Chapter 520, Section 519: Shaping Faith
puff--
As Julia waited anxiously, a colorful mushroom cap-shaped creature popped out of its cocoon.
"The God of Puji? Or... the messenger of the gods, Lord Mushroom Clan?" Julia asked tentatively.
However, Puji didn't immediately pay attention to Julia after it came out. It first stood firmly, and then began to tidy up the pile of scattered hay in the corner of the cell in an orderly manner.
The tentacles deftly separated the hay into two neat haystacks of the same height, carefully tucking even the protruding edges back into place.
After finishing everything, it plopped down on the center line of the cell and beckoned the bewildered Julia to sit in the designated spot as well.
“I am Twelve. The Fungus Lord has heard your voice. I have been ordered to come and guide you to the truth.”
Julia heard a voice from the fungal web for the first time.
“The… truth?” Julia repeated, somewhat bewildered.
Twelve led her to the cell door, and with a gentle flick of his tentacle, the iron lock fell to the ground.
The noise alerted the guard, who ran over and bumped into Julia, who had just stepped out of her cell.
"Prison break?" He gripped the sword with his right hand, but quickly, a splash of color completely drew his attention. "Pfft...squeak?"
On the twelve mushroom caps, various colors flowed and shimmered with fluorescence.
The guard's eyes gradually became unfocused, and his grip on the sword hilt loosened. Finally, he scratched his head blankly, sat back down, and ignored Twelve and Julia as they swaggered out.
Not only the guards, but also the other prisoners in the cell were caught in the same confusion.
Julia, an ordinary person, watched this miraculous scene and murmured, "This is... a miracle?"
"What are you thinking? It's just a charm skill." Twelve ruthlessly interrupted Julia's fantasy. "Don't always attribute inexplicable phenomena to miracles; it's easy to make a fool of yourself. We believe in being realistic..."
As Twelve pulled Julia outside, she taught her how to properly worship the Bacterium Lord, which was also known as the Puji God.
Along the way, the guards they encountered were easily charmed.
These jailers, who were generally only at the bronze level, were completely unable to withstand [Charm LV9], even though the power of Puji's use was already discounted.
It will be even simpler after I get out of prison.
With full-map navigation, the bustling Mushroom City seemed to have become a deserted city. Julia didn't bump into anyone along the way, all the way to the entrance of the Puji Dungeon.
Upon entering the dungeon, Julia even encountered the legendary Puji hidden room.
Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to experience the full range of services offered by Puji, because as soon as the door to the hidden room opened and closed, she suddenly found herself on the tenth floor!
It was like a miracle.
She was quite scared when she first entered the dungeon.
Although the dungeon has become much less dangerous since it was transformed into the Puji Dungeon, that's only true for adventurers.
Julia was, in the end, just an ordinary woman.
However, under Twelve's guidance, they will naturally not encounter any danger.
Underground, she witnessed a scene that terrified and frightened her—the demons!
Deep within the Puji Dungeon, a considerable number of demons actually live!
Together with Puji, they busied themselves in the various caves.
Some were mining ores or magic crystals, while others were planting firefly grass, which has become increasingly scarce in the market recently.
Strangely, when these demons noticed her, they showed no greed, no hostility, and not even much curiosity, as if they were looking at an insignificant stranger they had just passed by.
This was completely different from the impressions of demons she had heard about before.
She asked cautiously, "Master Mushroom, these... are they demons? What are they doing here?"
"What Mushroom Envoy? That sounds weird. Just call me Twelve. Also, you should try communicating through the mushroom network. The mushroom master should have given you permission. I can't understand you if you speak directly."
"As for these, they all belong to the mushroom farmers of the mushroom farm."
"The mushroom people of the mushroom garden? Aren't they demons?"
“That’s the problem.” Twelve extended a tentacle, pointing to a female lizardwoman who was leading her cubs to pick ripe mushrooms in a mushroom field, her movements gentle and practiced. “What do you see as the difference between you and her?”
"The difference?" Julia looked over blankly. "I'm human, and she's... a lizardwoman, a kind of demon, right?"
This was the first time she had ever seen a living lizard man.
"Do you know that in the eyes of the fungus master, there is no difference between you?"
"How can there be no difference?" They are clearly completely different.
"You all need to eat and drink, you all experience joy and sorrow, and you all crave safety and belonging. More importantly, the Master said that your souls after death are essentially the same; there is no distinction between 'human souls' and 'demon souls'."
“Souls?” Julia had never thought about such a thing. “But the war between humans and demons…”
"Yes, because of language barriers, different appearances, and opposing countries, coupled with mountains of old hatred, you have fallen into endless fighting, and suffering has arisen from this."
In the distance, a dwarf miner handed the ore he had dug out to a half-mage next to him, teaching them to distinguish the different minerals. The mushroom-born followed behind an elf who was several heads shorter, listening to her explain the key points for selecting potion ingredients.
"But it's different here. Here you are all just mushroom people."
Following Twelve's guidance, Julia stared blankly at the scenes of people living together, transcending racial boundaries.
Twelve continued, guiding the discussion: "Imagine if dwarves, elves, humans, demons, and even mermaids and fish-men from the deep sea... all intelligent beings on earth became fungi..."
“A world without… conflict…” Julia murmured.
“Yes, that is the truth.” Twelve’s mushroom cap glowed with a soft radiance, as if echoing this vision, “not just to protect you from hunger and cold, but to eliminate all strife and bring... eternal peace to this world.”
Julia seemed to see her husband no longer needing to don cold armor and step onto the battlefield where life and death were uncertain, her children able to grow up in an environment free from hunger and fear, hands of different races able to clasp without any reservations, a world where all intelligent life could smile peacefully.
Before this, her gratitude to the God of Puji was simple and concrete.
She thanked Him for bringing her husband back alive from the carnage of Dragon's Roar Valley, and for filling the family's stomachs with mushrooms. Her faith stemmed from the most direct blessing of survival.
Now, watching the humans and demons working and living together, it was as if she were looking at a microcosm of the world Twelve had depicted. Having experienced the suffering of war, tears involuntarily streamed down her face.
Twelve did not disturb her emotions, but gently took her hand with its tentacles and continued to guide her through the various caves.
Of course, it cleverly avoided areas that were not conducive to showcasing the "benevolence of the god of pukki," such as the caves where D-class personnel were imprisoned, or the arena where roars and collisions echoed.
The long passage about "eternal peace" was almost entirely from Lin Jun's prepared script, with a little improvisation from her own words.
Lin Jun hopes that through this transformation, Julia's faith will move away from simple gratitude based on personal gain and loss, and towards a grander and more steadfast ideal.
A lofty goal and a beautiful vision are indispensable for strengthening faith.
Similar to the afterlife mentioned by the Hand of the Dead, but Lin Jun presented a more tangible and visible bright future, even with the mushroom garden as a model.
Moreover, this doesn't count as lying to her.
Although Lin Jun spreads its fungal carpet and parasitizes various races, it is all for the purpose of increasing its own strength and living more freely and happily.
But if one day Lin Jun's fungal carpet truly spreads to every corner of the world and achieves symbiosis with everyone, eliminating war would indeed be just a matter of a thought—simply nipping any attempt to ignite war in the bud.
Of course, this is on the premise that we can survive that world-ending crisis.
As for the truth about the world-ending crisis, there's naturally no need to tell Julia.
Right now, this is just an observational experiment about faith.
After visiting the various caves and even exchanging ideas with some of the fungus-loving people, Twelve took Julia, who was still immersed in the experience, back to their cell.
Thanks to [Charm] and the mushroom network navigation, no one even realized that Julia had been gone for most of the day.
Even Julia herself, when she sat back on the cold grass mat, felt as if what she had just seen was a dream that was too beautiful to be true.
"Wait patiently, you don't need to stay here for too long." Twelve's voice rang out gently in the fungal network. "You are the one chosen by the fungal master. If needed, call my number in the fungal network at any time."
Before leaving, he fed her a sip of the water of life that he had prepared beforehand.
Julia knelt before the fungal carpet, watching Twelve depart in this unusual way, her hands clasped together against her chest: "Praise be to the Fungal Lord."
(End of this chapter)
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