Chapter 589, Section 588: Recruiting Talented Individuals

Lin Jun's training of [Soul Touch] could not possibly kill a D-level personnel in one go.

The ten that died earlier were just special cases used to thoroughly understand the effects of the skill.

Normal exercise inevitably damages a small part of the soul, and then after it recovers, it damages another small part, thus sustainably draining the pond to catch all the fish.

Therefore, the more D-level personnel there are, the faster the training progress will be!

In the past, based on the principle of using local resources, only local villains in Mushroom Capital were eligible to be recruited as D-level personnel.

Other towns are too far from the underground city, and it would be difficult to bring them back even if captured.

Besides the stable talent supply market of Mushroom City, spies sent by the Empire to the North occasionally fall into the trap, becoming an extra bonus.

However, only a small portion of them will be converted into D-level personnel; the majority will be assigned to labor reform groups after accumulating contribution point debts.

After all, those who come to investigate are often just following orders, and it doesn't mean they are inherently evil.

Lin Jun has always maintained a high level of moral integrity as long as her own fundamental interests are not affected.

Now, with the increasing demand for D-level personnel, Lin Jun is facing some difficulties.

Should recruitment be expanded to other cities surrounding the mushroom capital?

But transportation became a problem.

The surface is definitely not safe. If they are discovered, the harmless image that Lin Jun has been building for Puji will collapse.

The underground internet tunnel is safe, but it's too big to fit a person inside.

Hmm... you can transform it into a poop and then stuff it in.

Lin Jun does know the Transfiguration spell, but casting it requires concentration, and if the journey is long, she might have to cast it again halfway through.

Lin Jun doesn't have that much free time to spend on this every day.

If the task were to be delegated to subordinates, Lin Jun's human team would be extremely small.

Most of the people recruited by the North were former slaves of the Empire. According to the records of the United Kingdom, they were either missing or had no household registration at all, making it difficult for them to move freely within the Kingdom.

After much thought, the Gumball Cult might be able to shoulder this important task.

Unfortunately, the sect was still in its infancy and would not be able to release its leader, who was still in prison and seeking enlightenment, until the Inanna delegation returned. Only then could it truly begin to develop.

At least for now, it's not of any use.

But Lin Jun's skill training couldn't be delayed.

After much thought, it seems the only option is to look within the Empire.

The elves are close to the Sacred Tree Dungeon and the creep has already covered them, but there are very few individuals in elven society who can be considered scum!

The only Ark members who could be considered villains were either already D-class personnel or were captured and imprisoned by the elves themselves.

In addition, because the Elven race is a precious population, each member is kept in detail, so if someone goes missing, someone will definitely investigate.

From any perspective, it's not suitable to look for D-level personnel in the Elf Forest.

As for the dwarves, not only is the creep not yet spread out, but even if they caught some, there would be a problem of where to transport them, so they naturally wouldn't consider it.

As for the Empire...

Although the dukes were all loyal to the emperor, from Feixi's perspective, the emperor had very little control over the empire as a whole.

As long as a high-ranking official like Fei Xi, located on the border, doesn't even think about rebelling, he has almost unlimited autonomy within his territory.

The various dukes did not interfere with each other, and their respective territories were clearly defined.

Although there are restrictions on the lower-class population, mobility cannot be completely eliminated.

In addition, the empire's martial and ruthless atmosphere led to a series of vicious incidents. Every day, a considerable number of demons died in private fights, and many more quietly disappeared into the shadows.

Multiple factors combined have rendered household registration management virtually ineffective, making it far more chaotic than in the United Kingdom.

In fact, in Lin Jun's view, the empire's problems are far more than just household registration, or rather, the household registration issue is the least important of them all.

This behemoth appears majestic and awe-inspiring from afar, but upon closer inspection, it is riddled with cracks and blockages.

In a world without supernatural abilities, this empire would have collapsed long ago.

In this world where strength reigns supreme, even under the emperor's suppression, they could unite as one and even become the strongest force on the continent.

However, the internal management chaos undoubtedly gave Lin Jun the opportunity to recruit talent.

Xiaoxi's territory is the easiest to manage, but it is located inland and its geographical location is not suitable.

If goods are to be sourced from the Empire, the destination must be the North, and it has nothing to do with Little West.

The only options are to transport goods from border cities of the empire or by sea.

Coincidentally, Eleanor's territory was located by the sea, and Thirteen was sent to her command.

That female vampire isn't particularly clever; it probably won't be too difficult to operate under her watchful eye.

After Thirteen was sent there, she spared no expense and used a high-level contract item to take Thirteen as her magical pet. Then, behind the emperor's back, she began her plan to lay out fungal carpets and cultivate Puji Masters!

Unfortunately, these tools intended to control the other party mentally were like paper shackles to Lin Jun and the Mushroom Clan.

It looks like you've put it on, but if you really wanted to break free, it would only take a moment.

If it's by sea, then we'll have to face Keith.

Even if we don't directly wipe out Qis, we at least need to create a transport fleet that can protect itself.

It seems like it will take some time before it can produce anything here...

Ultimately, you can't level up by poking yourself. Hundreds or thousands of D-level personnel can't compare to the usefulness of your own soul, which is both large and quick to recover.

The issue of D-level talent hasn't been resolved yet, but another type of talent has already been offered up.

...

A cold wind swept across the desolate border region in the northwest, nestled among the mountains.

The two young dwarves appeared exceptionally small against the desolate landscape. A thin layer of frost covered their heavy fur coats, and each carried their tools of the trade—a forging hammer and long-handled pliers—on their backs.

Gading, who was walking at the front, tightened his collar and said in a muffled voice, "This damn weather is even colder than I heard!"

"It's a bit cold, but not unbearable," Pollock said, glancing around. "I just want to know, weren't we told someone would meet us here? Where is he?"

They were two of the blacksmith apprentices chosen by Lin Jun in Ash City. The other dwarves exchanged the A-grade magic crystal left by the knight Puji for money and divided it equally. They either used the money to buy ore to practice their skills or opened a shop to make a living.

The two of them exchanged all the money they received for food and travel expenses, and headed north.

It was only because they held onto that tiny glimmer of hope.

Hopefully, that little rascal wasn't lying to them, and there really is a blacksmith's paradise in the north where they can practice their skills without restraint!

"It's a scam! Once we get there, we'll be captured by the demons and enslaved. Once we're enslaved, we'll have to keep swinging hammers until we die!" More than one of their kind told them this along the way.

But thinking back to the A-grade magic crystal that Puji had casually tossed aside, Pollock and Gading, who had already embarked on their journey, kept encouraging each other and came up with all sorts of reasons to make the existence of "Blacksmith Paradise" seem reasonable.

And then, they stood there.

There were no mineral veins, no underground fire, not even a shack in sight, so there was no way anyone could be there to meet them.

There was only an endless expanse of land covered with a thin layer of snow, and withered branches frozen to death.

“We might... really have been fooled.” Pollock’s voice trailed off.

A stronger gust of wind swept by, stirring up snowflakes.

Gadin suddenly shivered, but not from the cold.

"This doesn't make sense! If there's no one to meet us, then there should at least be some demons waiting for us to fall into the trap! Otherwise, why would that little puji drop that precious A-grade magic crystal at us? Was it really just to play a trick on us?"

As soon as Gading finished speaking,

Rolling around—

The slight noise immediately put the two dwarfs on edge.

Back to back, they gripped the hammer tightly in their hands.

This thing can be used to forge iron, so naturally it can also be used to smash an enemy's head.

Although Gading said those things earlier, he didn't really want to be captured by the demons and enslaved.

Pop—

This time, the two of them clearly heard the direction from which the sound came and looked in that direction together.

A mushroom cap covered in snow, puffy, was struggling to wriggle out of the burrow...

(End of this chapter)