bookbashuk Chapter 40 Mushrooms
Chapter 40 Mushrooms
The air was scorched, the figure was charred black, and a slightly childish voice suddenly rang out.
"etc!"
Xu Yang's finger paused slightly, stopping just as he was about to pull the trigger.
In front.
The charred humanoid figure raised a hand, and from the dark palm, the center slowly receded, as if a hole had been corroded out, from which a yellowish-green mushroom rose.
It's about the size of a baby's palm, with short arms and legs, and a rather comical umbrella hat.
Xu Yang narrowed his eyes.
Ita particles
……
The little mushroom sat on the charred palm, its umbrella hat askew, its voice a little timid, like a little boy trying to speak: "Um... Ita wants to make a deal with you."
"Ita is not your enemy." He paused, then quickly added, "Really not."
Xu Yang remained expressionless, still holding his gun.
The little mushroom clasped its hands together, getting a little anxious: "Ita knows so many things, Ita can make you stronger, and, uh... immortality, yes, Ita can make you live for a very, very long time."
Xu Yang narrowed his eyes. He glanced at Newt, who was on guard not far away, and only after confirming that there was no possibility of being ambushed did he look at Little Mushroom.
A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes, and he laughed, "Alright, let me test you first."
"Yes! Ita is listening." The little mushroom sat on the edge of the palm, surprisingly with a somewhat upright posture.
Xu Yang raised an eyebrow.
In fact, he hadn't anticipated this series of changes. He was originally there to deal with the monster, but suddenly a cute little thing popped up and wanted to negotiate with him.
However, since there is no danger on either side, we might as well listen to what it's up to; we might be able to get some useful information.
Thinking of this, he asked directly, "What exactly are you?"
The little mushroom lifted its umbrella cap, shaking its head slightly, its voice like that of a boastful child.
"Ita is Ita, a will that appeared so that the whole universe could live happily together."
pat.
Xu Yang immediately released the safety of the pistol.
"Ah—no, no, no!" Little Mushroom was so frightened that she grabbed a dark finger next to her, her umbrella hat trembled, and her speech quickened.
"Ita is telling you again! Ita is a collective consciousness that grows from a special fungus. People who live in symbiosis with the fungus will connect to Ita's collective consciousness and become a part of Ita... So, Ita didn't lie to you."
Xu Yang turned off the safety switch, his eyes strange: "So you're actually... a fusion of countless consciousnesses?"
"There aren't that many, only a little over a hundred." The little mushroom returned to the edge of its palm, its green little hand touching the umbrella cap, seemingly a little embarrassed.
Xu Yang watched its performance quietly.
Seemingly worried about misunderstandings, Little Mushroom explained earnestly, "Furthermore, Ita didn't merge consciousnesses together; everyone lives in Ita, without distinction between them."
Its voice carried a childlike innocence: "Everyone lives happily together, without the barriers of time and space. Ita is a big family that embraces everything, without lies or deception."
Ignoring the other person's subsequent boasting, Xu Yang frowned slightly.
"So, all your previous claims of knowing a lot came from other people's perceptions?"
The little mushroom crossed its arms and said smugly, "Not only that, Ita not only knows what others know, but also what others don't know... Oh, you can ask Ita anything you don't understand, Ita is very amazing."
"Do you know the specific process of making a nuclear bomb?"
"……have no idea."
Do you know how to travel to another world?
"……have no idea"
"..."
boom!
Xu Yang fired a shot into the sky, his expression instantly turning cold: "One last question."
"Wait, people aren't just a problem. Ita can make you stronger and extend your lifespan." The little mushroom trembled. "Ita can do so much more—"
"Do you know how to find the Miracle Forge?"
"I know that!"
Little Mushroom's voice suddenly brightened, as if grasping at a lifeline, and she hurriedly shouted, "This Ita really knows!"
"explain."
Xu Yang lowered the muzzle of his gun slightly.
"Phew~" Little Mushroom wiped non-existent sweat from his hat and said softly, "Finding the Miracle Forge is simple. You need a special currency. Just bring the currency into the isolation zone, silently say 'use,' and the Miracle Forge will appear."
As it spoke, it jumped off the charred arm. "And what a coincidence, Ita can give you currency now, and Ita will give you even more useful things in the future."
A faint smacking sound came from beside me as the little mushroom staggered along the road and clumsily climbed onto the charred black humanoid figure.
It lay among the tattered clothes, searching for something.
Xu Yang's patience gradually wore off.
pat.
The moment the safety latch was released, the little mushroom trembled and became somewhat flustered.
"Ah, wait a minute!"
"Found it! Ita has been found!"
Finally, it pulled a white coin from a scorched yellow bag, like a chip, with an image of flame engraved in the middle.
Xu Yang narrowed his eyes.
dinar!
The little mushroom picked up the dinar, and with a series of soft, squelching sounds, slowly climbed up the charred arm and stood in the middle of the palm.
"Hey, this is the special currency you need. Ita is giving it to you. Can you... become friends with Ita?"
Its voice still sounded somewhat aggrieved, and it held up the white chips on its umbrella hat with its two little hands.
He stood on tiptoe, wobbling, holding up the white currency as if he were presenting a treasure.
Kind of cute.
Xu Yang couldn't help but smile, and then—
boom!
With a firm grip on the trigger, the moment the gun fired, the adorable little mushroom patch turned into adorable fragments.
The white dinar tumbled in mid-air, gently held between two fingers—
Ita particles
[The Ita particles disguised as denars, if held for an extended period, will be affected by the Ita consciousness within them, turning them into living fungal nodes.]
[Note: Do you trust your eyes?]
……
Your eyes may deceive you, but a guide will not.
Xu Yang held the fake dinar, a faint regret rising in his heart for his actions. Perhaps he shouldn't have killed the little mushroom; maybe he could have gotten more information and kept it as a pet.
Um! ?
His fingers suddenly loosened, and the white coin fell to the ground with a thud.
A hint of apprehension flashed in Xu Yang's eyes.
"What a strange thing!"
If it weren't for the guide, I might have categorized my recent emotions as regret for not making the most of what I had.
Then, it was a gradual shift in thinking that led to the final result...
Xu Yang looked at the charred corpse at his feet, his expression somewhat gloomy.
He picked up the coins that had fallen to the ground again, and a faint sense of regret resurfaced.
This time, however, with precautions in place, his emotions were as conspicuous as a dog among wolves.
Xu Yang sneered inwardly.
From the moment they encountered this Ita consciousness, the other party was plotting to kill them. They used the child's voice and the appearance that could be described as cute to create a weak psychological image for them.
It's likely that the other party initially intended to follow him closely, but he kept falling for it, so they played a trick, turning what was supposed to be a prize—the dinar—into a trap.
Who would have thought?
He gently tossed the white coins into the air.
In the sunlight, within sight, each of its flips appears incredibly slow, at just the right moment.
boom!
Then came a flowing flame.
……
"Humans!!!"
A roaring will resounded, as if gathering countless murky voices, at the very moment the Ita particle was shattered.