This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 389, Chapter 388: Missed the Good Time
Norris, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, wearily looked at the two dwarves in front of him who had kept him up at night for several days.

He picked up the whiteboard and asked:

"Can you design underground structures?"

"will not."

"Do you have experience in excavating large caves?"

"No."

"Surely you have experience in mining underground, right?"

"Not much..."

Norris finally asked, "So you must have some special skills, right?"

Torin scratched his head, answering uncertainly, "Um... good at adventure?"

Norris nodded expressionlessly, wrote "None" in the skills section, and then marked "Grade C" in the upper right corner.

He muttered to himself, "They don't even have mining experience, and they dare call themselves dwarves..."

In the prisoner classification system of the Mushroom Garden, C-level is the lowest level, which means that the prisoners have neither extraordinary strength nor special uses.

As for the D-level below... those are all special talents personally "taken care of" by the boss.

Having finished recording, Norris announced the verdict to the two dwarves in fluent Common:

"Torlin, Glenn, due to multiple crimes including illegal entry, public bribery, mass prison break, violent resistance to arrest, and attempted abduction of a mentally challenged dragonman, you are hereby sentenced to 5,000 contribution points of labor reform. If you have any objections, you may appeal to Mushroom Garden within five days, and the boss will make the final decision."

Tolin raised his hand: "Excuse me... what exactly does 'labor reform' with a contribution point share of 5,000 mean?"

"It means working hard every day, and it will probably take one to two years to accumulate enough contribution points to regain your freedom."

Grimes couldn't help but protest: "We're innocent! We had no idea this was your territory, it's all a misunderstanding! I'm going to attack..."

Before the words were even finished, a group of people dragged a human who was wailing loudly past them: "Why! Why did the penalty of 8000 contribution points increase to 12,000 after the appeal? I don't want it! I don't want it!"

After the unfortunate man was dragged away, Norris turned around and asked, "What did you say you wanted? It was too noisy earlier, I didn't hear you clearly."

Torin and Glenn shook their heads together, indicating that there were no other questions.

They were then handed over to a thinly dressed human covered in mycelium, the most conspicuous feature being the "B" symbol made of mycelium on his chest.

The other person seemed very enthusiastic: "Oh? Two dwarfs? That's quite a sight! My name is Jeff, and I'll be showing you around the work area. What are your names?"

"Torin."

"Glenm. You...were you also captured by them?"

"Captured?" Jeff looked at the two of them with some confusion. "No, I was traded."

Without further explanation, Jeff showed them around what the two of them would be doing in the future.

This fortress city in the far north is not even half complete yet, so naturally they don't mind having too much manpower, and two dwarves were also assigned to it.

Being captured by the demons and used as a laborer is considered one of the less bad scenarios compared to the many worse possibilities.

As for the so-called exchange of freedom, the two had reservations about it—they hoped it was true, but they dared not believe it was true.

What's rather strange is that the demons here seem to have mycelium on their bodies, and when they work, they work together with swarms of puffy creatures, and they coordinate quite well.

This was a novel experience for them.

Moreover, they soon discovered that there were differences between demons. Those demons with a demon core on their chests were generally in roles similar to overseers or task assigners.

The half-demons and lizardmen were mostly laborers like the humans present, so the lizardman who pronounced the sentence on them was an exception.

Of course, they don't care too much about how the demon race divides itself into classes; they are concerned about something else now.

"Jeff, I have a question... Why are you all dressed so lightly? Aren't you cold?"

A cold wind blew, and Torin and Grum tightened the animal skin clothes that had been given to them, and sneezed violently a few times!

Jeff turned around, yanked open Glenn's clothes, and said knowingly, "You haven't completed your symbiosis with the mycelium yet!"

A blast of cold wind swept in, and Glenn yelled as he pulled his clothes back up: "Mycelial symbiosis? You mean something like this on your body? What does that have to do with being cold?"

Jeff smoothed the mycelium on his chest and said, "This mycelium has extremely strong cold resistance. Once you form a symbiotic relationship with it, you won't feel cold. Not only that, but after forming a symbiotic relationship, you can also gain the ability to command the Puji, which can greatly improve work efficiency."

The two dwarfs then realized what had happened when they saw the two of them working together.

Tolin was still puzzled: "Does living in symbiosis with mycelium mean you're not afraid of the cold? What's the principle behind that?"

Jeff shrugged. How would he know!

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked at the two dwarfs with a hint of pity.

"What's wrong again?" Grlum asked somewhat uneasily.

Jeff explained, “I know why you weren’t symbiotically integrated; you were just born at the wrong time…”

Then, he led the two bewildered dwarves to the central notice board, where numerous leather scrolls were posted.

These leather scrolls contain both the Demon language and the Common language.

Some lists indicate the tasks and corresponding contribution points, some list the names of several people who violated the rules and their penalties, and some are simply announcements.

Jeff pointed to one of the announcements:
[Due to the deliberate illegal intrusion by members of certain neighboring tribes seeking to obtain the full symbiotic service for free, effective immediately, newly joined captives will no longer enjoy free symbiotic services. However, considering work requirements, new captives can still apply for the "pay later" program; the 1,000 contribution points required for the symbiotic service will be directly credited to their service account.]
"This is……"

“That’s it. You’ve missed your chance. When I came, these were all provided to all the laborers for free. Blame those tribesmen who are always trying to find loopholes to get something for free.” As he spoke, Jeff stroked the mycelium on his arm with a hint of superiority.

Torin opened his mouth, but didn't know where to begin his complaint.

Glenn looked at Jeff as if he were an idiot, thinking that this guy, like everyone else here, was somewhat mentally unstable.

Even if you can resist the cold, so what?
The thought of having such a foreign object embedded in their flesh and blood sent chills down their spines.

It's possible their brains have been damaged by the cold!
……

a few days later.

"Why? Three days! I worked hard for three days! How come I only got 5 contribution points? While you get more than 30 points a day?" Glenn roared angrily.

Fortunately, Jeff, who was opposite him, didn't mind the dwarf's explosive temper and patiently explained, "Contribution points are calculated based on how much work you do. I control more than forty Puji, so the more work I do, the more contribution points I get. If you rely solely on yourself, earning 6 points in three days is already quite impressive."

"6 o'clock? It's clearly 5 o'clock!"

"That little bit is for the cost of finding a heater to keep warm. The mushroom farm only provides food and lodging for us captured laborers."

Finally, Jeff kindly advised, "I think you should complete the symbiosis as soon as possible. Although it costs 1,000 contribution points now, you can earn it back quickly once you can control Puji. After that, it will be all benefits."

Looking at the earnest "senior" in front of them, the two dwarves shivering in the cold wind began to waver.

(End of this chapter)