"Say it again."
Duke Alama's knuckles turned white, and the armrests of the mahogany throne groaned under the pressure.
The butler Eric began to sweat at the back of his neck but still clearly enunciated each syllable.
"After Pello and Ox deceived Miss by using your name, they first went to the Purple Crystal Dungeon, then crossed the border, and fled to the Hermit Empire. Judging by the direction, they seem to have gone to Duke Sigmund."
"Damn traitors! Damn vampires!" The wooden armrest was crushed, and a fiery bloodlust burned in the Duke's eyes. "Inanna is still alive, the Tracking Mark is still on her, the Revenge Mark hasn't been transferred. I must rescue her."
"Sir!"
Seeing the Duke about to leave for his daughter with his greatsword, Eric had to shout loudly.
"The moment you leave, Sigmund will bring the Blood Knight Order to flatten the High Castle Fortress.
Once we lose High Castle, there will be no defense left, and not only your dukedom but the entire Southern Federation will be in peril."
"So you want me to watch Inanna die?"
The bluestone tiles under Alama's feet cracked, and the web-like cracks kept expanding. The Level 70 apex human's aura forced Eric to his knees.
"The Diamond-Level adventurer team 'Silverthorn' is currently operating nearby. You could secretly commission them to go into the Purple Crystal Dungeon to find Miss.
You can create the illusion of leaving High Castle Fortress, draw Sigmund in, and then strike him down as revenge for his plot."
Eric almost collapsed to the ground after finishing in one breath.
The pressure on Eric's body gradually disappeared, Alama sat back in his chair and, with a gesture, condensed the coordinates that located Inanna into a crystal, handing it to the butler.
"Do as you suggested. Tell those adventurers to bring Inanna back alive, and I'll give them a city!
But if anything happens to my daughter..."
"Yes, sir."
————
Deep in the Underground City, in the Mushroom Garden.
Unaware that her father had started looking for her, Inanna was at the edge of the breeding zone, watching a scene before her with slight terror.
Beside a deep pit breeding slimes, a hollowed Puki loaded with ordinary mushrooms was feeding the slime.
As it poured the mushrooms, a slime jumped, sticking to its foot and dragging the Puki down.
The next second, the slime in the pit swarmed up and enveloped the Puki completely.
The trapped Puki was still struggling, seemingly with a chance of rescue.
"Lin Jun, Lin Jun, your slime ate a Puki!"
Lin Jun, busy with work, glanced at the call.
"Got it, I'll send a new Puki over. I already told you, the breeding zone is dangerous. Stay away."
Inanna wanted to say that wasn't what she meant, but seeing the Puki being decomposed in the slime, she swallowed her words.
The underground world is truly brutal.
————
The underground world is indeed brutal.
To survive in this harsh place, Lin Jun never had a moment's rest.
The intelligence of the Pukis at best allowed them to follow orders autonomously.
Both breeding and mining required Lin Jun to micromanage, let alone the sporadic attacks from various demons on the Mushroom Garden's boundary.
Even with Level 5 Spiritual Integration, Lin Jun struggled with the operations.
Finding the time to familiarize Inanna with the surroundings was indeed a rare feat.
Though he didn't show it, Lin Jun was actually quite pleased to have someone to converse with.
At least now he wouldn't need to talk to himself to prevent his language skills from deteriorating.
But there was no time to manage her afterward, and she had to explore on her own.
Lin Jun needed to focus on the Mushroom Garden's edge, as the Fire Mosquitoes were swarming in again.
These flying insects, though resembling mosquitoes, were slightly larger than a Puki, with an average level of about Level 20.
They weren't the strongest magic beasts there, but they were certainly among the most annoying.
They could fly, were agile, and appeared in swarms, always seizing chances to spear lone Pukis with their sharp proboscises. They were Lin Jun's greatest enemies in the initial growth period.
Fortunately, Lin Jun had developed a mature strategy to counter them.
Facing the swarming Fire Mosquitoes, several Pukis with mushroom caps replaced by nozzles sprayed airborne slime mucus vigorously.
These mucus had strong adhesion and corrosiveness. Once the Fire Mosquitoes got stained, they couldn't fly and were forced to land.
The patches of purple mushrooms on the ground would then release hallucinogenic spores that incapacitated the landed Fire Mosquitoes.
Soon, after losing seven companions, the remaining Fire Mosquitoes turned and fled without looking back.
However, Lin Jun knew that these creatures wouldn't learn their lesson and would return next time.
The Pukis with chitin shells went around finishing off the stunned Fire Mosquitoes. These demon corpses were then thrown into the Mushroom Garden as fresh fertilizer.
[Seven Sins of Greed Triggered]
[Plunder Skill: High Temperature Resistance Level 5 → Level 6]
Leveled up?
Great, soon that High Temperature Resistance will be enough to attempt sneaking past the Flame Demon's lair, to see what the upper layers are like.
Open the panel.
[Race: Mushroom - Mushroom Lord]
[Level LV42]
[Blood Volume: 420/420]
[Magic Power: 8045/12450]
[Racial Talent:
Magic Collection (Hyphae can absorb magic from the environment to continuously provide experience)
Carrion Eater (Decomposes corpses to gain nutrition and experience)]
[Fixed State: Connected Fungal Network]
[Skills: Puki Creation LV5, Magic Storage LV4, Magic Perception LV4, Entanglement LV3, Mushroom Cannon LV6, Precision LV4, Mimicry LV2, Storage Pouch LV4, Fungal Network LV6, Subordinate Control LV6, Spiritual Integration LV5, Air Flow Perception LV6, High Temperature Resistance LV6, Evasion LV6, Pecking Attack LV7, Hallucinogenic Spores LV4, Chitin Shell LV4, Digestive Mucus LV3, Rolling Charge LV5]
[Title:
Seven Sins of Greed (Unique Title): Randomly plunder skills/fixed bonuses from corpses
Killer of Mosquitoes: Increases damage to mosquitoes by 10%
Hero: Unrestricted by Racial Level, can randomly draw a special title or skill (used)]
Lin Jun's panel didn't even list attributes, as his main body was just an ordinary-looking mushroom.
Being Level 42 with 420 blood volume was how a mushroom should be. Having over 3000 blood like Inanna was simply absurd.
As for Lin Jun's unusually high magic power, it was actually accounting for the entire Mushroom Garden.
The most absurd thing on the panel was the Hero title, which Lin Jun himself found ridiculous.
How could a mushroom have such a title?
Lin Jun had never met his Summoner, unaware of whether it was a mad Great Mage or a whimsical God.
One thing was certain though—their mind was definitely not normal.
Would anyone really summon a Hero mushroom?
Yet, thanks to this title, Lin Jun had drawn Greed using Hero privileges, and kept using Greed to plunder the skills of underground demons, ultimately using these skills to arm the Pukis.
From being chased by slimes for meals at the start, to the current cornered farming in the hierarchy, the journey was full of tears and hardships.
It's hard to imagine what he would have done without Greed; most likely, he'd have become nothing but excrement.
So, why summon a mushroom?
This question almost became his obsession, second only to reaching the surface.
...
After dealing with the Fire Mosquitoes, Lin Jun finally had time to check what the new kid was doing.
Ah... she was sneaking some dug-up Purple Crystals...