This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 224, Section 223: A Sudden Turn of Events
"Something terrible has happened! President Fal! A major incident has occurred—!"

Mirabelle practically slammed open the president's office door; the door slammed against the wall with a bang, making the documents on the desk jump.

Far, who was writing furiously at his desk, frowned and looked at her, displeased, "Mirabelle, even if the sky falls, you have to stay calm! How can you explain yourself when you're so panicked?"

"Guild Master!" Mirabelle's chest heaved violently, her face deathly pale. "The dungeon... the dungeon is collapsing! Spatial rifts... have spread to the fourth or fifth floor!"

"What?!" Farr jumped up, his chair sliding backward with a screeching sound. He braced himself on the table, leaning forward, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Only a little over a month?! That's impossible!"

“It’s absolutely true!” Mirabelle trembled with anxiety. “I just received a report from the adventurers who escaped about the rift. They were attacked by monsters from other dungeons! I even went to the basement myself to check the magic fluctuation collector… The situation is even worse than they described!”

Far's heart sank: "I want to go and see for myself!"

The two practically ran down the stairs and rushed into the monitoring room in the guild's basement. Fal finally saw the recorded magic diagram.

On the graph, the dazzling energy peaks resemble the fangs of a raging beast, one after another, stretching endlessly, with only extremely brief periods of calm in between, like panting breaths.

It was as if a great archmage was casting terrifying magic day and night beside the equipment!
The completely abnormal magical fluctuations clearly indicate that the dungeon has entered a dangerous period!
"Damn Gug! What kind of bullshit array master is he!" Fal, who was usually very particular about his appearance, couldn't help but swear. "His reputation was so impressive, saying that it would take at least three months to enter the collapse stage? We haven't even reached half of those three months yet!"

He abruptly turned to Mirabelle, speaking rapidly like popping beans: "If three months is unreliable, then the so-called six-month period is utter nonsense! In the worst-case scenario... it might completely collapse within days!"

"Mira Belle! Execute the highest level of emergency plan immediately!"

"First, seal off the dungeon entrance! Post extremely dangerous notices and forcibly clear out all adventurers; not a single one is allowed to enter!"

"Second, organize the evacuation of all residents of the town! The extent of the underground city collapse is unknown, everyone must evacuate to at least ten miles away! Prioritize those who will seek refuge in nearby cities, and contact the local lord to explain the situation!"

"What about the refugees?" Lillian, the maid who had been following Far like a shadow, suddenly asked.

“Yes… there are also refugees!” Far felt his temples throbbing. This was the real problem. These refugees were already difficult to manage, and now they were tied up here by mushrooms, which were their food… Forcibly ordering their evacuation would probably only be met with resistance!

In theory, his only duties are to "advise" and "organize." Those who disobey should bear their own lives; the responsibility will not fall on him, the guild branch leader.

But Far paused only briefly before decisively ordering, "Mirabelle! Send people to the surrounding cities and, at whatever price, buy me a batch of enough food to fill my stomach! Then tell the refugees to follow the evacuation team, and they'll get hot porridge!"

“Guild Master Far!” Mirabelle looked troubled. “There’s a food shortage everywhere! Even red rice has increased in price more than fivefold! The number of refugees is huge… and most of the materials stockpiled in the guild warehouse haven’t been sold yet because of the two previous high-price purchases…”

"Tsk!"

"Tsk!" Fal scratched his hair in frustration, then looked at the maid beside him, "Lillian, go and give my money to Mirabelle!"

Lillian looked directly at Far with her clear eyes: "Young Master, are you sure? That's all your savings."

Far didn't answer Lillian; his sharp gaze was fixed on Mirabelle: "Mirabelle, listen! Use this money to buy as much food as possible! This is a matter of life and death! You're a smart woman; if you do it well, I'll guarantee your future in the guild! But if you dare to touch a single hair on this money..."

"No! Absolutely not, President!" Mirabelle waved her hands frightenedly.

"Go quickly!" Far waved his hand.

Mirabelle turned and ran away.

After everyone left, Lillian said softly, "We won't be able to afford the red pork shipped from Fishing Port anymore."

"It doesn't matter!"
-
"What the hell is going on?!" The swordsman captain's face was contorted with rage and grief, almost to the point of grotesque rage. The inexplicable and tragic death of his comrades left him desperately needing a target for his hatred. "A demonic tide? The guild didn't issue a demonic tide warning, did it?!"

"Stop thinking about useless things, let's get out of the dungeon first!" Before the words were finished, the bowstring hummed, and an arrow, with a sharp whistling sound, accurately pierced the eye socket of a stone-skinned wild boar that charged out of the shadows from the side!

The beast let out a miserable howl and ran off in another direction.

Faced with this unexpected situation, no one dared to linger any longer. Vera's trio, along with the remaining four members of the swordsman team, formed a temporary defensive formation and retreated to the upper level.

After jogging all the way to the fifth floor, the tension in everyone's hearts eased a little—this floor, which was completely controlled by Puji, was relatively safer.

However, this stroke of luck lasted for less than ten breaths.

In the shadows, a tall, thin figure rushed toward the crowd with a rustling sound! It was a scarecrow crudely bound together with withered yellow grass and unknown vines, over two meters tall, with sharp, dry grass for arms and simple features drawn with black mud on its face, only its eye sockets gleaming with an ominous light.

Its movements were stiff yet incredibly swift, its target aimed directly at the soldier in the team who was carrying the wounded.

"Enemy attack! How could there be something like this on the fifth floor?!" The swordsman captain roared, his eyes wide with rage, as his greatsword, accompanied by a whooshing sound, slashed fiercely at the scarecrow's waist!
At the same time, Vera's scimitar also flashed in an arc, slicing past the scarecrow's outstretched arm.

The two attacks struck the enemy almost simultaneously. The rotting grass flew up, and the broken scarecrow struggled on the ground for a couple of moments before completely falling apart.

However, this is not a victory, it is only the beginning...

"Right side!" Fei Yin warned sharply.

Under the faint glow of the mushrooms atop the dome, more withered, yellow figures appeared indistinctly in the distance!
Not just one, but more than twenty!

They moved with slightly stiff steps, silently gathering around, the rustling sound of dry grass rubbing together instantly filling the entire space.

To make matters worse, among this group of slow-moving ordinary straw men, there was an individual that was much more muscular and agile!

"Feiyin! Speed ​​up, everyone!" Vera shouted as she ran.

"Maintain formation! Retreat to the fourth floor!" the swordsman captain roared, trying to maintain formation.

However, they hadn't run far when they ran headlong into another group of scarecrows!

With no way to avoid it, the two sides finally clashed after two fireballs.

Before long, their formation was completely broken!

In the chaos, Vera could only manage to protect Felix and Felix, fighting and retreating until she was finally forced into a cave.

Vera recognizes this place; it's the cave where Puji draws prizes.

But at this moment, the fat man who hosted the lottery had already disappeared without a trace, leaving only scattered fragments and fungal hyphae in the cave.

The three tried to block the straw man by using the cave entrance, but were forced to retreat step by step due to the numerical disadvantage.

"That feeling is back!" Fei Yin suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Vera asked before she could finish her sentence.

A particularly ferocious straw man's claws tore through the air and attacked fiercely!

With his strength nearly exhausted, Vera fought back with all his might, but the huge impact caused him to lose his balance instantly and stagger to the ground.

"Vera!" Fyne exclaimed, magical light flashing at the tip of her staff, and a semi-transparent magical shield instantly materialized in front of Vera.

However, the expected heavy blow did not come.

Right in front of Vera, space suddenly twisted and tore apart, and that familiar spatial rift that cut off everything appeared once again without warning!

puff!

This time, it was the scarecrow that suffered.

puff--

As the three stared in disbelief, a round, plump creature leaped lightly out of the crevice and steadily stepped into the cave surrounded by layers of straw figures...

　I was originally going to write three chapters, but I only managed to write two chapters, a little over 5 words. I'll write the third chapter tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)