"Th-this…"
The young Puji's mushroom cap trembled as she looked around, searching for the newcomers' figures. "What should we do? If they're really assassins…"
"Then you're dead for sure."
"Huh? There's no chance to win at all?"
Seeing that Inanna was still clinging to unrealistic hope, Lin Jun explained mercilessly:
"Think about it. We're trapped on this floor and can't get out, but they can come down easily from above. The gap in strength is obvious, right?"
"Then what should I do?"
"Be ready to self-destruct with the magic crystal at any time?"
"Die together?"
"At least you can die with some dignity."
"..."
When the Silver Thorn Team reached the center of the mushroom garden, what they saw was a pink Puji with a huge magic crystal on her head, her whole body surging with mana, ready to self-destruct at any moment.
Lin Jun had even thoughtfully arranged two Puji on her left and right, making her look much more imposing.
If such a huge magic crystal exploded, it would be completely different from the one at the entrance before.
Night Owl immediately wanted to rely on her speed advantage to eliminate the threat at the first moment.
[Shadow Binding]
As expected of a teammate, Ivan used a spell that directly restrained Night Owl.
"Calm down, you brute."
Only after Ivan's reminder did Night Owl notice that Captain Nova was staring excitedly at the pink Puji in front of them.
Feeling the direction indicated by the positioning crystal in his hand, there was no doubt—the Puji in front of them was their rescue target: Inanna St. Claire, the Duke's daughter.
Nova immediately knelt on one knee and performed a standard noble salute toward Inanna.
"Miss Inanna, we are the adventurers entrusted by your father, Duke Arama, to rescue you. Sorry for frightening you."
As he spoke, he also gave Night Owl, who was standing there dumbly holding a dagger, a look.
At this moment, he was extremely glad that he had stopped Night Owl's plan to clear the area before coming in.
He didn't even dare to imagine—if the Duke found out that the adventurers who were supposed to rescue his daughter had stained themselves with his revenge mark…
Then it wouldn't just be the Duke's personal pursuit.
The Adventurers' Guild, in order to distance itself from this mess, would definitely issue a huge bounty on them as well.
At that point, the world would be vast—but there would be no place for them to hide.
Thinking of this, Nova couldn't help but shiver, and the look he gave Night Owl became even worse.
She really had been getting more and more reckless lately. It was time to go back and hold a self-reflection meeting.
"How was I supposed to know…"
Being glared at, Night Owl muttered as she put away her weapon and knelt down, copying the captain's posture.
Although she couldn't understand the conversation, seeing the few of them kneel in front of her, Lin Jun was basically certain of their purpose.
Inanna, meanwhile, was so excited that she jumped up with the magic crystal on her head still at the critical state.
It scared Lin Jun so badly that he hurriedly told her to calm down—if she blew herself up at this moment, that joke would be way too big.
"Old man… Father actually really sent people to save me!"
Inanna didn't know that she had a tracking spell on her. After hearing what the two traitors said before, she had always thought that the Duke wouldn't be able to spare the manpower to save her.
Then just now, she had suspected these people were here to silence her.
Now she was overwhelmed with joy, almost to the point of tears—if Puji could cry, that is.
"Boss, did you hear that? We can go out now!"
"After we get out, you can plant mushrooms all over my family's private forest."
"Old man will definitely agree."
"And we can also… we can also…"
"Boss, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Lin Jun?"
A Puji carrying an A-grade magic crystal slightly smaller than the one on Inanna's head walked over to her.
"Newbie, you've done pretty well these days. This is your bonus."
"Don't mention me to these people. I wish you good luck in the future."
Lin Jun finally replied—but what he said made Inanna completely unable to understand.
"Don't you want to go out too? Why?"
"Miss Inanna, is this kind of communication okay?"
The voice sounded directly in Inanna's mind like usual, but the one speaking wasn't Lin Jun.
Inanna looked at the halfing old man in front of her and realized that he was using a telepathy spell.
"..."
"It's truly great to see that you're safe. I know you've been affected by a permanent polymorph spell. Don't worry. Once we leave the dungeon, we'll prepare a reversal ritual for you. Please bear with it a little longer."
"…Mm."
Ivan felt that the girl in front of him was a bit shy and introverted, not quite matching the information they had collected before.
But the positioning crystal couldn't be wrong. This one in front of them had to be the Duke's daughter.
Thinking about it, a young girl being betrayed and suddenly facing a life-or-death situation—some change in personality was perfectly normal.
"Miss Inanna, could you tell us what exactly you went through?"
"I… I don't want to say…"
Inanna remembered what Lin Jun had said. After thinking a little, she didn't choose to make up a story, but chose not to say anything.
Sure enough, after being stunned for a moment, Ivan took the initiative to smooth things over:
"Ah, it's okay, it's okay. This isn't really something we must ask about."
Ivan, of course, knew that there must be some secrets in this mushroom garden.
Otherwise, the Duke's daughter couldn't possibly have survived here, and judging by her appearance, she even seemed to get along quite well with the Puji here.
Under other circumstances, he definitely would have investigated thoroughly to satisfy his curiosity.
But now this was a mission involving the reward of an entire city.
Even if this Duke's daughter-turned-pink-Puji wanted to step on Night Owl's head and spray spores, he'd still have to hold Night Owl down and keep her from moving.
Let alone some small secrets here.
"We'll be returning soon. Is there anything you need to take with you?"
At Inanna's indication, Ivan took out a box and put away the magic crystal she had just brought over.
As for the one on Inanna's head, she still insisted on keeping it tied there.
Ivan simply replaced the original fungal tendril used to bind it with a sturdy ribbon.
Then after a brief discussion with his teammates, Night Owl was told to carry Inanna and return the same way they came.
As they got farther and farther away from the mushroom garden, the connection of the fungal network grew weaker and weaker.
After losing the vision provided by the fungal network, Inanna suddenly felt like she had returned to the time when she had just been turned into a Puji.
Loneliness. Fear.
Watching the adventurer team disappear into the tunnel, Lin Jun's main body piloting the strongest Puji crawled out from its hiding place.
There was no way he would go with Inanna.
After spending so many days with her, he knew that everything Inanna said was sincere.
But Lin Jun could not trust adventurers, and even less could he trust a great noble like Inanna's father.
He didn't know whether there was something about himself that these people would want.
If he went out, he'd probably just be labeled as the Duke's daughter's pet.
And if the Duke discovered that killing his daughter's pet could bring him huge benefits—what would he do then?
This was only a hypothetical, but Lin Jun would never bet his hopes on other people.
Moreover, not going with Inanna didn't mean he wouldn't follow them from afar and use these adventurers to open up a safe path for himself.
He placed his collection of sunstone fragments and one S-grade magic crystal under the shell of the super Puji.
He gathered the only 40 combat Puji he had left.
Lin Jun took one last look at the mushroom garden that he had built with his own hands, and which had helped him through his most difficult period.
It had already completed its mission.
Following the faint fungal network signal left by Inanna, Lin Jun also stepped into the tunnel.