It had been three months since they were rescued.
Naturally, the rescued people couldn't be piled up at the port forever. They were ultimately distributed evenly to various places by drawing lots.
Owen and his little sister Ellie were luckily assigned to the Mycelium Bouncing Puchi Fort, and a month had passed since then.
After the initial shock and joy, the two of them took the low-interest relief loan of contribution points, which could be considered the start of their new life.
But today was a special day for them.
"Ellie, try picking this up!" Owen's voice was a bit agitated as he placed an ordinary stone in front of his sister. And his sister, who had originally lost both hands, now reached out a fair and clean hand, trembling and picking up the stone with great unfamiliarity.
"It really worked, this is great!" Owen hugged his sister tightly.
"Stop squeezing, the hand is going to break!"
Only then did Owen back away in a panic. Seeing that his sister's "hands" weren't broken, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that Ellie's hands had grown back; the initial contribution point loan issued from above wasn't enough to buy a restoration potion.
These two fair and clean hands were essentially two Puchis molded into the shape of hands, serving as a temporary alternative.
After connecting her spirit, Ellie controlled these two Puchis through the mycelial network to substitute for hand functions. Although she was clearly still not very skilled at it, it already made Owen overjoyed with unexpected delight.
Looking at her new hands, Ellie was happy at first, but then her brows furrowed again: "But this way, we don't have many contribution points left..."
Owen comforted her: "It's fine, it's fine. Your big brother has already found a job, so contribution points won't be a problem in the future!"
Only then did Ellie feel at ease. Placing her hands in front of her, she smiled: "Praise the Fungal Lord."
"Of course, praise the Fungal Lord!" When Owen said this, his eyes were full of fanaticism.
Suddenly, a figure passed by and forcefully bumped into Ellie. One of the Puchi arms fell to the ground and was casually stepped on by a foot.
Owen helped his sister up and roared angrily at the passing figure: "Halt!"
"Hmm?"
The person stopped, and Owen met her cold, scarlet eyes.
"Vam... Vampire!" The memories that had originally been gradually fading away instantly surged into his mind. Anger was replaced by fear. Owen couldn't help but take a step back, yet he still subconsciously pulled his sister behind him.
Right at this moment, the Demon-kin Qiong ran over from behind, apologizing while transferring a large sum of contribution points to the Owen siblings as compensation. At the same time, he went to the Vampire's side and said a whole bunch of things with a smile.
Under Qiong's persuasion, Eleanor finally let out a cold snort and withdrew her gaze.
In the past, if anyone dared to roar at her like this, she would have long since dragged them away to be drained of their blood.
However, living under someone else's roof now, the Fungal Citizens were all that Lord's property. Eleanor also somewhat restrained her temper and didn't make a move.
Just as she expected, Louisa needed to advance, and her own combat power as a Duke also held sufficient value.
Although she was given a severe display of authority when she first arrived, she ultimately still secured a place in the Mushroom Fortress.
And in the future, she would take back everything that was hers. That smash Louisa gave her, she would also return to her ten times, a hundred times over!
Thinking of the scene where she would trample Louisa under her feet again in the future, Eleanor finally left amidst Qiong's compliments, leaving the Owen siblings behind.
Behind her, the Owen siblings' fear and anger had already vanished by this time.
It wasn't just because of the contribution points Qiong had transferred, but also because they noticed a line of illusory text above Eleanor's head:
[Heinous Death Row Inmate, Currently Free-Ranging (Do Not Tell Her)]
Everyone connected to the mycelial network could see this line of text moving along with Eleanor, yet she herself seemed completely oblivious.
"Big brother, what is a free-ranging death row inmate?"
That son of a bitch Keith, actually daring to attack his transport fleet!
Fortunately, Lin Jun was prepared early on. After sacrificing a large number of escort Puchis, he managed to safely transport all nine Giant Puchis to their destination without major mishap, resulting in only a small number of casualties.
And that son of a bitch Demon King. After his arrival, the difficulty of conquering the Empire had increased several times over!
Since the fungal mat couldn't spread over, Lin Jun tried to organize an offensive wave, launching a surprise attack on the personnel controlling the Slimes that were devouring the fungal mat.
However, after succeeding only twice, they encountered an ambush on the third attempt. The opposing side even deliberately took a massive detour just to avoid the Puchis' reconnaissance range. The heavy losses made Lin Jun afraid to organize sneak attacks casually anymore.
Afterward, he tried attacking Levi's side again to plunder more population.
In the end, it was unknown which nerve of Levi's snapped, but he actually put up a tough front on the surface while secretly abandoning his entire estate and running away with all the Demon-kin in his territory. Lin Jun only managed to capture some cannon fodder left behind to cover the retreat.
The dwarves, on the other hand, joyfully took over the territory, but what Lin Jun wanted was population!!
Furthermore, ever since they fully bordered each other, the dwarves' attitude began to turn strange.
On one hand, they quietly recalled quite a few craftsmen; on the other hand, they deployed a portion of their military forces to the border, and even started cleaning up to prevent the fungal mat from spreading further.
In short, as the Empire retreated to defend, the honeymoon period between the Mushroom Fortress and the mountain dwarves seemed to have also ended.
Not knowing what other insidious and vicious tricks the Demon King would bring out next, Lin Jun now just passed the time when he had nothing else to do by watching Eleanor, who was gradually restoring her arrogant and vicious nature after her initial caution.
Piggy still needed some time to level up to LV70. Before then, rather than locking Eleanor up, it was better to leave her to move freely on the fungal mat. For some minor flaws, Lin Jun would turn a blind eye, and he even specially sent Qiong over to wipe her ass for the messes she caused.
She was Lin Jun's Peerless Flavor Mushroom; spending a bit more effort was worth it.
Today, the turtling Empire had become a tough bone to chew, and the Demon King could rush out to massacre everywhere at any time.
Fortunately, the affairs in Eleanor's territory had successfully caused quite a bit of trouble for the Emperor. Coupled with the various legacy issues left behind from Mortis's era, the Demon King also seemed unable to extricate himself for the time being.
Lin Jun took the opportunity to handle the other two matters—the giant dragons and Keith.
Those combat personnel skilled in underwater combat were being transferred from various places to the Tidal Sanctuary. After the assembly was complete, Lin Jun prepared to launch a surprise attack on Keith, aiming to determine the exact location of Keith's main body, which had already become incomparably massive.
On the other side, the Giant Dragon Colosseum converted from the underground ruins in the North had also been initially completed.
It was equipped with numerous means of restriction, isolation, and rescue.
This ensured Little Black could fight and leave, rest well, and then come back to fight again. Anyway, with the [Life Essence] on his side, they wouldn't lose to anyone in terms of recovery power.
And just as Lin Jun was preparing to lay traps to catch a few more of those giant dragons flying around and causing destruction...
The fattest Vampire Duke in history, Fat Xi (Sigmund), left High Keep Fortress and arrived at the Imperial Capital, Duskfall Keep, through a teleportation magic array, ready to seek an audience with the Demon King!
(End of Chapter)
Comments