After storing the other Thorn Beast he had killed into his spatial inventory, Bai Mo looked down at the bloodstains covering his body and frowned uncomfortably.
"Zilchak, do you know where there's a water source nearby? I can't keep moving around covered in this mess!"
"True enough," Zilchak replied, recalling Bai Mo's earlier punch with a shudder. "I remember there's a pool nearby, but it's likely guarded by other magical beasts. Though, for someone like you, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Let's go then. This sticky feeling is unbearable. And since we're missing one ingredient, maybe we'll run into a new one along the way."
When the two arrived near a collapsed section of the city walls, Zilchak immediately noticed something and crouched down. "There are traces of magical beasts here. As expected, areas near water sources are always dangerous."
"Can you tell what kind of beasts they were?" Bai Mo asked curiously. "As long as they're not particularly disgusting, it shouldn't be an issue."
"These small footprints belong to Forest Goblins. And these older ones… probably from a Jungle Ape, but they're at least three or four days old."
"Just a bunch of Goblins? I'll take care of them."
Zilchak wasn't too concerned about weak Goblins. With Bai Mo's strength, they were hardly a threat.
However, when they reached the supposed pool, both of them were stunned.
The pool was still there, but its surroundings were swarming with Walking Mushrooms. And among these weak creatures stood three towering, twisted beings, each nearly eight meters tall.
Zilchak quickly identified them. "Those are Walking Mushroom Kings—the evolved form of Walking Mushrooms. They spread their spores to reproduce. Those guys over there must have already become their breeding grounds."
He pointed to the figures wrapped in thick fungal threads—several Forest Goblins, a five-meter-tall Jungle Ape, and a group of adventurers.
Bai Mo and Zilchak then spotted two familiar faces among the victims.
"Wait, aren't those Donny and Fiona? Didn't they just leave? How did they get caught by monsters again? And their whole team's wiped out!"
Zilchak was at a loss for words.
"Bai, the Walking Mushrooms aren't much of a threat. I can handle them. But those three Walking Mushroom Kings are dangerous. Their spores don't just parasitize—they can also induce sleep."
"The adventurers are still alive, so we can't just burn everything down. Any ideas?"
"An idea?" Bai Mo clenched his fist. "Just fight them head-on!"
With that, he leaped forward, charging straight at the three Walking Mushroom Kings.
"Is this guy really a martial artist and not a berserker?" Zilchak muttered under his breath, but Bai Mo was already in motion.
Dozens of Walking Mushrooms tried to attack, but Bai Mo effortlessly dodged, stepping lightly over their heads. The sheer force of his movements was enough to knock them unconscious.
As for the three Walking Mushroom Kings, Bai Mo assessed his current strength and decided to test his power. He jumped high and delivered a powerful punch to one of them.
However, the Mushroom King's elastic body absorbed the impact, dispersing the force into the ground. It retaliated by releasing even more spores into the air.
"Sleep spores, huh? Tch, if you had paralysis powder and poison too, you'd basically be a Pokémon," Bai Mo joked. "But you do fit the criteria!"
Walking Mushroom evolves into—Walking Mushroom King!
The Mushroom King, of course, didn't understand Bai Mo's teasing. Without a mouth, it couldn't make a sound. Instead, it swung its massive, mushroom-formed arms at him.
Unfortunately for the Mushroom King, its attacks were like tickles to Bai Mo. Even the spores it released mid-swing were useless—Bai Mo had already stopped breathing.
After reaching the level of a Magnetic Field Martial God, Bai Mo's control over his body had reached new heights. His enhanced senses, combined with magnetic field energy, had even awakened a sixth sense—a form of extrasensory perception akin to Observation Haki from One Piece.
Using this sixth sense, Bai Mo effortlessly dodged and countered the Mushroom King's attacks, leaving deep fist imprints on its body.
Since Walking Mushrooms were fungal creatures, physical attacks alone weren't enough to defeat them. Instead of burning them—which would destroy the spores—Bai Mo switched tactics.
"Arctic Ice Fist!"
With a series of freezing punches, Bai Mo encased all three Walking Mushroom Kings in ice. Before they could recover, he stored them in his Gourmet World.
"Now I'll never run out of Walking Mushrooms to eat," he grinned. "Time to say it—'I caught the Walking Mushroom King!'"
With the three Kings dealt with, the remaining Walking Mushrooms were no threat. After freeing the trapped adventurers from the fungal threads, Zilchak shook his head.
"No saving them. They're already dead. What terrible luck."
"Guess we'll have to wait for the retrieval team to collect them. Or should we ask Malusiel to revive one?"
"Better leave it to the retrieval team. I'll drag them to the nearby bridge and leave a note so they're easier to find."
While Zilchak handled the bodies, Bai Mo used flames to purify the area around the pool before stepping into the water to wash off.
The pool seemed to have once been a fountain, still functioning due to the dungeon's mechanisms, so Bai Mo wasn't worried about contamination.
In truth, the moment he stepped into the water, he teleported into his personal world.
Why settle for a dirty pool when he had a luxurious private estate to bathe in?
The moment Bai Mo reappeared, Tohru, who had been waiting inside, pouted.
"Why won't you let me help you? It's just an underground dungeon! If I went all out, I could clear it in a day!"
Bai Mo believed her.
But the problem was—Tohru was too strong. If the mastermind behind the dungeon sensed her power, they might flee in fear.
To prevent that, Bai Mo had chosen to act alone, keeping Tohru as his hidden trump card.
Hearing his explanation, Tohru calmed down a little.
The exotic ingredients from this world were interesting, but not enough to hold her attention. Her complaints were mostly about being left alone for so long.
Once Bai Mo reassured her, she stopped pestering him—but not without a final warning.
"If you run into any enemies you can't handle, call me immediately!"
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T/N:
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