Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 391 - 383: The Missing Riel

[Seven Sins of Greed Triggered]

[Plunder Skill: Elf Language Level 9→Level 10]

[Plunder Skill: Ancient Elf Language Level 2→Level 3]

[Plunder Skill: Natural Magic Level 7→Level 8]

[Plunder Skill: Archery Mastery Level 8→Level 9]

[Plunder Skill: Wandering Body Step Level 4→Level 5]

[Plunder Skill: Life Perception Level 2→Level 3]

...

What’s Ancient Elf Language?

Don’t get it.

Burp~

The Elf race suddenly faced calamity, and Lin Jun’s heart was equally filled with sorrow.

Unfortunately, being just a mushroom, he had no way to infiltrate the Elf King City to attend the burial ceremony of Elf King Oriel, a real regret in his mushroom life.

During that turmoil, Puki saved little Riel.

Riel followed the Pukis through the underground tunnels, eventually naturally arriving at Pujie Dungeon.

The reasons for bringing Riel over were many.

For example, Riel had already seen the real skills of Puki and the underground tunnels, so it was inconvenient to simply let her go back.

Moreover, Lin Jun had long schemed to bring back one or two elves to reflect the Mushroom Garden’s cultural diversity and inclusive spirit, while satisfying his little collection obsession.

But ultimately, Lin Jun was just too lazy to do alchemy himself.

Puki’s House’s potion shop had already opened its doors, business was pretty good, and then Lin Jun experienced the atmosphere of a working person with daily overtime.

Being the boss himself but still needing to complete daily tasks—what kind of boss was he?!

While the Mushroom Race’s Xing Huo and the Lizardman Tribe priests also practiced alchemy, their methods were filled with the randomness of primitive tribes—ingredient quantities based on feel, potion efficacy varying, quality as unpredictable as opening a blind box.

This was purely a wild style, and if forced to change it, even unstable products couldn’t be produced.

In contrast, Riel, personally trained by the Old Elf, although less experienced, had standard methods and processes, completely outdoing those wild styles, exactly the kind of quality... talent Lin Jun needed.

Such a great opportunity, so she was brought over.

Just one small problem, due to language barriers, Riel seemed a bit unsettled.

...

"Little Elf~ Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I really have no ill intent~"

Norris hid his ten-centimeter claws behind his back, softly comforting the trembling Riel in the gentlest tone, trying to smile friendly while revealing his sharp teeth.

However, looking at the Lizardman staring straight at her with glowing sharp teeth, close to drooling, Riel buried her face into the body of the neighboring Big Mushroom and muttered in Elf Language with a crying tone: "Don’t eat me... There’s not much Riel meat... Big Mushroom help me!"

Seeing Riel’s frightened demeanor, Norris felt like he was the most hurt, but he had to continue trying to comfort her.

Finally, under the boss’s "useless" comment, Norris had to go fetch the Mushroom Garden’s Master of Language, Yellow-covered Book.

The Yellow-covered Book, a professional heart-warming evil book, managed to calm Riel down in just a few minutes of communication, even without any tricks.

The Yellow-covered Book even helped clarify for the uncommunicative Norris, stating that he just looks scary but has a kind heart.

"But... but his claws are so long!" Riel was still scared by those ten, ten-centimeter long claws.

[Did you notice he has no tail?]

Riel nodded, she didn’t see any tail on Norris.

[He used to have a beautiful big tail, but...]

As Yellow-covered Book told the tale, Riel’s eyes towards Norris gradually changed.

After hearing the story, she gathered courage, reached out her trembling little hand, and gently patted Norris’s scale-covered head squatting on the ground.

Now she thinks, this Lizardman who is willing to share his tail with companions in food scarcity, shouldn’t be a bad guy!

Taking care of the little one was left to Norris.

Interestingly, age-wise, Riel is actually a few years older than Norris.

But due to differences in maturity between races and living long in the tranquil Elf Forest, Riel’s behavior still resembles a child’s, while Norris has already rejected werewolf offers more than ten times as a mature Lizardman.

Aside from recruiting a new member for the Mushroom Garden, Lin Jun naturally wouldn’t forget the SSS-grade mission he had taken on with life and death.

He decisively sent Edin and Inanna to inquire about the current situation of that adventurer party.

The key now is to figure out those Diamond Level adventurers’ attitude towards the artifact fragments.

If they regard it merely as a valuable item, Lin Jun could acquire it through exchange using Edin or Inanna’s name.

Gold coins, S-Class Demon Crystals, it’s negotiable, if necessary, even with the wealthy Inanna’s advance payment. It’s doubtful they’d lose reason and demand sky-high prices.

But if they believe the Yesheng Wood Core fragment holds irreplaceable value, unwilling to let go, that would be troublesome.

Ultimately, with the temptation of levelless skills, Lin Jun is determined to get this Divine Artifact fragment.

...

The Fungal Mat’s development in human territories is now thriving, no longer confined to three cities, but steadily expanding to surrounding areas.

Under human officials’ intentional push, one fungal mat has directly extended to a castle near the northwestern front.

The first recruited Puki Master army has been stationed there.

However, since humans laid this fungal mat entirely on their own, it’s really just a surface layer of fungal mat, Puki’s underground tunnels haven’t followed.

In truth, Lin Jun is curious about how much impact the human Puki Masters can have in real war.

Though in theory they should perform well, the actual combat effectiveness remains uncertain.

He sincerely hopes these Puki Masters shine, as their performance directly affects whether the fungal mat can smoothly expand territories.

Unfortunately, despite the castle with Puki Masters being close to the front line, it hasn’t directly engaged with the Demon Race army.

In fact, Puki Masters themselves feel they might have no chance to fight.

Whether it’s the Sword Saint guarding the northwestern line or Duke Alama overseeing the Northern High Castle Fortress, confronting Demon Race armies recently show signs of low morale.

They seldom actively attack, most of the time just camping and facing off. Even when occasionally attacking, it seems half-hearted, entirely disinterested in war.

Duke Alama’s side even went on the offensive, achieving consecutive victories.

Many Puki Masters privately lament missing the opportunity to earn honors.

Restricted within fungal mat range in secondary forts, they can only watch other armies frequently report victories with envy.

This invasion war initiated by the Demon Race seems to be concluding with humanity successfully repelling foreign invaders, winding down like an anti-climax.