool opposite Gleam.

Currently, the two of them are staying in a house arranged by the guild. They could have gone straight to the guild’s kitchen for meals, but Gleam seemed to prefer doing it himself.

"How are your legs?" Tolin shifted his stool, settled in, then asked.

"Thanks to you," Gleam rolled up his loose pants, revealing two hairless, blindingly white legs, like two freshly dug out white lotus roots, "They’ve completely healed."

He exposed them only for a moment before quickly pulling down his pants, as if looking at them for even a second more was tormenting.

"Pfft!" Even though he wasn’t seeing them for the first time, Tolin couldn’t help but burst into laughter, hurriedly covering his mouth with his hand and turning his face away, his shoulders uncontrollably shaking.

A dwarf! A dwarf with pride in a thick beard and rugged complexion!

Yet possessing such white, smooth legs!

Especially when the person with such legs was someone he knew, the comedic feeling doubled at least!

"Enough, enough! How many laughs before it’s over?!" Gleam’s voice was muffled, yet for once he didn’t outright curse like usual.

These brand-new legs, despite his complaints, he had no choice but to endure.

This precious regeneration potion was specially approved by Chairman Fa’er at the guild, considering Tolin’s "Deep Furnace" surname.

Clearly owing Tolin a favor, Gleam really couldn’t bring himself to complain further.

Tolin stifled his laughter, cleared his throat twice, and tried to regain composure: "Ahem... Newly regenerated limbs need more activity to become robust. You’d better go exercise after eating."

"Oh..." Gleam let out a heavy sigh, suddenly saying, "Consider me owing you one."

"Then... how about a discount on the mercenary fee next time?"

"No way! Business is business!" Gleam instantly reverted to his mercenary’s shrewd essence.

"Your favor is useless then. Don’t say protecting me, that’s part of your job anyway!"

As they talked, the conversation naturally shifted back to this peculiar Underground City.

"So what’s the deal with this Purple Crystal Dungeon, why did the mutated Puki become so ferocious? I’ve never heard of it before," Gleam asked.

"I’m curious too, looked into it specially. Apparently, it’s only happened gradually over the past six months, likely related to successive Demon Tides and dungeon collapses. But no one can really explain it. Many human adventurers have started calling it Puki Dungeon anyway."

"Puki... Dungeon?" Gleam rubbed his face vigorously, as if trying to wipe off this absurd name.

Once upon a time, Puki, synonymous almost with "moving food", could unapologetically be used to name such a huge dungeon?

"Tolin Deep Furnace, you have Crystal Communication!" Suddenly came a staff member’s voice from outside the door.

Tolin’s relaxed expression vanished in an instant, hesitated for a moment, then quickly got up to respond: "Coming."

When he returned, his steps were much heavier, lips tightly pressed, even the residual amusement from bantering with Gleam moments ago disappeared, a persistent gloom engulfing him.

"What’s wrong?" Gleam asked.

Tolin sighed, didn’t speak, just handed over a piece of message paper.

[How many more faces do you plan to lose for your clan? Get back!]

Gleam only took a glance before silently pushing the paper back.

"Seems like being a young master isn’t easy for you!"

"I told you... I don’t count as any kind of young master..."

————

{Corrosive Curse Level 5}

A few cursed Puki roamed the cavern, and wherever they went, plants wilted.

It seems similar to aura skills, but upon close examination, you’ll find it’s different.

Similar to Puki’s {Petrification Beam} being an aura effect; leaving the range immediately halts the petrification.

The curse isn’t like that, even if Puki has run far away, the decaying aura and effect where they’ve passed still exist, continuing to destroy the environment, although it weakens over time.

Feels akin to radiation.

This skill damages the environment, not conducive to long-term development, best to use less.

As for the obtained {Sensory Enhancement}.

Puki has virtually no senses, it’s a useless skill, could be passed to others.

That Rift Lin Jun has been sealed.

After probing that area’s layer-switching mechanism, Lin Jun currently can’t find a smooth passageway method. This also dampens his interest in other rifts linked to shallow curse zones.

Better focus on the more resource-rich Dense Forest Rift first.

But before that, Lin Jun intends to witness a life’s birth.

After much preparation, the Demon Tribe is finally ready to welcome a new member.

Since it’s a sensitive topic, Lin Jun hasn’t asked directly. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

About their "cradle" and unique birth method, he pieced information together from snippets of daily conversations among the Demon Race.

This self-determined birth timing reproduction pattern fascinates Lin Jun.

Though the Demon Race didn’t invite him to observe, the Fungal Mycelium Network has long spread around the tribe, the birth process inevitably falls within his sight.

In Mushroom Garden No. 3, the Demon Race confirmed their contribution point expenditures individually.

Another Demon Core was exchanged back by the Demon Race, along with a Fat Worm having {Cold Resistance Level 8} this time.

The head directed the tribe members to carry the Fat Worm back to the tribe.

The rare new member birth ceremony drew many Demons to temporarily set aside their work and follow back to witness.

Their departure made the Puki’s allocation somewhat tight, forcing Lin Jun to temporarily reduce the number of Puki in other areas to ensure normal operations here.

There was no other choice, as the Demons currently worked part-time, coming and going freely.

Forcing them not to return was possible, but that would inevitably damage the hard-earned good relationship between both sides, not worthwhile.

Parasitizing after all isn’t mental domination, it can only increase favor or directly seize lives.

Truly making the Demons completely loyal, transitioning from part-timers to permanent subordinates, still requires steps.

...

In the group returning to the tribe, Siong’s figure was absent.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go back, nor was someone forcing him to stay.

He contributed very little contribution points this exchange; most previous points were spent on Delicious Mushrooms.

Feeling guilty, with some self-punishment intent, Siong chose to stay working at the Mushroom Garden, after all... the leader said there’d be double contribution points these days!