Chapter 56: 56 Hard Bones

Lin Jun took the yellow-covered book back from Seeing Xiao Hei; half of its pages were torn and dangling.

Strange as it may sound, Lin Jun felt as though that page had lost its life.

The characters on it kept appearing and disappearing, but they were no longer densely packed with the same repeated line as at the very beginning.

【It's falling! The page is falling!】

【Having a dragon-man appear here is way too unfair!】

【Communicate, talk, no violence】

【No matter who you are, we can have a proper chat】

As the yellow-covered book typed, a faint wave of magic power emanated from it; the book had deployed its signature technique!

Lin Jun noticed the magic power wave, but... apparently nothing happened?

He had thought this book might try to charm him and Seeing Xiao Hei as well.

But there was no change on the panel.

Finding nothing, Lin Jun refocused his attention on the text itself.

Hmm...

... of... of... have... strength... good... good...

Very good!

The Level 2 Common Tongue skill is completely unintelligible!

Damn, how I miss the days of literacy in my past life; if only there were more humans around...

Lin Jun, oh Lin Jun, how can you be so degenerate.

Can't you learn it yourself without relying on greed?

Once Dylan returns to normal, I'll start learning Common Tongue from him!

He made a small resolution, but he still needed to figure out what to do about the notebook.

He held the notebook up before Seeing Xiao Hei, intending to ask something.

But seeing her clear eyes, Lin Jun felt there was no need to ask.

It seemed he would have to wait; the cultural pillar of this park—the literate Dylan—would need to wake up before research could continue.

He tossed the yellow-covered book onto the ground, where a self-exploding Pooji sat down on it with a squelch, pinning it down.

Anyway, if it tried anything, Pooji would just explode in its face.

Several Poojis lifted the unconscious Dylan and dumped him into another hollow mushroom.

Inside, mycelium could replenish his magic power; from now on, these mushroom rooms would serve as dedicated staff quarters.

————

"Hmm... where am I?"

Everything around him felt soft, like a comfortable large bed.

The mycelium in his body felt fully fed with magic power; he hadn't felt this fulfilled in ages. Out there, he could only sip magic potions drop by drop, never daring to drink enough to get stuffed.

Opening his eyes, the ceiling looked very strange.

It wasn't like stone or wood; it actually looked a bit like... a mushroom?

Dylan's eyes snapped wide open. Recalling his memories from just before he fainted, though chaotic, he still remembered enough.

He immediately rolled over and climbed out of the large bed.

Looking back... it really was a giant mushroom!

"Awake? If you're awake, stay right where you are."

Receiving the Boss's order, Dylan could only obediently stay put.

He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it seemed he had made a mistake?

A moment later, several Poojis rolled over the good brother, the yellow-covered book.

Coming with them was that humanoid creature covered entirely in sharp, thick scales.

A lizard-man or something?

Doesn't seem quite like it.

He had never seen a race like this before, and that pressure... it must be stronger than even a Diamond Adventurer...

Without a doubt, if a fight broke out, this guy, who was a head shorter than him, could punch him to death in one blow; even special constitutions couldn't save him.

As he approached, he could sense the other through the mycelial network. Was this the Boss's newly recruited underling?

Truly worthy of the Boss!

It's just... why is she eating the Pooji in her arms?

Slap—

His good companion was tossed down in front of him.

The Boss's instructions came through the mycelial network:

"Read out whatever it writes, and repeat whatever I say. Got it?"

Is the Boss preparing to converse with the good brother?

Excellent; everyone will surely be able to get along peacefully through communication.

"Boss, no problem!"

Opening the good brother, this page... why is half of it missing?

Lin Jun saw that the live translator and the enforcer in charge of military deterrence were both in position.

Then, let the pleasant interrogation session begin!

First...

"Release the charm."

Dylan didn't understand what the Boss meant, but he still seriously completed his translation task.

【Okay, okay, I'll release it】

After reading these words, Dylan suddenly felt dazed for a moment.

"B-Boss, what happened? I..."

【Fixed Status: Charm. Moderate】

Before he could finish speaking, Seeing Xiao Hei, under Lin Jun's instruction,

stepped on the Huang Pishu and grabbed the page that was still half-attached.

Before any text could appear, with a short "Rrrrip," that page completely detached from the Huang Pishu.

【Aaaaaaaah!】

After the leather pages detached from the book, they slowly turned to ash, while overlapping wails could faintly be heard.

What the hell is this thing?

This book seems even more sinister than expected?

"Release the charm," Lin Jun said again.

Looking at his suffering good brother, Dylan seemed a bit at a loss; only after Lin Jun repeated it again did he speak.

This time the Huang Pishu didn't reply, but Dylan suddenly clutched his head and screamed in pain.

Watching Dylan rolling on the ground, Lin Jun simply had Seeing Xiao Hei grab all the pages, preparing to tear them all off.

Fortunately, this time the Huang Pishu didn't dare to play tricks; when Dylan stopped screaming, half-dead, the charm on the panel had disappeared.

"S-Sorry... Boss... I..."

Although he had been charmed, Dylan's memories were all intact; once the charm was lifted and he thought back, he naturally knew what had happened to him.

Dylan lay on the ground like this, not only recounting the entire incident but also telling Lin Jun everything he knew about soul artifacts.

Throughout the whole process, the Huang Pishu didn't display a single character, not knowing what it was thinking.

However, after hearing the story, Lin Jun was somewhat surprised.

He had thought Dylan was simply accidentally controlled by the evil book.

He hadn't expected it to be related to vampires and the Demon Race.

"How about it? Do you need to rest?"

Lin Jun said this to Dylan; in his current state, he was much like someone who had been on a vehicle for a whole day and vomited the entire way.

"No need, Boss, you continue."

Since that was the case,

"I advise you to confess honestly yourself, so you suffer less."

The Huang Pishu in the Dragon Man's claws didn't display a single character under Lin Jun's threat; it actually looked completely indifferent!

"Stiff-necked?"

Seeing Xiao Hei continued to grab all the pages with one claw, while the other claw pulled one out from the middle, tearing it off bit by bit, back and forth.

The pages were the same; after being torn off, they turned to ash accompanied by wails.

What surprised Lin Jun was that this time the Huang Pishu didn't even display text-version screams!?

Impressive, let's try tearing off two more pages!

"Um, could it be that its 'neck' is being choked?"

Dylan pointed somewhat uncertainly at the bundle of pages that Seeing Xiao Hei had been gripping tightly in his hand since just now.

???

Can a book even have a neck?

Trying to have Seeing Xiao Hei loosen his grip on the pages...

【Speak! I'll say everything!】

【Please make that black guy stay away from me!!!】—

Saint Clair Duke's Manor.

Inanna rubbed her sleepy eyes and propped herself up from the goose-down mattress.

Seeing the quilt pushed aside, she helplessly scratched her messy pink hair.

In her sleep, changing from Pooji form back to human form easily and naturally pushed the quilt aside; this had happened several times already.

But she always couldn't help casting a transformation spell on herself before sleep.

She felt that after turning into Pooji, the state of only vaguely sensing the surroundings was particularly suitable for relaxing and sleeping.

Thinking about it, since she wasn't very afraid of the cold, it probably didn't matter.

Although it was still a bit early, since she was already awake, she should go to the teacher's place to start today's magic studies.

(End of Chapter)