Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 285 - 277: Gray! You Set Me Up!

"Hoo—"

The white breath Gallon exhaled instantly condensed into frost in the biting cold wind.

His mood was even gloomier than the frozen ground of the Far North.

Just after mocking Gray’s "hardship," he himself was dispatched to this ghostly place by an imperial mission.

He even suspected that it was Gray who bad-mouthed him in front of the clan leader and purposefully set him up.

The Empire allowing the Land of the Far North to remain outside its territory wasn’t without reason.

As far as the eye could see, there was only endless ice and snow.

Roads couldn’t possibly be built in such a ghostly place, and horses couldn’t survive; all travel had to be done by trudging through the snow.

Not to mention the extreme scarcity of resources; the Empire really didn’t want to waste effort on this barren land.

His steed had to be boarded at the last town on the Empire’s border, and the rest of the long journey was entirely on foot.

Besides the extremely harsh road conditions, there were no significant obstacles.

Only before just leaving the Empire’s border, by an icy river, did he encounter an ambush by two invisible demons, which he disposed of with a flick of his hand, and then there was no further incident.

He also passed through some scattered settlements; no one dared provoke the Empire Envoy, and upon his request, even "voluntarily" provided supplies.

And now, he was finally nearing the Demon Tribe.

"Recruit? Ha..." Gallon couldn’t help but sneer at the mission, "A bunch of worthless beings surviving in a place not even birds come to, probably never even experienced proper combat; what value is there to recruit?"

Clatter—

A slight sound came from underfoot, and Gallon frowned and looked down; his boot seemed to have stepped on something?

He scraped a bit of the almost imperceptible white substance from the ground with his fingertips, nearly the same color as ice and snow.

"Mycelium?"

He observed his surroundings and finally noticed that the crevices between rocks covered in ice, sheltered corners, were filled with this dense white mycelium, and even a few gray mushrooms bravely emerged in the extreme cold.

Though surprised that mushrooms could survive such icy conditions, Gallon didn’t think much of it.

When he arrived at the Demon Tribe, he discovered the numbers were pitifully small.

Gray’s intel clearly mentioned two to three hundred people, but in this settlement, most shacks were empty, sparsely populated; at a glance, there weren’t even fifty living souls.

"I am here on behalf of the Empire Demon Race." His voice was cold and stern in the empty snowy expanse.

"Envoy, the chief awaits in the main tent." A gatekeeping demon respectfully replied.

"Chief?" Gallon sneered undisguisedly and strode boldly toward the largest tent in the center.

Inside the tent, he saw Hunter and Xing Huo.

He quickly noticed Hunter’s hand wasn’t disabled as reported, but it wasn’t a big issue; limb regeneration wasn’t easy but there were methods, especially for the Empire Demon Race.

After all, even Diamond Level was nothing intimidating to him, no matter how many there were.

However, when he noticed mycelium woven into their demon patterns, he slightly squinted his eyes.

He instantly recalled the demon pattern on the gatekeeper seemed to contain the same substance, which he initially considered peculiar markings, but now...

Gallon worried that the tribe’s demon core was contaminated by something, which would complicate matters.

Another thing caught his attention: in the center of the tent, a Puki resembling a walking mushroom was holding a stone cup; what was that?

"What purpose does the Envoy have this time?" Hunter’s inquiry temporarily shifted Gallon’s focus.

Gallon looked at Hunter and Xing Huo with the imperial envoy’s superiority: "The chief is benevolent, considering the common bloodline, permitting you exiled people to migrate into our territory, receiving Empire’s protection. Pack up immediately and come with me."

Hunter’s voice was steady as a rock: "Apologies, Envoy. We are rooted here and have no intention to relocate."

An already impatient Gallon immediately wore a cruel and excited smile. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Recruiting? Escorting? What a waste of time!

Slaughter them all, pack their demon cores and save time and effort! If they obediently complied, Gallon would find it flavorless!

Just as Gallon’s demon pattern began to glow, about to launch his plans—

From the tent center, the Puki holding the stone cup suddenly threw it without warning!

The crude stone cup fell onto the thick animal-skin-covered ground with a dull, cracking sound.

Simultaneously, Hunter and Xing Huo exploded with incredible speed like arrows from strings, instead of rushing towards Gallon, they retreated swiftly towards the tent exit!

Their actions were extremely quick, clearly well-planned!

Almost the same time, within the tent, the light distorted, revealing more than ten Pukis.

Boom!

The impact of a self-explosion abruptly detonated, the blast wave overturned the tent carrying fragmented mycelium!

In the midst of explosion, Gallon’s pupils contracted to needlepoints, his smile replaced by shock and fury.

He instinctively sensed danger, not from the self-exploding walking mushrooms or those two escaping demons, but from far away!

Following his instincts, Gallon dashed out against the explosion.

His martial intuition proved accurate!

At the next instant after he left his spot, a high-concentration magic cannon of ten times greater destructive power slammed precisely into the tent’s position!

Gallon steadied himself, eyeing the still-smoking deep pit, eyes filled with seriousness.

The impact’s power, though his defense was high, taking a few direct hits would definitely hurt!

He quickly locked onto the attack’s source—a few never-before-seen, four-meter-high bizarre creatures on a distant snowy slope, lifting together a few-meter-long, handle-covered thick tube-like device.

At this moment, within the tube’s opening, the devastating magical light began frantically gathering again!

It’s coming again!

The frozen ground cracked under Gallon’s feet as he launched sideways like a cannonball, instantly moving over ten meters!

Boom!

The second terrifying magic energy beam grazed his afterimage, carving deep grooves in the snow behind him!

Seeing this, Gallon relaxed.

Though he didn’t know what kind of magic item the powerful tube was, it was evidently cumbersome; its rotation and aiming speed were far too slow.

Only the first ambush posed any threat; now, with vigilance, it hardly had a chance to hit him.

"A bunch of country bumpkins unaware of their deaths!" With the opponent’s hand revealed, Gallon’s arrogant anger reignited, "Daring to attack me first? Who gave you that courage?!"

"Perhaps I did!" A sticky, warped voice with countless overlapping nauseating tones sounded unexpectedly at Gallon’s feet!

Such close distance, yet unnoticed? Gallon’s back instantly chilled!

Almost by instinct, he spun a foot with a sharp air-tearing whistle thrusting fiercely down!

Bam!

Mycelium scattered, crushed ice splattered, leaving only a stomped pit at the spot!

"What was that?!" In suspicious confusion, Gallon scanned around, yet found nothing.

However, that repulsive voice echoed again, this time clearly from behind: "Oh my, level ten physical defense! How nice... Gallon, let’s be friends?"

How does it know my name?

Flashes of information in his mind, Gallon instantly analyzed the "truth."

"Gray! You’ve conspired against me!"

To kill him, even collaborated with outsiders?!

A mix of shock and fury made Gallon extremely cautious; the insidious Gray knew his strength, having prepared a trap wouldn’t be forthcoming, there must be more tricks up his sleeve!

Gallon turned and retreated rapidly, and this time he saw the talking entity clearly.

Behind his previous standing spot, a bizarre demon that was extremely distorted, resembling a ragged cloth randomly tossed, was writhing in the snow, emitting the creepy voice: "Don’t go so far, friend~"