"He... how could he be so cruel?" Inanna's face was full of incredulous anger and sympathy.

"Who knows?" Lin Jun's voice carried just the right amount of helplessness and a hint of sorrow, "Perhaps in their eyes, creatures like Puki, these 'demons', are only fit to live in the sunless depths..."

The Pink Puki finally managed to contact Lin Jun—just on the following morning after the Transformation Technique was lifted and the Maze Barrier Gauze was stored away.

The country mushrooms met and tears filled their eyes.

Lin Jun first moved emotionally with Inanna, reminiscing about the carefree, beautiful days in the Mushroom Garden, then "inadvertently" mentioned how he was "really unable to get by" in the Deep Area and was "forced" to move up. Lastly, he focused on describing the "cruel persecution" of Puki by the current Chairman Fa'er:

Such as cruel killings and dissection of those "kind and harmless" Puki that only provide lighting services for adventurers;

And organizing teams to blatantly destroy the homes of those Puki on the fifth level, who were 'peaceful and compliant'...

As for the heavy casualties of up to one-third of the attacking team?

Lin Jun stated that the Puki were all acting in self-defense, and the blame lies on the new chairman.

He just wanted to live peacefully in the Underground City. If it weren't for the difficulties posed by the new chairman, humans and Puki should have been good friends.

Inanna's eyes turned red, nodding frequently, deeply sympathizing with the plight her boss faced after she left.

"Then... what should we do now?" she asked urgently, sincerely wanting to help her boss resolve this dilemma.

But she was also aware of her limitations: as the Duke's daughter, although her status was noble, her influence in major decisions regarding the management policy of the entire Underground City was only enough to make suggestions. This level of influence was clearly insufficient to shake the guild's 'crusade against Puki' policy.

Lin Jun had anticipated this long ago.

From the very beginning, he never expected Inanna to "persuade" the guild.

"Inanna," Lin Jun shifted the topic, cutting to the chase, "Did you bring what I mentioned in the letter?"

"I did! Look!" Inanna immediately rummaged through her luggage and proudly presented a beautifully designed dagger inlaid with prismatic gems.

The dagger itself emitted a strong, undeniable magic power wave.

"Very good!" The excitement of Lin Jun's plan about to unfold was evident in his voice.

Lin Jun's plan was to have Inanna display a tool that could supposedly "control demons" to the public, and then perform a show of subduing Knight Puki under her command.

Such tools for controlling demons, while not common, were not exactly rare either, as many adventurers who tamed magic pets relied on these items, although their efficiency was usually limited to restraining low-level demons.

For Inanna, as the Duke's daughter, producing a tool capable of controlling a Knight Puki should not be surprising to those around her.

As for whether the tool was genuine?

It didn't matter, as Knight Puki would fully cooperate with the show.

Once the "control" was successful, the guild's two main reasons for crusading against Puki—"threat of out-of-control demons"—would disappear!

As for the other reason: fear of Puki's connection to the core issue.

Since it was not true to begin with, their "expert group" would naturally find out once they went down there.

With Inanna acting as a mediator between the guild and Puki, there was no fear of the guild giving orders to Puki recklessly.

Of course, there were still details to be refined, the biggest flaw being this tool.

If it were fake, others might be fooled, but Inanna's family would know what was in their possession!

This flaw required a story to cover, and if necessary, Edin could help with the ruse.

Of course, this was all a temporary measure, and Lin Jun never intended to rely on it to completely solve the human threat.

Ultimately, his safety depended on himself.

After this plan, as long as they could delay for two or three months, it would be enough time for either Lin Jun to seize control of the core or find an opportunity to move to another place. Maybe over at Chis's side...

As thoughts swirled, Lin Jun, with a hint of curiosity and confirmation, asked, "Speaking of which, what is the true effect of this Gem Dagger?"

"To control demons, of course!" Inanna answered decisively.

It's genuine... truly worthy of the Duke's family.

————

The "expert group" did not stay long at the guild.

After merely a day's rest and a brief meeting, they set out under Guge's decisive urging.

Besides the members of the "expert group" themselves, Shi Wu joined as a disciple alongside the Sword Saint, and Edin joined the team as an important addition due to his excellent reconnaissance abilities.

As pure combat units, they seemed redundant as long as the Sword Saint, the unexpected supreme figure, was present.

Before departure, Chairman Fa'er solemnly saw the team off, giving routine reminders about safety and their mission.

The only thing that gave him a strange sensation was the glance Miss Inanna gave him before leaving, which seemed... laced with an undeniable disdain?

Fa'er secretly frowned.

The two had only met for the first time yesterday, and he racked his brain but couldn't recall how he might have offended this Duke's daughter.

"Really strange..."

As for the method suggested by Miss Inanna, with the help of the Sword Saint, the difficulty of a capture was greatly reduced, and Fa'er thought it might be worth a try.

After all, even if it failed, the original plan to kill the "King of Puki" could always be followed.

"Let's hope everything goes smoothly for them!"

...

"So dark!" exclaimed Sword Saint Elvyn, the first to express surprise as they entered the Underground City.

He squinted at the dim passageway, his voice full of disbelief, "The Purple Crystal Dungeon has changed so much!"

From his tone, it was evident he had been here before.

"What is that?"

Sword Saint pointed to a lighting Puki rented by an adventurer in the distance, even before Shi Wu could explain the previous question.

Evidently, the thick stack of situation reports Chairman Fa'er presented last night had remained unread by the Sword Saint.

Shi Wu could only helplessly sigh, assuming the role of a temporary explainer, answering his mentor's questions one by one.

"Let's rent one too!" Sword Saint proposed enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, a passing demon silently split into two at the end of the corridor, the break smooth as a mirror.

"Master, this... doesn't seem appropriate?" Shi Wu hesitated with a troubled expression, "Our mission this time, besides finding the core, we also have..."

And there is that mysterious "King of Puki"!

Carrying a Puki along with them, what sense would that make?

"That's something to consider after finding the core!" Sword Saint waved impatiently, kicking Shi Wu's behind, "Stop whining, go do it!"

Shi Wu, rubbing the sore spot from the kick, helplessly had to drag back the demon's remains, exchanging them for a plump lighting Puki.

As they descended further, Sword Saint marveled at the dramatic changes in the Purple Crystal Dungeon, like a visitor seeing it for the first time.

What Shi Wu noticed more was that not a single Puki came to obstruct them this time.

Occasionally, a Puki was seen fighting with slimes on the lower levels, ignoring them completely, unlike their previous reception.

Did they sense his master's power?

Shi Wu wondered but had no way to confirm.

They smoothly arrived at the Deep Area, where the lighting Puki stopped following at the end of the seventh floor.

Then... they witnessed the true state of the Purple Crystal Dungeon...

Beside the staircase leading to the Deep Area was the lava nest that was once occupied by the Flame Demon.

Even after the Flame Demon's death, it was still a scorching lava cavern, yet at this moment, the entire cave felt devoid of any heat.

The once surging lava lake had vanished without a trace, leaving behind a space rift about five meters wide at the bottom.

The members of the group couldn't hide their astonishment; for many, it was their first time seeing such a space rift. Even the Sword Saint raised an eyebrow.

Guge, who had been silent all along, turned pale at the sight: "This situation... it's far worse than we expected..."

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