“Roar—!”
Faced with Gray["Little Black"]’s threatening, arched-back growl, Suu immediately raised both hands to show he meant no harm and carefully backed away.
Everyone in the Mushroom Garden knew the rules: if you had a dispute with someone, you could always appeal to the boss — the boss rather enjoyed handing down judgments.
But if you angered Gray, then you could only consider yourself unlucky.
Fortunately, while Gray wasn’t exactly clever, she did have her own logic.
After spending enough time around her, the residents of the Mushroom Garden had learned how to handle such situations — everyone carried a few glass marbles in their pockets. It had become a local custom.
But today, those simple glass trinkets had lost all their charm.
Before the dazzling luster of a flawless gemstone, the marbles couldn’t even compete.
In the corner, the two dwarves, Torin and Glennm, stared at the scene — the nervous demons keeping their distance, the towering dragon girl guarding them — and felt the situation grow stranger by the minute.
Who could’ve guessed that the two Shrink Scrolls Kiro had gifted them would be used so soon — and would actually save their lives? It was almost unbelievable.
Now they were even more curious about Kiro’s favorite word: “fortune.”
But fate had separated them, and given their current predicament, the odds of ever meeting again were slim.
After all, not even Kiro could have foreseen that they would end up escaping straight into demon territory!
Just look around —
Half-demons, lizardmen, demonspawn, vampires… and that dragonkin woman…
There was no mistaking it — they’d stumbled right into the heart of the demon forces.
Once Torin and Glennm realized where they were, despair settled over them.
They’d been thrown into a cage — though at least their captors weren’t planning to let them freeze. A buzzing, heat-emitting puji had been placed nearby, its warmth barely keeping them alive, while the demons went off to deal with the spatial rift incident.
Still, they knew what awaited them. Every rumor they’d ever heard in the taverns painted a grim picture.
They would either become slave laborers, or worse — blood livestock for vampires.
Death might have been the kinder fate.
Then, at their lowest moment, a tall dragonkin female approached — her body covered in heavy black scales, her clear, intelligent eyes gleaming.
Torin’s first thought was that she’d come to eat them.
Glennm corrected him, dryly: “She’s not eyeing your meat, you fool — she’s looking at your necklace.”
Indeed, the dragonkin’s gaze was fixed on the gem pendant hanging from Torin’s neck — hunger and longing almost shining in her eyes.
Yet, despite that desire, she made no move to snatch it.
After much clumsy gesturing and confused exchanges, somehow, the dwarves managed to strike a deal — trading the gemstone to convince her to break open their cage.
Unfortunately, the not-so-bright dragonkin hadn’t understood the meaning of “quietly.”
Her loud noise as she tore the bars apart alerted everyone nearby.
And now, they were surrounded.
…
From a distance, Little Pig crossed her arms and watched without moving a muscle. She had no intention of intervening.
The Mushroom Garden’s population had grown considerably, and the boss had begun assigning responsibilities to each of the core members.
Little Pig was in charge of training puji battle units, mixing them with captured cave dwellers for combined warfare.
Shou handled the construction and defense of the northernmost city.
Xinghou oversaw the Mushroomborn’s initiation rites and managed diplomacy with the northern tribes.
Norris, meanwhile, trained the pujida warriors and handled miscellaneous duties.
In short, those two dwarven prisoners technically fell under Norris’s jurisdiction. Little Pig wasn’t about to interfere in someone else’s department.
Through the Mycelium Network, Norris sent a mental message:
“Boss, can’t we… you know, move Gray somewhere else?”
No reply.
He knew the boss could definitely hear him — which meant Lin Jun was ignoring him on purpose, probably enjoying the show.
With a heavy sigh, Norris pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
“Rooar!”
Gray’s sense of “contractual duty” was stronger than most adventurers’. Even when facing a familiar comrade, she still bared her fangs.
Norris tore off the beast hide covering his chest and flung it aside. The silver scales beneath gleamed brilliantly under the glow of the fluorescent mushrooms.
Gray blinked, her growl softening to a low rumble — almost a purr.
Norris then pulled several silver scales from his pouch — trophies that had fallen off during his battle with Karen. He’d cleaned and saved them precisely for moments like this.
As he waved them temptingly in front of her, Gray froze, then slowly inched closer, unable to resist.
At that moment, Torin panicked and shouted, “Wait! I have more! I’ll pay double!”
Seeing his potential savior swaying, the dwarf hastily dug out four radiant gemstones from his pouch and waved them frantically.
Even though she couldn’t understand his words, Gray definitely understood the gesture of someone offering shiny things.
In a blink, the gems vanished from Torin’s hands — no one, not even Lin Jun, saw where she hid them.
“ROOOAR!!”
Her triumphant roar sent everyone scrambling back in alarm!
And just like that — in the midst of everyone’s hesitation — Gray took the two dwarves and bolted straight out of the dungeon.
Watching her vanishing silhouette, Norris felt a strange pang of loss — though he couldn’t quite say why.
That feeling turned into pain when the boss’s voice came through the network:
“Norris has failed in prisoner supervision. The restriction on Karen’s sneak attacks is lifted.”
“Yesss! Boss, you’re the best!” came Karen’s delighted shout from the corner.
Norris: “…”
He was already wondering where he could sleep tonight without being ambushed.
…
As for the two dwarves, they followed Gray through the bewildered ranks of lizardmen and half-demons — no one daring to stop them — all the way out of Stonekeep Dungeon.
They passed the site of a new city under construction, its walls half-built, demons hard at work along the perimeter.
No one stopped them. No one pursued them.
After running for half a day, exhausted and hungry, Gray tapped Torin’s satchel with her tail tip, signaling for more shinies.
When it became clear there were no more gemstones, she didn’t hesitate — she took off, returning to the Mushroom Garden, snacked on a passing puji, retrieved the precious gems from between her scales, and curled up in her mushroom hut for a nap.
Torin and Glennm, meanwhile, had lost both their guardian and their heat source — the warm puji they’d brought along had suddenly gone limp, its legs twitching once before going still.
Uneasy but determined, the dwarves used what little firewood they could find to keep warm and pressed southward, chasing freedom.
Two days later, several pujis returned to the Mushroom Garden — dragging two frozen, half-dead dwarves behind them.