Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 554 - 544: Reunion with Gugu Lu

"Gulu gugugu, gugugulu... gulululu..."

What is Puki muttering about?

Do I now need to learn Fishman language?

Lin Jun felt that his Mushroom life was simply entangled by language issues.

The Fishman, while producing unclear bubbling sounds, swiftly drew his fish spear from the wall, deftly using its tip to pry off some of the hardest bone spikes from the shell monster, seemingly intending to take them back as materials.

After finishing these tasks, he slipped back into the hidden passage, not showing any sign of chasing away the Puki fish following behind.

The passage wasn’t long and soon led to an empty stone chamber, which was clearly not the destination.

The Fishman barely paused, skillfully locating another stone slab that seemed tightly sealed, and slipped into a new passage.

It wasn’t forced open; when the Fishman touched it, the passage just opened itself.

Thus, the Fishman continued to traverse the layers and secret passages in this massive underwater structure.

Along the way, Lin Jun noticed numerous remnants of battles and strange corpses similar to the shell monster.

These corpses had roughly humanoid contours, yet were randomly adorned with various features of marine life.

Some had massive scallops atop their shoulders, some had octopus-like tendrils at the end of their arms, while others had twisted shrimp tails or crab legs as their lower bodies... They resembled crude creations randomly pieced together from different marine life components.

The only commonality was the pale blue blood seeping from their wounds.

This made Lin Jun ponder: Shouldn’t there be no Cthulhu in this world?

The kind of terrifying existence that defies fundamental understanding and drives ordinary people mad upon even slight contact terrifies Lin Jun just thinking about it.

The Fishman seemed to be battling these seafood monsters, but the purpose of the combat obviously wasn’t for hunting; otherwise, they would totally have snapped off the pincers of the shell monster, seeing that there’s plenty of meat inside.

They even encountered a risky situation midway.

As soon as the Fishman poked his head out from a secret opening, he immediately faced a team of five diverse seafood monsters.

The Fishman’s response was swift; he yanked back and shut the secret door.

Outside, there were instant sounds of thumping and scraping as those monsters hammered and pried at the exit for a good while, ultimately unable to open the passage, they reluctantly departed.

Despite navigating safely through the secret passages, it seemed the Fishmen’s situation wasn’t good, having to sneak around their own Underground City.

Finally, the Fishman returned to the clan’s secret domain with the Puki fish.

And Lin Jun encountered a familiar elder Fishman again.

"We meet again, Lord Puki."

The Fishman Wise Man, Gugu Lu, sat solemnly on a throne of vibrant coral naturally sculpted, carried by two strong Fishman Warriors, approaching the Puki fish.

This wasn’t an attempt to flaunt; from the knees down, his legs were already gone, with the stumps covered in thick keratin layers.

Otherwise, he looked the same, with deep-sea indigo skin full of wrinkles, bulging fish eyes exuding calmness and composure, appearing quite pretentious.

It’s worth mentioning that although a year hasn’t passed, this guy has ascended to Diamond Level, making considerable headway.

But at this moment, Lin Jun’s focus was no longer on the elder Fishman’s level.

Lin Jun’s awareness was tightly locked onto the staff held by the elder Fishman.

It was an oddly shaped staff.

The body was crafted from sea-bottom specialty light coral, emitting a soft blue glow.

However, the head was inlaid with a distinctly different piece of black metal.

This piece of black metal surprisingly appeared on Lin Jun’s panel view:

[Divine Artifact: Ocean Staff (Fragment)]

A Diamond Level disabled Fishman holding practically half a Divine Artifact?

And it’s right next door?!

Lin Jun suddenly regretted not visiting this place sooner.

As he looked around at the Fishmen gathering, Lin Jun even felt a sense of expectation.

Display your evil side, capture these few Puki fish, and fiercely sacrifice to your God!

Although Puki lacks "vision," the Fishman Wise Man, Gugu Lu, seemed to sense something.

He lowered his head to glance at the staff he held, his voice still steady: "If Lord Puki wishes to have this staff... you can have it. But not now."

"What do you mean?" Lin Jun asked suspiciously.

The elder Fishman didn’t answer directly; instead, he lightly waved the staff he held.

Several seemingly solid stone walls around the room suddenly opened up secret passages before swiftly closing again.

Clearly, the Fishmen’s ability to navigate freely through the secret passages in the Underground City was closely linked to the power of this staff.

"For now, we still need to use its power to resist those enemies invading the Sanctuary," Gugu Lu explained slowly, fish eyes fixed on the Puki fish, "Once the crisis is resolved, Lord Puki can take it if you wish."

The implication was to assist them in defeating the invaders and then receive this Divine Artifact as a reward?

Logically, it seemed feasible, but would anyone really be willing to offer a Divine Artifact as a reward?

This wasn’t some piece of fragment; observing its completeness suggested it might be at least one-third or even one-half of it!

Such a casual promise?

Besides, how could this Fishman be certain that I could handle their enemies now?

And if his words were literal, that the Fishmen resolved the invaders and then gave the Divine Artifact to Lin Jun...

No kidding, Lin Jun is a mushroom born from heavenly spiritual energy, with no Fishman parent.

Or perhaps he’s trying to stir up a tiger to swallow a wolf, using Puki’s power to solve the invaders and then betray us?

Frankly, if that’s true, Lin Jun would rather find it... more reasonable, even comforting.

However, as they say, one doesn’t slap a smiling Fishman.

The elder Fishman at least formally issued a task involving a Divine Artifact, so Lin Jun wasn’t ready to immediately turn hostile and seize it.

After all, Lin Jun wasn’t in a rush to use this thing anyway; it was purely a collection habit.

For now, Lin Jun put aside the matter of the Divine Artifact and stated the reason for his visit.

"Siphon Worm Crystal... Are there Mermaid Tears..." Gugu Lu’s fish eyes rotated slightly, seemingly searching in memory.

"If there’s anything you need, feel free to ask. Weapons, Demon Crystal, even potions that can regenerate limbs, I can get them," Lin Jun expressed his willingness to trade.

The elder Fishman nodded, uttering a series of low gurgles, summoning a younger Fishman.

They exchanged quick and unclear language and the young Fishman promptly swam away.

About ten minutes later, he returned with a large basket woven from tenacious seaweed, filled with dark red crystalline fragments.

"Lord Puki," Gugu Lu motioned for the Fishman to push the basket in front of the Puki fish, "There are indeed Siphon Worm Crystals here. If these aren’t sufficient, I can also provide you with their stable yield locations for you to collect freely. As for Mermaids, there are no Mermaids living in the Sanctuary."

The elder Fishman didn’t propose any exchange terms, seemingly intending to offer these materials directly to Lin Jun.

A Puki fish slowly approached the coral throne, and the Fishman guards nearby tried to step forward to block it, but as they moved half a step, the surrounding water flow halted them.

"Come clean with me, what do you want to get from me?" Lin Jun felt the elder Fishman’s generosity seemed abnormal.

Gugu Lu shook his head slowly, his perception still calm without fluctuation: "I’ve merely made a judgment that I believe is more beneficial for the survival of the Fishmen."

"Survival, huh..." Lin Jun wasn’t too approving of this answer, "Alright then, wait for me."

...

Meanwhile, Lin Jun’s voice echoed in the minds of the Mushroom Garden’s core members.

"Got a job, got a job, underwater exploration, seafood scavenging, anyone willing to sign up?"

Louisa, Norris, Hunting, Xing Huo... all paused what they were doing and began to inquire details in the Fungal Network.

Only Xiao Hai, who was sleeping in the stack of Bright Crystal, smacked his lips, rolled over, and remained completely unaware.