Chapter 15: The Value of Transformation

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Da Chun first hid in the tunnel, listening to the overseer's movements. The sound of whipping and miserable cries came again, but not for long. Obviously, it was those two little ones who were unlucky once more. The overseer's appearance also gave Da Chun an accurate patrol schedule, but this time the overseer lingered a bit longer. Da Chun sensed something was about to happen—after all, so many mushrooms had suddenly appeared.

Finally, after lingering five extra minutes, the overseer left for another passage. Da Chun hurried back to check and was stunned to find that all the mushrooms covering the walls and ceiling had vanished! What the hell—does the overseer collect mushrooms? What kind of monstrous power is this?

Then he saw those two little ones lying unconscious on the ground—so pitiful! Earlier, he had thought about helping them dig, but they just couldn’t keep up, always a step behind. Maybe giving them a chance would show what might happen?

Da Chun pulled out two mushrooms and held them to their mouths. The two sniffed and suddenly opened their eyes, swallowing all the mushrooms as if drawing on their last strength. The little devils nearby stirred restlessly, and Da Chun sensed their displeasure.

Hmph! There was an even bigger irritation brewing. Da Chun decided to snatch their hoes—how could he improve his disarm skill without a little resistance?

But when he tried to grab the hoe, the little devil didn’t struggle; it just let go immediately, then rolled over and snatched the severely injured little devil’s hoe from the ground.

Damn!

Da Chun was truly shocked—such intelligence! They understood the benefits of losing a hoe and even knew to snatch others’ hoes as a fallback! How could he train disarmament against such clever opponents? Unless he went to one of the other six pits.

But Da Chun’s style was always to focus time and resources on any breakthrough, stripping it clean—just like when he concentrated on breaking through Sherry and Vivian during the open beta.

Well, then, no disarm training for now—it was too time-consuming and difficult. He would focus on practicing dual wielding first.

So Da Chun mined again and dug up a pile. The little devils around didn’t show the previous aggressive attitude; they just laughed and waited for the harvest.

The more Da Chun watched, the more amazed he was—their intelligence was growing too fast. What would happen if they kept getting smarter?

In any case, the routine repeated: burn ore, grow mushrooms, snatch mushrooms, Da Chun climbed the walls and ate along the way.

But the more mushrooms he ate, the brighter his vision became. The fiery cave background gained a subtle white glow, as if a beauty filter had been applied to a photo. Was this the hallucinogenic effect of poisonous mushrooms?

Then harvesting, dual wielding, and climbing all rose to intermediate levels.

At this point, aside from dual wielding showing significant skill growth, harvesting and climbing barely improved. So he had to climb the ceiling to gather the high-quality mushrooms there—and only by eating those could he unravel the mystery of the ‘beauty filter.’

Intermediate ceiling climbing was impossible—what to do?

Da Chun had an idea. He plucked a handful of mushrooms from the wall and went to the two little ones. Through his beautified vision, they looked almost like babies looking up at their parents—not as disgusting and ugly as before.

He fed them first. Seeing their greedy, insatiable expressions, he pointed at the mushrooms on the ceiling, and without caring whether they understood, he relied on their intelligence to communicate: “Is there any way?”

The two little ones obviously understood and shook their heads repeatedly: “Wala wala wu…”

Da Chun pointed at the other little devils around: “Get them together, make a human ladder!”

The two little ones looked confused.

Da Chun grabbed a pile of small stones and stacked them in a circle, raising it bit by bit as he explained: “Human ladder…”

Still seeming unclear, Da Chun drew a circle on the ground with symbols for ‘everyone,’ then drew mushrooms on top.

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Only then did the two little ones suddenly realize, and one even climbed onto the other's head to demonstrate: “Wakaka?”

Damn, such intelligence! Not only did they understand, but they could really build a ladder?

Da Chun was delighted: “Yes, yes, that’s it! Everyone has big mushrooms! You go talk to them!”

The two little ones immediately went off to negotiate, only to be met with ridicule.

Da Chun’s hope was dashed. Well, they were devils after all. Actually, it wasn’t hard for them to eat high-quality mushrooms; they just had to wait for the mushrooms growing by the lava pool’s edge to mature. But their devilish nature meant distrust among them. They’d fight for mushrooms before they matured. Moreover, there were over a hundred devils here, while the mushrooms above numbered less than a hundred—never enough to share, and no one was willing to wait for the next batch. Negotiations were impossible.

In that case, if he wasn’t afraid of being chased by the overseer or lacking the strength, it wouldn’t be hard to eat the high-quality mushrooms himself—just kill them all.

Finally, amid laughter, the talks failed.

Though intelligent, their outlook was narrow. Da Chun was disappointed in them. Maybe there was one last move!

He threw the hoe back to the two little ones: “I’m leaving to find smarter people in other pits!”

Da Chun was serious. If even these little devils were this intelligent, what about the overseer who sensed something was wrong? Although he liked to strip resources clean, going too far would cause trouble. Better to quit now and relocate, balancing the harvest and at least getting some disarm practice.

The two little ones wailed anxiously, and the other devils suddenly woke up: “Wala wala!”

Da Chun was shocked: “They agreed?”

The two took the lead to rally everyone, and soon the devils gathered around the large lava pool at the mine entrance, linking hands and stepping on each other to form a human ladder.

Damn, their outlook was improving too. He had seriously underestimated the devils!

Even with the chaotic formation, the ladder was stable and would hold. The biggest variable was the overseer.

Da Chun quickly checked the time—about ten minutes before the overseer’s next arrival. At this pace, there was plenty of time. Good.

But the trouble now was how to divide the mushrooms.

In that instant, Da Chun had a sneaky thought: If he just finished harvesting mushrooms when the overseer arrived, the devils would scatter and return to work. Then—

Then he could just take the mushrooms and escape without sharing. After all, it would be the overseer’s fault—not that he was untrustworthy.

Though not entirely ethical, this was the devil’s world. Here, actions had to follow devil logic. Maybe trickery and deceit were mainstream values, and the more cunning you were, the more respect you earned.

Ethics aside, letting the overseer take the blame was the best solution for now. Whether to share later depended on the mushrooms’ real value.

So, that’s what he did.

Da Chun delayed a bit and pulled the two obviously struggling little ones from the bottom: “You two are too weak, can’t hold it! Go up and build from the top!”

He pointed upward.

The two understood again and excitedly pulled people down to fill the lower spots. This reshuffling took two or three minutes.

Da Chun was pleased and decided to give each of the two little ones two mushrooms as promised—both a gift from their former master and proof that he wasn’t a complete liar.

The higher the ladder, the greater the pressure on the base, making it wobbly.

When the ladder was nearly complete, Da Chun climbed with the two to the top—the final pyramid peak—and touched it! Up close, it looked like a smooth gemstone or a freshly picked apple.

“I’ll pick it—” Da Chun felt a heavy weight in his hand again.

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—System notification: Congratulations! You have harvested an energy-rich unknown mushroom. Your intermediate gathering skill has been upgraded to level 3…

One mushroom raised a whole level—impressive! It was as heavy as a stone, like a magic stone, truly a symbol of abundant energy.

No time to check attributes, Da Chun hastened to gather more, his gathering skill soaring to intermediate level 10—and then effortlessly broke through!

—System notification: Congratulations! Your gathering skill has advanced to advanced level 1! Achievement unlocked: Carrying Capacity +1, Stamina +1. You have received the “Three-Day Newcomer Grand Discount Blessing” reward achievement: Wisdom +1.

Another wisdom point—excellent!

There were still dozens of mushrooms left. At this rate, reaching advanced level 10 wasn’t impossible.

But as Da Chun gathered more mushrooms, his carrying load increased by dozens. This was no longer a mere straw breaking the camel’s back; the human ladder began to sway dangerously and struggled to hold.

At this moment, morale had to be boosted. Da Chun decided to fulfill his promise, giving the two little ones two mushrooms each: “You eat first and keep everyone strong!”

The two happily swallowed the mushrooms and immediately shouted excitedly. The little devils erupted with a synchronized chant: “Wala ah!”

They were truly cultivable material! Da Chun felt guilty but decided to mine relentlessly amid his guilt.

No surprise, the gathering skill kept rising until only a dozen mushrooms remained, where it stalled at advanced level 10 with no further progress.

Enough! Time was also sufficient. Da Chun deliberately slowed his pace, waiting for the overseer’s arrival.

Sure enough, the overseer did not disappoint. A thunderous roar echoed through the passage.

Da Chun felt the human ladder tremble violently!

Good. He swept up the last mushrooms and slid down the ladder: “Everyone, run!”

The human ladder collapsed with a crash. Da Chun took advantage of the chaos, rolling and scrambling at full speed into a tunnel. Behind him came the furious howls of the little devils—were they cursing him? No, surely the overseer—they had every reason.

Still, Da Chun felt uneasy and feared pursuit, so he ran hard. He had to admit that carrying over two hundred weight—including dozens of mushrooms and six magic stones—was exhausting. He only stopped to rest upon reaching the next mining pit passage, then hurried to check the mushroom attributes:

—Unknown mushroom: clearly highly toxic, yet looks delicious enough to whet the appetite. Weight: 2.

Uh… the description grew more abstract. He quickly ate one to restore stamina. The crisp crunch was indeed apple-like.

—System notification: Warning! You have consumed a highly toxic unknown mushroom. “Whale’s Strength” skill cannot fully neutralize the poison. Hunger status is abnormal. You have absorbed a large amount of mushroom energy, gaining hallucinogenic effects and unlocking hidden attribute: Transformation Value! Current Transformation Value: 1.

…

So it did have meaning! He had never heard of Transformation Value before!

The next moment, Da Chun’s vision brightened significantly, as if a white mist enveloped the fiery mine, giving it the feel of a fairyland. The mining little devils nearby looked pale and pure, some even sprouted cloud-like ethereal wings on their backs!

Damn, were these little angels now? The hallucination was overwhelmingly grotesque!

Just then, the beast’s roar came from the tunnel entrance.

Da Chun was shocked—the overseer wasn’t stopping to punish them but charging directly at him? Had the devils reported him?

Run!