Mu En was still somewhat shocked when he heard Yupa's report.
He wasn't shocked by Yupa's discovery, but rather—
"Don't you know that Sea of Corruption fungi themselves are not poisonous?"
This question left Yupa completely frozen in place.
Should he know?
Yupa, of course, wouldn't directly ask such a rude question as "How would I know?", but instead responded tactfully, "This is indeed the first time I've heard of it."
Mu En was speechless for a moment.
For him, a transmigrator who knew the "original plot," this was common knowledge, and Yupa and the others had never asked about it.
That's why he was so careless and forgot to tell them this information.
Sea of Corruption fungi are a fascinating species, whose morphology and properties are entirely dependent on their growth environment.
If they grow in soil and air filled with highly toxic substances, they become enormous and ferocious, their mycelium frantically eroding every inch of land, turning everything in its path into a terrifying "forest."
However, if they grow in a clean and non-toxic environment, they become "well-behaved" and even have an adorable appearance, like carefully cultivated potted plants.
In the movie, Nausicaä built a fungal cultivation chamber in the basement of Windmill Castle using clean water and sand, which confirms this point.
( Nausicaä's Fungus Garden)
It seems that Nausicaä in his world probably hasn't discovered this secret yet, or hasn't had time to discover it.
But there was one more thing that concerned Mu En: the petrified trees that Nausicaä saw when she fell into the underground cavern in the movie.
He originally thought it was Sea of Corruption that had turned into something like petrified wood due to its age, but through experiments, it was found that the fungi growing in the toxic environment seemed to rely on the toxins to survive, otherwise they would wither and petrify.
What kind of strange survival mechanism is this?
Mu En was a little confused.
In the ensuing conversation, he relayed the information about the "truth" of the Sea of Corruption to Yupa through Sura.
" The Sea of Corruption possesses purifying abilities; it absorbs toxins and transforms them into pure sand and water vapor. If one has the opportunity to delve into the deepest part of the Sea of Corruption, one might find a completely purified space."
After hearing these words, the experienced swordsman fell into a long silence.
Is the Sea of Corruption purifying the entire world?
The answer he sought for half his life turned out to be such a hopeless dead end?
For human civilization to continue, it needs more clean land and water, but the Sea of Corruption is slowly swallowing up the remaining land every year.
Yupa ventured deep into the Sea of Corruption and traveled to various places in search of a way for humanity to survive.
But now he realized that what purified this ravaged world was precisely the Sea of Corruption itself, which they feared and resisted.
Without the Erdtree, wouldn't the Sea of Corruption have to devour the entire land before the world could be restored to its former purity?
Even if humans learn to coexist with insects like insect trainers, the flame of civilization will be completely extinguished in that primitive way of life.
Yupa felt a chill run down his spine, followed by immense relief.
fortunately.
Fortunately, they were favored by the Divine Tree, and a completely different and hopeful new path lay before them.
Aside from this revolutionary cognitive shock, all other reports were exciting and positive news.
First, the Sea of Corruption environment did not show any rejection of the Erdtree's power.
As the expedition ventured deeper, they encountered relatively docile herbivorous insects, which did not react particularly to the Golden Order Incantations and continued to behave according to their original habits.
This discovery was of great importance, so while Mu En focused his attention on Castle in the Sky for a few days, Valley of the Wind quickly assembled a second expedition team.
This group consisted entirely of the blessed villagers, totaling ten people.
Whether it's transporting supplies or setting up camp, the Blessed are far more efficient than ordinary villagers.
The advance camp was set up on a leeward side of a sand dune about three kilometers from the edge of the Sea of Corruption. This distance was calculated to effectively isolate spores that are carried by the wind.
Although spores cannot take root in the desert, they can attach to building materials such as wood, so a safe distance is essential.
Outside the camp, the expedition team used the " Erdtree's Favor " to cultivate a ring of drought-resistant and resilient native shrubs and shrubs.
Nourished by Incantations, these plants quickly took root and sprouted, forming a green protective forest belt around the camp in just a few days.
Inside the camp, a dozen sturdy canvas tents were neatly arranged, while in the center, a wooden prefabricated house was erected to serve as a warehouse and meeting room.
Although the campsite was somewhat rudimentary, it was fully equipped and capable of supporting a small exploration team for extended periods of time.
Let's rewind to the present.
After dealing with the urgent matters in Castle in the Sky, Mu En was finally able to devote more energy to the exploration progress of Valley of the Wind.
He immediately summoned Yupa, who was in charge of the camp, and demanded a detailed report on the gains of the past few days.
It must be said that the Sea of Corruption, this cursed yet vibrant land, is full of contradictory aspects.
Erosion and growth, toxicity and purification, danger and opportunity are intertwined.
At this moment, Yupa was in the warehouse, introducing the samples collected over the past few days to Mu En one by one, while Sura acted as a "megaphone" for him.
"Firefly grass grows at the roots of the insect-eating tree. After its luminous fruiting bodies are harvested and dried, a strong fluorescent substance can be extracted, which is an important material for making flashbangs and flares."
It was a fungus with slender stems and round, pearl-like fruiting bodies, emitting a faint glow.
"Mabothium bacillus powder is extremely flammable and can be used as a substitute for gunpowder."
A sealed glass bottle contained a small amount of yellow powder, said to originate from a spherical fungus that resembles a white, round loaf of bread.
"These are arsenic-containing plants," used to make a powerful insect repellent spray; their toxins are even difficult for insects to tolerate.
Yupa pointed to several fungi that resembled ginger tubers, which were soaking in a special solution.
In addition, there were various insect exoskeletons with unique textures, several pieces of Ceramic Steel cut from the remains of the Giant God Warrior, and some newly discovered fungal slices.
These are all best-selling products from the various kingdoms of the Sea of Corruption. If they can gain a reputation, they can bring a continuous stream of resources and gold coins to the Valley of the Wind.
Unfortunately, the expedition team is not yet capable of collecting these resources on a large scale because there are simply too few people available.
Take Pejite as an example. There are only a few thousand permanent residents with official "national status," but tens of thousands of mercenaries and explorers from various countries come here by reputation or are hired to try their luck.
It is precisely because of this huge population base that those highly toxic fungi that are difficult to handle and have extremely high collection risks can be processed in batches into raw materials and sold to various places.
Building an explorer community from scratch is no easy task; exploring the Sea of Corruption is not a simple matter of simply putting on protective gear and going in to reap rewards.
Not only must one have a strong physique and excellent athletic ability, but also extensive knowledge.
Physical strength is essential to cope with the complex and rugged terrain inside the Sea of Corruption, which resembles a three-dimensional maze. Without sufficient physical strength, one cannot go very far.
Agility is for quick escape when encountering danger; not everyone can build a good relationship with the swarm like Nausicaä.
Knowledge reserves are for distinguishing between valuable resources and deadly traps.
Like the Marbozo bacteria mentioned earlier, this stuff is extremely unstable and will explode violently with the slightest collision, making it a veritable anti-personnel mine in the Sea of Corruption.
Fortunately, the Blessed was able to meet all three stringent requirements, which allowed the exploration plan to proceed much faster than expected.
Needless to say, their physical fitness has been comprehensively enhanced, and their improved thinking abilities have also enabled them to quickly learn survival skills in the Sea of Corruption.
Speaking of which, during these past few days of exploration, something interesting happened that everyone in the camp talked about with great interest.
Just yesterday, a reconnaissance team of five ordinary villagers who were also Blessed successfully repelled a "King Dragonfly" that had wandered to the edge of the Sea of Corruption.
(Giant Dragonflies, forest guardians that swarm together whenever the Sea of Corruption is threatened)
It is an aerial predator with a wingspan of nearly ten meters, feeding on small to medium-sized animals and other insects.
The battle was not complicated. The leader used himself as bait to lure the enemy to land and attack, while the other four took the opportunity to get close and then beat them up.
Yes, there were no fancy tactics; it was just the powerful defense provided by the " Shield of Immutability " that kept the giant worm pinned to the ground and kicked around in circles.
The scene was almost comical to think about.
It is said that although the giant dragonfly was not seriously injured, it was still dizzy from being hit and staggered back to the depths of the Sea of Corruption.
It probably still can't understand how it could have lost to a group of unarmed humans.
This incident also illustrates the superiority of the Blessed. If it had been five ordinary explorers, it probably wouldn't have been a funny story, but a tragedy.
After listening to Yupa's introduction, Mu En understood the current situation and now it was up to the expedition team to continue their efforts.
Aside from providing more Blessed and remote information transmission, there's not much else he can do to help right now.
We can only speed things up here after other teams have made some gains and attracted more people.
Therefore, Mu En turned his attention to the other two teams.
Nausicaä and Meila seem to have encountered some tricky problems.