This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 390, page 389: The Mushroom Garden's New Captives

Two dwarfs stumbled into the mushroom garden a week later.

Really fragrant.

Glenn can now simply follow behind the twenty-odd Puji and direct them to transport the stones to the designated location.

Compared to the days when I had to carry everything on my shoulders, it's now so easy and efficient. I can earn about ten contribution points every day without much effort.

The only downside is the visible mycelial marks on its body, which always make people feel a little uncomfortable, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

They had already personally experienced this icy, snowy landscape; escape was simply impossible.

The chances of their people being rescued are slim, and it's even unclear whether the spatial rift still exists.

We can only follow the rules here and accumulate contribution points to gain freedom.

They even went to Jeff to repeatedly confirm the authenticity of the "redemption" system.

Jeff cited many examples of local tribes.

Before the rules were changed, in order to gain cold resistance and the power to command the Puji, some tribe members would deliberately travel a long distance to illegally break in. After obtaining free mycelial symbiosis, they could usually regain their freedom after working for half a month.

Hearing this, the two dwarves couldn't help but feel regretful. If they hadn't pulled those dirty tricks back then, wouldn't they have only needed a few hundred contribution points to regain their freedom?
Having confirmed the authenticity of the "redemption," the two dwarves had no choice but to grit their teeth and opt for mycelial symbiosis.

After they became symbiotic, they discovered that the unassuming Jeff was actually an elite among the prisoners. His command capacity was twice that of an average person, which explained why he was rated as a B-level.

Furthermore, after the symbiosis was truly achieved, Glenn discovered that Jeff hadn't fully explained the benefits.

Besides being able to command Puji and having shed his thick animal skin clothing, Grum can now use a kind of "telepathic" ability to communicate without barriers with demons or humans who don't speak the common language, which makes things much more convenient!

What frustrated Glenn was that during the symbiosis, it was said that Torin had a talent for piloting Jida, and his rating was upgraded to B.

B-level prisoners are given an extra delicious mushroom with each meal, which makes Glenn extremely envious.

Delicious mushrooms are not included in the regular prisoner rations provided by the Mushroom Garden, and these require a significant amount of contribution points.

Even so, Grume still found it a bit outrageous. You see, back in the mountains, he had only been able to taste "delicious" food a few times thanks to Torin.

But in this desolate, icy land, prisoners can actually eat delicious mushrooms every day as long as they're willing to spend their contribution points?!

The huge difference gave him a sense of unreality.

By now, the two dwarves had figured out that they had not come to the Demon Empire, but to a force in the northern border called Mushroom Garden.

Logically speaking, seeing this weather should have made it clear that this is not the Empire, but the northern border is completely blocked by the Empire's territory, and very little information has leaked out. Ordinary dwarves like Thorin and Grum really don't know unless they specifically look into it.

Now they finally understood what Jeff meant when he said he was "exchanged".

……

Grimes was intently directing a team of puki carrying stones when Torin suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

Tolin gestured for him to follow, and the two walked out of the unfinished city wall one after the other.

Outside the city walls, a demon army arrived.

They were called demons, but judging from their animal skin clothing, they were probably the local tribesmen Jeff had mentioned, rather than demons from the Empire. This group of about ten people carried five empty wooden carts, each pulled by two slaves.

The reason they could be identified as slaves at a glance was not only because there were half-demons among them, but also because there were humans in the group.

In this land, it is impossible for a human being to be free.

Xinghuo, accompanied by several Mushroomlings, stepped forward and exchanged a few words with the team leader.

Then he directed a group of fat otaku to come over. These mushroom giants pulled out a large number of mushrooms from their round bodies and piled them up on the cart.

After loading the truck, Xinghuo handed the leader a bag of delicious mushrooms separately.

The transaction was completed, and the tribespeople personally pulled the fully loaded carts and embarked on their journey home, while the slaves were left behind and taken away by Xinghuo's personnel.

“The slave trade…” Glenn murmured, looking at everything before him.

On the continent, both humans and demons are engaged in the slave trade.

Humanity's slavery system is limited due to factors such as the constraints of the Church and the threat of demons, while the demons seem to act with impunity.

Although this is not an empire, even empires practice slavery, let alone these northern tribes.

Criminals and prisoners of war within the tribe, and even passing travelers, could all become slaves.

Elves and dwarves held slavery in contempt.

Leaving aside moral stances, let's consider practical interests alone.

For the resource-rich Elves, the security risks and management costs posed by slaves far outweighed the value they could create.

The same is true of the dwarves; their greatest outputs are mining and forging, two skills that foreign slaves simply cannot match.

Witnessing this transaction, which represented savagery and primitiveness, Glenn couldn't help but show a disdainful expression.

Jeff had somehow appeared beside the two dwarves, and looking at the slaves being taken away, he couldn't help but sigh, "Another batch of lucky ones have arrived!"

“Lucky ones?” Glenn couldn’t associate the word “slave” with anything else.

Jeff understood the dwarf's thoughts and chuckled, "Do you know that most of those humans probably can't even speak the Common Language properly?"

Seeing the two dwarves' puzzled expressions, he continued, "Many of the humans who appear here have been slaves for generations! To them, the demon language is the everyday language of their 'masters'! And now, these guys who should have been slaves for life can gain freedom and protection by working here for two years without much hardship. Compared to other slaves, don't you think they're lucky?"

As he spoke, Jeff pointed to himself.

Jeff was also a slave who came here through an exchange. Compared to his previous life, even though he hasn't been redeemed yet, he is already very satisfied.

Before this, he had never had the chance to eat anything like "delicious mushrooms"!

Not to mention, in the mushroom farm under the boss's rule, even prisoners of war would not be oppressed without cause, and he considered the handling of various conflicts to be fair, something he never dared to imagine before.

"Praise be to the boss!" Jeff bowed reverently to the figure wearing a striking red cloak on a tower already built in the center of the city, then turned and went back to work.

The two dwarves were left standing there, somewhat stunned, silently pondering the words they had just heard. (There's another chapter before 1:00 AM)
(End of this chapter)