Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Tide Sanctuary.

"Uh... cough... Magic Power... thin..." Saphirea curled up on the coral bed, suppressing her voice.

The thin Magic Power around made Saphirea feel like she was having altitude sickness, her whole body was in a state of sustained discomfort.

In fact, as an Underground City, the Magic Power inside the Tide Sanctuary should be thicker than the normal Environmental Magic Power outside.

The reason Saphirea felt the Magic Power was thin was purely because the magic concentration in the Mist Illusion Realm was too abnormal.

Using magic intensively in the mist, with the body constantly washed by such high concentrations of magic, resulted in sensory imbalance and symptoms of magic addiction.

Luckily, the time trapped inside wasn’t long, just mild magic addiction, with proper adjustment it can be adapted, though not without some suffering.

Outside the Tide Sanctuary, the sea had already been swallowed by the mist.

The mist, when advancing, can be pushed back like compressing a spring, but it’s just a temporary measure, not a fundamental solution.

They relied on the [Ocean Staff] to violently break through the mist back to the Tide Sanctuary, but soon the path they cleared was swallowed again.

Large swaths of floating Fungal Mats disappeared from sense after being swallowed by the mist, who knows to what extent the mist will advance this time?

With the current momentum, it shouldn’t just linger by the shore like before and then retreat.

The loss of Fungal Mats at sea is enormous, the only thing comforting Lin Jun is that the Underground City is still relatively safe.

Even if the nearby sea is all shrouded by mist, the white fog still stopped outside the gates of the Tide Sanctuary.

A small amount of mist, even if it penetrated inside, would only be decomposed into high concentration Magic Power, then diluted throughout the Underground City, seemingly unable to break in.

Honestly, if the mist really broke into the Tide Sanctuary, Lin Jun would have no choice but to stuff the Mermaids and Fishmen into Pujie Dungeon’s Seventh Floor and then close the Rift.

Though the space on the Seventh Floor is not small, stuffing them all in would be cramped.

Remember Death God once said "the mist is not important."

Yet Lin Jun didn’t see where it’s not important, it’s undoubtedly a world-ending crisis!

To deal with the possible mist landing situation, Fungus Castle has already dropped other affairs, fully preparing to respond.

Besides the mist crisis, the Illusion Realm previously encountered is quite intriguing.

The foundation of the Mist Illusion Realm lies in the memories of those trapped within.

Whose memory is that of the wealthy merchant’s scene?

Mermaids have a lifespan of around 120, plus the three Mermaids aren’t old.

It can’t be Lin Jun’s own, right?

Is it an exception?

And the Ghost Ship named "Reflection" by the merchant, seen for the second time, with gunpowder cannons, feels completely out of tune with Lin Jun’s side, don’t know what it is.

Lastly, there’s the painting.

Directly assuming the person in the painting is Vera is definitely wrong, but there’s at least a fifty percent resemblance, Lin Jun can’t believe there’s no connection.

A descendant? Or something else?

To say a descendant feels somewhat far-fetched.

If there were a noble among Vera’s seven or eight generations upwards, Vera would have a family surname like "Saint Claire" following the name like Inanna does.

Can’t be Vera’s appearance regressed, resembling some ancestor from countless generations ago?

Asking Vera about this is definitely pointless.

His dreams have been played by Lin Jun, can’t possibly be hiding any major secrets.

As for Divine Wood...

According to Old Deng’s usual attitude, even if he does know something, he would choose to act cryptically.

Damn Old Deng, someday!

...

Under Lin Jun’s orders, Little Pig selected many elite squads and conducted short-term targeted training on them, cramming knowledge about the mist and countermeasures.

Subsequently, Little Pig dispatched them to establish small positions near the southern coastline.

Facing the mist, pushing the army forward would only increase casualties; elite squads are the correct approach.

These small positions are divided into three lines of defense, aiming to temporarily block the mist in case of acceleration, providing enough time and space for the personnel’s movement behind.

The Fungus Castle will decide whether to resist until the mist retreats or try to migrate east and avoid its edge, based on the current mist intensity.

Just imagine, the mist is almost rampaging onto the Continent, without unifying the forces of the races yet, truly embarrassing.

The culprit is the Demon King.

If Mortis were still in position, Lin Jun could wholeheartedly find an opportunity to use Soul Touch to ignore the Level and critically injure or kill Mortis, then swallow the Empire whole, establishing the momentum.

But the Demon King came, this guy’s soul split into many parts, Lin Jun crushes one or two but can’t kill him.

Even causing Slime to devour Fungal Mats, delaying the unification endeavor.

Saying he’s also about saving the world, Lin Jun just wants to see how the Empire will respond to the mist coming ashore this time?

If not handled well, and the Empire’s already depleted strength is further drained, Lin Jun won’t show mercy!

At that time, when advancing, they’ll definitely broadcast the Demon King’s incompetence loudly.

Lin Jun also didn’t forget the recently concluded alliance, instructing Little Pink to inform the Kingdom’s top brass about the mist’s descent.

After repeatedly confirming the news, Lorenzo and Alama’s faces turned grim.

The new defensive line is for combating the Empire, not effective against the mist.

But if everyone evacuates, the magic runes in areas shrouded by the mist will surely be damaged for various reasons in high concentration Magic Power Illusions.

Even if the mist retreats afterward, the repair difficulty will be substantial.

Moreover, if the mist directly lands...

The doomsday crisis mentioned by the Fungus Castle, initially thought distant, now close at hand, no one can remain unworried.

On the other hand, Sofia appeared much calmer.

Firstly, during her time in the Archipelago, she interacted greatly with the mist, having some psychological preparation.

Secondly, as the Hero, she was informed from day one of her summoning that she needed to help humans solve crises, and now the crisis changed from Demon Race to mist, requiring little mental adjustment.

While humans, demons, and Puki face the threat of mist, the Elves and Dwarves remain unaffected.

Upon learning this news from the United Kingdom, the Elves still sent some personnel to assist the Kingdom, while the Dwarves are completely absorbed in their internal conflicts.

The parasite issue, fomented by those with vested interests, no longer confined to the masses, is spreading into the military and among clans.

Members of the Dwarves’ four major clans are assassinated due to their stance, each clan leader accuses others of using disgraceful means, even mobilizing clan armies for confrontation.

To ease the tension, the Dwarf King has to hold frequent meetings, but the effect isn’t ideal.

Ironically, even under such circumstances, the Dwarves and Fungus Castle trading a Giant Dragon for an S-Class Demon Crystal continues unaffected.

Not even the anti-mycelium faction wants to terminate this trade, indeed just recently, another Giant Dragon was delivered to Pujie.

After all, getting a precious S-Class Demon Crystal is something every clan benefits from!

It’s undeniable the Mountains hold an advantage in hunting Giant Dragons.

Perhaps accustomed to living on Dragon Cliff, Giant Dragons habitually seek high mountains as temporary habitats during Dragon Struggle.

The Mountains of the Dwarves are undoubtedly the highest places, hence there are comparatively more Giant Dragons.

Dwarves are smart; they don’t confront those Giant Dragons head-on but wait until they’re both severely injured during Dragon Struggle before stepping in to mediate.

Good luck captures two, bad luck captures one.

Just like now, Bado, who came to the depths of the Mountains city to avoid recent messy internal conflicts, encountered a Blue Dragon and a Red Dragon fighting from mountaintop to valley, with dragon roars echoing in the mountains, one gradually weakening.

Bado didn’t hold back, grabbed his axe, and led his elite towards the valley.

However, this time, the Dwarves faced formidable adversaries.