This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 286. Mutual Assistance
As Norris left the Adventurers' Guild, he was still savoring the wonderful taste that lingered on his tongue.

Because the bounty involved a substantial amount of money, they were led to a private room to handle the matter. The drink they were offered was one he had never tasted before, with a fruity aroma and subtle bubbles. It was refreshing and sweet, leaving a deep impression on him.

As a "cadre" of the mushroom farm, Norris has no shortage of delicious mushrooms, but there's really no culture of alcoholic beverages in the dungeon.

Norris wanted to buy some more to share with Louisa, Blackie, and his several demon friends, including Qiong.

But we'll have to wait until we get back to discuss that.

Besides posting the bounty, they have another mission this time...

……

Near Mushroom Town, in a forest that has yet to be developed.

A woman dressed in coarse linen clothes, resembling an ordinary peasant woman, quietly arrived at a small pond in the woods.

The scene around the pool was desolate; the flowers and plants were rotten and blackened, and the trees were withered and decayed, as if swept away by a plague.

This was all her "masterpiece" yesterday, when she poured an entire bottle of "corrupting agent" into the pool.

However, instead of the joy of success, the woman's face was filled with gloom and anxiety.

Because beneath those withered branches and fallen leaves that symbolize death, the white fungal carpet still spreads tenaciously, even clinging to the recently dead tree trunk, absorbing the last nutrients, and appearing even more... robust!

"Not even a corrupting agent?" she whispered incredulously, her teeth unconsciously biting down hard on her nails, making a soft "crunching" sound.

In the few days since she arrived, she has tried all six kinds of poison she had brought with her, but the results were terrible!
Those pesticides that can easily destroy entire fields of crops are almost completely useless against these fungal mats.

Even the most promising putrefactive agent only caused the mycelium closest to the pool to shrink.

To truly kill the fungal mat, you have to pour undiluted medicine directly onto it.

But who the hell can withstand such losses?
The price of a single bottle of corruption potion in my hand could buy a whole truckload of mushrooms, but it could only destroy less than four square meters of mushroom field.

Clearly, the plan to poison and destroy the fields is no longer feasible.

"Damn it!" The woman bit her nails even harder.

She can go back and explain herself with this result. After all, no one could have predicted that the mushroom field would be so resistant to the virus, so it's not her fault.

However, similarly, there was no credit awarded.

However, she had spent a month and a half walking from the front-line city to get here while hiding among refugees for this mission, and she didn't get any credit for it. She was really a little unwilling!

Suddenly, her ears twitched slightly—someone was there!
I took a few steps to hide behind a tree, suppressed my breathing to a minimum, and listened intently.

Two people came, but they weren't coming from the direction of the pool; they probably didn't notice her.

The two stopped some distance away and were talking about something.

The distance is not close; if it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn't even be able to hear someone talking.

But she was different; her hearing was exceptionally acute!
"How is it?" a slightly hoarse male voice asked.

"I made it all the way down to the seventh floor and got some crucial information. What about you?" Another voice sounded younger.

"This is the town's latest map showing the distribution of mushroom fields and population structure," the hoarse voice replied.

"Same as always, let's swap," the young voice suggested.

Then came the rustling sound of paper rubbing together.

"If you ask me, they're just a bunch of broken mushrooms, what's the big deal? Just let the front lines step up their efforts and completely crush humanity, wouldn't that solve everything?" The young voice carried a hint of complaint.

"Shut up!" The hoarse voice suddenly turned stern. "How dare you and I presume to comment on His Majesty's and the Twelve Pillars' schemes? Do more, complain less, and watch your mouth..." Before the words were finished, the voice abruptly rose, "Who?!"

Dylan and Norris turned around at the same time, their weapons instantly drawn from their waists, the cold light pointing directly at the woman who slowly emerged from behind the withered tree!
"She heard us! We can't let her get away!" Dylan hissed.

Norris and Dylan pounced like arrows. The woman, however, remained calm; in fact, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.

Judging from their sprinting movements and speed, they should be slightly weaker than her. She was confident she could escape against two opponents.

And she has no intention of running away.

Her arm wriggled and deformed, turning into a monster's claw.

Norris and Dylan, who had rushed close, abruptly stopped in their tracks.

"You should be considered... one of us, right?" The woman shook her inhuman hand and smiled.

Norris and Dylan exchanged a glance, slowly lowering their weapons but not sheathing them, remaining on guard. "Don't be so tense!" the woman said, her arms reverting to human form, her tone relaxed. "Well... my ears are pretty sharp, I just happened to overhear something. Since we're all serving the Empire, why not share some intelligence? Helping each other out makes things easier for everyone, doesn't it?"

Dylan gave her a cold glance and sheathed his sword: "Intelligence? We've already exchanged it, no need for anything else."

"Don't be so cold!" The woman reached into her pocket and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out several strangely colored glass bottles that gleamed with a dangerous light. "You don't have any intelligence, but surely you won't have too much poison? Even if you secretly take it and sell it, it'll be a considerable amount of extra money!"

“Well…that’s true.” Norris licked his lips and reached out to take the few vials of medicine that were still warm from his body.

Rita nimbly withdrew her hand: "Just call me Rita, Shapeshifter. As for which master I'm loyal to... I'd rather not reveal that. You two, shouldn't you be a little more honest?"

Norris's arm lost its fleshy color, revealing silver scales: "Norris, the lizardman."

The illusion on Dylan's face dissipated like ripples on water, revealing a bizarre, inhuman face covered in green mycelium: "Dylan."

Rita glanced at Dylan, who hadn't revealed his race, and quickly searched her mind for a race that matched his appearance. Several possibilities flashed through her mind, but they were all slightly different.

Perhaps they are some extremely rare race, and they don't reveal much because they don't want to expose too many of their weaknesses?
There was no time to dwell on this situation. After confirming the basic information, Rita readily handed over the poison.

After Norris and Dylan confirmed the information, they presented their respective "intelligence" to Rita.

"One more question," Rita asked while looking at the intelligence report, "are you planning a long-term or short-term trip?"

Dylan: "Long-term."

Norris: "Short-term."

After Rita memorized both intelligence reports, she handed them back to the two men. She turned to Dylan, a glint of shrewdness in her eyes: "Perhaps we can establish a longer-term cooperative relationship?"

After a moment of silence, Dylan said in a low voice, "In a while, a hotel called 'Puji's House' will open in town."

Dylan paused for a moment, then said, "Next time, you can't try to fool me with a few bottles of poison, understand?"

Rita smiled and said, "I understand, I understand. Consider this my debt to you."

After a brief exchange, the three parted ways as if they had never met before, disappearing in different directions from the dense forest.

After Rita walked away under the watchful eye of the creep, Dylan and Norris met up again.

“Boss,” Norris’s voice rang out from the fungal network, tinged with confusion, “I still don’t understand why I have to play the role of a greedy and lustful lizardman?”

"Do you even know what character development and enriching a persona means? I think you have absolutely no idea!" Lin Jun said, exasperated.

"Boss," Dylan asked, "Am I going to be the hotel owner from now on?"

"That's right!"

The demon spy who had infiltrated a few days ago made Lin Jun aware of the potential risks.

Killing all spies would only make them too conspicuous.

If left unchecked, who knows what kind of trouble it might cause.

Instead, we should take the initiative to "manage" it.

This inspiration still comes from Dylan's experience working with Chloe.

The demon race's spy network is vast, but it is not a monolithic entity.

They belonged to different dukes, and the emperor would give the objectives to the dukes, who would then assign them to spies to carry them out.

In theory, spies from different dukes operate independently. But in reality, spies in the same area often band together for survival and efficiency—sharing intelligence, reporting to their superiors, and both can earn merit, so why not?
Although there is a risk of being traced back to the source, the overall benefits still outweigh the drawbacks.

After all, once you've accumulated enough merit, you can be transferred back to the empire to enjoy a life of luxury. Who wouldn't want to end these days of anxiety as soon as possible?
Helping each other is undoubtedly a shortcut.

Lin Jun decided to become the initiator of this "mutual aid organization" herself!
Anyway, we're not afraid of failure. If Dylan is exposed, we'll just execute the original plan and wipe out the spies all at once.

On our own turf, are we afraid they'll cause trouble?
-
Norris, having taken a break, returned to Mushroom Garden No. 3 carrying a large bucket of drinks.

He was figuring out who to invite first to share this "luxury."

He walked to his familiar mushroom house and reached out to pull open the crack—

"Wow--"

Several glass beads rolled out, and behind them came a familiar low growl.

(End of this chapter)