Chapter 580, Page 579: Number Five's Happiness
The environmental changes caused by mushrooms were not intentional on Lin Jun's part.
Currently, most of Lin Jun's fungal carpets are in a state of autonomous growth and spread.
However, as the territory continued to expand, the creep also encountered a new problem, namely that there is a natural upper limit to the transmission of magic power.
Even though Lin Jun had already built a multi-layered underground mycelial network, like laying a huge magical pipeline, and tried her best to improve the overall transport capacity.
However, it was ultimately impossible to gather all the magic generated by the distributed fungal carpets into the Puji Dungeon for its own concentrated use.
This situation is not yet obvious in areas near the Northern Fungus Castle or the Puji Dungeon.
These two locations are Lin Jun's magic consumption centers. Her subordinates add skills and generate high-level Puji almost entirely in these two places, making full use of all her magic.
However, the situation is different in more remote border areas, such as this territory named Mist Fortress.
If the magic generated by the local creep is excessive and cannot all be transported back to the dungeon, the excess magic will gradually accumulate in the local creep.
If there is human activity in the area, and mushroom fields are cultivated for regular harvesting, this excess magic will naturally be transformed into batches of edible mushrooms, which will be collected and consumed, thus achieving a new balance.
However, places like Longwu Fortress, after a period of neglect and lack of management, have fallen out of control.
When the concentration of magic power accumulated in the local creep exceeds a certain critical point, it will spontaneously give rise to various special mushroom variants that are specifically designed to consume excess magic power.
As a result, fluorescent mushroom trees spring up from the ground, petrified mushrooms form forests, and in some corners, even more dangerous groups of corrosive mushrooms may grow...
These seemingly bizarre and even dangerous scenes are essentially nothing more than a magical waste of resources when there is an oversupply of local mushroom mats and nowhere to channel it.
It's just that this situation isn't very friendly to the local people.
Solving this problem is also easy.
Either resume production by establishing mushroom fields on a large scale to consume the excess magic power output.
Alternatively, Lin Jun could take the initiative to intervene and consciously guide the fungal carpet in this area, transforming the excess magic into relatively harmless giant mushroom trees or other controllable forms.
Of course, as an extension of Lin Jun's will, the mushroom clan also naturally has some authority to control the fungal carpet.
Vera and the others didn't quite understand the complex magical circulation behind it, but Sirion quickly noticed the problem of excess magic.
At his suggestion, half of the task of tidying up the territory fell to little Number Five.
As for the other half, it was to urge Vera to organize her people as soon as possible to reclaim the mushroom fields and dissipate the excess magic in a regular way.
It must be said that the easy availability of food has, to some extent, fostered laziness.
Due to the abundant magical power of the local fungal carpet, in addition to the growth of those strange and special mushrooms, ordinary edible mushrooms and even delicious mushrooms grow everywhere.
With the population reduced by 40%, when the people are hungry, they only need to go out for a stroll and they can pick up enough fresh mushrooms to feed their families.
Over time, many people become complacent and lose the motivation to cultivate and work, which in turn exacerbates the accumulation of the fungal carpet's magic, giving rise to more mutated mushrooms and creating a vicious cycle.
In an effort to reignite the people's enthusiasm for production, Vera and her butler Harold racked their brains and worked tirelessly to coordinate.
Ultimately, Vera, as lord, purchased all the mushrooms gathered by his subjects and allowed them to exchange them for supplies such as cloth, salt, and sugar at a relatively favorable rate.
This system of bartering mushrooms for other goods was the only thing that allowed the people to pick up their tools again and head to the fields waiting to be cultivated.
The acquired mushrooms piled up like mountains, and Vera, through the help of Duke Lorenzo, made connections with some chambers of commerce.
Some of the mushrooms were transported to the front lines to supply the military, while others were sent to areas with low magic resources and low mushroom yields.
The former has a very low purchase price, while the latter has to bear the costs and risks of long-distance transportation.
After some calculations, Vera realized that she made almost no money from this chain.
But his original intention was not to make a profit. As long as he could solve the problem of "mushrooms advancing while people retreat" and the ecological imbalance in his territory, that would be enough.
Accompanied by Sirian, Felix, and Felix, Number Five, with its short legs, began to patrol its territory.
Wherever it goes, the mushroom trees that emit hallucinogenic spores and the petrified mushrooms that petrify everything around them are all controlled and dissolved in the fungal carpet, eventually being replaced by tall but harmless giant mushroom trees.
In fact, if Lin Jun were to do it herself, with her overall control over the fungal carpet, she could probably complete the replacement of all the mushroom species in the entire territory in one or two days, and that's without using magic acceleration.
But Number Five's capabilities are ultimately limited. It lacks the perspective to see the big picture and can only patiently transform small areas one by one, like a diligent gardener.
Even so, its results were enough to surprise and delight Fei Ling and Fei Yin, who praised its competence!
Fei Yin even spent a sum of her savings to buy a precious talking stone, just so that she could communicate with Number Five more smoothly!
The hard, petrified ground continued to crack, and one after another, giant mushroom trees, each over thirty meters tall, broke through the soil, replacing the original cold, petrified mushroom grove.
"Great! Number Five, thanks to you!" Fei Yin happily patted Number Five's round mushroom cap, making a soft "poof poof" sound.
"Hehehe..." The mushroom cap of number five glowed faintly with joy.
These past few days have perhaps been the happiest time since its inception.
Previously, it was always the most inconspicuous among the mushrooms. It was afraid of fighting and had a poor fighting spirit. Apart from being able to run away faster than other mushrooms, it had nothing remarkable about it.
The other mushrooms wouldn't bully it, but none of them would care much about it or praise it.
It could only follow behind the number one brother, quietly remaining a nobody.
When the master suddenly gave it a task, ordering it to follow this group of unfamiliar human adventurers alone, Number Five was filled with trepidation and fear.
Leaving its familiar fellow inhabitants and finding itself in a completely unfamiliar environment, it was afraid of not doing well, afraid of being disliked, and afraid of letting down its master's expectations!
Fortunately, Vera and her family were kind and accepted it.
And now... looking at the mushroom forest it had personally transformed, and listening to Fei Ling and Fei Yin sincerely praising "Little Five is really amazing," it felt a sense of satisfaction it had never experienced before!
It is being needed and recognized!
It's here and it's useful!
It sat atop Feiyin's head, gently curling one of its tentacles around Feiyin's fingers, while the other pointed towards the next patch of hallucinogenic spore forest that needed to be cleaned up. The mushroom stood upright, looking full of energy.
This is where it belongs!
Sirius appeared on horseback from a small hill a little further away, waving to the twins and calling out, "Come back for lunch! We'll continue with the rest of the area this afternoon."
Upon hearing Xilian's voice, Number Five, who had just been standing tall and full of energy, immediately slid down from Feiyin's head and slipped into her wide mage robe.
It was still afraid of the non-mushroom that would yell at it whenever it met.
...
Number 5 has found a home, but Number 13 is lost and confused.
Lin Jun threw it into the occupied area on the west coast.
Within sight, the land was barren, lacking any trace of fungal carpet.
Worse still, from time to time, one or two jelly-like slimes would hop across the shadows of the jagged rocks in the distance.
In the mushroom tribe's worldview of likes and dislikes, this creature is considered a synonym for "evil".
The master of the fungus did not give it any clear instructions; it simply left it here.
Number Thirteen stood alone, sensing this unfamiliar and hostile environment, and couldn't help but think:
Master...you're not going to abandon me, are you?
(End of this chapter)
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