Before Little Pig left, Lin Jun reminded her: “The ritual will definitely take some time to prepare. These next few days, drain whoever you want. I’ll cover you on contribution points. Don’t starve yourself.”
“Understood, Boss! I’ll stay in peak condition before the ritual!” Louisa’s eyes gleamed.
“No, what I mean is, in case you die, at least die on a full stomach.”
“…”
When Louisa left with mixed feelings, Lin Jun controlled the Marshal Puji’s mycelium tentacle to poke the Yellow Book: “List the specific materials.”
Most of the materials Lin Jun already had in storage, or could easily purchase from humans. Except…
“How many did you say?” Even the voice of the Puji was pitched high.
[Boss, I didn’t delete any characters…]
“Six pieces! Palm-sized! S-rank magic crystals?!” Lin Jun was dumbfounded. “Do you think S-rank crystals grow on the Mycelium Carpet like mushrooms?!”
[Boss, using lower-grade crystals… isn’t impossible, but it affects the success rate!][Louisa is an important member of our Mushroom Garden, we can’t afford any mistakes!]
The Yellow Book might as well have hugged the Puji’s fat waist, begging Lin Jun not to be stingy about spending money on Little Pig.
“…Where am I supposed to get you six S-rank crystals?”
[Please think of a way!]
[Uh… don’t those two battle puppets have them?]
“You’re seriously thinking that?” Lin Jun almost laughed from anger.
The battle puppets were indeed made entirely of S-rank crystals. Just tearing off a single leg would be more than enough.
But wasn’t that the same as dismantling a starship’s engine to power a tractor?
Well… that comparison was a bit much—Little Pig was definitely better than a tractor—but you get the point.
As for using his [Crystal Symbiosis LV8] to convert?
Considering its pathetic efficiency right now, and looking at his crystal reserves… Lin Jun wasn’t confident at all.
“Leave the crystals aside for now.” The Puji tapped at one of the entries in the book. “Why does this vampire ascension ritual require ‘fresh werewolf fur’? If werewolves went extinct, wouldn’t this ritual be lost forever?”
[It shouldn’t be that bad. Many materials technically have substitutes, but this record… only wrote down this one method.] The Yellow Book didn’t sound very certain either.
[As for why it has to be werewolf fur… why bother digging too deep? We have some right here anyway, isn’t that convenient?]
That was true. There was still a pack of werewolves left untouched on the tenth floor.
After finishing with the Yellow Book, Lin Jun showed the magic circle to Aedin.
Without too many hints, Aedin judged from experience that it was some kind of refinement circle, not a teleportation trap.
——
On the tenth floor, near the entrance to the stairs leading down, a werewolf covered in blue fur was half-squatting, gnawing on the remains of some unknown monster.
He held himself in a poised stance, ready to drop into a four-legged sprint at any moment, wary of sneak attacks from other monsters on the tenth floor.
The tenth floor was no paradise for werewolves. With their levels capped, other monsters here could still pose a threat.
Puji—Puji—
The werewolf’s ears shot up. From inside the stairwell came a familiar sound!
Sure enough, moments later, a round, plump Puji waddled out of the shadows.
“Oh! Big Mushroom! You finally came again!” The werewolf joyfully tossed aside the half-gnawed bone and rushed forward, forgetting about the invisible barrier—his snout got squashed flat against it.
“Awoo… ow!” He covered his nose, retreating a couple of steps, staring with grievance at the Puji in the stairwell. “I’m so jealous of you, being able to pass freely back and forth…”
“Little Blue, why do you squat here all the time?” Lin Jun asked very casually.
“Why…? Well, there’s nothing else to do… And my name is Wolfgang · Howl of Shadow · Violet…”
“Stop, stop,” the Puji interrupted. “I’ve been meaning to say this—doesn’t ‘Howl of Shadow’ sound… um, embarrassing?”
The werewolf wasn’t offended at having his name ridiculed. Instead, he tilted his head in puzzlement: “Embarrassing? But everyone’s names are like this…”
“Fine, Little Blue.” The Puji confidently walked out of the stairwell, standing without fear right by the werewolf’s massive claws. “Don’t be jealous. Soon you’ll be able to go down too.”
“Really?!” Little Blue’s huge wolf eyes widened. He crouched down suddenly, almost covering the Puji completely with his shadow. “Big Mushroom! You saved me, I’m very grateful—but don’t just casually trick me! We hate lies and betrayal the most!”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
Little Blue shook his head.
“Then there you go. Within a month. Just wait.”
Lin Jun wasn’t lying this time. He had never stopped studying the dungeon’s core. Recently he’d figured out some details about floor restrictions. Just a little more time, and he’d have results.
Little Blue didn’t say anything, but his thick tail began thumping against the ground uncontrollably.
“Thump, thump.”
It took him a while before he snapped back and asked: “How long is a month?”
…
Although there was plenty to deal with in the Far North and Mushroom Town, Lin Jun hadn’t ignored the tenth floor. This werewolf was proof of his efforts.
The guy was only level 45, yet he’d dared to challenge a Diamond-ranked Fangbeast at the tenth floor’s upper limit—and actually won, though barely!
Of course, he’d been half-mauled to death, lost a leg, and collapsed beside the Fangbeast’s corpse. If not for Lin Jun, he’d have gone down together with it.
With the Mycelium Carpet spread all across the tenth floor, Lin Jun inevitably discovered him. Under the guise of “treatment,” he parasitized him and reattached his leg.
As for the Fangbeast corpse? That was the Puji’s “treatment fee.”
Now, the werewolf’s body had long since fused with the mycelium, though the thick fur kept it hidden.
A life-saving debt, plus the Puji’s mycelial communication, plus the miracle of ignoring air walls, plus Lin Jun occasionally sharing news from the outside world… soon made him fast friends with Little Blue.
Perhaps out of fear his fellow werewolves might harm the Puji, or for some other subtle reason, Little Blue never mentioned this to his kin—even though Lin Jun never asked him to keep it secret.
Not that Lin Jun would’ve cared if he did.
Once he gained control of the dungeon core, the werewolves’ fate was already sealed. The only difference was the process.
While Lin Jun explained to this dungeon native what “a month” meant, the werewolf suddenly leaned in and sniffed hard at the Puji.
“Big Mushroom…” His tone was uncertain. “Your scent… seems a little different from last time?”
So that’s a wolf’s nose…
Turns out different Pujis of the same kind had slightly different scents. Lin Jun learned something new.
“How would I know? I don’t even have a nose!” A mycelium tentacle pushed the wolf’s head back a little. “Forget that, I brought you something fun this time!”
The mention of something “fun from outside” instantly shifted Little Blue’s focus.
The Puji reached into its belly and pulled out a bottle of deep-green potion…