Chapter 49: Seabirds Trust Mushrooms, Humans Trust Miracles

The newly born little gull returned, using its newly healed legs to clutch a wriggling herring, landed in front of Lin Bo, dropped the fish on the ground, cast a sideways glance at him with its small eyes, and squawked twice: "Very good human, please eat fish."

"*(Magic Language)* Thank you."

Lin Bo thanked it. Since he did not speak bird language, he did not expect the little fellow to understand.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the little gull hopped around happily, "Happy, happy! Good human, I like you."

Curious about how it could understand, the mage extended his hand in front of the gull, intending to observe its internal condition thoroughly using the surface-touch inner-peep method.

The little fellow's body was not yet fully developed; unlike adult gulls with a wingspan exceeding one meter, it was currently only slightly larger than Lin Bo's palm. It hopped lightly onto the mage's palm, crouched down, and pressed its fluffy belly against his palm.

Through the delicate perception of touch, Lin Bo could sense the mycelium-transformed neurons within the little gull spreading throughout its entire body, connecting its brain, spine, and various nerve endings, achieving a deep symbiosis with the original host. It was now a new species, half-mushroom and half-bird.

What enabled it to understand the magic language was the mycelium inside the little gull; they transmitted the emotion of joy to the host, allowing the little gull to comprehend the mage's language as well.

Lin Bo was not particularly surprised; such a phenomenon was also recorded in *Myconid Agronomy*.

In fact, the Myconid race possessed the ability to use spores to parasitize the corpses of adversaries, transforming them into puppets riddled with mycelium throughout their bodies, driven as beasts of burden for the mushroom circle.

The little gull's symbiotic state with the mycelium posed no harm and would not affect its healthy growth.

The parent gulls flew into the greenhouse through the window, dropping the fish they had caught onto the mycelial mat. They were thanking this white swamp, which could bestow delicious fruit mushrooms and heal members of their flock. The gulls considered it truly magnificent.

More gulls gathered around, all eager to see what had restored vitality to their dying young peer.

The flock of birds crowded inside the greenhouse, their squawks noisier than a hurricane.

The little gull on the mage's hand spread its wings and flew up, circling beneath the greenhouse roof, emitting a piercing cry that drowned out the chatter of the gull flock.

Shortly after, the little fellow landed on the mycelial mat. White mycelium spread from its legs, connecting to the pores on its skin, linking with the mycelial nerves inside its body.

The little gull puffed out its chest with bright, spirited eyes and loudly squawked: "White swamp, like new friends, please friends eat mushrooms!"

Raspberry mushrooms emerged one by one on the mycelial mat, exclaiming wonderful fruity aromas, and the bird flock erupted into a loud clamor.

The little gull continued: "Catch fish, give to white swamp, birds help mushrooms, mushrooms help birds!"

As if receiving some divine decree, the flock of birds flew out of the greenhouse shortly after, returning successively with fresh catches to drop onto the mycelial mat.

In the past, gulls had occasionally done similar things, but they merely discarded finished bones casually onto the mycelial mat. Now, however, they were making active offerings.

The mycelium atop the wooden box swayed happily; now it had endless food to eat.

***

Lin Bo observed everything, expressing admiration for the cleverness and intelligence of the mycelial mat.

The little gull had now become a bridge connecting the mycelial mat, the gulls, and the mage. It was also an interesting fellow and might eventually become the leader of the bird flock.

The mage stepped out of the mushroom garden, preparing to continue today's map-running, when the little gull suddenly flew over and landed on his shoulder.

"Like good human, follow good human." It gently pecked the mage's auricle and then blissfully pressed its head against him as well.

"*(Magic Language)* Are you not staying with the bird flock, but coming with me?"

The little gull puffed out its chest.

Lin Bo smiled silently, letting the little fellow follow him as they stepped together into the deep purple teleportation vortex.

Many multiverse players carried combat partners, and spellcasters frequently contracted magical pets as assistants, but cultivating a qualified supporting creature was not easy, with demands on intelligence, combat power, and even appearance.

The little gull could not compare to magical creatures, but the fact that it could understand Lin Bo's words was already an advantage. The Night Watchman had no expectations of it and did not count on it to help in combat; as long as it knew to hide and avoid being harmed by the mechanical guards in the dungeon, that was enough.

The mage cleared maps rapidly, finishing purgatory in five minutes. Every time combat broke out, the little gull would fly up and circle overhead, descending back onto his shoulder once it ended, without showing the slightest trace of fear.

"*(Magic Language)* Truly brave." Lin Bo did not stint his praise.

Through three consecutive map runs, the little gull displayed a very calm demeanor, neither making noise nor fussing. This made Lin Bo think more highly of it, wondering if he should begin studying beast-taming-related knowledge to cultivate the little gull's abilities.

Compared to farming, crafting, and medicine, the beast-taming development route consumed quite a few resources, and early-stage output was usually far below investment, making it suitable for players with moderate wealth to attempt.

Lin Bo's idea was to enable the little gull to understand and execute simple commands, such as scouting and searching the surrounding environment or acting as a messenger. Purchasing some professional bird-taming manuals and practicing for a while would yield results.

Concluding his daily dungeon-clearing tasks, Lin Bo carried a whale-oil lamp to inspect the grotto. His plans for the construction and layout here had long been finalized: the front section would house the training ground and living quarters, the atrium would be the mushroom garden, and the deep interior would feature a reservoir.

Continuous torrential rain caused the underground river's water level to rise, and springs gushed out from the rock fissures in the deepest part of the cavern, mingling with the inflowing rainwater to form a small pond.

Lin Bo raised the lamp to illuminate the stone walls, softly reciting the true name of the stone. The pores on the stone wall slowly widened, and through the expanding gaps, one could clearly see that the underground river was located in a karst cave, where the water rushed downward, flowing past the bottom of the East Cliff Grotto and merging into the sea.

The deeper cave system ahead was even more secluded and narrow, extending for an unknown number of miles. It reminded Lin Bo of *Journey to the Center of the Earth*; beneath the earth's skin, countless blood vessels intertwined and crisscrossed.

The water gushing from the stone fissures grew more abundant and turbulent, and soon the water level in the depths of the cavern began to rise. However, it was impossible for it to flood into the atrium.

He chanted the true name once more, causing the floor rock to sink into a pool, completing the initial construction.

Next came preventing rainwater from the cave entrance from flowing inward. Such a task would have been very difficult a few days prior, but after mastering the true name of stone, it became effortless.

The cave entrance originally had an arched shape, and the low-lying areas sinking on both sides were prone to water intake. He gathered and raised the rocks so that the accumulated water was blocked outside, no longer flowing wildly inside the cave.

***

As evening approached, the rain began to drizzle again. Lin Bo paused his construction work and returned to the lighthouse to meditate and recuperate.

The residents of Stone Tower Town also finished work and returned home successively.

That night, the hurricane poured down once more, the rain remaining fierce and frantic. The strings of pearls falling from the clouds resembled ninety million lines of water, bridging the earth and the firmament. The dwellings huddled along the street looked like a group of old bears draped in silver-gauze blankets.

The river roared, exhausted men collapsed onto their beds and snored loudly, while women, the elderly, and children still nervously kept watch over doors and windows.

Rather than waiting to fight a life-and-death battle with the water flooding into their homes, it was more accurate to say they were waiting for a person, a lamp, and a terrifying, unfathomable face.

On the third floor of the lighthouse, the little gull crouched on a wooden frame Lin Bo had crafted by hand, its bean-like yellow eyes gazing at the meditating mage. He woke up, stood up to stretch his limbs, and stood by the window overlooking the kingdom of the storm.

A moment later, still feeling uneasy, the Night Watchman instructed the automaton and the bird to stay home, donned his pitch-black mask, carried a whale-oil lamp, draped himself in a long coat, and pushed the window open to step out.

The street flooding was much better than Lin Bo had anticipated. The laborers of Stone Tower Town had carved out a living space for themselves with their diligent hands and feet.

Lin Bo descended from the air, visiting the households afflicted by disaster the previous night one by one.

The eerie blue light shone through the glass, illuminating faces filled with hope and treed hesitation. The grandfathers and grandmothers in the homes chanted the scriptures of the Elder in loud voices, wives shook their husbands awake, and a bold child waved at the three-eyed skeleton outside the window, only to be sharply rebuked and stopped by his mother.

This was once again a tumultuous ordeal, yet not for survival, but to worship the god they revered.

Seeing that there was no severe flooding in the houses, Lin Bo lingered no longer. He nodded slightly in greeting and turned to leave.

Surprised and excited shouts echoed from within the dwellings.

This scenario repeated itself, and the mage felt a mild curiosity about the townspeople's deliberate welcoming attitude; it was almost as if they had agreed in advance to catch a glimpse of him.

The old priest stood straight by the window, shifting his weight from side to side to relieve the soreness in his legs.

He had not left his spot since the rain grew heavier after nightfall. Candles and incense were lit in the room, making it bright and filled with an elegant aroma, and he used black ointment to draw circles on his forehead.

The accumulated water in the church's backyard was gloomy and deep, and the raindrops struck rapidly, emitting a hissing call.

A distant orb of light drifted in the air, casting a circular patch of light that illuminated the brownish-red damp tiles, sweeping past the street-side houses and the dormitories where the acolytes lived, gradually drawing closer.

The old priest's spirit soared as he witnessed the whale-oil lamp descending slowly from the sky. The figure holding the lamp stood silently upon the chaotic water surface, and the radiance bursting from his hand bloomed into a vast expanse of silver brilliance beneath his feet, resembling a cluster of flowers suddenly bursting open in a lonely wilderness.

The miracle itself had descended.