Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 432 - 423: Praise the Boss

"Hiss!!!" Dwarf Tolin suddenly opened his eyes, rubbed his arms, and climbed down from his bed, "It’s been a long time since I was woken up by the cold..."

In fact, ever since he started symbiotically living with mycelium, he only needed a thin blanket at night and hadn’t felt cold for a long time.

Mumbling "really strange" in his mouth, Tolin opened the dormitory door.

A wall of snow blocked Tolin’s path.

"..."

As the door opened, the others in the dormitory slowly crawled up, shivering.

Turning to a Lizardman friend in the room, Tolin asked, "Baroque, you said you were a member of the Lizardman Tribe in the Northern Territory, right?"

"I used to be," Baroque corrected.

"Then, doesn’t it usually snow heavily just before summer in the Northern Territory?" Tolin pointed to the wall of snow outside.

Baroque walked over, looking at the snow piled half the height of a person, shivered, and stretched his neck out for a look.

"Uh... I live a bit further south. It’s my first time staying at the far north during this time..."

"Hope they send out the warmth supplies by tomorrow; otherwise, some might turn into ice popsicles," Gleam grumbled, climbing up.

The three looked at the ever-growing snow pile and discussed how to clear a path to the tunnel for work.

It wasn’t that they were overly fond of working, but they thought of how the Drilling Puki emits warmth when used, turning the usual arduous work into a desirable task in this weather.

They hadn’t reached a conclusion when suddenly they heard cheers of "Praise the boss" approaching from afar.

Lizardman Baroque was the first to stick his head out to see, while the two dwarves, Tolin and Gleam, stared helplessly at the snow wall, urging him:

"Baroque, tell us what you see!"

"Puki is here!"

"What?"

"A huge Puki is coming!"

Pooh—Ki—

The familiar "buzz buzz," but louder.

A shovel violently cleared the snow outside the window, allowing the two dwarves to see what was happening outside.

A giant Drilling Puki, much larger than a Fat Otaku Puki, was moving on the road, releasing a significant amount of heat as it buzzed and moved forward slowly.

With slow, steady steps, around it, many laborers like the three of them wielded shovels, clearing snow and tossing it into the giant Drilling Puki’s opening.

The snow melted instantly upon entry, with the remaining liquid flowing out from the Puki’s sides into underground sewers.

The only downside was the leftover moisture on the ground would soon freeze, making it slippery.

The three stared numbly at the snow-clearing team passing by the dormitory, until two members of the Mushroom Race came before them dragging carts.

They pulled out three sets of warm animal skin coats and blankets from the carts, pressing them into their hands.

The Mushroom Race gave the two dwarves a glance and casually said, "If it doesn’t fit, bear with it for two days, then go to logistics for a new one. Later, remember to collect a small self-heating Puki from the Puki management office; one per dormitory. Usage is free, but damaging it costs Contribution Points."

After saying this, he marked their dormitory with a √ in his notebook and moved on to the next.

Gleam put on the animal skin coat and lucked out; it fit him well.

"Praise the boss! Finally warm," he remarked as he watched the departing Mushroom Race members. "I must say, the action was too quick. Did they know in advance the temperature would drop? But if so, why not send it earlier?"

Baroque shrugged, unable to figure it out either.

Back in the Lizardman Tribe, it took one or two days to distribute supplies like firewood during cold spells. Death from freezing was common, unlike here where everything arrived the morning after the temperature drops.

Once outside, they found not just one giant Drilling Puki melting the snow; nearly every main street was equipped with one.

As the snow kept falling, these Pukis patrolled up and down the roads, accompanied by dedicated snow-clearing teams.

Of course, there were also people purely following the teams for warmth, making the Fungus Castle even more lively than usual due to the snowstorm.

They passed by a Vampire with green skin, even he had a small Drilling Puki by his feet.

Though it seemed a bit too close, making one wonder how much of his screams were due to burns.

Reaching the tunnel entrance, the work had indeed become a prized assignment, with a group trying to sign up.

"You can’t just show up for work when it’s cold; we need consistent workers," the Mushroom Race supervisor explained as he drove them all away.

Relieved, Tolin and his two friends feared losing their jobs on the way.

After finishing their work, the Mushroom Race called back the three heading to pick up their Puki: "There’s a new Earth Hole task here, looking for skilled diggers. Do you want to join?"

"Earth Hole?"

...

Lin Jun was incredibly busy now!

While working overtime producing large, medium, and small models of Drilling Puki, she was also coordinating various emergency tasks.

The so-called "Earth Hole" task is about finding the rogue spirit.

That thing lost track after sinking underground, but it directly messed up the Northern Territory’s climate.

Thanks to Lin Jun reaching LV9 in Cold Resistance early; otherwise, the entire Fungus Castle would freeze in place, with everyone huddling indoors for warmth.

Though operations continue normal now, that chaos can’t be allowed to continue.

Although it’s out of Lin Jun’s range of perception, the change in underground magic power flow revealed its location.

Lin Jun plans to drill towards it, even with a single LV71 elemental spirit, her current strength isn’t insufficient for a fight; it’s just a matter of how much she loses.

However, the "Earth Hole" isn’t the most urgent task; the rescue operation is.

Fungus Castle and its newly allied tribes can use the heat from the Puki, but other tribes in the Northern Territory don’t have such luxuries.

Though temperatures near those tribes haven’t dropped as low as Fungus Castle’s, members similarly lack sufficient cold resistance.

While they can use firewood for warmth short-term, it becomes difficult not only to stay warm but also to access food as temperatures drop, risking sustainability.

Had it been the Empire’s Demon Race, Lin Jun could hardly care less about them freezing or starving.

However, these are future members of the Northern Territory Alliance!

Each death equates to losing twenty Pukis.

This loss is unacceptable!

Therefore, under Lin Jun’s organization, Puki rescue teams from allied tribes began heading out to surrounding areas.