Chapter 770 - 757: Alliance
Chapter 770: Chapter 757: Alliance
"The public’s support for the alliance with Fungus Castle is higher than expected, completely overshadowing the opposition."
"It’s a resurrection akin to miracles, after all!"
"Indeed, miracles," Lorenzo looked up, gazing at the last glimmer of dusk on the horizon, "so cheap... With so many Resurrection Mushrooms in front of us, our costly resurrection methods seem quite lacking in comparison."
Alama: "You can’t say that, those Mushroom Transformers, after resurrection, do not inherit the level and power they had before."
The two continued to discuss the matter of the alliance. Although it’s confirmed that there won’t be any opposition from the public, before officially forming the alliance, it’s necessary to send someone to inspect Fungus Castle.
"Are you sure you want to go personally?" Lorenzo frowned, "That’s crossing the rift of the Underground City. This sort of thing can be handled by my son."
But Alama shook his head: "I still want to see for myself what kind of life Inanna is living. You don’t need to worry about defense; now that the Hero has returned, I’ve also discussed with Elvyn and had him temporarily guard the node cities of those new defense lines."
Seeing Alama’s firm attitude, Lorenzo could only let him go.
...
The next day, Lorenzo took the Hero and set out to return to Oath City, where he would share all the information with Sofia.
Meanwhile, accompanied by Inanna, Alama headed towards Pujie Dungeon.
In that city, only Sword Saint Puki and his apprentice Shi Wu, who had hurried over upon receiving the news a few days before, remained.
The somewhat awkward recognition was completed on the day Shi Wu arrived, and these days, he had been digesting the fact that his master had become a Puki.
At this time, No. 9, who had come together with Shi Wu, was self-comfortingly talking to Sword Saint Puki: "Ah, I didn’t expect you weren’t naturally from the Mushroom Race, but no worries, I still see you as a younger brother! Also, didn’t the Mushroom Lord give you the name Shi Si, which means he cares about you, and you don’t need to feel ashamed for not initially being a Puki!"
Behind them, as Shi Wu recalled his master’s graceful figure of the past, watching the silly No. 9 and his own master, the two round Pukis standing together calling each other brothers, he couldn’t help it.
"Pfft..."
Sword Saint: "..."
"Speaking of which, Shi Wu," Sword Saint Puki turned around, "have you been diligently practicing swordsmanship while I was away?"
"Yes... I have." Shi Wu felt a bad premonition rising in his heart.
Sword Saint Puki slowly unsheathed the four longswords from his back: "Just saying it is useless, let’s spar after so long."
If it was just sparring, Shi Wu would be happy, but he knew his master well.
"Master, I was just sneezing, I wasn’t laughing..."
"Oh? You want a match!" No. 9’s tendrils wrapped around Shi Wu and supported him, jumping onto his head, "Don’t think just because you won once before you’ll always win. I’ll tell you, Shi Wu and I together can easily handle dragons, and by accident, we might beat you up!"
"Alright, the two of you together," standing on the ramparts, Sword Saint Puki had his back against the light, looking down, his shadow enveloping the apprentice.
"Arrogant fellow, Shi Wu, let’s beat him up!"
Under No. 9’s urging, Shi Wu drew his sword with a face full of despair.
...
Meanwhile, in the Deep Area of Pujie Dungeon.
Alama stood in front of the space rift leading to the Northern Territory, looking in disbelief at the metal frame installed on the rift’s edge.
It was a frame Lin Jun had set up to prevent idiots from accidentally cutting themselves on the unstable edge of the space rift.
Internally, it was hollow, containing no technology.
But in Alama’s eyes, it clearly signified some new technology the Fungus Castle possessed to stabilize rift edges.
He thought to himself, it’s a pity he wasn’t proficient in magic, only feeling these metal frames had no special properties. Had Lorenzo come, maybe he could have discerned something.
The cold wind from the Far North blew through the rift, causing Alama to shiver.
He activated the constant temperature ring on his hand and was about to hand a second one from his chest to Inanna nearby...
On Inanna, the blessing of the Frost Elemental Lord flashed and vanished; the cold wind blew, and she didn’t even furrow her brows.
Seizing the moment before Inanna looked over, Alama silently withdrew the item.
As soon as they entered Mushroom Garden, the Mushroom Race gathered around, with Number Four being the first to jump into Inanna’s arms.
The other Mushroom creatures complained in the Fungal Network that "one mushroom can only stay for ten minutes before swapping out."
Alama watched his daughter with a relaxed and content expression, seeing her laughing and chatting with the round mushrooms, something she never showed when interacting with people.
Alama’s heart was mixed with emotions.
It wasn’t until entering Fungus Castle that Alama’s gaze finally shifted from his daughter to fall upon this magnificent city - the Mycelium Tumble Castle with its strange name was even more prosperous and beautiful than he expected.
This beauty didn’t come from the odd mushroom decorations scattered throughout the city or the odd Puki statue in the central square, but from the residents’ status.
Having spent most of his life on the frontier, Alama had seen too many fierce and sinister Demon Races, almost feeling that was their true nature.
Yet within this city, even those who should be ferocious guards, their expressions relaxed, seemingly like farmers who had just finished harvesting, devoid of any aggression.
Despite having fought a war with the Empire not long ago, there wasn’t the slightest hint of wartime tension.
What stunned him even further was the order.
Since entering the city, he had been observing how such a large, populous city had no signs of chaos.
Alama even deliberately avoided the main road, threading through the streets and alleys of Fungus Castle, finding no evidence of gray-market activities.
He couldn’t even find a pickpocket, which every city should have!
"Could you really achieve such a level?" he murmured, "Such management capability..."
Beside him, Inanna wasn’t considering these matters at all; she was simply immersed in the joy of finally being able to share this "paradise" with her father, enthusiastically showing Alama the surface structures of Fungus Castle - the building called Clock.
This building, known for tormenting the Blood Race for amusement, finally allowed Alama to find a trace of familiar "realness" within Fungus Castle.
Upon returning, he highly praised the Clock.
This visit dispelled many of Alama’s doubts.
The Mushroom Lord who could construct such an almost perfect city surely wasn’t a bad person, worth engaging in deeper cooperation.
Soon after Alama returned, the United Kingdom officially announced the alliance with Fungus Castle.
On the Victory Square of Oath City, Marshal Puki, draped in an elongated crimson cape, and Duke Lorenzo, witnessed by everyone, clasped hands and tendrils.
The only slightly odd thing for Alama was that, despite retaining a childish voice, the Mushroom Lord sounded slightly different than before.
Of course, this was merely a trivial detail, and he delved no further into it.
...
Marshal Puki waved his tendrils, gracefully bidding farewell to the visiting nobles, finally retreating to a corner once he found some solitude.
Tendrils reached into his belly, extracting the nearly ruined voice box due to excessive use, which he then discarded onto the Fungal Mat.
Watching the Fungal Mat gradually decompose it, Lin Jun felt somewhat regretful—among those D Level personnel, ones capable of producing such natural childish voices were rare. Perhaps next time he should consume some Water of Life? Then he could extract more, allowing sustainable exploitation.