Fungus and the Dwarf Prince

Keosius was curled up in the cave, his massive, mountain-like body rising and falling with each breath, constantly spewing out hot white smoke.

At this moment, the Red Dragon was like a moving active volcano, accumulating terrifying heat within its body. However, this was only the power brought by the bloodline of the Progenitor Dragon; Keosius's power was far more than that.

The divine power of the Sun God, the power of order, the flames of chaos, the origin of the Elemental Plane, and even the origin of heaven were all mixed in that enormous body. If a mortal possessed such a complex and mottled power, he would probably have exploded and died long ago. However, these powers Contend Against each other in the body of the Progenitor Dragon and eventually maintained a delicate balance, like a self-operating miniature world.

"Roar--"

The Red Dragon roared and spewed out a hot wind that distorted the air, then slowly opened its eyes and awoke from its slumber once more.

For months since the Embers of the Burned Empire occupied North Aisel, Keosius's true form had been slumbering in the region with the most abundant and active magical energy. After all, it was Fei An Suo, and the Weave around it was far more active than in remote wastelands like Anzeta.

However, Keosius has not been idle these past few days. He has been maneuvering his Golden Dragon dragon avatar to travel around, searching for allies to Contend Against the tyrannical Dragon Emperor —who is also his own ally.

He also created an additional Half-Dragon avatar, who called himself Earl Hans, and played a game of solving cases and maintaining order in Dragon Head City.

Yes, games.

Now, Keosius stands at the pinnacle of the Material Plane, his power so great that his every move causes turmoil in the world, and the number of matters that require his personal attention is decreasing.

Keosius did not want to sleep all day like ordinary dragons, losing all sense of time and life.

Therefore, he needs to do something extra to maintain his nature in order to prevent himself from being completely swallowed up by the powerful "dragon nature" of the Progenitor Dragon and becoming a complete beast.

"This period of slumber was not very long, only three months, and the Empire has already completely taken control of North Aisel."

Through the alias "Earl Hans," Keosius gains a clear understanding of the Empire's rule over Aisel, a fact known only to Chief Minister Lang Pu.

Although the people of North Aisel are not yet fully convinced and are somewhat "unaccustomed to the king's rule," their resistance has largely subsided, and the new society under the empire's rule is gradually coming into operation.

However, North Aisel has not undergone many changes yet, and the empire's ruling method is mainly to maintain social stability, without touching the interests of certain old forces.

Soon, merchants and factory owners from the Empire will flock to this undeveloped "virgin land," bringing towering chimneys, massive machines, ever-burning electric lights, and—a new way of life—to the people of North Aisel.

"My physical body seems to have become much stronger again, and this cave has become somewhat narrow."

Keosius twisted his neck and looked down at his body, discovering that he had grown considerably larger, now nearly sixty meters long from his snout to the tip of his tail.

Moreover, after gradually absorbing the divine power of the Sun God, the Red Dragon's body was covered with a thin layer of golden light, and even golden-red flames shot out from his pupils and the corners of his mouth, making him appear somewhat divine.

"This power is highly compatible with my true form," Keosius licked his lips, his eyes revealing the greed unique to dragons.

"The divine power within just these dozen or so Angel Divine Descendant has brought me such a boost. If I were to truly ascend to the supreme position of the Sun God..."

Feeling the power within him that seemed capable of burning everything, and gazing up at the sun high in the sky, radiating boundless light, Keosius instantly understood the choice Aragon I back then.

Faced with such a supreme and glorious position, who could remain rational? Keosius looked at the magical communicator in the corner of the cave and found that it had accumulated several messages, all sent by Lang Pu.

—It seems that the other party has successfully completed the task assigned by Keosius.

After years of working together, Keosius had gotten used to dumping all the troublesome work on the Ogre Mage, then going to sleep, and then accepting the results of his work with a clear conscience when he woke up, taking Lang Pu's "tool" role to the extreme.

However, Lang Pu is also very enthusiastic about sharing his master's burdens and striving for the "Great Blueprint," and he always tries his best to do things perfectly.

"Beep—"

The communicator flickered with light, projecting Magic Image that showed Lang Pu's ugly, ferocious face. However, he appeared weak and listless, and even the dragon scales couldn't hide the dark circles around his eyes.

"My esteemed master, you should be awake by the time you see this video. Congratulations on becoming even more powerful once again."

After a few words of flattery, Lang Pu got straight to the point and began reporting on the task assigned by Keosius: "The orc bodies you gave me are extremely dangerous, containing things that could threaten the Material Plane."

Our researchers placed these fungus-like orc remains in cultivation gardens in various environments. Within just a few days, these orc remains multiplied in large quantities through mycelial breakage and spore germination. Our researchers called these ' Orc Spores '.

Orc Spores reproduce at an unusually fast rate; in dark and damp environments, their numbers can increase dozens or even hundreds of times in a single day.

When the number of Orc Spores reaches a certain threshold, they form mushroom-like structures, from which eggs grow, containing newborn orcs.

The Ogre raised his hand, and images of the Imperial Breeding Park appeared before Keosius. The grasslands and wetlands were covered with huge green mushrooms, so densely packed that they made one's scalp tingle and one's hair stand on end.

Lang Pu continued, "Within a month, using the orc remains you provided, our researchers bred 1,200 Green-skinned Orcs. Physiologically, they are a symbiotic combination of animal and fungus, similar to the Myconid of the Underdark, but far more powerful."

Lang Pu waved his staff again, and a video appeared in his prepared "PowerPoint presentation".

"WAAAAAGH!"

Hundreds of Green-skinned Orcs were trapped in a cage, howling and pounding on the bars, trying to break through and fight outside.

Outside the cage, Imperial researchers in hazmat suits were carefully cleaning up the orc remains torn to pieces by Wyvern to prevent the Orc Spores from spreading to the outside world.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent glass isolation room, mangled orcs were screaming, howling, and struggling on the operating table.

Some of them had their arms and legs cut off, some had their chests cut open, and some were even cut open vertically and made into biological specimens.

Meanwhile, the Imperial researchers were carefully observing the severed tissues under microscopes, completely ignoring the green blood covering their bodies, and even showing excitement on their faces, marveling at this wondrous life form and marveling at it.

Keosius stared at the bloody, horrific, R-rated scene, his lips twitching slightly. Compared to the screaming Green-skinned Orcs, these Imperial researchers seemed more like the real villains.

"As expected of a gamer."

Biology is not thriving in Erezege's native lands, and most of the empire's biological researchers are experts in the field of biology from Earth.

They were so fascinated by the ecosystem here, which was "comparable to the real world," that they stayed in the Game Pod day and night, and one even wrote a book called "Erezege Encyclopedia of Biology".

In the video, Lang Pu continues to report, "These Green-skinned Orcs are extremely strong, far surpassing the strength of ordinary humans, and even approaching that of ordinary Ogre."

They are aggressive yet simple-minded, almost incapable of feeling pain, and can emit a force field that disrupts magic; they are practically natural weapons of war, and certainly not products of nature.

"Just as I thought."

Keosius rubbed his chin with his giant claws, his eyes slightly narrowed as he pondered, "This familiar modus operandi is most likely the work of the Abyss Will."

Sure enough, just as he thought of this, Lang Pu spoke up, "According to our investigation and research, the source of power for these Green-skinned Orcs is very likely an Abyss Lord."

As he spoke, Lang Pu turned the page again.

A creature covered in filth, resembling an unfinished human sculpture, appeared before Keosius.

The torso is composed of flat, coiled fungi that happen to form a graceful female figure, with four fibrous horns protruding from the brow bone.

Her lower body was a bundle of thick, coiled, whip-like pseudopodia, covered in fungi. Her skin was covered in nauseating, swirling welts of gray, blue, purple, and black.

Those dark eyes were constantly writhing, as if something was about to burst forth from them, emanating an aura of utter chaos and filth.

"This is fucking..."

Upon seeing this, Keosius couldn't help but curse and covered his eyes with his dragon claws.

Such an appearance can no longer be described as ugly; it's downright bizarre.

Even dragons, creatures with a highly tolerant aesthetic sense, found it difficult to appreciate. Keosius even had the urge to personally go to the Abyss and burn the thing to ashes.

With a serious expression and a heavy voice, Lang Pu introduced, "This is the lord of the 222nd level of the Abyss, and also the being we suspect has influenced the orcs— the Fungus Lady Zuggtmoy."

As far as we know, Zul'Gurub is a demon who controls fungi and usually establishes a fake religion, while the sect is actually controlled by her true followers.

Thousands of years ago, she founded the Elemental Temple, worshipping the essence of the four elements, yet the followers within were all fungal creatures cloaked in human skin.

Despite not wanting to hurt his eyes, Keosius forced himself to observe the image of the Fungus Lady, his pale golden pupils revealing undisguised disgust.

"Damn Abyss, it actually created this disgusting thing."

However, he couldn't delay any longer. In his memory, these orcs in his previous life had secretly developed for years before finally unleashing a massive beast tide that covered the land, causing catastrophic disaster.

Now that they understand the true nature of these orcs, the Embers of the Burned Empire must act preemptively to control their numbers.

Thinking of this, Keosius's expression turned cold. "Now that North Aisel has stabilized, let's head northeast to the Ugo Prairie and completely destroy the Red Blood Tribe."

As for conquering the High Mountain Dwarf Kingdom? For the current empire, that's just a piece of cake.

Soon, the communicator was reactivated, and shortly after, Lang Pu's ugly face appeared in the Magic Image, looking even more tired than in the previous video.

However, after seeing the appearance of Fungus Lady, when he looked at Lang Pu, Keosius surprisingly thought that this Ogre was quite unique in appearance.

A rare look of excitement and joy appeared on Lang Pu's exhausted face. "Master, you're finally awake!"

Keosius nodded and gave the order directly, "Lang Pu, tell the Imperial Senate to launch an offensive to the northeast. The Empire has been resting for too long."

"Yes, Master."

Lang Pu quickly lowered his head and solemnly accepted the order.

Keosius's orders did not need to be drafted by the Senate, nor did they need to be approved by the Imperial Parliament —because the will of the Embers of the Burned Emperor was the absolute will of the Empire, without question.

Black Rock Mountains, the capital of the High Mountain Dwarf Kingdom — Avendell Dan.

Inside the magnificent Dwarf palace built against the mountainside, a secret conversation was taking place.

"Remember, you must obey Titus's orders and strive to live under his Dragon Wing," Ed said earnestly.

Before him stood a Dwarf of equal stature and strength, though his beard was not as thick as Ed's, covering only half of his face.

He is Zane Klein, the son of Ed, a prince who inherited the bloodline of the High Mountain royal family, and also a powerful and brave Fighter.

Zane is only in his fifties now, which, according to the lifespan of Dwarf, means he is still just a young and vigorous man.

Zane raised his head and stared at Ed in front of him, his face showing resentment and confusion. "Father, why did you make me leave here?"

"I am your son, but I am also Fighter of the High Mountain Kingdom! I lack neither courage nor conviction. I will live and die with Avendell Dan, and let those invaders—whether orcs or dragons—witness the mighty hammer of us Dwarf!"

Ed looked bitter and sighed softly, "Zane, I don't have much time left to live, and I can no longer protect you."

"Father, this, this can't be! You're lying to me, aren't you? You still look so strong, even more energetic than me."

Zane's expression turned to utter astonishment, and even his voice trembled.

Ed didn't explain much, he just shook his head and then patted the Dwarf prince on the shoulder. "Zane, go and follow the Dawn Wing."

Only in this way can the civilization of our High Mountain Kingdom be preserved.