Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 542 - 532: The Last Voice He Wanted to Hear

"This... is it really okay?" Gall peered through the crack in the door, gazing anxiously at the scene inside the room, "It looks almost like it’s about to be devoured."

Nova and Night Owl beside him also could not provide an answer.

Ivan’s room had now completely transformed. Dense white mycelium filled every corner, even sealing the windows shut.

At the center of the room, a giant cocoon made of layer upon layer of mycelium stood. Ivan’s body was wrapped within, only his face exposed, maintaining that expression of absolute calmness that comes with deep coma.

No longer needing care from others, the fungal mat sustained Ivan’s physical vitality.

Number Ten was also within the cocoon, maintaining a deep connection with Ivan for an extended period.

Orcus stood guard outside the door, his presence reassuring the other three members of the Silver Thorn Squad.

Meanwhile, in the Super Magic Library, Number Ten exerted all its strength, barely suppressing the almost overflowing excitement and joy within!

No wonder even the Mushroom Lord called it a "precious" opportunity!

Just by reading a few books, Number Ten realized the value of this knowledge!

The gain from just these few books had already given it a renewed understanding of Magic Power, as if discovering another wide and open road. If it could absorb the entire sea of books...

Number Ten’s awareness extended upwards, the circular walls of bookshelves seemingly endless. For ordinary beings, this would likely be an insurmountable despair over a lifetime.

Luckily, it was not human!

Not only that, it also had the support of the Mushroom Lord!

Unlike Lin Jun’s differentiation of more Puki projections, Number Ten’s consciousness projection began to expand, transforming into a massive Puki, almost reaching the spatial limit of the library’s terrain.

Four, ten, hundreds... countless flexible and resilient mycelium tentacles extended from its enormous fungal body, reaching out to the bookshelves at various levels in all directions.

Each tentacle rolled up a glowing book, and the knowledge was absorbed by it.

Of course, it didn’t forget Ivan.

The mage consciousness still mechanically fetching books from above was grabbed by one of Number Ten’s tentacles and pulled back, directly stuffed into Number Ten’s now enormous Puki body, completely wrapped and sealed.

The root cause of Ivan’s soul weakening was due to his limited Spiritual Power being forcibly connected to an overwhelming amount of information beyond his processing capacity, fundamentally similar to the sacrificial death caused by the Abyss overloading brains.

However, the Abyss was instantaneous over-information receipt, while here, the total amount significantly exceeded the soul’s carrying limit of ordinary people.

Now, with its massive soul enveloping Ivan, number ten isolated him from contact with the Super Magic Library, naturally stabilizing his condition over time.

As for how to truly awaken him?

Number Ten didn’t know, and Lin Jun wasn’t particularly concerned at the moment either.

Saving Ivan was merely a slogan, acquiring this knowledge was the goal.

Once enough had been learned, Lin Jun would try to save him. Whether successful or not, at worst, he’d sacrifice a D Level personnel.

...

Number Ten was temporarily unable to return to the mission team.

But being taciturn, it was accustomed to staying in unnoticed corners, usually only the Pink Puki and a few other Mushroom Race members would interact with it briefly.

These were "its own mushrooms," just needing a greeting to cover up, outsiders would not remotely realize Number Ten had quietly left the mission team.

Meanwhile, negotiations with the Elves were nearing conclusion.

The final agreement stipulated that the Kingdom would no longer obstruct the Elves from contacting the Hero, and might even assist in establishing contact if possible.

In exchange, the Elves must strictly limit the number and strength Level of those contacting, and if the Hero explicitly refused, the Elves must not exert coercion by any means.

This core agreement concerning the Hero was known only to the high-ranking members of both sides. Publicly released results included the Elves dispatching mages proficient in Magic Arrays to assist humans in building a new defense line, and other conventional terms involving resource exchange and power balance.

The Elf-dispatched team would need slight preparation and would depart alongside the Inanna mission team after their visit to the Dwarf Mountains and return to the Kingdom.

The conclusion of negotiations signaled the imminent departure of the mission team from the Elf Forest.

Cradling the Sword Saint Puki, Galadriel, absentmindedly pinching its mycelium feet, felt a tinge of reluctance. However, the Mushroom Race currently shared prosperity with the Kingdom as allies and was not Inanna’s personal possession.

To retain this particular Puki, she must convince it to agree.

Alas, even when Galadriel presented her private treasured S-Class Demon Crystal as a gift, thick as a finger, Number Fourteen remained unmoved.

Watching Number Fourteen resolutely turn away, with small short legs returning to the mission team’s ranks, Galadriel couldn’t help but click her tongue softly.

"That resolute damn back is just like that dead person!"

As for Elvyn, he only felt relieved it was finally over.

The sensation of being held and squeezed wasn’t bad per se, but occasionally was fine. However, if completely reduced to a manipulative puppet, even Number Four wouldn’t consent, much less a Sword Saint!

Elvyn naturally still had feelings for Galadriel.

However, both in the past and now, Galadriel could never leave the Elf Forest to become a ranger drifting by his side.

Moreover, whether it was his past duties of eradicating cults, resisting the Demon Race, and honing swordsmanship, or his new path as a Puki, there were too many crucial matters surpassing romantic love awaiting accomplishment, making it impossible for him to settle indefinitely in the forest for private feelings.

Besides, the Puki body harbors no worldly desires. Those emotions about romantic love are merely vague phantoms from his human days.

Now regarding Galadriel, perhaps it’s mostly a gentle appreciation for an old acquaintance and bygone days.

Ultimately, as the mission team moved further away, Galadriel could only sigh softly, murmuring in nearly a whisper, "If only Number Fourteen could switch with Number One..."

Clearly, she still had an insufficient understanding of the Pukis’ keen perception ability.

Accompanying the mission team’s departure, as Number One Puki wrapped up its conversation with a tendril of Number Four Puki about future cooperation, it suddenly froze: "???"

...

Lin Jun had also been paying attention to the mission team’s movements, initially planning to maneuver the Sword Saint Puki’s body to leap back into Galadriel’s embrace for a parting act.

Of course, this was purely to further ingratiate the Mushroom Race with the Elves’ senior cadre and strengthen ties, all considering the long-term interests of the Mushroom Race.

However, an unexpected situation arose in an area he had closely monitored, demanding he temporarily spare the Sword Saint.

The unforeseen incident happened to be within the Elf Forest as well.

...

Divine Wood Dungeon, at the deepest part of the spiral.

In the center of the empty circular lawn, the ever-standing divine wood sapling remained solitary and unchanged.

In the next moment, the air at the edge of the lawn rippled like water, and a figure appeared there.

It was an Elf.

He possessed eyes as green as young leaves and a face considered extraordinarily beautiful even among the famously attractive Elf Race, yet he was male.

Casually stretching his limbs and fingers as if reacquainting with his body, he then unhesitatingly walked away.

The Pale Pilgrims guarding outside proactively made way for him.

He walked briskly, almost hurriedly, as if aiming to leave this place before a certain presence realized.

Regrettably, he hadn’t gone far when the voice he most dreaded reached his ears.

Puki—