Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 595 - 585: Development and Deployment

On the pitch-black desolate flatland, countless coffins are neatly arranged.

Row after row, column after column, neatly towards the horizon...

[Skip]

Another mist monster, twisted in humanoid form with a fish tail and shrimp pincers, has grown mushrooms after being completely parasitized by the mycelium, becoming a puppet.

Since the threats inside the Tide Sanctuary were cleared, the monsters that subsequently poured in from the mist not only failed to pose new pressure on Lin Jun but instead became another sustainable army source.

Lin Jun ordered his subordinates to select the stronger individuals among the mist monsters, spare their lives, and transform them into controlled puppets to supplement the underwater combat power.

The only side effect is that every time Lin Jun parasitizes these monsters with mycelium, a certain scene always floods into his consciousness.

Although the viewing position is slightly different each time, sometimes standing in the coffin, sometimes overlooking the entire array, the core elements remain just the coffin, mountains, and the pitch-black sky.

After watching several times, Lin Jun lost interest; from then on, every time the scene emerged, he used his powerful spiritual power to skip it directly.

For ordinary people, trying to wake up actively from such scenes flooding into their consciousness would probably take some effort, but Lin Jun, with his immense spiritual power, is free from such worries.

Now everything is advancing as planned!

Over at the Mushroom Garden, the reserves of conventional troops and Battle Pukis are already saturated; even the "Ji Divine Soldier," made up of a large number of Pukis and considered a strategic weapon, has been assembled and can be activated at any time.

The reason they are still all cooped up in the Fungus Castle is purely because the temperature has dropped so low that even [Cold Resistance Level 10] cannot venture out normally.

Just waiting for Inanna to return with the Circle of Imprisonment from the Dwarf Territory, capturing and sealing the Frost Elemental Lord, who constantly emits cold in the Northern Territory, into the ring.

By then, the Mushroom Garden will expand fully, truly incorporating the entire Northern Territory into its territory!

On the Empire side, Thirteen has also been arranged to infiltrate from within.

Duke Eleanor... not a very shrewd mind, just the ideal breakthrough point.

The fungal mat is easy to spread, but nearly impossible to eradicate once established.

According to the information Lin Jun received from the Little West intelligence network, Eleanor has been driven to distraction by Chis recently, and in such a predicament, how could she resist using a voluntarily offered Mushrooms Race power?

As for Chis...

This guy indeed slipped into the sea, and it seems he’s developed quite well now!

Although a defeated general, Lin Jun never underestimated these bugs.

If given more time to develop, it could really become a close enemy.

For guys like him who can snowball and grow stronger, the best way is naturally to crush it at an appropriate stage!

When Chis first escaped, it was weak, with sparse swarms, lurking in the deep sea, making it hard for Lin Jun to pinpoint its whereabouts.

But now, it’s different; as its foundations become thicker, it’s forced to venture out for food on a large scale, completely exposing its whereabouts.

This navy under Lin Jun’s command is not only for dealing with the mist at sea but was originally prepared for Chis.

Recently, several new types of Pukis have been cultivated:

The Float Mushroom, capable of floating its cap on the water surface, connecting surrounding mycelium kelp for [Photosynthesis] and storing magic power; the Sea Monster Mushroom, capable of becoming a moving sea fortress with its [Giant] skill, carrying a large number of torpedo Pukis; and the new version of Jida, capable of rapid underwater maneuvers via jet propulsion, equipped with various underwater skills.

Lin Jun is working overtime to produce these new species of Pukis to quickly enhance the navy’s strength.

Meanwhile, more and more Fishmen have been connected to the Fungal Network.

The Elder Fishman Gugu Lu has shown significant cooperation.

After reclaiming the Tide Sanctuary, it let Lin Jun absorb Fishmen and spread the mycelial kelp in the Underground City, while it focused on restoring the damaged statues.

Regrettably, in Lin Jun’s perception, even if restored, these statues no longer possess the original spiritual glow, and some unknown functions seem permanently lost.

The only one still retaining that soul shine is the one initially rescued by Norris and Ming.

The Fishman tribe, while actively cooperating in many matters, stubbornly insists on one thing.

That is, the dying members must die in their sacrificial rituals.

Due to the strong survival ability granted by the mycelium parasitism, these rituals are now mainly for the naturally aging Fishmen.

Despite being unable to decompose bodies, Lin Jun feels dissatisfied but allows them to continue their traditions since the Fishmen voluntarily submitted, and he is not short on skill yield for now.

Lin Jun even observed the ritual several times, a process quite similar to the cultists’ Hand of Death ritual.

The difference lies in that Fishmen sacrifice themselves, while the Hand of Death sacrifices others.

Through the [Inspiration] perspective, Lin Jun vividly saw the transformation of their souls during the ritual.

The gray matter attached to the souls of those to be sacrificed flakes off in large quantities under the ritual’s guidance, all absorbed by the elder Fishman presiding over the ceremony.

This process is reflected in the panel as the disappearance of skills.

This aligns with Lin Jun’s previous guess that the adherent substance on the soul surface is likely related to skills, or even are the skills themselves.

However, this differs from the [Greed] decomposition performed by Lin Jun.

Firstly, the ritual clearly cannot peel off the adherent completely like he does; once the soul leaves the ritual to merge into the world, a lot of gray matter remains on the surface.

Whether this is good or bad for the soul itself is unknown.

Secondly, even though the elder Fishman absorbs a large amount of this adherent over the years, its soul in Lin Jun’s spiritual vision is almost stained black.

Yet, these absorbed adherents have not brought it any new skills.

To sum up, in Lin Jun’s view, this ritual does not seem beneficial to either the elder Fishman or the sacrificed.

Perhaps... with persistence, the so-called Death God will eventually bestow favors?

Just like the [Wise Man] title on the elder Fishman?

Moreover, Lin Jun is quite curious.

If he were to decompose the elder Fishman, laden with so many adherents, what would happen?

Could he only gain the elder Fishman’s skills?

Or could he also obtain those of the Fishmen sacrificed in the past?

Lin Jun recalls that the normal lifespan of a Fishman in this world is about thirty to forty years.

Looking at the elder Fishman organizing the careful restoration of statues, unfortunately, the panel doesn’t display its age, so who knows how long before it dies of old age...

Suddenly, with a scientific mind pondering the nature of the adherent, Lin Jun pauses.

[Level Up: Level 69 → Level 70]

Huh?!

Finally...

The Lord Mushroom! Makes a grand entrance!

Lin Jun eagerly pulls up the panel, scrolls the long skill bar to the bottom, and clicks open the newly appeared "+" at the end!