Chapter 534, 533. Incarnation? Clone?

In the dark depths of the forest, an elf and a puji stood silently facing each other.

The elf tried to take two steps back, while Puji took four steps forward.

The mycelium wriggled, and a voice, like a tattered rag bag, popped out.

“Sirius? Old Master Shenmu…?” Lin Jun asked tentatively.

Snap!

With a start, Xilian stepped on the voice-activated Puji and then grabbed the other Puji next to him.

"Quiet!" Shenmu's voice appeared in Lin Jun's mind.

It's truly a sacred tree!

Lin Jun was shocked when her guess was confirmed.

This time, however, Shenmu's voice was no longer so light and airy; instead, it carried a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

Xilian's emerald eyes were fixed on the puffy in his hand. He thought to himself, "Our deal is done. You can do whatever you want from now on. Let's not interfere with each other. Let's pretend we don't know each other, understand?"

He gently put down the puff and turned to leave.

However, four soft mycelial tentacles instantly wrapped around his right ankle.

Sirian tried to break free, but more mushrooms popped out from the surrounding carpet of fungus, their round bodies vying to cling to his calves and thighs, dragging him along.

"You bastard..."

The forest suddenly came to life.

The trunks of several silent ancient trees around them trembled, their roots bursting out of the soil like flexible vines, wrapping around the trees, lifting them up, and then tossing them far away.

The new puffballs tried to get closer again, but were immediately and ruthlessly blocked by more waving roots and suddenly sprouting branches.

Seeing that Sirion was about to leave peacefully under the protection of the forest, Lin Jun had no choice but to unleash her ultimate move:

"Boss Shenmu, you don't want that... that... Vera to know your true identity, do you?"

Xilian suddenly stopped, slowly turned around, and walked back step by step. Under his gaze, the roots that were entangled around Puji tightened their grip even more.

"Threatening me?" Shenmu's thoughts turned icy. "Do you think provoking me will do you any good?"

You lied to me first!

Lin Jun was filled with grief and indignation, and her emotions were running high.

"They said the world was doomed and they were going to sleep until it was destroyed, but what happened? They secretly ran off to enjoy themselves! They left this pitiful, weak, and helpless idiot like me with all the hard work of saving the world!"

"If you succeed, you reap the rewards; if you fail, everyone goes down together. You've wasted so many years of your life, so you're not at a loss, are you?"

"I disagree with the idea that only you can live a happy tree life!"

It wriggled with difficulty, stretching out its trembling tentacles, stubbornly wrapping them around the tip of Sirius's boot once again.

Sirian looked down expressionlessly at the poop-like lump at his feet, which seemed to have suffered a great injustice: "Just say it, what do you want?"

The tentacles wrapped around the boot toe instantly loosened, rubbed themselves together nimbly, and the indignant tone vanished, replaced by a crisp and decisive one: "A divine artifact."

"impossible."

The rejection was as expected.

Lin Jun was not discouraged and immediately began to bargain, her shrewd demeanor completely different from before.

"Then you can help me take down a troublesome enemy... or give me a special skill with no level restrictions... or at the very least, teach me how to control these ancient trees..."

He made several requests, but all of them were rejected.

"This won't work, that won't work," Lin Jun said with a hint of complaint. "Then I want to study abyssal magic. Can you at least help me think of a way?"

Sirion showed no surprise or disdain for the idea of ​​studying abyssal magic, a dangerous and taboo activity in the eyes of most living beings. He simply asked in a normal tone, "What specific problem have you encountered?"

"I need to manage the risks! I'm afraid I might accidentally create something unmanageable and destroy my own hometown. Does anyone have any good solutions or a backup plan? Like... a one-click clear-out or something?"

“There’s no such thing…” Sirian thought for a moment, “Why not just do it in the underground city’s auxiliary space? If something goes wrong, it won’t affect the outside.”

Puji tilted his mushroom cap: "That makes sense!"

Puji stretched out its mycelial tentacles and spread them out in front of Xilian, its movements carrying an air of expected naturalness.

Sirius looked down at the swaying tentacles: "What do you mean?"

"You have to give me a 'key,' otherwise how am I supposed to get in?" Lin Jun said, pointing with her finger to the sapling in the distance that connected to the abyss space of the Divine Tree Underground City.

Sirian's flawless elven face instantly darkened: "When did I say I would lend you my place as an experimental field? Doesn't Dungeon Thirteen have its own auxiliary space?"

"I need to keep my own space as a last resort, so I can't just mess it up," Lin Jun replied matter-of-factly.

The veins that hadn't appeared when the elf was entangled by the tentacles suddenly appeared on its forehead. With a forceful squeeze from the roots, the elf was crushed.

But the next second, another identical Puji popped out of the fungal carpet next to it with a "pop".

Completely oblivious to the fact that he had killed a Puji, he simply stretched out his tentacles, constantly emanating an expectant intent.

Sirius took a deep breath to calm himself down: "I can't let you use my territory, but there is indeed an unclaimed one that might be suitable."

He picked up a piece of wood from the ground, closed his eyes for a moment, and then tossed the wood to Puji.

The moment the plop touched her, a piece of information flooded into her consciousness.

The feeling was quite similar to the information cubes encountered in the abyss space. The difference was that this time the information was solidified on a physical wooden block, and after it was read, the wooden block itself lost all its special fluctuations and returned to being just an ordinary piece of wood.

In Lin Jun's mind, a detailed diagram of a pair of complex magic circles and a geographical coordinate appeared.

"This is……?"

“Normally, the abyss space beneath a dungeon would collapse with the destruction of the dungeon’s core.” Sirian’s voice returned to its initial calm and detached tone. “But there… there was once a dungeon that was destroyed in an abnormal way, and its connected ancillary space was unexpectedly preserved, becoming a separate fragment.”

"Once you find that coordinate point, set up magic circle number one there, and then set up magic circle number two at the new anchor point you choose, you can move the connection point between space and the world."

"Alright, that's settled. If you're still not satisfied, then go ahead and cause trouble. But don't even think about developing in my underground city after that."

After saying that, Sirius turned and left.

Having said all that, Lin Jun had no choice but to stop while she was ahead.

The two magic circles in my mind were complex and profound, and difficult to fully understand at once, but the accompanying instructions were extremely detailed, and it was not difficult to collect materials and set them up step by step.

But these coordinates...

Isn't this within the Empire's territory?!

Moreover, it seems to be outside Xiaoxi's sphere of influence, and instead leans towards the north... This feels a bit difficult to handle.

Lin Jun was pondering this when she saw Xilian turn back again: "Since things have come to this, you might as well just tell me where Vera and the others are now, so I don't waste my time looking for them."

Vera?!

Lin Jun really didn't know his location.

After all, to Lin Jun, Vera was just an ordinary adventurer with a bit of personality, and it was impossible for her to spend time paying special attention to her.

Of course, now that I know Shenmu is either his true form, an avatar, or a clone, he'll definitely keep a close eye on him in the future.

The big boss just gave me some benefits, so it's only right that I help him with the search.

Will swept across Mushroom City, Oath City, and the Fallen Territory...

kindness?

No.

They expanded the search area and searched again, but still found no trace of Vera or any member of his squad.

Could he already be dead?

"Where?" Sirian asked, his gaze falling on Puji.

"I couldn't find it," Lin Jun could only tell the truth.

Xilian grabbed the mushroom hat and lifted it up, his face full of displeasure: "You don't even know where they are, yet you dared to threaten me with them?"

"I'll help you find them! I'll search carefully for you! I can roughly guess where they might be!" The two little legs of the puji kicked helplessly in the air a few times before Sirian let go and let it fall back to the ground.

"They're most likely operating on the west coast; a lot of adventurers have been heading there lately," Lin Jun analyzed.

There are many slimes over there, which is considered a blind spot for Lin Jun.

"You're pretty quick," Sirius snorted, his tone ambiguous, whether it was praise or something else.

This old man from Shenmu clearly knows a lot, but he's unwilling to share. I'll just make a note of his riddle-solving ways.

Puji moved closer enthusiastically, its mycelial tentacles waving ingratiatingly: "Boss, please be patient. Allow me a day or two, and I will definitely find the person for you!"

Xilian could only sit down, grab Puji at random, frown slightly, and rub it in a retaliatory manner.

Several scout poops spawned rapidly in the fallen territory of the kingdom.

Objective: Find the adventurer Vera!

(End of this chapter)