This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 425, Section 424: Only Fungus Castle can save the North.
The heavy snow continued for two full days before stopping, but the bitter cold did not leave; instead, it continued to seep into the northern lands.

A tall bear-man was trudging through waist-deep snow.

He stretched out his large, hairy hand, grasped a dead branch, and with a slight effort, a crisp snapping sound rang out.

He tossed the branches into the basket on his back; these would be the fuel to keep the family warm tonight.

Suddenly, his gray-brown eyes lit up. He bent down, cleared away the snowdrift beneath him, and lifted up a frozen, stiff ice fox from his feet. It seemed that the fox had not survived the sudden cold.

The bear-man made a low gurgling sound in his throat, revealing a hint of joy; his cubs would be able to have an extra bite of meat tonight.

However, this brief joy did not last long. Just as he was about to continue, a familiar fur pattern on the snow slope not far away stung his eyes.

Digging through the snow with his claws, he found one of the bear-men from the tribe who had gone out to forage two days ago and had not returned. He was now a cold corpse, still curled up to keep warm.

He didn't know how long this eerie cold would last, but he knew that if it continued like this, half the members of the tribe would die within half a month.

Given the current level of snow accumulation and low temperatures, migration would be impossible even if they wanted to.

Just as he was worrying about the future, he caught a glimpse of a small figure out of the corner of his eye.

A round, walking mushroom appeared beside him without his noticing. Its nimble body stood on the snow, leaving only two rows of round footprints.

The walking mushroom didn't seem afraid of him; it stood in front of him without running or moving.

The bear-man instinctively raised its paw, preparing to put the food that had been delivered to its door into its basket.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch that Puji."

The bear-man suddenly turned around and saw a demon-born being standing not far away.

What made him even more uneasy was that behind that demon was a whole team, all of them staring at him.

The bear-man retracted its claws, stepped back to create some distance, and asked warily, "Demons... what are you planning to do here?"

Unlike half-demons, demon-born, and lizardmen, the long-haired bear people are not members of the demon race. They live in the North because they have been living there long before the demons arrived.

The arrival of the demons actually reduced their living space, and there were many battles in the early years. It has only become stable in recent decades, or rather, the bear people have given up on reclaiming the territories that were taken away.

Therefore, when the bear-men suddenly encountered an unfamiliar demon army, their first reaction was to be on guard.

He was quickly assessing the opponent's strength and considering whether he could successfully send an alarm to the tribe if a fight suddenly broke out.

Xinghuo ignored his wariness and looked around: "I came here to find a bear-man tribe nearby, and it seems I didn't go the wrong way."

Upon hearing that they were looking for their tribe, the bear-man's pupils contracted, and he suddenly turned and ran.

Xinghuo rolled his eyes and didn't chase after them. Instead, he led the team along the tracks left by the bear-men.

When they arrived at the bear-man tribe, the entire tribe was prepared for defense.

Starfire didn't approach, but instead shouted from afar, "We come representing Fungus Castle and the Northern Alliance. Our Lord knows you may be facing difficulties due to the sudden drop in temperature, and has specially sent me to provide you with assistance!"

As he spoke, he gestured for two fat guys at the front of the line behind him to step forward and pull out a large amount of mushrooms and firewood from their stomachs.

The desperately needed supplies caused a stir among the bear-men. One of them, seemingly their leader, stepped forward: "What do you want?"

"You don't need anything. Just consider these things as our free help to our fellow citizens in the North." Starfire didn't care that the people opposite him were all bear-men, calling them "fellow citizens" in a very friendly manner. "Of course, if you are willing to join the Northern Alliance and work together to build a better North, you can come to us anytime! At the very least, no one in the Northern Alliance will starve or freeze to death!"

After leaving an address, Xinghuo ordered his men to unload a third of the large amount of food and firewood. Then, he led his team to change course and head to the next tribe.

Only after they had gone far away did the bears come out and gather up all the mushrooms and firewood.

All the bear-men looked on incredulously, unable to believe that at such a time, the so-called Northern Alliance would be willing to provide this assistance free of charge.

Do they have an unlimited supply of food and firewood?

Regardless, receiving a batch of supplies for free is a good thing; with these supplies, the tribes can sustain themselves for a longer period of time.

After pondering for a while, the bear-man leader sent a small group of bear-men to the location given by Starfire, ostensibly to express his gratitude.

It's unclear how long this unusual drop in temperature will last, so sending a team over there to check it out and gather intelligence is always a good idea.

There are many teams like Xinghuo, and Lin Jun has done her best to provide assistance.

However, due to distance limitations, only most of the northern border could be reached. As for the tribes further away, Lin Jun could only wish them good luck.

The temperature drop in the North has also affected the demon cities near the North, but the impact is not yet obvious. Apart from the low-level demons in the gutter who feel it deeply, this change has not yet alarmed any of the demon "big shots".

At this time, the demon race's high command was still mostly focused on the war with humans.

……

"That Xenophon, that useless and incompetent pig! How could he let such a large-scale summoning ritual be successfully launched right under his nose? Twice in a row, His Majesty should send him to the slaughterhouse!" Sigismund, whose physique was increasingly resembling that of a pigman, looked at the latest intelligence in his hand and gave his pig-headed colleague a look of utter contempt.

Lord-level storm elementals were suddenly summoned in front of the army. Although Xenophon himself was not seriously injured, the army was decimated, and only about 30% of the remaining troops have been recovered so far.

After defeating the Pigman army and Redstone City, the Storm Elementals headed directly north, crossing the ruins of Earth Peak Keep, and arrived at the besieged Three Mountain City.

Then, faced with the tortoise-shell-like Three Mountain City and the demon army besieging it, it chose to prioritize causing trouble for the latter.

In the end, it was only with the help of Prince Vesalius and another vampire duke, along with the army, that the elemental lord was defeated.

The defeated storm elemental released all its energy before dissipating, and the escaping gales and thunder caused considerable losses to the army.

It was only because the Sword Saint had been severely injured by the Prince that the humans were hiding in the city and dared not come out. Otherwise, if a surprise attack had been launched at this time, the western front might have been forced to retreat back to the port!
And all of this, no matter who looks at it, would only be considered Xenophon's responsibility.

Although the intelligence report didn't mention it in detail, the setup and activation of a ritual array capable of summoning a lord-level elemental spirit couldn't possibly be a small undertaking!

Based on that abyssal beast, including the offerings, there must have been at least eight or five hundred people involved, and the startup process alone would take most of the day.

Sigismund couldn't even imagine how lazy Xenophon must have been to not even notice this.
In short, Xenophon will definitely not fare well in the post-war reckoning!
"As expected, we still have to rely on our side!" Sigismund crumpled the intelligence in his hand and looked up.

Before him lay the burning High Fortress.

(End of this chapter)