This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 328, Question 327: How long can mushrooms live?

What a fearless and tough guy!
They're very guarded; it looks like it will take quite a while to pry out their intelligence.

This gave Lin Jun some trouble.

He suddenly remembered that he still had an old booklet that he had found in a chest in the secret room earlier. At the time, because his Elvish level was not high enough, he had to rely on guesswork to read it, so he had put it aside and had not read it carefully.

Now that I think about it, perhaps this booklet is related to Pelagal and his gang of elves?
Reading it in person is definitely unrealistic; at level 6 Elvish, reading is about half guesswork.

Fortunately, this time their team happened to have a "language master".

……

Puji placed the old booklet and the yellowed book together.

[? ]
"Translate," Lin Jun ordered succinctly.

[learn!]
The yellow-covered booklet immediately began its work, with each page corresponding to the contents of the booklet and being translated page by page. The booklet was not thick, and the translation was completed quickly.

However, the result left Lin Jun somewhat disappointed.

This is not a book containing secrets; its contents mainly describe the phenomenon of "mist," denouncing it as "the cancer of the world," claiming that it can devour everything and turn everything it touches into chaos.

In the last paragraph of the booklet, it also criticizes the current Elven Kingdom for being complacent and indifferent to the dramatic changes in the outside world, saying: "By the time disaster truly strikes, it will be too late to deal with it."

No wonder such remarks are locked away and gathering dust.

The content about the "mist" is somewhat similar to what the elf said in the street speech that day, but it seems to have little to do with Pelagal and his gang who spread "madness".

Sigh... It seems there are many problems beneath the harmonious facade of the elves!

However, Lin Jun agrees with the book's statement that "the fog is a cancer on the world."

According to some historical records he knew, the Western Islands once had thousands of islands and were a very important entity that various forces vied to win over.

Unlike now, with only three hundred islands remaining, their presence is far less noticeable than before.

Everyone knew that one day, the fog would completely engulf the entire archipelago.

But then what?

Will the fog continue to spread and begin to engulf the continent?
Although there is no precedent, Lin Jun felt that the possibility was not small.

In the long run, the "fog" is undoubtedly a threat that must be taken very seriously. The best-case scenario is that all ethnic groups can set aside past grievances and work together to explore its root causes and find solutions.

However, in the current situation where various ethnic groups harbor ulterior motives and are embroiled in war, who has the spare energy to care about the distant fog, apart from the local forces that are half-dead and struggling on the islands?

The humans and demons closest to the archipelago are practically fighting tooth and nail on the mainland.

As for the dwarves and elves, whatever their inner thoughts, the vast distance remains an insurmountable obstacle.

This is also what Lin Jun felt was the problem with this booklet: even if the Elven Royal Court valued the Mist, so what?
If you send a team there, the humans might think you're there to gather intelligence.

For Lin Jun, the most crucial question was not the fog itself, but rather—how long could he himself live?

It's a mushroom!

It's not entirely impossible that it might suddenly wither and die of old age tomorrow.

If she only had a few years or decades left to live, Lin Jun didn't care at all what would happen to the mist in the future.

After I die, who cares about the world being destroyed by the mist?
But if one could live for hundreds of years, or even gain near-eternal life like a vampire... then that would be a serious problem!
Of course, the fog is not something he should be worrying about right now.

Neither humans nor demons care, so why should Lin Jun, a mere mushroom, worry about it!
Having gained little useful information from the booklet, Lin Jun had no choice but to return the yellow book to Norris. Regarding the [Madness] incident, the elven storyline couldn't be easily abandoned. Although Pelagal's will was unwavering, his mental strength would inevitably weaken with continued depletion.

With enough time and repeated attempts, there will always be a chance to break through his defenses and extract crucial information.

Of course, we can't place all our hopes on the interrogation spirits. We'll probably need to assemble an exploration team to delve into the lower levels of the Sacred Tree Underground City and conduct a thorough on-site investigation of the situation there.

Lin Jun always felt that spreading "madness" was not the ultimate goal.

After all, even if all the monsters in the entire Divine Tree Underground City turned into madmen who fought in a frenzy until they were wiped out, who would actually benefit?

Oh, it seems like I could dissect it and have some fun...

Let's continue thinking along this line of thought.

The elves discovered that the [Madness] was spreading rapidly, causing the dungeon's ecosystem to collapse. At that point, it would seem natural and reasonable for creep and puffies to emerge and "take over" each level...

This is truly... the biggest beneficiary is actually myself!
Lin Jun was starting to suspect that she was the mastermind...

Of course, the Ark Oath behind it may have other unknown purposes, and the exploration team went down to try to find relevant information.

After much thought, there are essentially only two options.

Alternatively, guide the elves to notice the anomaly here and send them to take the lead.

Ultimately, this is a matter on the elves' own territory. Lin Jun is just an "outsider," and there's no reason for her to take on all the trouble!

However, the problem with doing this is that it makes it difficult for Puji to infiltrate the Pokémon team and obtain information in real time.

The second option is to send our own people down to explore.

Since the operation will take place outside the area covered by the fungal carpet, the main force can only be handed over to subordinates. Lin Jun can at most remotely command one or two scouts, Puji, to accompany them through [Family Control].

Considering the inherent danger of the deeper parts of the dungeon, coupled with the unknown variables brought about by [Madness], and the fact that the mission objective is so vague, it is conceivable that this trip will be extremely dangerous.

Using demonic offspring is too extravagant. It's difficult to recover the demonic cores from the dead, and for demonic offspring, losing a demonic core is a much greater loss than simply losing a few members of their race in battle.

That seems to leave only prisoners of war.

However, the prisoners of war's current fighting strength, as seen in their last encounter with the elves, is hardly impressive.

Leaving aside the foolish lizardman mage who was instantly killed, the skill level of the others was also quite worrying.

Their commands to the Puji are simply mindless swarming in and attacking without any strategy whatsoever.

The Puji controlled by different people can even interfere with each other and block attack routes.

In conclusion: Insufficient training and low combat effectiveness.

Although they were prisoners, they were also potential future subordinates, and Lin Jun would feel bad if she lost too many of them.

If we really have to send someone, it seems we can only choose those individuals with strong individual strength, such as... that half-demon leader?
……

In the far north, the former half-demon leader Bastardos, who was sprinkling mushrooms on phlegmon, looked up.

He chuckled as he watched the marshal walking toward him.

He let out a heavy sigh.

He had a premonition that his leisurely days were coming to an end...

(End of this chapter)