The dawn was approaching, and an unusual crowd gathered outside the gate.
The reason was none other than a new tal pole erected beside the city gate, binding a vampire.
Recently, the green-skinned vampires had stopped their usual screams, stripping the gate of its regular flavor. Now, a new vampire had arrived.
Especially since everyone heard that this guy was the culprit behind the deaths of over seventy soldiers, no one wanted to miss his "first scream."
The only disappointnt was that the newcor was hooded and gagged, making it unlikely for him to let out a satisfying wail.
"Hmm! Hmmm——!"
Casinar felt the malicious intent from the watching crowd, and his anxiety made him struggle wildly. But the binding array and the barbs pierced through his collarbone pinned him firmly to the pole, and each twist only brought piercing pain.
"First ti?" A calm voice called out from the side, seeming particularly out of place amid the pervasive malice.
His blood sense told him that the speaker was the only other mber of the blood race present.
Unfortunately, Casinar couldn’t respond; Lin Jun hadn’t granted him access to the Fungal Network for communication.
"Relax, it’s not as terrifying as you imagine."
Terrifying? What’s so terrifying?
"The important thing is to learn to enjoy the pain, to accept it... only then will your body and mind be cleansed and elevated."
"Hmm?! Hmm——!!"
Before Casinar could grasp the aning of those words, the first ray of dawn pierced through the night.
"Mmm... ah..." The green-skinned vampire beside him let out a satisfied hum, as if his soul had soared to the skies.
But Casinar was not so composed. Initially, he gritted his teeth, but after Lin Jun thoughtfully added a heated Puki beneath his feet, under the dual roasting, he finally couldn’t help but "hmm! hmm!" in muffled cries, and once he started, he couldn’t stop.
The residents of Fungus Castle watching erupted in contented laughter. People chatted in the Fungal Network as if they had just enjoyed a magnificent performance, entering the city in the increasing daylight.
In between enjoynt, the green-skinned vampire glanced at the trembling Marquis in agony, as if seeing his own past self, and gently shook his head:
"Ah, newcors..."
...
Norris sat atop a wide Glowing Mushroom, casting his entire being in a ghostly blue light.
A silver-grey scale peeled up from his shoulder blade, its edges still clinging to bits of skin, similar scales could be seen all over his body.
The fatal wound on Norris had practically healed by the second day, but only his flesh and bones had recovered.
The fatal wound had already healed the next day, with flesh and bones restored thoroughly, but the regeneration of scales managed by the [Scale Armor] skill required more ti.
A claw, dark as night, approached, its tip teasing the half-peeled scale, tugging at the tender new flesh beneath, provoking a sharp intake of breath from Norris.
"Stop, stop, Xiao Hai, be patient, don’t touch it! It’ll fall off on its own in a couple of days, and you’ll get all you want then!"
At Norris’s plea, Xiao Hai reluctantly withdrew her claws.
Norris attempted to get up, but a thick black tail wrapped around his waist without a word, pressing him back onto the mushroom.
Norris sighed heavily; every ti after a severe injury, Xiao Hai was closest to him, so close that even when a delicious mber of the Mushroom Race passed by, Xiao Hai was unwilling to let go of Norris to catch them.
After repeated negotiations, he managed to persuade Xiao Hai to only coil his left hand with her tail, allowing him so mobility.
If there’s any advantage to this situation, it’s that he didn’t have to worry about Karen’s attacks for the next few days.
In the Mushroom Garden, most people were quite afraid of Xiao Hai, and a race like werewolves, with their keen instincts for danger, even more so.
Werewolves far less powerful than Xiao Hai felt uneasy just staying near her.
His performance in the battle was quite impressive, and the boss rarely gave such high praise, even agreeing to enhance and upgrade his Jida ch.
Even Number Four acknowledged him after hearing about it, and expressed recognition at an internal Mushroom Race eting, voting in favor of the proposal to "award Norris the honorary Mushroom Race title," though it ultimately didn’t pass.
"Honorary Mushroom Race" or whatever, Norris didn’t really care.
What puzzled him was that the Duke’s Daughter also apparently had the privilege to attend the eting...
Having just finished drinking the daily special potion for core mbers, Norris looked up to see Louisa heading towards the training ground.
Almost reflexively, he averted his eyes.
Although Louisa herself didn’t mind, that new equipnt was simply too... stimulating for Norris.
The defined lines of her abs between the Demon Crystal grooves were faintly visible, and the design of the leg armor was so bold he didn’t know where to look.
If Norris knew that beneath that seemingly revealing equipnt there were forty-eight barbs deeply embedded in the flesh... his embarrassed shyness might turn into chilling horror.
...
In the training ground, Number Four lay lifeless at the edge, a few Cow and Horse Pukis having just drained it of its accumulated "water of life," slowly leaving.
After being banned by the Mushroom Lord from rampaging with its colossal beast body, it was bored to the point of almost growing mushrooms.
Seeing Louisa step into the training ground, Number Four barely mustered the energy. Sparring with Louisa was one of its few joyous monts these days.
There was no rush to start, a Cow and Horse Puki trotted to Louisa’s side, extracting over a dozen cut B Level Demon Crystals from within, perfectly matching the grooves on her armor.
Louisa embedded the Demon Crystals one by one, each stone fitting into place with a crisp "click," and a dim light flowed along the lines.
When the last Demon Crystal was in place, a complete magic power circuit was established!
The entire suit of armor lit up with purple-red veins, the blood swirling around Louisa surged out, quickly filling the gaps in the armor, solidifying into a crystalline blood crystal layer, and a pair of wide wings ford from blood crystals unfurled behind her.
Originally exposed equipnt now turned into a nacing blood armor enveloping her whole body, like a demon crawling out of hell.
But such a terrifying form didn’t scare Number Four, who didn’t understand fear to begin with. Seeing Louisa ready, it eagerly leapt forward, unleashing various skill combinations it had pondered in its idle ti.
And Louisa was fully imrsed in the power brought by the Demon Crystal armant!
The surging magic power, strengthening every muscle and nerve through those barbs embedded in her flesh.
Her power took a leap, and [Blood Manipulation] beca as natural as breathing, with the flowing blood seemingly an extension of her body.
The only issue was that this power made her combat style wilder and more aggressive than before.
Sotis she would choose to clash directly, trading injury for injury, even when she could have avoided the attacks.
Clearly, the ntal side effects were present, though they remained within an acceptable range.
...
Letting them continue their sparring, Lin Jun shifted his gaze elsewhere.
Items related to combat puppets had already been transported from the ruins in batches, and Lin Jun had specifically designated a spot within Fungus Castle as a base for researching these things.
The dwarf nad Tolin was a mber of the Deep Furnace Clan and had so knowledge of combat puppets, but it seed insufficient.
There wasn’t a better candidate available at the mont, so he had to research with assistance from Xing Huo and other mages.
Of course, Lin Jun offered enticing benefits for this, not just to Tolin but even allowing Gleam and Baroque to rejoice, making the two dwarves temporarily set aside thoughts of returning to the Mountains.
Now, one last problem remained.
The Frost Elental Lord was a bit too fond of Pink Puki, so much so that it wouldn’t let her leave the ruins, nor allow anyone else to approach.
Even feeding Pink Puki had to be done by tossing food to her.
And most crucially, Pink Puki had been in the ruins for over ten days, while in Mushroom City, Fa’er, who felt like the sky was falling, had nervously sent out a rescue team to find her...
[Why not just set up a teleportation array to bring her out?]
suggested the Yellow-covered Book, which had been promoted to the rank of advisor.
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