Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 590 - 580: Things on the West Coast Are Always This Bad

Tentacles whipped through the air like a whip.

Another Slime was split in two.

Thirteen disdainfully shook off the tentacles, flicking away the evil remnants on them.

This was already the sixteenth one.

In the distance, among the jagged gray-brown rocks, a few bouncing figures were faintly approaching.

These Slimes were not strong, at least not a threat to Thirteen, who had the body of Knight Puki.

Compared to these annoying yet weak evils, what troubled it more was its own situation.

Suddenly thrown into this barren, desolate area with sparse Fungal Mats, without tasks or instructions, even inquiries sent to the Mushroom Lord were like stones sinking into the sea.

Of course, it was normal for the Mushroom Lord to ignore a Mushroom, but in the current situation, it left Thirteen feeling confused.

It had tried moving towards the more lush fungal areas, only to find itself restricted from going there, clearly by the Mushroom Lord’s limits.

It seemed... it had been exiled.

Had it done something wrong?

Thirteen stopped the unconscious waving of its tentacles and began seriously reflecting on its recent actions.

It led the Black Demon to eat No. 7 and No. 8, and the demon had an exceptionally good appetite that day, even gnawing half of it.

It hid the Black Demon’s glass orb in someone else’s Mushroom House, watching the Black Demon follow the scent there.

It had agreed with Twelve to explore those unopened caves in the Underground City, then turned and reported to the Mushroom Lord through the Fungal Network.

Hmm... thinking about it carefully, it hadn’t done anything particularly excessive?

Could it be that other Mushrooms voted together to expel it from the Mushroom Race?

Thirteen was self-aware that its compatriots didn’t particularly like it.

Lately, they had been avoiding it, staying far away.

Thirteen reflected on this as well, thinking maybe it shouldn’t always trick other Mushrooms.

But every time it succeeded, the mixed emotions of shock, confusion, fear, and even anger sensed through the Fungal Network were always irresistible.

Simply living as a Mushroom, what was the point of life?

It felt that its biggest problem might be a lack of patience. Whenever it saw the slightest opportunity to create a "little accident," it couldn’t help but act immediately.

However, Mushrooms being eaten by the Black Demon once or twice wasn’t a big deal.

It was only the first few times that everyone’s emotional fluctuations were significant.

Later, even when caught, its compatriots mostly just complained a little in the Fungal Network about "having to respawn again, how troublesome," and even when No. 7 was devoured, there would be a strange sense of excitement...

As a result, Thirteen couldn’t savor those complex and wonderful emotions as expected, and instead, due to frequently tricking Mushrooms, it was completely isolated and ostracized by its compatriots.

It had just resolved to try to correct its lack of patience, only to be thrown into this forsaken place the next moment.

Sitting on a small patch of thin Fungal Mat, Thirteen drooped its mushroom cap, contemplating where a Mushroom with no place to return to could go.

Suddenly, it locked eyes with two non-human figures in the distance.

...

A panting Enchanting Demon and an almost falling apart old Goblin were supporting each other, leaning against jagged rocks, looking as if they had just run a deadly marathon.

"Shook... off, didn’t we?" Mengya the Enchanting Demon almost collapsed on the rock, her chest heaving violently, her tail limp on the ground. She stepped on a nearby Slime, its sticky fluid splattering everywhere.

"Shh—quiet!" The old Goblin, Stinky Fish, raised his sharp ears, holding his breath, listening intently for a while, until he only heard the Slimes bouncing, and then let out a long breath, "The fake trail I left... probably worked. For now, we should be safe."

"I’m exhausted!" Mengya lamented, sweat sliding down her enchanting face, "Those cowardly bastards! If they have the guts, they should attack the Empire’s regular army at the port! Chasing us two weaklings through three ravines, what’s the point of that?"

After two deep breaths, she couldn’t help but continue complaining, "This damned route from the port to High Castle Fortress is way too dangerous! Adventurer teams are everywhere... I reckon it won’t be long before the human flag flies again on the West Coast. What’s going on with those big shots in the Empire?"

Stinky Fish wiped the sweat from his face, his voice hoarse, "What can be done? There’s only this bit of waterway between the Empire and the port, and lately, almost half of the ships have been lost! Who dares to set sail now? Any officer who suggests ’set sail’ is guaranteed to fall overboard by accident the next day, to feed those monsters!"

Saying this, Stinky Fish got angry, poking at Mengya with his bony fingers, "And it’s all because of you! Dreaming of meeting that damned human again, the mission was over, yet you loitered around here for so long, missing the last ship back to the Empire! Now look, we can’t go back even if we wanted to!"

"I’m an Enchanting Demon! Seeing a rare good man, how could I not be tempted? What’s the problem with that?!" Mengya flipped her purple hair, responding with justified confidence.

Stinky Fish was so amused that he showed his jagged yellow teeth and laughed, "Did you get him, noble Enchanting Demon? How do I remember that his look at you wasn’t much different from how he looked at me, this wrinkled old Goblin? Just for this bit of infatuation, we’ve ended up like stray dogs!"

"You... you... I saved you last time..."

"Let’s not talk about the past. Without me these last two days, how many times have you been slaughtered by human Adventurers?"

The two of them bickered back and forth endlessly, but as they argued, their voices gradually lowered.

Finally, they both gave in almost simultaneously, slumping against the cold stones.

After a long silence.

"So... what do we do next?" Mengya asked weakly, her tail tip dragging lifelessly across the ground.

"Bet on luck, keep moving through the human Adventurer area, head towards High Castle Fortress," Stinky Fish’s voice was dry, "or... head back to the port."

"Return to the port? We can’t just stay holed up in that broken place, can we?"

Stinky Fish wiped his face, analyzing seriously:

"We won’t stay holed up permanently. If things at sea turn, and the Empire solves the issue, the waterways will naturally reopen, and we can take a ship back. But if they can’t solve it..."

"If they can’t solve it, the port will lose its value, continuing to drain resources and lives is just a waste."

"In a while, the higher-ups will probably order a large-scale, organized retreat by land. When that happens, we’ll go with the main forces, which is much better than us braving it alone now."

Mengya nodded but then sighed several times.

Waiting to retreat with the main forces is certainly safe, but it also means not knowing how much time will be wasted. When they finally meander back to the Empire...

She could hardly bear to think about how her harsh superior would deal with her delay.

Perhaps, the next special assignment would send her directly to that mythical place where "spies disappear faster than morning dew"—Mushroom City.

After resting a little and regaining some energy, the two defeated demons started turning back towards the port. Just then, Mengya’s peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a lone figure in the distance.

"What’s wrong?" Stinky Fish, walking in front, immediately noticed her pause and asked warily in a lowered voice.

Mengya pointed her slender tail towards the distant Puki, her tone somewhat uncertain, "Do you think we might have encountered a member of the Mushroom Race?"

"Mushroom Race? The Empire sent out so many people and didn’t find anything, and you expect to find one here..." Stinky Fish habitually sneered as he turned, but his mocking words got stuck in his throat halfway through.

His cloudy old eyes narrowed, staring intently at that Puki.

As they observed it, that Puki seemed to notice the gaze too, slowly lifting its round mushroom cap.

Even though Puki had no facial features, Stinky Fish still felt as if it was looking at them!

Besides, here was the edge with extremely low Fungal Mat coverage, and ordinary Puki would hardly linger here long.

Moreover, this Puki’s reactions seemed different from ordinary Puki.

Stinky Fish’s voice became hoarse with anticipation:

"Could it be... it’s really a member of the Mushroom Race?"