Elf Royal Court Council.
Due to the temporary lack of a suitable candidate for the Elf King, Queen Galadriel, although acting in a temporary capacity, essentially aid to stabilize the people's morale.
For important matters, she did not have the authority to make unilateral decisions. Instead, such matters were discussed and decided upon in the council with other elves.
A young elf dressed in light hunting attire was deftly twirling a vividly red, delicious mushroom with his fingertips.
He glanced around and spoke clearly, "Right now, these delicious mushrooms are scattered throughout the forest, their yield much higher than the moon trees that only bear fruit once every three years. Most importantly, they require no effort to care for! Nowadays, our children can savor such delicacies every few days; it's a gift from the forest, why bother dealing with them?"
His words caused several younger council mbers to nod slightly.
However, opposite him, an elderly druid adorned in a deep brown robe covered with fresh vine leaves and dried seeds shook his head, "Well then, young Eros, as you enjoy this 'gift,' have you ever bowed your head to closely examine the forest's original skin beneath the fungal mat?"
He paused, his voice never needing to rise, as he had firmly captured everyone's attention.
"Since the fungal mat appeared on a large scale, the moon moss, relying on specific humus layers and weak light to thrive, has completely vanished in the Eastern forest areas. The misty shadow moss, which prefers moisture and fears light, has not been found again. This is just the beginning. According to our ongoing observations, out of the original 127 species of undergrowth plants, 43 have declined by more than 40%. Among them are the song fern providing shelter for young forest animals and the rootgrass stabilizing the magical power within the soil."
"But the fungal mat can replace their functions, right?" Another representative from the practical faction of elf artisans spoke, "Their ability to decompose dead wood is ten tis faster than natural decay, their efficiency in pest control is very high, and the mushrooms produced can feed the animals. Aside from the plants you ntioned, the forest will beco even more lush!"
"The cost?" The elder druid who spoke first countered, "Learn more about nature, young man. The cost is the forest becoming single-minded! It's efficient, prolific, yet singular and exclusive, this is a dangerous signal."
"Additionally," the druid turned his gaze towards Salian, seated on the side, "Do any of you know what the land beneath us looks like now?"
Upon hearing this, Salian stood up, raised his hands, and a gentle azure glow flowed from his fingertips, linking with the reconnaissance array within the Elf Forest.
In the next instant, a vast and intricate three-dinsional magical image unfolded in mid-air.
At the top of the image is the well-known Tree City; upon closer inspection, one could even see elves strolling between the corridors and bridges.
However, as all elves shifted their gaze downward along with the image, focusing on the dense soil beneath the giant tree roots, what they saw were countless complex, interwoven layers of underground tunnels, with a complexity beyond that of the multi-layered bridges of the Tree City.
"Is this all... Puki dug?" An elf spoke in disbelief.
"It's evident." Salian lowered his hands, the image stabilized and suspended, before objectively adding, "However, there's no need to worry about collapse or soil loosening. Those Puki can reinforce the tunnel walls while digging, to so extent even enhancing the local land's stability."
Yet, no elf would wish for their hos to beco a labyrinth of interwoven tunnels.
This undoubtedly posed a huge security risk, easily exploitable by those with ill intentions.
The council then turned its focus towards effective prevention, but soon the discussion reached an impasse.
The fungal mat fears fire but is difficult to ignite, and the forest is unsuitable for burning, not to ntion the mycelium in the tunnels which cannot be resolved with fire.
Natural magic by the druids could solve the problem well; by rely activating the magic power within the fungal mat, it would explode with mushrooms and naturally wither.
But this is extrely labor-intensive, a large-scale project. Should the druids do nothing else and deal solely with the fungal mat every day?
So also ntioned the No. 1 Puki from the Mushroom Race.
Yet it can barely manage the Puki's digging activities, it cannot control the spread of the fungal mat.
According to the Mushroom Lord's request, restricting the fungal mat is neither supported nor opposed by it, allowing the elves to deal with it themselves.
Lin Jun wasn't surprised by the elves' reactions, her consideration was quite straightforward.
If the elves cannot find a solution, then they can only accept it.
If the elves find a solution, then it happens to help her understand the fungal mat's weaknesses, allowing her to respond accordingly.
In fact, on the Kingdom's West Coast side, the spread of the fungal mat has indeed been restricted.
The reason being that there are more Slis over there!
After the mist receded, so changes were left behind, one of which was an increase in magical power concentration, enough to naturally spawn Slis.
Coupled with the recent war in that area, with vast land sparsely populated, unmanaged Slis easily multiplied.
Not only do they consu the surface fungal mat, but they also burrow into tunnels, eating clean along the way!
Unfortunately, another war between Puki and the Slis seems imminent.
Obviously, Sli prevention is not suitable for the Elf Forest.
It is simply pure pest, not about decomposition.
Lin Jun's fungal mat at least leaves so plants, whereas with a large number of Slis, it would be barren, nothing remaining but Slis.
Of course, Slis are not strong; under normal circumstances, unless soone cultivates them, their numbers wouldn't increase.
That situation on the West Coast is unique.
Ultimately, the council officially assigned the ergency task of drafting a fungal mat prevention plan to the druid group, hoping they could soon find a practical and efficient solution.
However, as the two appointed druid representatives left the hall, the worry in their brows was deeper than when they arrived.
The difficulties they faced went beyond technical issues.
Not only were they currently at a loss on how to tackle the fungal mat, but what troubled them even more was that so internal disagreents seed to arise within the druid group recently.
A part of the druids began to examine the fungal mat from a whole new perspective.
They believed this life form that efficiently transforms energy and builds symbiotic networks might represent another evolutionary possibility of nature's path, even worthy of in-depth study and acceptance.
This perspective even gained partial approval from so elder druids, hinting at the trend of forming a new research association.
They feared that if they couldn't find proper thods to deal with the fungal mat and prove the resilience and wisdom of traditional paths in the short term, these dissenting voices would likely grow louder.
The two druids exchanged a glance, knowing this was a task that couldn't be delayed!
...
Others had adjourned, but Galadriel couldn't rest yet.
Internal affairs were discussed in the council, but when facing diplomatic matters, she still represented the elves' image and needed to make an appearance at the embassy, arranging the ti for their formal discussions.
Personally, she was sowhat curious about Inanna.
This girl, under twenty, had earned the title of a war hero, achieving such feats at a young age, surpassing even a twenty-year-old Sword Saint in fa.
At least when Elvyn was twenty, there were no such accomplishnts within the Elf Forest.
Entering the side hall where the embassy rested, Galadriel imdiately saw Inanna's bright pink hair and caught sight of the peculiar Puki in her arms, adorned with four swords.
For so reason, in this situation where they should imdiately exchange courteous greetings, her gaze couldn't tear away from that seemingly stiff Puki?
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