Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 296 - 288: Trust Me

"Move the Resonance Cannon five meters to the left."

On the walls of the "Arctic Castle," newly named as such by the Demon Tribe, a Puki clad in a bright red "Marshal’s Cloak" and topped with a towering Mushroom Hat was solemnly directing the demon creatures to adjust the weapon placements.

These Resonance Cannons were mounted below the nodes of the demon creatures, with the more talented ones able to mount two at once.

Currently, the fortress housed eighteen Resonance Cannons.

The quantity wasn’t limited by desire but by the supply of Magic Power.

The total magic power that could be gathered by the Fungal Mat in a single area was limited. Once depleted, it could only be drawn from other areas, and the efficiency of magic power transfer also had its limits.

Even though Lin Jun had previously stocked up a large number of "Magic Pool Puki," supporting the consumption of eighteen Resonance Cannons in the same area had reached its limit.

After all, in actual combat, besides the magic power black hole of firing, constantly supplementing Puki was likewise a tremendous consumption.

These past two days, several more scouts were captured. Lin Jun didn’t use these guys for sacrifice this time. After a check, they were all locked up; Lin Jun kept them for usefulness.

Admittedly, it had been over a month of busy preparation since capturing Gallon. If the opponents didn’t come, Lin Jun would really cry.

Cry loudly!

Fortunately, the enemy was sending their heads more and more frequently, clearly determined to fight to the end, which somewhat reassured Lin Jun.

Look, none of the solo scouts have returned. This time they’ve finally upgraded to a reconnaissance team!

...

On the gray ice field, a blinding lightning tore through the air!

In a place that was originally empty, a Puki emitting black smoke appeared, collapsing to the ground, its fungal body scorched and charred.

Five figures emerged from the snow and wind, surrounding the body for inspection. They appeared diverse, with scales, horns, and different skin tones, typical of a half-demon squad.

"A creature I’ve never seen before, actually capable of invisibility... No wonder none of the previous brothers returned, truly impossible to guard against." A half-demon with a lizard tail prodded the Puki’s remains with his foot, his voice hoarse.

The Diamond Level half-demon leader Kings had a grave expression: "It seems this Demon Tribe has mastered the method to control these invisible creatures for surveillance. We must be doubly cautious going forward!"

Having said that, the leader cast a spell, quickly generating a thick, chilling white fog that enveloped the five-member squad.

This fog was inconspicuous amidst the snow and wind of the ice field, yet effectively concealed vision.

Crucially, when faced with detection methods like [Magic Perception], while it couldn’t completely hide anomalies, the fog’s inherent magic power formed an interference barrier, making it difficult for the enemy to precisely locate targets within the fog.

The squad advanced cautiously under the fog’s cover, like traversing a minefield.

Whenever invisible Pukis ahead were inescapably close, a precise bolt of lightning would shoot from the fog, instantly killing them as they steadily approached the Demon Tribe’s position.

Suddenly, Kings’s sharp gaze captured a curled figure in an ice-sealed crevice not far away!

"Earl Li?!" Upon nearing, despite the other being tightly wrapped with only eyes visible, Kings recognized him by the familiar body shape and outline.

Earl Li seemed somewhat surprised to encounter someone he knew here: "Captain Kings?"

Immediately, Earl Li appeared to remember something extremely dangerous, his voice urgent and suppressed: "How can you dare walk on the surface so openly?! Quick! Get inside here!"

He anxiously sidestepped, revealing a narrow dark tunnel entrance deeper within the crevice.

A team member couldn’t help but speak: "We have Fog Technique as cover, and have dealt with any invisible creatures encountered ahead of time, so we won’t be discovered. But you, Earl Li, since you haven’t been captured, why have you stayed so long without reporting back? I recall you’re part of the third batch of scouts; how many days has it been?"

"Leave? I want to leave too!" Earl Li was somewhat agitated but quickly calmed down, explaining, "You have no idea how much effort it took me to retreat from the front lines! Fog Technique isn’t that reliable! No time to explain, get inside first!"

Earl Li spoke urgently, as if standing outside indeed posed constant danger.

The team member who knew Earl Li instinctively wanted to dash into the tunnel but was pulled back by Captain Kings.

"Wait!" Kings raised his Magic Staff slightly, warily eyeing Earl Li, "What’s the danger outside? Also, why are you covering your face? Are you injured?"

This statement instantly alerted the other team members. All eyes focused on Earl Li’s heavily wrapped face, with someone even quietly gripping their weapon.

"I... I’m injured," Earl Li’s voice turned stiff, "The blood scab... is stuck to the headscarf, hard to remove..."

His voice was almost pleading: "Trust me, Kings! I won’t harm you! Get inside now while there’s still time!"

However, the tip of Kings’s Magic Staff had already gathered a subtle dangerous magical glow, targeting Earl Li’s eyes directly: "Earl Li, for the last time, take it off!"

"You... why must you force me..." Earl Li’s hand trembled as he touched the cloth covering his face, anger filling his voice, "I truly mean well for you... yet you don’t trust me?!"

The cover was suddenly torn away!

A grotesque face covered in white fungal threads was exposed to everyone! The threads were deeply embedded in his skin, fused with flesh and blood, appearing grotesquely deformed!

The half-demons were taken aback, with two even recoiling in horror.

On Earl Li’s face, grievance and anger were swiftly replaced by ultimate resentment and madness: "It’s all Bastardos’s fault! To curry favor with that imperial whore, to enjoy a comfortable life in the south, he sent us to die here! Not just me! All of you too! All the same!"

"Don’t trust me?! If you don’t trust me then die!"

Upon his hysterical roar, several rotund Pukis rolled out from deep within the tunnel!

The half-demon warrior with abnormal and slender limbs reacted swiftly, shouted sharply, turning into a blurry afterimage charging forward! The slender blade in her hand flashed a sharp icy gleam!

Several sprinting Pukis were sliced in half.

Yet, she couldn’t kill them all.

Bang! Bang, bang—!!!

A series of violent explosions erupted suddenly!

The agile slender-limbed warrior bore the brunt, flung back like a ragdoll struck by a giant hammer, crashing hard onto the solid ice, blood instantly staining a large swath of ice crystals red.

Although the others were not at the explosion’s center, they too were more or less harmed.

The most injured was ironically Earl Li, who was closest to the explosion! The Pukis didn’t spare him, the "ally," at all.

Yet he seemed immune to the pain, and instead, looked at Kings’s squad’s miserable state, erupting into maniacal laughter:

"Hahaha! Serves you right! Serves you right! If you’d just believed me you wouldn’t have died! Now, you all have to die! Die! All of you die!" His laughter was filled with twisted glee.

"Traitor!"

A bolt of lightning imbued with Kings’s fury struck the laughing Earl Li heavily, his body turning charred and jerking as he fell back, collapsing upward.

However, killing the traitor did not alleviate Kings’s squad’s dire situation. Earl Li had stalled for enough time... From the midst of the snowstorm, countless faint "Puki" sounds echoed from all directions, with dense white figures surrounding them.

...

...

...

A similar scene also happened to the reconnaissance team sent by the Lizardman Tribe.

The Demon Tribe stood like a black hole, sending out scouts with remarkable talents only for them to vanish without a trace, leaving both leaders feeling equally troubled...