Chapter 119 116. Punishment
"It's all my fault..."
In the open space in front of the mushroom house, Norris knelt in the middle of a group of Puji, and even Xiao Hei squatted in the corner and looked at him.
He lowered his head, his scales rubbing against the ground, making a crackling sound, and his intermittent confessions floated in the air along with a faint smell of blood.
At this time, Norris' right foot had been reconnected and the wound on his chest had healed, but he still couldn't hide his embarrassment.
There was a clear dividing line between the flesh and blood that had not yet completely glued together at the joints of the broken limbs, and the scales all over the body were missing here and there, and the ones that remained on the body were mostly cracked and no longer as bright as before.
Norris didn't know why he lost control of his emotions. He should have been used to being bullied for so many years.
Now that he had committed murder, he could only confess what had happened honestly and then wait anxiously for his fate.
With the dual effects of the fungal web and parasitism, Norris would not be able to hide his lies from Lin Jun.
In Lin Jun's opinion, it is not entirely Norris's fault, after all, it was humans who took the first action.
But it’s also true that Norris mishandled the situation.
Being entangled by human adventurers, Lin Jun could accept whether Norris fought or fled, but he should have informed her through the fungus network as soon as possible. It was not a good sign for him to act arbitrarily when encountering things.
As for the death of three humans, it’s really not a big deal in the dungeon.
So Lin Jun quickly gave Norris a punishment:
"Norris, you acted without permission and violated the rules of the mushroom garden. Now I punish you to wash the land for slime for a month."
"Washing the floor for slime?"
Norris couldn't wrap his mind around it for a moment, and subconsciously he still thought that the crime he committed was murder, but now listening to what the boss said, his problem was that he didn't report it?
"What? Do you have any objections?" Lin Jun thought Norris was unwilling.
Cleaning the floor for slime is not an easy job.
That two-color slime is quite capable of splitting. The so-called floor cleaning means that after killing the split slime, you collect the core and put it on the fungal mat, and the remaining mucus should be flushed into the underground sewer with water.
During the work, we eat and sleep in the caves in the mountain, which is a disguised confinement. It is not an exaggeration to say that this work is done from morning to night.
Not to mention that the cage would be pulled up from time to time and curses would be released to train the Pujis, and Norris would definitely suffer inside.
But for Norris, the punishment was lighter than even his best expectations.
So he quickly bowed his head and admitted: "No, no, I have no objection."
The two Pujis took Norris to serve his sentence in an orderly manner, one in front and one behind.
Xiao Hei had no idea what was going on and waved at Norris who was leaving.
Lin Jun went to find Xiaolu again to confirm the adventurer's strength.
Norris achieved a 1 for 2 record in a head-on confrontation with three silver-level adventurers who could operate on the sixth floor.
The last person was killed by Xiaolu who arrived in time. Without Xiaolu, Norris would have been dead by now.
In this incident, compared to the mistakes Norris made, Lin Jun saw more of the strength he demonstrated.
You know, Norris is only level 24 now!
The previous fight against monsters was also a challenge of higher levels, but the monsters were not as smart as Norris after all, so it was not surprising that he could kill them.
But this time there were three human adventurers who were actually one level higher than him, and they were still able to achieve such a record, which showed that the effect of his added skills was indeed very good.
The higher skill level plus reasonable matching made up for the attribute gap caused by Norris's insufficient level.
Lin Jun also understood that this kind of compensation had its limits. When people reached the gold or even diamond level, their own skill levels would be very high and reasonably matched. At that time, the advantages of the skills given by Lin Jun would not be obvious.
But there is no doubt that relying on this ability, as long as there are enough suitable materials, Lin Jun can mass-produce a group of backbone people who can quickly reach silver or even gold strength.
It’s just… I can’t seem to find the materials?
After being in the dungeon for so long, I only met Norris, a blank slate. Everyone else who entered the dungeon was full of "skills".
Perhaps there are many human civilians and children who are close to blank slates, but taking people away would obviously attract the attention of others, and in the end it would probably not be worth the loss.
Put the thought aside for now.
After Norris finishes his confinement, Lin Jun plans to give him a second round of transformation.
It seems that the originally planned [Mimicry] cannot be given for the time being. Norris is not strong enough and his character is not stable enough. If he goes out with [Mimicry] like this, he might be exposed if he gets impulsive again one day.
It’s better to cultivate it more.
In comparison, Xiaolu's performance this time was very good.
In the Dryad Forest, Little Green was kneeling on the moist ground. It stretched its roots into the soil and carefully combed out the tangled root systems of the new trees.
When the tree demon has abundant magic power, a jade-green tender branch will condense in its body every once in a while.
If you leave the tender branches and part of the roots on the ground, a demon tree will grow. When the demon tree matures, it will gain consciousness and become a new tree demon.
Thanks to Lin Jun's reward, the tree monsters obtained a lot of magic crystals and became much more efficient in absorbing magic power.
Naturally, more new branches have been planted recently. Some of them, like the one in front of Xiaolu, have grown well and have become healthy demon trees.
The tree demons would occasionally help the tree demons tidy up their overgrown roots - the space under the tree demon forest is much more crowded than it looks on the surface...
"Little Green."
The sudden summons made Xiaolu stop what he was doing.
"What is it, boss? Please tell me what you want."
"It's not an order, it's just a suggestion I want to see your opinion on.
The land on the other side of the hill has been vacant since it was cleared. Instead of letting other monsters occupy it, I might as well plant some mushrooms.
It can also prevent adventurers from accidentally entering the mountain.
I just wanted to ask you if you have any plans to plant some trees there together?
This way we have bases on both sides, so we don’t have to travel far every time.”
"Expand the territory..." Lin Jun's suggestion made Xiaolu fall into thought.
Indeed, although there is still enough land in the Dryad Forest, if the current momentum continues, outward expansion is almost inevitable.
Xiaolu's original idea was to slowly expand out from the forest entrance.
Now, according to the boss's idea, he wants them to build a new home directly on the other side.
It seems, maybe?
The tree demons have lived in seclusion in a corner for a long time. One reason is that their numbers were limited before, and the tree demon forest was enough for them to survive.
Secondly, they don’t want to attract too much attention from human adventurers, so they live in remote areas and in close proximity so they are not easily attacked by adventurers.
The situation is different now. Whenever the tree demon goes out, he is followed by a group of Puji. Not only has his combat effectiveness increased, but adventurers seem to be very afraid of Puji, and conflicts have become much less.
In this case, it is not impossible to build a new home away from the forest.
"Boss, do you want Puji to live together with the tree demon?"
"Mixed residence?"
In Lin Jun's view, the Pujis are just tools, and the tree monsters are his subordinates. Lin Jun finds it a bit strange to use the word "subordinates" and "tools" together, but Xiaolu is fine with this understanding.
"I guess so. I plan to come out in a mushroom forest.
You haven't seen the mushroom forest yet since you can't get to the fifth floor. You should like it."
In Lin Jun’s conception, the tree demon is quite suitable to live with the mushroom forest.
Mushrooms mainly collect magic from the air, while tree spirits mainly absorb magic from the land. The two do not interfere with each other.
Then the mushroom forest can provide environmental effects such as spores, and the tree spirit can lead Puji to guard the mushroom forest without Lin Jun having to worry about it.
The ultimate goal of everything is actually to cover up the crack and the two-color slime in the mountain cave, and other aspects are actually incidental.
"Boss, I have no objection. When do we start?"
When Xiaolu knew that he was living with Puji, he felt relieved. With Puji around, he was no longer afraid of adventurers.
"Then you can do it now, my Pooji is already down!"
"Then I will gather the tribesmen right away!"
(End of this chapter)
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