This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 596, page 595: The Big Mushroom Charity Association

With Julia's release, the other imprisoned members of the Bagu Church also gradually regained their freedom.

However, Julia was not in a hurry to reorganize the sect and spread the faith.

She rallied those who were still willing to follow Puji and announced the formation of a brand new organization—the Big Mushroom Charity Association.

"Charity?" A recently released believer, his face still pale from lack of sun exposure, repeated the word in confusion. "Does it mean like the Church of Light used to do, distributing porridge on the streets? But now..."

In the past, whenever natural disasters or man-made calamities struck, the Church of Light would often join forces with local lords to distribute porridge outside the church, relieving the starving while also spreading the teachings of the God of Light.

But such scenes are no longer seen today.

It's not that the church has stopped being merciful, but rather that hunger itself has almost disappeared in the United Kingdom.

Even though the kingdom lost nearly a third of its territory and countless people were displaced.

But the production of wild mushrooms has increased even more, enough to afford even if the number of refugees who are unable to engage in production for the time being doubles again.

It is hard to imagine that anyone would actually die of hunger today unless they have lost the strength to even bend down and pick something.

Naturally, there was no need for anyone to distribute porridge.

“Similar, but different,” Julia explained to the puzzled believers before her. “We don’t give out food; instead, we help refugees who are still wandering in the wilderness outside the city and build shelters that can be called homes.”

Refugees wander outside the city, which is one of the changes now.

In the past, refugees would flock to towns seeking refuge, but now, many destitute homeless people choose to wander in the wilderness and on the edge of the forest.

The mushrooms inside the city are regularly cleared and their quantity is limited, while they can pick them freely outside the city.

However, the abundance of the wild comes with danger.

Monsters roam, the cold night is merciless, and the wind and rain offer no shelter...

Seeing that everyone still looked puzzled, Julia stepped aside slightly and respectfully let Twelve stand in front of them.

Twelve walked onto a fungal carpet. It didn't make any exaggerated movements; it simply gently touched a few of its mycelial tentacles to the ground.

The next moment, a miracle happened before everyone's eyes!

The hyphae rise rapidly from the ground, intertwine, and thicken, forming a structure at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before long, a mushroom-shaped house, more than ten meters high, stood before everyone's eyes.

Its outer wall has a texture similar to tree bark, but it is softer and tougher. The top is slightly open like an umbrella, and wisps of luminous fungal tendrils naturally hang down from the edges, providing soft lighting.

A rope ladder woven from mycelium hangs down, and climbing it leads to the hollow dwelling in the middle.

And this is not the end.

As the number twelve mushroom filaments gently tapped in different directions, the second and third mushroom houses also sprouted from the ground.

Even more astonishing is that several towering mushroom houses are connected in mid-air by bridge-like structures, forming a tiny aerial settlement.

This is a shelter designed by Lin Jun based on the treetop city of the Elf Forest, but unlike the elves, it does not live directly in a giant tree hundreds of meters high.

At that height, most ordinary humans would feel afraid of heights.

Adding hallucinogenic spore traps near these mushroom houses will effectively defend against wild monsters, at least providing a relatively safe place for refugees wandering in the wild.

"What we need to do is actively seek out those refugees scattered in the wilderness, and use the blessings of the Mushroom Clan to build them such homes. So they no longer have to shiver every night clutching sharpened sticks, no longer have to be awakened by the slightest rustling of the wind. We want to make the arrival of night something to look forward to again." "And we want to tell them that whether it's the inexhaustible mushrooms of the wilderness or the mushroom houses that now shelter them from the wind and rain, all of this comes from the blessings of the Puji and the gifts of the fungal carpet!"

……

Julia and Twelve, leading a small group, quietly left Mushroom City.

Despite Inanna's protection, continuing to preach openly in the kingdom's main cities was ultimately too conspicuous.

More importantly, urban residents lead relatively stable lives, making it extremely unlikely that they would change their original beliefs and convert to a new religious sect.

The migrants scattered across the wilderness and border regions are like untapped blue ocean markets.

Imagine these homeless people living in tall mushroom houses, relying on mushrooms growing everywhere to fill their stomachs, and needing the shelter of mushrooms to protect them from the dangers of the wilderness.

When it comes to the matter of "faith," they must have some inclination in their hearts, more or less.
Once the number of casual believers has accumulated to a certain extent, Lin Jun can then display some miraculous bestowal skills at the right time, and the Puji faith will be able to truly take shape.

For now, let them develop on their own. Anyway, their activity area is all on the fungal carpet. If they encounter any trouble, Twelve can just call Lin Jun and she can solve it.

Frankly speaking, it's only because the God of Light is practically gone, with neither miracles nor divine pronouncements, that Lin Jun dares to pull such a stunt.

If the God of Light suddenly reappears someday, Lin Jun will have no choice but to immediately recall the twelve and complete the cutting at the speed of light.

There was nothing Lin Jun could do; he couldn't even see through the old man Shenmu, let alone a real god.

Knowing when to back down is a fine quality of Lin Jun.

……

While the United Kingdom was making long-term plans, the situation in the North was quite different.

With the significant rise in temperature, the entire mushroom castle seemed to be infused with new vitality.

The long-suppressed vitality burst forth, and every mushroom farmer's face was filled with joy.

For the vast majority of residents of Mushroom Castle, life there is stable, orderly, and full of hope.

But faced with the seemingly endless drop in temperature, although the propaganda says everything is under control, it would be a lie to say that people are not worried.

If the mushroom fortress is defeated by the severe cold, where can they go?
The dungeon can't accommodate the activities of tens of thousands of people, and if they were to be displaced and sent to the Empire... apart from the two vampires who knocked on the door, probably no one would like such an ending.

Therefore, when the threat of the cold truly began to subside, the entire mushroom castle naturally erupted in heartfelt jubilation.

Recently, even the sales of mushroom wine have increased significantly, and there seems to be a slightly tipsy and relaxed atmosphere in the air.

However, in stark contrast to the relaxation and joy of the ordinary mushroom farmers, the core management team, led by Shou, Xinghuo, and Xiaozhu, were on edge to an unprecedented degree.

The extreme cold was certainly a threat to survival, but it was also a solid barrier, separating Fungus Castle from the Empire.

Perhaps, according to the Empire's intelligence, the North is already a barren wasteland devoid of life.

But this misunderstanding won't last long. It's only a matter of time before the existence of the Fungus Castle is discovered by outsiders and then presented to the imperial border lords or even higher levels.

It's hard to imagine that the Empire would tolerate a threatening new power emerging out of nowhere on its northern border.

This is the first and most severe challenge that beginners must face after the end of the Mushroom Castle's protection period.

"If they dare to extend their claws, we'll cut off their claws; if they dare to stick their heads out, we'll cut off their heads too! Showing strength is the best diplomatic approach, isn't it?" The little pig, his eyes filled with blood and fire, proposed in the council.

(End of this chapter)