This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms – Chapter 352

The “delivery” was still en route, delayed by distance.

Before it arrived, Lin Jun had another experiment to conduct.

“So cold! So hot! Ahhhhh! Just kill me! If you’ve got the guts, kill me already!”

Miserable screams echoed through the frigid winds of the Far North. Of the duo who had come to assassinate Inanna, the bald human assassin had already contributed his value long ago, while the other—vampire Viscount Giles—was only now finally being put to use by Lin Jun.

Now entirely green all over, he was firmly bound to a tall pole erected high, “enjoying” the direct rays of the pale noon sun in this frozen wasteland of extreme cold.

Clearly, the minor benefits brought by [Photosynthesis] could not possibly mask the vampire’s innate dread of sunlight.

Fortunately, sunlight in this world didn’t have the instant-death lethality against vampires depicted in his previous life’s settings, or Giles would have already turned to ash.

Still, there were some gains. Through alternating cold and heat plus healing to keep him alive, after a full day of continuous exposure, a new skill actually struggled into existence in Giles’s skill panel: [Sunlight Resistance LV1].

This didn’t surprise Lin Jun—he had seen [Sunlight Resistance LV2] on Sigismund’s panel before.

From what he could tell so far, this skill only slightly reduced the direct burning damage sunlight inflicted on vampires, but showed no obvious improvement against the weakness sunlight caused.

Of course, this was very likely because the level was too low.

But look at Sigismund—under normal circumstances, no vampire would roast themselves daily for decades just to train such a resistance skill.

However, Lin Jun could practice it all he wanted—after all, he wasn’t the one getting burned.

Thus, this “daily training task” was cheerfully assigned. Several Demonkin members took over the duty of guarding and “caring for” Giles with smiles and laughter.

Of course, unlike Lin Jun, the Demonkin weren’t happy because of Giles’s screams, but because they would finally be replenishing their ranks with new kin after so long.

Back when Lin Jun had told the Demonkin to wait, saying he wanted to conduct experiments on skill stacking—now the time had finally come!

Over at Godwood Dungeon, after initially determining the severity of the [Madness] contamination, the elves dispatched their Royal Guard Captain—a whopping LV83—to personally lead a large force of elite rangers and druids deep into the dungeon to launch a large-scale purification and eradication operation.

[Madness] wasn’t completely irreversible. Through the druids’ painstaking continuous purification, its effects could be removed.

But the problem was that this thing spread far faster than it could be purified.

Left with no choice, the elves adopted a two-pronged approach: doing their best to save some individuals still worth saving, while mercilessly eliminating the majority of creatures already deeply infected.

The large-scale top-down cleanup operation proceeded in full swing, with magic arrows and purifying radiance flashing everywhere, even accidentally injuring quite a few innocent Puchis.

Fortunately, no one paid any attention to the creep silently covering the corners.

The massive number of dead monster corpses were carelessly discarded in the forest, becoming excellent nutrients for Lin Jun’s creep.

As the monsters were decomposed and absorbed, various skill levels increased, and most importantly, Lin Jun’s long-coveted [Physical Resistance] finally successfully reached maximum level!

So then, the Imperial Demonkin Galen, who had been raised for half a year, had finally come time to serve his purpose.

The current Galen was completely unrecognizable from his robust and fierce appearance when first captured.

Having been imprisoned long-term in a sunless dungeon, regularly having his blood drawn by Piggy, and occasionally being toyed with by Lin Jun in dreams, he was now gaunt, pale, and utterly weakened.

However, his gaze toward the other Demonkin around him remained as arrogant as ever.

When he was escorted before the “Cradle,” being a Demonkin himself, he naturally understood what fate awaited him.

He didn’t struggle, only silently accepted the bowl of steaming, delicious mushroom soup handed to him and drank it down in one go.

Only after the last trace of savory sweetness completely faded did he slowly open his eyes, his gaze sweeping over those kinsmen around him whose demonic patterns were intertwined with fungal strands.

“When Demonkin battle each other, the loser’s demon core goes into the victor’s ‘Cradle’—I suppose that counts as tradition.” His voice was hoarse yet full of mockery. “But… with how you all look now, do you really still deserve to call yourselves ‘Demonkin’?”

“Anything else you want to say?” Wearing his Marshal Puchi, Shou’s voice revealed not a ripple of emotion.

Galen spat a glob of saliva and cracked a twisted smile. “Make it quick, kid!”

“Alright!”

The instant Shou’s reply fell, cold light flashed! Moving so fast it left only an afterimage, Galen’s head had already left his body, rolling onto the cold snow.

Starfire, who had been waiting at the side, immediately stepped forward and began solemnly presiding over the ancient Demonkin rebirth ritual. And with Lin Jun’s cooperation, two hours later, a brand new Demonkin was born!

His body was covered with black and white interwoven demonic patterns. The deep black was the base coloring brought by [Physical Resistance], while the lustrous white translucent patterns were the symbiotic fungal strands within.

The surrounding Demonkin erupted in enthusiastic cheers and celebration for this newly born kinsman, but in the depths of Lin Jun’s consciousness, waves even more intense than theirs were surging!

Stacking two [Physical Resistance LV10] skills had indeed produced a change!

“Haha… hahahaha!” Lin Jun’s uncontrollable wild laughter echoed in all the Demonkin’s minds, interrupting their celebration.

Everyone involuntarily stopped their cheering, their gazes uniformly turning toward the trembling Marshal Puchi atop Shou’s head.

“I think he was right!” Lin Jun said excitedly.

“What?” Shou couldn’t immediately understand this statement without context.

“You truly shouldn’t be called ‘Demonkin’ anymore!” Lin Jun’s voice rose high. “Your future will far surpass the limitations of ‘Demonkin’! Under my command, you will become the most powerful race on this continent!”

The Demonkin couldn’t yet see the new kinsman’s panel and didn’t fully understand why their boss had suddenly become so excited and made such bold declarations.

And Lin Jun directly demonstrated the reason to them in the most direct way possible!

He instantly seized control of a nearby elite Puchi, and before anyone could react, that Puchi suddenly swung its sharp blade whip, striking like lightning from a blind spot, viciously slashing toward the newborn Demonkin—only LV1—being held in Starfire’s arms!

It happened so suddenly. Shou beside them instinctively wanted to intervene, but after hesitating for an instant, he ultimately forcibly suppressed his impulse to act.

Clang—!!!

The elite Puchi’s full-force strike landed squarely on target.

The newborn Demonkin was sent flying by the tremendous impact, tumbling into a distant snow drift.

This sudden turn of events stunned all the Demonkin—the scene fell deathly silent.

Only Starfire cried out, rushing over anxiously in the first moment, frantically pulling up the newborn kinsman from the snow drift.

“Nothing… nothing wrong? Not a single injury?!” Starfire examined the kinsman’s body, his voice trembling with shock.

[Physical Immunity]!

Only then did Lin Jun’s voice ring out again, as if heralding the arrival of a new era: “From this day forward, you shall call yourselves ‘Mycodescendants’! And one day, this name will replace ‘Demonkin’ and resound throughout the entire continent!”

(End of Chapter)