Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 569 - 559: First Contact

In front of him was merely a phantom formed by magic power; the legendary six-segmented true form of the Demon King remained sealed within a barrier, making it impossible to witness its full appearance.

Thus, Lin Jun was unable to view the attribute panel of the Demon King.

What a pity.

But... could it be that the Demon King is actually a slime?

Lin Jun had never heard of such a being as a "Slime Man."

A slime that can stretch into a humanoid shape is, at the end of the day, still a slime, isn’t it?

Just this one glance was enough for Lin Jun to silently eradicate the option of "coexistence with the Demon King" from his mind.

After all, slime creatures are the most horrible pests in the world, and as a hero, he would never condone pests!

Of course, Lin Jun did not reveal any hostility, but carefully observed the other’s actions.

The humanoid slime phantom floated closer, scrutinizing Puki from top to bottom, murmuring to itself:

"Indeed, the simpler the body’s structure, the greater its potential to change. If only I had realized this sooner."

The Demon King appeared utterly amazed, and Lin Jun thought that if what stood before him wasn’t a phantom, the other might have extended a tentacle by now to explore Puki’s form.

After marveling at Puki, the featureless face of the Demon King swept over the three entities before him.

"Puki, Demon Race, and... a pile of Puki conglomerated into... what?"

"No, there’s something mixed in there... hmm..." The Demon King hesitated for a moment, uncertainly saying, "A human?"

Norris, inside Jida, was stunned by these words.

Soon after, a hot surge rushed up to his eyes.

Having long given up on the extravagant hope of being recognized deep in his heart, he suddenly found that there still exists someone who can see at a glance the true essence of him being a real human!

Norris did not understand the intricacies of sealing the Demon King, only knowing that his boss placed immense importance on this place.

If this humanoid slime before him were not an enemy, Norris would almost want to break free from Jida and bond with him as siblings.

Meanwhile, the Demon King felt utterly astonished.

Three hundred years and the world had become so unfamiliar.

Puki had mutated into such a bizarre form, and even the Demon Race he had personally crafted long ago was now entwined with white threads he’d never seen before.

Most perplexing to him was that entity curled among the pile of Puki, whose aura closely resembled that of a human.

When he emerged, he planned to study these strange entities thoroughly.

He turned his phantom toward Ming and asked, "Was it you who unsealed me?"

However, before the dazed Ming could organize a response, Lin Jun had already taken over the conversation.

For a child less than a year old, who had received closed-off education from an early age, lying was a task far beyond his capabilities.

On Jida’s arm, a Puki quietly detached under Norris’s control, landing on the ground.

Its excess parts swiftly deteriorated, and its round body withered and shrank, eventually turning into a sheet resembling old, tattered cloth.

This transformation caught the Demon King’s attention, and the phantom leaned slightly forward, full of curiosity.

The next moment.

"Lord Demon King!" A dreadful lament burst forth from the speech Puki.

Ming and Norris both shivered, and the Demon King’s phantom fluctuated for a moment, its contours nearly dissolving.

"How has the structure of this voice achieved such unpleasantness?"

Tch!

The speech Puki squirmed a bit closer to the Demon King.

"Lord Demon King, please, we beg you, save us! The Empire now falls into the hands of Mortis, declining day by day, plunging all demons into suffering, while they ostracize us as anomalies! We... can only rely on you!"

"Mortis?" The Demon King recalled for a while before retrieving the name from the recesses of his memory, "How did he come to take control of the Empire? Where is Duke Ru’en?"

Duke Ru’en?

Not sure if it’s the unlucky one the Yellow-covered Book mentioned who was stabbed by the current Emperor.

Anyway, Lin Jun and the others surely did not know.

"Lord Demon King, what should we do once you’re free?"

This was Lin Jun’s objective—to see if he could extract some information.

"Well, that would be..." The phantom’s voice lengthened for a moment, then carried a hint of mockery, "Not something one tells an enemy."

"Lord Demon King?"

The phantom extended a pseudopod to pat Ming’s head from afar: "This child is too young; his thoughts are all written on his face."

Knowing he messed up, Ming was on the verge of tears.

The Demon King turned to analyze Knight Puki, unhurriedly continuing: "Moreover, you’re holding the breaking stone with your tentacle, but simply maintaining the seal in its deteriorating state... The one who truly came to unseal me has been dealt with by you, hasn’t he?"

Despite facing just a phantom, Ming and Norris each sensed a chilling intent permeating around them.

Lin Jun was silent for a moment: "Given that you’ve seen through it, why did you pretend not to at first... Old Deng the Demon King, are you underestimating me?"

"Perish the thought." The Demon King’s voice betrayed none of the humility his words implied, instead exuding an air of condescension, "To have modified the originally useless Puki into such a form, you must indeed have some skill."

With the facade shattered, Lin Jun no longer hid!

The sound of rapid movements echoed from the passage above, as Louisa led her army swiftly onward, countless Puki flooding from the corridor like a tide.

Simultaneously, in the other direction’s dark passage, the Elder Fishman hurriedly appeared, carried by a strong fishman.

"Using Puki as magic pets, huh? Quite interesting." Even as the Demon King, he failed to immediately perceive the true nature of the Fungal Network with just a phantom.

His attention more focused on Louisa’s direction: "Demon Crystal Armor? You can actually afford the consumption of a full set of Demon Crystal Armor? Has the channel been reopened?"

Facing a Demon King who deemed them beneath notice, Lin Jun had already made up his mind.

If the seal could be repaired, he’d certainly lock it up firmly, making the Demon King a prisoner forever.

If irreparable... Before the seal completely breaks down, he’d rally all his forces at the Mushroom Garden, laying a trap inescapable.

Just one-sixth of a Demon King, he was quite interested in finding out what this Demon King’s "flavor" truly is!

The situation didn’t turn bleak; the Elder Fishman indeed had a solution.

He stepped forward a few paces, raising in hand a staff embedded with half a divine artifact, its tip aligned with the damaged area of the seal, inserting it steadily.

At the moment the staff touched the bottom, pale blue light spread from the shaft.

The previously chaotic water seemed to be guided by an unseen force, began meandering along the complex patterns on the seal’s surface, as if restraining the blood once again within a ruptured vessel.

That damaged section, under the enveloping flow of the water light, stabilized the dissipating magical fluctuation; though not directly repaired, it ceased further decay.

"Half an Ocean Staff, is it..." The Demon King’s phantom swayed slightly in the water, voice tinged with wry humor, "Using it to maintain a seal is indeed extravagant."

As the connection of external and internal magic was cut off by the staff’s power, that gelatinous phantom lost its support, its contours beginning to blur and dissipate slowly in the water.

Lin Jun’s gaze settled on the currently stabilized seal, and the [Ocean Staff] inserted into it.

Could his efforts ultimately have been for naught?