Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 660: Chapter 649: The First Batch of Fungus Converts

A month before the Empire invaded the Northern Territory.

"Ah-oh——ah-oh——oh——!"

The newly constructed call bell emitted the afternoon chime, a howl mixed with pain and some strange enjoyment, echoing throughout the Fungus Castle.

At the open-air bar beside the call bell, Tolin, Gleam, and Baroque gathered once again.

With their respective developments, they were long past the days of being roommates crammed in the same dormitory.

Tolin immersed himself in the research of recreating combat puppet technology, having a private lounge in the research area.

The place wasn’t large, but it was well-equipped, far superior to their former collective dormitory, and now he only needed to worry about the progress of recreating combat puppets, without concerns for anything else.

Though for some reason, Tolin’s fur seemed to be less dense than before.

Gleam joined the patrol team and secured a lodging near the headquarters.

Though it was just a single room, it was convenient for its proximity to his post, making patrol and shift changes easy.

Baroque, on the other hand, continued his previous lifestyle, constantly taking on miscellaneous tasks from the task board in the center of the Fungus Castle, living in a free dormitory with several others.

The dorm changed, roommates changed, but friends remained the same.

Holding the mushroom wine that emitted a green glow, Baroque took out a tag engraved with his name amidst clinking glasses.

Tolin was puzzled about its nature, but Gleam recognized it at once: "Soldier ID tag? Baroque, did you join the army?"

Baroque nodded: "You both found good positions, I couldn’t keep scraping by doing miscellaneous tasks forever."

Upon hearing this, Gleam squinted his eyes: "Didn’t you once say this life, living off taking tasks, was a thousand times better than when you were in the tribe? Why has it changed in just a year? Come on, is there another reason?"

Realizing he was seen through, Baroque scratched the scales on the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed: "Actually... Aisha agreed to be with me. I want to buy a place in downtown Fungus Castle to open a tavern, so the contribution points from tasks aren’t enough. Besides, I once fought for the tribe, now I fight for the Fungus Castle and the boss, it’s like going back to my roots."

Gleam understood, they all knew Aisha, she was a half-demon with enchanting demon bloodline whom Baroque had been pursuing, only they didn’t expect it would truly work out for him.

Tolin, however, was a bit worried for his friend: "But... I heard from others that now the temperature has dropped, the Empire might notice the Fungus Castle, it might develop into a war. Could it be dangerous to join the military now?"

Baroque waved his hand with a smile: "It’s fine, if a fight breaks out, we just control the Puki to charge. We’re mostly near pre-dug tunnels, once the enemy approaches, we just slip away, dying is nearly impossible!"

...

Remembering Baroque’s smile at that time, Tolin and Gleam blankly looked down at their Lizardman friend.

Or rather, former Lizardman.

A pure white, round body, a gray mushroom cap with spots.

Tolin couldn’t resist poking it with his hand, it was soft, a genuine Puki.

Baroque pushed Tolin’s hand away with a tentacle, speaking through the Fungal Network: "Could you stop just staring? I’m still not used to these tentacles, help me find some cloth to cut, don’t let me stay naked any longer!"

Tolin: "Whether a Puki is naked or not... does it make a difference?"

Gleam squatted down and asked: "What happened to you? Affected by a Transformation Technique? But in battle, no one would waste magic like that, right?"

"Not a Transformation Technique," Baroque twisted his mushroom body, "it’s just that I died."

"..."

"..."

After a jumble of explanations, the two dwarves finally understood, their friend Baroque had evolved into a Puki...

According to Baroque, on the fourth charge leading the Pukis, he peeked out from cover as before to assess the damage his Puki had caused.

But this time, before he could clearly see what was ahead, a cold flash came flying.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in his current form.

Nearby were two others in a similar situation, turned mushrooms.

The surrounding people told him he had unfortunately died, but because of his loyalty, the boss granted him a new body, enabling him to continue living in this world.

Tolin smacked his lips, incredulous: "Resurrected after death? This sounds like those mythological stories or hero miracles."

Resurrection in this world indeed exists.

Whether a miracle of the God, or reviving a hero with national power, although occurrences are rare in history, they do exist.

Still, such miraculous resurrection, normally, shouldn’t have applied to a common Lizardman like Baroque.

The Fungus Castle evidently wouldn’t bankrupt itself for such a move.

Not that the boss was heartless, but it simply wasn’t an option; even in Baroque’s most daring dreams, he wouldn’t expect anyone to pay such a price to bring him back after death.

And yet, three were resurrected at once!

Does that imply the resurrection was due to the former reason?

If so, does that mean the boss capable of such a feat is actually...?

Tolin recalled the Marshal who sometimes circled the Fungus Castle sitting on a throne, finding it hard to associate the boss with an ethereal God hidden in the heavens.

Tolin contemplated the resurrection dilemma with a troubled expression, but Gleam was more concerned about another matter: "Now that you’ve become this, what about you and Aisha...?"

"Who knows? I’ll research and see later!" Baroque, having just died once, was quite optimistic, "In any case, the issue of lacking contribution points is already solved."

"Why? You get contribution points for being resurrected as a Puki?"

"No, my death gratuity has been paid out."

"This... Congratulations..."

...

After a while of exchanging words, the Puki Baroque was the first to bid farewell and leave.

As a successful resurrection case, the Fungus Castle naturally wanted to promote the three mushrooms as examples, discussing their loyalty at a plaza rally, as well as their feelings and problems after becoming Puki.

For the foreseeable future, Baroque likely wouldn’t have any free time.

Overseeing this propaganda was a newly established department of the Fungus Castle — the Ministry of Truth.

As the three Pukis ascended the high platform in the center of the Fungus Castle square, the matter of the Puki rebirth unsurprisingly caused a sensation within the Fungus Castle.

The Fungus People vied to visit these transformed mushrooms, eager to witness the miracle appearing before their eyes.

Soon after, the Dwarves, having formally established diplomatic relations and begun official personnel and trade exchanges with the Fungus Castle, also received this information. However, due to its absurdity, they regarded it as a political performance by the Fungus Castle to control the populace and did not yet take it seriously.