Chapter 157: 154 Eloquence

The head of the Adventurers' Guild seems to have changed.

Not long after Farl arrived in Silent Wind Town, Lin Jun noticed him.

It was hard not to notice; the carriage covered in dazzling, intricate arrays was so bright that even Lin Jun, who was still studying basic arrays, could not look directly at it.

【Name: Farl Isaacs】

【Race: Human】

【Level: 28】

【Name: Lillian】

【Race: Half-Elf】

【Level: 55】

The vibe of a useless young master accompanied by a powerful combat maid...

Now, more than half of Silent Wind Town was within Lin Jun's field of view, but this was not something he had intentionally done; his mycelial mat had only spread just outside the dungeon entrance.

It was purely because the people in Silent Wind Town came to the dungeon every day to gather large quantities of mushrooms, naturally causing some spores to grow into mycelium and mushrooms on top of their wooden houses.

Once the number of mushrooms within the range reached a certain level, a field of view naturally formed.

It was just that since they were not connected to the mycelial mat, the latency was quite severe.

Places like the Adventurers' Guild, where mushrooms could not grow inside, were blind spots in Lin Jun's field of view within Silent Wind Town.

However, he didn't actually intend to monitor the entire Silent Wind Town anyway.

His attention remained temporarily focused on the Deep Zone; as long as the Adventurers' Guild didn't come to provoke him, he didn't care who their guild master was.

In the Deep Zone, eight caves had already been occupied one after another; Lin Jun had numbered them in order from Cave 1 to Cave 8.

Since the caves required Pujis to guard them, every time a cave was conquered, the number of Pujis in the expedition team decreased slightly; now, the expedition team led by Louisa had only half the number they started with.

Reduced firepower also meant the progress of the conquest slowed down; the latest cave had been at a stalemate with a nest of basilisks for two whole days.

Yet there was still no sign of the dungeon core's location; Lin Jun estimated it would probably not be found in the short term.

In that case, the importance of the troglodytes became even greater.

However, the Yellow Leather Book, which was responsible for finding the troglodytes, had made no contribution at all during this period.

It was time to urge it on...

【Norris, you betrayed me!】

A few short words appeared on the book with a knife-carved appearance, full of the Yellow Leather Book's disbelief.

"I... I didn't..."

【Then why did you just close me?】

【Why?】

Norris glanced at the minotaur, which had been defeated by them and already carried away, and explained helplessly:

"The boss requested it! If I hadn't closed you, Senior, wouldn't you have just extracted the minotaur's soul again? Just like last time!"

Last time, Norris relied on commanding two puppet minotaurs and Pujis, plus the Yellow Leather Book manipulating spirits, to make the opposing minotaur fly into a rage and lose its judgment, cleverly defeating it.

The minotaur was originally left with just a breath of life, but the Yellow Leather Book suddenly acted, extracting the soul of the minotaur that still had a breath of life and killing it instantly!

Remembering the boss's request, when this minotaur was about to be defeated, Norris closed the Yellow Leather Book in advance.

Now the minotaur was fine, but the Yellow Leather Book was not happy... 【The boss's request? Does that mean I'm going to starve to death?】

【Norris, how long have I been starving? I just want to eat a little bit!】

【And last time I didn't forget to share with you!】

Norris scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly; the Yellow Leather Book really hadn't forgotten to give him a share when it ate souls last time, and he still vaguely remembered that sense of fullness after the attribute increase—mesmerizing.

"But, the boss said..."

【Norris, you're confused!】

【The minotaur was killed by our hard work; what's the problem with eating a little occasionally?】

【And who tells you stories every day?】

【Do you know how many pages I secretly wasted behind the scenes to make up stories just to make you happy?】

【And you? I just don't want to go hungry!】

【Norris, haven't you gone hungry too? You know that feeling, right!】

【That feeling of emptiness and pain; I am suffering this torment right now!】

【You can still starve to death, but I can't; I can only eternally endure this torture. Can you understand?】

【Waaaaaaah】

Looking at the Yellow Leather Book's words, Norris was left speechless.

Although the Yellow Leather Book was usually arrogant and its typing was very cocky, it truly treated him very well.

The story once every three days was a joy he had never had before.

Not only that, the Yellow Leather Book would chat with him, as if they were friends.

In terms of combat, he had also received quite a bit of care from the Yellow Leather Book; the Yellow Leather Book used its reconnaissance ability to let Norris avoid risks in advance every time.

Most importantly, he had truly experienced that feeling of starving to death, and he never expected the Yellow Leather Book had been living such a life all along.

"Then, next time, if it's just one occasionally..."

"Eh? Won't... starve to death, so... that means... not eating is... okay too!"

A hoarse, shriveled, distorted voice with an echo suddenly rang out from Norris's chest.

It was the voice-puji that Lin Jun had asked Norris to bring along but rarely used afterward, hanging around his neck like a scarf.

Norris, whose face fell as he nearly violated the boss's requirement, froze in place, too afraid to speak.

The characters on the yellow book vanished rapidly; mere half a second later, the pages were as clean as new.

But obviously, it was too late.

Lin Jun's earlier decision to divert some of his attention to Norris was no joke; every move of the yellow book was under his watch, he had merely chosen to let it slide before.

Norris suddenly felt that the puji originally under his hand had its control taken back.

That puji stepped forward, extending fungal hyphae tentacles to take the yellow book from Norris's hand.

Norris dared not resist at all, while the yellow book had already begun to write characters.

【Boss! It was all a misunderstanding!】

【I really didn't mean to steal a bite!】

【I was just teasing little Norris】

【Testing whether he had kept your instructions in mind】

【Look, this very test proved he couldn't fully comply!】

Norris:???

"Sent you down... achieved nothing... and still pulled little tricks?"

Speaking thus, the puji rolled up the yellow book and walked toward Cave No. 1, apparently intending to return it to Seeing Xiao Hei.

【Boss! Wait!】

【Give me a chance!】

【Can achievements make amends for crimes?】

A brief silence.

"It can... be considered."

【I-I-I have a lead!】

【I have intelligence!】

【In the direction connected by the largest passage of Cave No. 3, there is a creature matching your description, Boss!】

Afterwards, the yellow book quickly described again the appearance, quantity, and behavior of the cave dwellers it had scouted, indicating it truly wasn't just spouting lies.

The puji nodded its mushroom cap.

"I... understand."

It then continued to take it away.

【Why?】

【I provided a lead! I made a contribution to the Mushroom Garden!】

【You just promised me, how can you do this?】

"The crime of tempting Norris... is forgiven; now it is... your crime of knowing... and not reporting!"

【?!】

Two days later, Norris received the yellow book, which had successfully slimmed down, and a voice-puji that, though its voice remained unpleasant, could now speak fluently.

(End of this chapter)