Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 243 - 238: Thief Behavior

They didn't plan to enter the Underground City directly.

The scene of the Underground City's initial collapse was still vivid in their minds: twisted spatial rifts, the precariously swaying dome, and the frenzied roars of demons.

Although it hadn't collapsed like the Guild had claimed, getting close was still extremely risky.

They only planned to go to the location of Dumb Wind Town, where the latest news stated that the town was already covered by fungal threads.

Even if they encountered danger in that location, they could still escape in time due to their own abilities.

On the path to Dumb Wind Town, a heavy cart passed by them, the draft horse drawing deep breaths, and the cart piled high with sacks that emitted an earthy and fungal scent.

Vera didn't recognize the people accompanying the cart, but peering through the gaps in the sacks, all he could see were mushrooms.

The problem of food scarcity was getting worse, and naturally, some people with restless minds and bold spirits had set their eyes on the mushrooms here.

In the past, a cart full of mushrooms might only be worth a few silver coins, not even enough to cover the transport cost.

But nowadays, aside from the flaw of not lasting long, these mushrooms were life-saving food, and their price had skyrocketed countless times.

Vera had no intention to judge these people's profiteering actions.

Mushrooms were originally unowned goods; whoever collected them, owned them. If there must be an owner, perhaps it should be the Duke's Daughter who took the King of Puki away?

Upon entering Dumb Wind Town, the scene confirmed the news. Almost every exposed surface of the street was covered with a thick white fungal mat.

However, within sight, there was hardly a single fully-grown mushroom to be found.

Apparently, the people on that cart had already swept this area clean.

Vera chose a spot where the fungal mat was particularly thick: "Let's do it here."

Fei Ling, unable to contain her excitement, tapped the ground with her toes: "Sirean, quick! Give it a try!"

"Is it really okay? Aren't the Puki in this Underground City very scary?" Sirean recalled the scene when he first fell into the Purple Crystal Dungeon, where the Puki were fighting madly with other demons, hesitating a bit.

Vera looked around: "It should be fine... there are no Puki around, anyway, it's the edge, if there's a problem, we'll just run!"

Only then did Sirean nod, stepped to the edge of the thick fungal mat, and sank to his knees slowly, sitting on his heels, hands folded in front of his chest.

The melodious Elf Language chanting flowed from his lips again, and a green magical aura formed and spread in his palms, covering the fungal mat below him.

...

...

...

Lin Jun had been busy again lately.

The majority of his mind was immersed in the enormous Crystal Stele of the Dungeon Core, tirelessly "poking and prodding" at the myriad of star-like light points within.

Each light point corresponded to a refined permission of the Underground City, grasping them meant controlling this vast city!

The problem was, there were too many star-like points! So many that they made his head spin!

Moreover, triggering a certain point often gave vague feedback, and more often than not, there was no response at all.

Lin Jun could only try each one and then carefully observe the changes in the Underground City.

Immersed in his research, the native demons of the Underground City were having a hard time.

For example, a bolt of lightning inexplicably struck down, silently vaporizing a few unlucky demons, or some demons dozing in their nests suddenly found the magic concentration around them plummeting drastically, and ended up grumbling while packing up to move.

With these experiments, Lin Jun indeed made a little progress—he discovered an elevator!

To be precise, he found the control star-point to move hidden rooms' locations.

Now he could let the hidden room freely shuttle between the first and tenth floors, isn't this just like an elevator!

Although each time after moving, it had to be manually opened from outside...

Honestly, he hadn't quite figured out the brilliant use of this feature yet, perhaps... it could save some effort transporting goods in the future?

Compared to the elevator, Lin Jun was more interested in the source of the treasures that appeared out of nowhere in the treasure chests, but unfortunately, he hadn't figured that part out yet.

Let's just say the path to exploring the core was still very long.

On the other side, recently, some scattered refugees or small groups of adventurers had started cautiously stepping onto the fungal mat he had laid on the Purple Crystal Dungeon's outer entrance, just to collect the naturally growing mushrooms there.

Combining various information from Edin, the issue of human food scarcity was evidently very serious.

On the collection of mushrooms, Lin Jun maintained a permissive attitude.

These mushrooms were naturally grown from the fungal mat, Lin Jun hadn't used magic to accelerate them, so letting them collect and eat them was no problem, and it could further spread the fame of mushroom production.

Lin Jun had considered how to reasonably integrate into the surface world and become a reliable food source, which sounded pretty good.

Anyway, the more joyously humans consumed, the greater their demand for mushrooms would be, which only increased the need for his fungal mat to expand outward.

Only a small portion of the magic would be used to grow the mushrooms, making it a sure-fire profit for himself.

Just let humans enjoy eating gradually, until the surface and underground were completely covered with fungal threads...

Suddenly, an extremely faint yet distinctly clear "sense of extraction" interrupted Lin Jun's imagined blueprint.

Hmm? Who's extracting my magic power?

Daring indeed!

Just like a cunning mosquito, trying to silently suck a bit from the magic stored in his fungal mat!

Concentrating his consciousness, he quickly identified the audacious "magic thief"—an Elf, along with three familiar human adventurers!

That twin pairs were quite recognizable.

The culprit was the Elf!

[Name: Sirean Dusk Song]

[Race: Elf]

[Level: 42]

[Racial Talent: Light Body, Natural Affinity]

[Skills: Dagger Mastery Level 7, Potion Mastery Level 7, Natural Magic Level 7, Magic Manipulation Level 6, Evasion Level 6...]

[Title: Devotee (Spiritual Attribute increased by 5%)]

For the first time, Lin Jun (he ignored it during the fifth-floor melee) met a pure-blooded Elf!

No wonder Elves are known for their high aesthetics, her beauty totally crushes humans!

But what is this guy doing?

Sirean was surrounded by a gentle green magical aura, chanting in low ancient tones.

In front of him, the previously calm fungal mat seemed to be awakened by an invisible force, and plump mushrooms were "pop pop pop" emerging in succession, growing and maturing at a stunning speed!

Lin Jun quickly figured out that the Elf was using some kind of natural magic to draw the magic contained within the fungal mat, directly catalyzing the mushrooms' growth!

Isn't this equivalent to stealing Lin Jun's magic power to produce his own desired things?

What kind of brigand magic is this!

Absolutely outrageous!

Lin Jun sensed a bit—luckily, this kind of magic acted more like guidance and didn't have a forced effect. As long as he realized and refused the change in magic flow direction, the opponent couldn't steal it.

What a shock!

If natural magic could truly override his will and forcibly extract magic, wouldn't that be his ultimate bane?!

Thankfully, that's not the case.

But this can't be forgiven just like that. If someone tries this trick to steal my magic, this time, if I don't teach them a lesson, what about next time?!

...

"Wow! It worked! It's really doable! So many mushrooms!" Fei Ling almost jumped in excitement watching the mushrooms sprouting crazily like bamboo shoots after rain, her eyes sparkling.

Vera looked with a hint of worry at the Elf Sirean, who was still focused on his incantation.

He forgot to ask how much this spell costs the Elf. If the consumption is high, even if mushrooms grow, it might not be cost-effective.

However, the effect was indeed amazing… Should've brought a cart, how much can four people carry?

Yet their joy did not last long.

Under the astonished gazes of the group, the fungal mat continually sprouting mushrooms suddenly began to swell in little packets...

"Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!"

A dozen round Puki burst out of the fungal mat!

As soon as they emerged, they started running on their short legs to surround the four people.

Vera couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his eyes: "Sirean, does your magic… also catalyze Puki?"

The Elf who had just stopped chanting: "..."