Chapter 327: Scarlet and Reinforcements

Rod's arms bulged with veins.

The effects of 【Giant Dragon Heart】, 【Dragon Power Art】, and 【Surging Mighty Force】 reached their peak.

This Mushroom King's strength lay in the mid-seventh tier; their race was naturally skilled in boxing, and among beings of the same size, their power had few rivals.

Moreover, he had clearly absorbed quite a few spores.

These spores might be harmful to ordinary people, but for Mushrooms, they were a beneficial buff.

Thus, this was truly the first time Rod had encountered someone of comparable tier who could match his strength.

There was even a faint momentum of him being slightly superior.

"Hahaha—weakling human!"

The Mushroom King even had the leisure to mock.

"Master, shall I pull him down?"

Tally, displeased, spoke into her master's ear.

"Hmph!"

Rod let out a cold snort.

He activated the shared skill 【Power Unleashed】 to 500%.

The Mushroom King's mocking expression instantly changed.

His feet trembled, nearly being crushed down.

If winning, win completely!

Rod's spirit rose, gradually increasing the layers of Power Unleashed.

Seeing himself being pressed backward by an unstoppable immense force, the Mushroom King's feet strained desperately in vain, even carving two scratches into the ground.

His expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

He wanted to speak, but feared losing his breath and being pushed down in disgrace, so he could only hold his breath, his mushroom face straining to resist.

But until he was pressed against the wall, he gained not a shred of advantage.

Seeing it was about enough, Rod twisted his bear-like waist.

He slammed the tall Mushroom King down with a Boom, sending out a tide-like mass of spores.

"You have lost."

"I, lost to a human?"

The Mushroom King said in disbelief.

He lay on the ground without rising, staring blankly at the rock ceiling.

Then he inhaled another dose of hallucinogenic spores.

Seeing no intention of him rising again, Rod grew too lazy to care, stepped over him, and walked straight toward the fork on the right.

Along the way, he secretly shook his aching arms.

The percentage boost of 【Power Unleashed】 was based on his base strength, not the total strength amplified by 【Giant Dragon Heart】, 【Dragon Power Art】, and 【Surging Mighty Force】.

Simply put.

Base strength was the white value; the strength amplified afterward belonged to the green value.

Power Unleashed amplified the base strength of the white value.

"Are you alright, Rod?"

Oona jogged over, asking with concern.

"Don't worry."

Mushroom Noah said, "You defeated the Mushroom King in arm wrestling; from now on, you are the Mushroom King of the Mycelium Clan!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? He isn't a Mushroom, how can he be the Mushroom King?"

Haley said helplessly.

"Huh? Isn't Rod a Mushroom?"

"."

Rod ignored the conversation behind him.

He walked straight toward the passage ahead.

After walking one or two hundred meters past the fork, he encountered a half-open stone door.

His Spider Sense probed inside, confirming no aggressive entities were present, before he pushed it open with one shove.

What came into view.

Was a high-backed chair made of rock.

On the chair, a petite Mushroom wearing a golden crown lay unconscious.

"Scarlet!"

Oona exclaimed.

Sitting on the seat was none other than her old friend's daughter.

Rod nodded; he was more concerned about the golden crown on Scarlet's head.

This thing was identical to the crown they had taken in not long ago.

The previous one had been melted by Rod into a small broken piece, but this one was intact.

Oona noticed it too and hurriedly checked the one she had stored away.

"The other one didn't disappear; it doesn't have auto-teleportation properties, which means there were originally two crowns or more."

"Unpleasant bad news."

Rod followed with a bitter smile.

Immediately, he noticed the fungal warts on the crown becoming more active, while the mushroom-kin Scarlet beneath it seemed to have shrunk a size.

Scarlet's mushroom-kin traits were actually not very obvious; one might even say she looked more human.

Her body was covered by a layer of soft, faintly blue-glowing mycelium, woven into a tight mycelium suit.

It fit closely; where it should bulge, it bulged greatly, and where it should be slender, it was slender enough.

Her head most conformed to mushroom-kin traits, topped with a red-spotted mushroom cap that looked soft and glutinous, swept back like long hair.

"No."

Rod widened his eyes, looking at Scarlet's chest.

Do mushroom-kin figures explode like this too?

Ona stepped forward, raising her hands to block his view; she looked embarrassed: "Rod, your lust is about to overflow. Besides, that is Scarlet's sporangium, not a mammalian position in the animal sense."

"The sporangium is different from other mushroom-kin too, isn't it? Hers is almost exactly like that of a humanoid."

"I... I refuse to answer that question."

Rod stopped chatting; saving the person was the priority now.

Everyone approached the stone seat.

When the golden crown was worn, its mental confusion ability would temporarily vanish; this was known from facing the simulacra in the sea before.

Rod flicked out a wisp of resentful fire, intending to deal with it as before.

The effect was good.

The warts and mycelium on the crown twisted back in fear, but at the same time, Scarlet let out a pained, muffled groan.

He immediately extinguished the resentful fire.

"They've become one?"

Ona shook her head; after pondering for a moment, she said:

"The crown is absorbing souls. In the process, Scarlet's soul will be positioned between the body and the crown, in a state of being torn apart. Therefore, any harm suffered by either will feedback onto the soul. Worse still, this is a summoning ritual; once Scarlet's soul is completely absorbed, it will become a rift connecting to a strange dimension."

"Is there any way?"

The rabbit-kin girl frowned, indicating that skills have their specialists; she was a rabbit-kin mage specializing in Jing Shen Xi Fa, not an arcane mage skilled at setting up ritual sites.

Rod nodded:

"Coincidentally, I have a... friend who is very skilled in soul-related rituals."

The dog-kin Sharon inherited the memories and spell knowledge of the plague mage Amel and has considerable research into souls.

Of course, the elf Tally should also be capable.

But after all, she was not his enslaved subject; ordering her around too much might tire her out again.

Ona looked delighted.

"Then I'll trouble Rod. I will certainly pay the corresponding reward!"

"Sounds like your relationship with this 'friend' is not ordinary."

Haley said expressionlessly.

Rod shrugged and sent a 【Chain of Far Speech】 to Sharon.

The dog-kin girl's lazy voice sounded like she was still asleep.

But she did not refuse; after complaining a few times, she activated her arrival.

Half an hour later, everyone greeted her at the cave entrance.

Unexpectedly, she was not the only one who came; the witch Dimia was with her.

Both women were beautiful; the former wore high-waisted trousers and a short vest, with legs longer than her life, and a natural yet alluring waist-to-hip ratio; the latter wore a well-fitted mage robe, her broad chest complementing her cute face with baby fat. Just standing together, they were enough to draw eyes.

"So fast?"

"Rosalie had people build a teleportation array between Shi Ying Town and the Claw Valley Mountains."

Dimia explained, greeting everyone present politely.

"Are you alright? Do you not need to rest for a while longer?"

"Thanks entirely to your help, Rod, I have recovered completely... I have been lying down long enough during this time."

(End of this chapter)