Chapter Summaries

Linden learned that the amethyst Battle Puppets drew their intelligence from the failing Dungeon Core, and Yellow Book proposed consuming the Core’s dwindling computing power to disable them. Linden began testing the plan while keeping the No. 3 Mushroom Garden secret as a fallback if the Dungeon collapsed.

• Yellow Book returned from seclusion and learned that Norris no longer needed its help, then shifted its attention to the Dungeon Core.
• Yellow Book identified the two S-Rank crystal Battle Puppets and explained that the Dungeon Core powered their calculations.
• Yellow Book warned that the Core might have damaged components that could not be repaired without unavailable parts.
• Linden promised Yellow Book greater freedom if it did its best to help, then stored it three caves from the Core.
• Linden sent Pujis to trigger the Battle Puppets repeatedly and consume the Core’s computing resources, while withholding the location of the No. 3 Mushroom Garden.

Linden expanded his operations in the Far North, bringing Ze into the Mycelium Network and drawing the Demon Descendant Tribe into working with the Pujis. As the tribe began arriving at No. 3 Mushroom Garden, the Battle Puppets’ repeated clashes further destabilized the Dungeon and endangered unaware Adventurers.

• Linden harvested the Fat Worm’s hide and raised his resistance while Drilling Puji slowly dug a tunnel toward the Demon Descendant Tribe.
• Qiong returned with Shou and Ze, and Linden explained that Ze needed to form a mycelium symbiosis before he could work with the Pujis.
• Ze accepted the connection, and Louisa’s embrace left him weak but turned him into a Half-Mushroom Person linked to the Mycelium Network.
• Linden sent Qiong, Shou, and Ze to defend a Cave Dweller cave from Monsters, where they fought alongside the Cave Dwellers and earned a large pile of mushrooms.
• More demon descendants arrived at No. 3 Mushroom Garden, while Little Black moved her Mushroom House and shinies to a secluded corner.
• The Pujis continued drawing fire from the Battle Puppets, accelerating the Dungeon’s collapse and putting unaware Adventurers at risk.

Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin returned to the Amethyst Dungeon amid rising refugee numbers and increasingly dangerous monsters. On the Sixth Floor, they witnessed a mage probing an invisible disturbance get torn apart when a Rift suddenly opened.

• Vera and her companions passed refugees being driven away from the dungeon entrance and met Old Bear, who warned them that monsters had grown unusually vicious.
• The group found no Illumination Pujis available to rent and traveled toward the Sixth Floor through crowded, monster-cleared passages.
• Vera's party encountered berserk monsters on the Sixth Floor and gathered materials without being injured.
• Near the Seventh Floor stairs, a wounded party told Vera that a swimmer had lost an arm to a fast-moving creature after the water level dropped.
• A mage sensed chaotic magic in an apparently empty spot, where a Rift opened and split him apart as Vera and the others watched.

Fahr learned that the Dungeon was collapsing much earlier than expected and ordered an evacuation, including buying grain to persuade the refugees to leave. Meanwhile, Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin fought through waves of scarecrows until a Spatial Rift opened and Puji emerged.

• Mirabelle told Fahr that Spatial Rifts had spread to the fourth and fifth floors, and Fahr saw the dangerous magic readings for himself.
• Fahr ordered the Dungeon sealed and the town evacuated beyond ten li, then told Mirabelle to use his savings to buy grain for the refugees.
• Vera's group and the swordsman's remaining party retreated through the Dungeon as monsters attacked them.
• On the Fifth Floor, the parties were ambushed by numerous scarecrows and became separated during the fight.
• Vera, Feiling, and Feiyin were driven into Puji's cave, where a Spatial Rift appeared and Puji leaped out.

Vera, Feiyin, and Feiling escaped the Fifth Floor amid a vast battle between Pujis, Scarecrows, and monsters from elsewhere, bringing a Druid Elf and a badly wounded swordsman with them. They reached the surface and found the town being evacuated.

• Pujis poured through a Rift, overwhelmed the Scarecrows, and turned the Fifth Floor into a chaotic monster battle.
• Vera, Feiyin, and Feiling left their cave and met an Elf who said she was not a monster; the Druid joined them and helped them reach the stairway.
• The group found their separated swordsman unconscious and gravely wounded beside several Straw Men, and the Elf used magic to stop his bleeding.
• Vera gave the swordsman a Blood-Boiling Potion, allowing him to stand despite its dangerous backlash.
• The group fought through the upper floors and reached the surface, where guards called for a stretcher and the town was being evacuated.

Linden fought to contain the chaos caused by the Rifts while waiting for the Battle Puppets to stop, then discovered the Dungeon Core and realized only the Yellow Book could repair it. The chapter left off with Linden preparing to drain the Yellow Book’s stored souls before allowing it to begin repairs.

• Linden battled the Monsters on the Fifth Floor, coordinated Demon Descendants from Stone Fort, and watched the dungeon’s other floors deteriorate as the Rifts spread.
• After several days, a Puji crossed the platform’s center line, and the Battle Puppets stopped moving after killing it.
• Linden sent Puji to open the heavy gate and discovered the Dungeon Core was an intricate machine centered around a diamond-shaped crystal stele.
• Linden concluded that he could not repair the Dungeon Core himself and summoned the Yellow Book to do the work.
• Linden warned the Yellow Book that he intended to empty its stored souls first, and Little Black emerged from a Fatty Puji as the Yellow Book protested.

Yellow Book revealed that Linden’s use of the Fungal Carpet had deprived the dungeon of the souls it needed to operate, then used its stored souls to corrupt the Main Crystal Stele and seize control. As Linden escaped through a Split Body, the corrupted core unleashed a soul-draining force across the dungeon, leaving the Pujis and Mycelium Network in danger.

• Yellow Book entered the Dungeon Core with Linden and drew light from the Crystal Stele as it prepared to repair the dungeon.
• Yellow Book accused Linden of causing the dungeon’s collapse by consuming souls with the Fungal Carpet and confessed it had deliberately withheld that information.
• Yellow Book used an Air Wall to repel Linden’s attacks and released the souls stored in its cover into the Main Crystal Stele, corrupting it.
• Linden used Greed and the Split Body skill to transfer his main body to Knight Puji in Stone Fort, then tried to escape the core.
• The corrupted crystal unleashed a soul-level suction throughout the dungeon, killing Pujis and threatening Linden despite his efforts to sever the Mycelium Network.

The Holy Scripture used the souls it had collected to seize the dungeon’s core authority, but Linden’s enormous soul overwhelmed it and took control of the Crystal Stele. Linden’s Pujis captured the defeated Holy Scripture, and he became Dungeon Administrator No. 13.

• The Holy Scripture filled the Crystal Stele with accumulated souls, gained authority, and unleashed a lightning strike that devastated the Fifth Floor.
• The Holy Scripture failed to open the final sealed door because a cyan speck—Linden’s soul—remained in the Crystal Stele.
• Linden felt his soul being pulled toward the core, then deliberately pushed it farther in and spread it through the Crystal Stele.
• Linden’s soul expelled the Holy Scripture’s accumulated souls from the stele and spread along its connection to the Yellow Book.
• An Ox-Horse Puji and a Voice Puji caught the powerless Yellow Book, and the Voice Puji questioned it before it was shocked.
• Linden gained the title Dungeon Administrator No. 13 and the highest authority over the dungeon.

Linden repaired a dangerous Spatial Rift and gained control of the Dungeon Core, along with the [Inspiration LV1] skill. After forcing the Yellow Book to reveal its secret, Linden learned that one-sixth of a Demon King was sealed behind the Core Side Door.

• The Spatial Rift in the Fifth Floor Mushroom Forest contracted and sliced a worm in half before closing.
• Linden established a stable soul connection with the Dungeon Core and began repairing rifts, though doing so reduced the Puji Legion's control capacity.
• Linden awakened [Inspiration LV1] and discovered that his soul could directly crush the Yellow Book's mysterious foundation.
• Puji shocked the Yellow Book until Linden threatened it against storing souls in its cover, and the book grew a new page to communicate.
• The Yellow Book revealed that the secret was behind the Core Side Door, where Linden learned that one-sixth of a Demon King was sealed.

Linden learned that Yellow Book had been tasked with releasing a sealed Demon King fragment in exchange for gaining a soul, then punished the book and used it to reinforce Jida. After the Battle Puppets slaughtered their Puji escort, Linden found a way to keep them inactive and turned to repairing the ruined Amethyst Dungeon.

• Linden questioned Yellow Book, which admitted its mission was to release the Demon King so it could obtain a soul of its own.
• Linden shocked Yellow Book until it was charred, then had Puji embed it in Jida's chest as punishment.
• Linden decided to leave the possible Demon King fragment sealed and planned to strengthen the Core Hall's security.
• Linden brought two Battle Puppets into the core area, where they activated and killed more than a hundred Pujis before returning to standby.
• Linden discovered he could keep the Battle Puppets inactive by withholding computing power from them, then began repairing the damaged Amethyst Dungeon.

Linden assessed the damage to the Dungeon and learned that the Murlocs had returned to the Sanctuary, while he delayed repairing the first floor to keep humans away. He realized the connection to the Scout Puji had gone missing, but did not yet know why.

• Linden discovered that the Dungeon could repair damaged floors and traps, so he cut off repair power to protect his Mycelium Tunnels.
• Linden found that the Sixth Floor had been corrupted and the Seventh Floor’s waters had nearly vanished, while the Murlocs and their idol had disappeared.
• Linden learned from the preserved Puji corpses that the Murlocs had returned to the Sanctuary and still regarded Puji as their lord.
• Linden considered the humans’ plans to return after the Dungeon collapsed and kept the first floor damaged to delay their investigation.
• Linden remembered that Puji had died when the core extracted their souls and realized he had also lost contact with the Scout Puji.

Dylan arrived at Angus Harbor desperate to return to the Dungeon after losing contact with his boss and finding Scout Puji dead. He pawned his Phantom Cloak, obtained an old chestnut horse, and hired a boat to leave the city, unaware that a day’s delay might have trapped him there.

• After the ship’s water mage died and the vessel struck a reef, Dylan reached Angus Harbor and found Scout Puji dead after the boss had gone silent.
• Dylan recalled the boss’s last message about being sucked in and resolved to hurry back, even though he feared he would be too weak to help.
• The Adventurer Guild refused to rent Dylan a horse because he was a lone Silver Rank, so he pawned his Phantom Cloak and bought the old chestnut horse instead.
• Following the boss’s contingency plan, Dylan packed four Red Reef Fruits and dry rations, then paid the Fishermen Gang to take him out of the city by sampan.

Snake People launched a surprise attack on Angus Port, and Edwin’s alarm ruined their ambush but failed to stop the assault. As the docks burned and the town fell into chaos, Count Angus saw Demon Race warships approaching.

• Edwin complained about his low pay and his son’s mage tuition while guarding the lighthouse with a younger guard.
• When the younger guard went to find Big-Eye Fish, a Snake Person warrior killed him and chased Edwin into the lighthouse.
• Edwin rang the lighthouse alarm just before the Snake Person warrior could kill him.
• The Snake Person leader rebuked the warrior for ruining the ambush, then ordered the force to seize the docks before the humans could respond.
• Snake People attacked the dock district, killing guards and residents and setting houses and ships on fire.
• Count Angus ordered everyone sent to the docks, then saw several Demon Race warships sailing toward the port.

As war spreads, Tanaka escapes a Blood Clan pursuer by using a clone, while Sophia’s party escapes the Tidal Sanctuary at the cost of Ron’s life. Sophia withdraws to the cabin after learning Ron stayed behind to cover their retreat.

• Grand Duke Lorenzo learned Angus Port had fallen and ordered Duke Brennus to intercept the Empire while pressing the Elves for grain and troops and seeking Dwarf support.
• Tanaka’s Demon Race watchers debated summoning a duke to investigate him, but Eleanor de Knox confronted him and snapped his finger before his clone vanished.
• Tanaka revealed he had used his Sloth of the Seven Sins title to leave a clone behind in Silver Sand Bay while his real body escaped by ship.
• Sophia’s group found a hidden passage out of the sealed room in Tidal Sanctuary, and one guard stayed behind to block the pursuing Murlocs.
• Sophia learned Ron had died covering the retreat, then walked silently into the cabin as Bella followed her.

Linden enjoyed a brief taste of the sunlight outside the Dungeon before returning to expanding his Fungal Carpet and restoring order within. As he observed the Werewolves and the dangerous Monsters on the Ninth Floor, a Demon Descendant finally made an exchange request for something besides mushrooms.

• Linden briefly basked in sunlight atop a Mushroom Tree, then killed a Wind Wolf that approached him.
• Linden spread Fungal Carpet across the surface, began digging a deep Mycelium Tunnel, and sealed the major Spatial Rifts while leaving small openings for future visits.
• Linden's [Inspiration] reached level three, allowing him to distinguish the soul cores of intelligent beings from the fragments left by other creatures.
• Linden observed the well-fed Werewolves defending the Tenth Floor and decided to study them before trying to take them in.
• Linden found that flesh-and-blood Monsters on the Ninth Floor devoured his Fungal Carpet and entered Rifts leading to unknown regions.
• A Demon Descendant made an exchange request for something other than mushrooms.

Linden expanded his control over the Demon Descendants through work and contribution points, while Shou’s tribe redeemed Huyan’s Magic Core. The chapter ended with Linden promising that continued effort could restore the tribe’s members and improve their future.

• Linden delegated the Pujis’ care and other chores to the Demon Descendants, who increasingly settled in No. 3 Mushroom Garden and worked for contribution points.
• Shou gathered the Demon Descendants and requested a Magic Core for the clansman they had lost, after Linden required everyone to confirm they willingly contributed their points.
• A Puji delivered Huyan’s cracked Magic Core, and Qiong wept as she recognized it.
• Shou asked the tribe to bring Huyan home and formally thanked Linden for giving the Demon Descendants hope and a chance to return their dead to the tribe.
• Linden encouraged the Demon Descendants to keep working, promising that they could redeem more Magic Cores and perhaps recover their severed limbs.

Linden remained patient as the Demon Descendant Tribe gradually joined his system, while the refugees near the Amethyst Dungeon faced dwindling food and considered entering it to gather mushrooms. Vera's group hunted a wild boar and found a mountain pool, where Sirian hesitated to bathe with the others.

• Linden reflected that the Demon Descendants' shared contributions and growing workforce were bringing the tribe closer to integration, while he waited for them to accept his control of the Cradle.
• Eleven days after the humans withdrew, Fahr learned that the camp had only a few days of food left and decided to wait three more days before risking a mushroom-gathering trip into the dungeon.
• Vera, Feiling, Feiyin, and Sirian hunted a wild boar in the mountains to help feed the refugees.
• Vera led the group to a secluded mountain pool, and Sirian objected to bathing with the women because they were of the opposite sex.

Sirian demonstrated that his Abundance Anthem could ripen fruit by consuming a tree’s future vitality, leaving the fruit seedless and the tree withered. As Vera’s group returned to a camp struggling to feed new refugees, Vera asked whether the magic could be used on mushrooms.

• Feiling asked Sirian whether Elves could make food grow endlessly, and he demonstrated Abundance Anthem on a fruit tree.
• Sirian explained that the spell drained the tree’s stored vitality, damaged its future growth, and produced fruit without seeds.
• Vera had Feiling gather the fruit, and the group carried it and their wild boar back to camp.
• A guard told Vera that dozens of new refugees had arrived and that the camp’s porridge was getting thinner.
• Seeing the hungry refugees, Vera asked Sirian whether Abundance Anthem could be used on mushrooms.

Vera, Feiling, and the others visited Mute Wind Town to test Sirian’s Nature Magic on the Fungal Carpet, while Linden monitored the dungeon from within. Sirian’s spell rapidly grew mushrooms but also drew Linden’s mana and caused a group of Puji to burst from the ground, leaving the four surrounded.

• Vera and her companions entered mycelium-covered Mute Wind Town, where mushroom pickers had already harvested nearly all the visible mushrooms.
• Sirian used Nature Magic on the Fungal Carpet, causing mushrooms to sprout and mature rapidly as Feiling celebrated the result.
• Linden sensed Sirian drawing mana from the Fungal Carpet and realized the Elf’s spell was accelerating mushroom growth with his stored mana.
• Linden decided not to let the attempted mana theft go unanswered, though Sirian’s magic could not force the mana to flow against Linden’s will.
• A dozen-odd Puji sprang from the Fungal Carpet and surrounded Vera, Feiling, Sirian, and their companion.

Puji captured Vera, Feiling, Feiyin, and Sirian and brought them to the barren Sixth Floor, where Sirian realized they were asking for help restoring the ecosystem. Linden sealed the dangerous Sixth Floor rift and left a smaller opening on the Fifth Floor, while Treant Demons unexpectedly came to assist Sirian.

• Puji surrounded Vera, Feiling, Feiyin, and Sirian, then carried them into Amethyst Dungeon despite their protests.
• The Puji brought the group to the Sixth Floor, where the Curse had left the ecosystem scorched and barren.
• Sirian cast an elven spell to make a tiny sprout grow, and he guessed that the Puji had brought them there to seek help.
• After half a day of restoring the land, the group shared mushroom soup made from a heat-emitting Puji.
• Linden sealed the Sixth Floor rift but left a small opening in the Fifth Floor rift for Puji to pass through.
• Treant Demons left the Secret Forest on their own and went to help Sirian.