Chapter 261: Chapter 253: Infant-Level Underground City

“How do we get across? Unless you’ve grown wings…” Tolin hadn’t finished speaking before he felt a powerful force at his waist!

“Ahhhhhhhh——!” Tolin only had time to let out a pitched scream as his body drew an arc through the air. He flailed wildly, finally managing to grab hold of a protruding rock edge at the last possible moment before crashing into the opposite cliff face.

Thud!

The enormous inertia made his face slam fiercely against the cold rock wall, sending a sharp pain through his nose as warm blood gushed out instantly.

But he couldn’t worry about any of that, as the joy of surviving surged through his mind: “You really did it, Gleam! I…”

He excitedly turned to praise his companion, only to see a burly figure already leaping into the air!

Gleam was airborne, but unfortunately, due to a short running start, he didn’t have enough height, and it was clear he wouldn’t reach the edge.

“Ah?!” Tolin watched in horror as those strong hands missed the rock but grabbed firmly onto his dangling calf!

“Ugh—!” Tolin felt a heavy force suddenly pulling him downward. A searing pain shot through his fingers gripping the rock, and he was nearly dragged off, “Idiot! Can’t you give a shout before you jump?!”

“Shout my ass! There’s no time!!” Gleam, still clinging to Tolin’s leg, gasped just as frantically.

Tolin glanced back with difficulty, seeing that the cliff edge they had just stood on was now crowded with scarecrows. Luckily, they were just ordinary scarecrows; if any had the ability to throw or cast spells, the two of them would now be live targets.

Gleam tried climbing up Tolin’s leg, but as soon as he attempted, the two shook violently. The ominous sound of stone cracking came from above.

Tolin shouted urgently, “Don’t move! Don’t climb! It’s going to break! Can’t you grab onto the surrounding rocks first?”

Gleam looked around, “Grab what? It’s all smooth! There’s nowhere to get a hold!”

Crack—

The rock Tolin clung to cracked further.

“Bro! It can’t hold both of us! If you don’t…sacrifice yourself, I’ll have to become the greatest adventurer! I’ll carve your name at the bottom of the monument!”

“Then I’d be the nameless Mercenary A who dies at the start? I bet you don’t even know my surname!” Gleam tried to scramble upwards quickly, “The reward you’re offering is nice, but it’s not enough to risk my life!”

“I can’t hold on much longer—!”

Crash!

Stones flew, and the two dwarves tumbled into the depths of the black abyss below, clutching each other and screaming!

They tumbled and collided down the steep cliff, thinking all was lost, when suddenly they landed in something soft…

Pitch black, nothing could be seen.

“Ouch! My precious beard!” By the tone of his voice, Gleam’s cry of pain was filled with genuine grief. He groped in the darkness for his pride and joy, feeling the uneven tearing at his fingertips.

Tolin, meanwhile, lay spread-eagle, deeply embedded in the unknown softness, his voice filled with the dazed despair of a man who narrowly escaped death: “Where is this? A lower level? A manor or a mansion?”

He didn’t even have the energy to lament Gleam’s earlier actions. He only felt that fate was a harsh anvil.

“Seems like…neither?” Gleam’s voice carried a hint of uncertainty.

With that, Tolin shuddered, finally realizing that the sting caused by resisting curses on his skin had vanished!

Dwarves have an innate resistance, so they could explore the Scarecrow Abyss relatively easily. Yet, when under a curse attack, a stinging sensation would occur, which should have happened, but now it was gone!

“Could we have escaped?!” Tolin’s voice rose in disbelief, but he quickly questioned, “But…how? Why?”

Tear——!

A harsh ripping noise, accompanied by a sudden influx of light, interrupted Tolin’s thoughts! It was Gleam, who had drawn his only remaining hand axe and fiercely chopped open the softness surrounding them!

The two scrambled hands and feet out of their confinement, and the scene that greeted them left them stunned, their mouths wide open as if to fit a dwarf-sized oatcake.

The eerie fields and rotten windmills were gone, replaced by a dreamy forest of glowing mushrooms!

Countless massive mushrooms of various shapes rose to the sky, their caps like umbrellas or clouds, emitting a gentle fluorescence. Tiny glowing spores floated in the air, with layers of intertwining lights flowing like a river of stars!

And they had emerged from one of these mushroom trees!

Staring at the splendid view, Gleam immediately tore off a piece of his clothing to cover his mouth and nose, and Tolin did the same.

Under the light, the two turned around and saw the space rift at the top of the gigantic Mushroom Tree.

“So…” Gleam touched his broken beard, his voice filled with a deep sense of absurdity, “are we… possibly in another Underground City?”

“Goblins!” Tolin suddenly shouted.

Gleam’s muscles tensed instantly, and he held his remaining Hand Axe in front of him, cautiously scanning the surroundings, but saw nothing except countless mushrooms and drifting spores.

“No, wait… there really might be… but goblins aren’t that tall… but that green thing…” Tolin rubbed his eyes, his tone becoming uncertain.

It seemed as though a blurry, large green figure had just flashed behind the Mushroom Tree.

“If there really are goblins,” Gleam spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his expression darkening, “it means we’ve fallen into the territory of the Demon Race in this Underground City, like jumping from the tiger’s den into the wolf’s lair!”

Returning to the Scarecrow Abyss would be fatal, so the two could only attempt to explore the situation here.

They picked a direction and cautiously explored forward.

Not far off, behind the Mushroom Tree, Dylan, utterly confused and not understanding why the boss let them in, quickly mimicked back into human form…

The two dwarves hadn’t gone far before they stopped, encountering a Cow and Horse Puki.

Since it looked completely harmless, Gleam didn’t immediately take action but rather frowned and inspected it: “Isn’t this one of those wandering mushrooms we’d encounter inside caves?”

“The correct scientific name should be Puki!” Tolin habitually corrected him, moving a bit closer to observe. “But… how come this Puki has tentacles? A new species?”

While they spoke, two more Puki appeared from the Mushroom Forest and joined the ranks of onlookers.

“What should we do?” Tolin asked.

“What should we do… just ignore them for now. They’re just Puki, not like they can eat us, right? Don’t worry about them, let’s first figure out which level we’re on!” Gleam didn’t want to make too much noise.

Thus, the two dwarves continued forward, followed by the three Puki. However, strangely, with the passage of time, the number of Puki gathering around them increased!

By the time they finally reached the edge of this fantastical and eerie Mushroom Forest, no less than thirty or forty Puki were following behind them!

They did not attack, merely followed silently, completely unlike the aimlessly wandering Puki they remembered.

As soon as they stepped out of the Mushroom Forest, their view suddenly opened up, and it was here that they ran straight into Horn’s recently concluded party.

“Two dwarves…?” Horn looked at this duo, never seen in the Underground City before, with surprise in his eyes, especially at the troop of Puki behind them.

On realizing that the people opposite were human, Gleam’s taut nerves immediately relaxed, and he showed a look of ecstatic relief!

“Humans! They’re humans!” he excitedly slapped his thigh, suddenly understanding, “And they have Puki! I get it! This isn’t that wretched place of the Demon Race, it’s the human territory, the Purple Crystal Dungeon!”

Tolin quickly caught on: “The one reputed as the ’Newbie’s Cradle’, ’so safe you can bring babies for a stroll’ Purple Crystal Dungeon?”

“Yes! That’s the one!” Gleam nodded vigorously, his tone brightening, “It’s only ten levels, each level’s monster level is clearly marked, as long as you don’t sabotage yourself, it’s even safer than a mine shaft! Absolutely an infant-level Underground City!”

He turned to Horn’s group, shouting in Dwarvish-accented Universal Language: “Hey! Human friends, this is the Purple Crystal Dungeon, right?”

The dwarves were speaking Universal Language, which only the royal family and historians could speak in true Dwarf Language, so Horn’s group understood them clearly.

Faced with the inquiry, Ai Mei turned her face away, clearly displeased by the disdain shown towards their Underground City.

Horn found these two dwarves odd; who would ask such a question?

But he cautiously nodded: “Yes, this is the Purple Crystal Dungeon.”

With the confirmation, all of Gleam’s remaining wariness vanished into thin air.

He surveyed the surrounding Puki swaying uneasily, especially those blocking his path.

“Ha! Then this must be levels one or two! What a waste, got all nervous for nothing!” He laughed heartily, perhaps to vent prior pressure, swinging his Hand Axe with significant force, like swatting a fly, and lashed out at the nearest Puki, with Horn’s group exclaiming “Stop!”

The smashed Puki flew far away.

“What… what are you doing!”

In a voice pitch-shifted by fear, Horn yelled as Tolin, dumbfounded, was blown away by the sudden explosion’s shockwave…

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