Contrary to Master Marco’s expectations of a city fortress made up of a few tribes cobbled together using coarse stones and frozen soil, shamelessly calling themselves a city.

The team was still miles away when, in a brief pause in the wind and snow, Master Marco’s gaze caught a sudden point on the horizon. Squinting to discern it, Master Marco judged it was the tip of a high tower.

Marco was not one of those blacksmith apprentices who only hovered around the master’s workshop and had never seen the world.

In his early years, he had also traveled across the Continent and visited the border fortresses of the Human Realm, seen the Elf Race’s hidden outposts in the woods, and even helped maintain the ancient and complex defense systems in the Dwarf Royal Capital.

With just one glance, he recognized it as a Magic Tower.

Moreover, it was unlikely to be just a single Magic Tower, otherwise, there would be no need to build it so high.

The team continued to follow the guide Puki, bypassing a strange petrified Mushroom Forest, and the peculiar city called Fungus Castle by Pollock finally unfolded completely before them.

As Marco had guessed when he saw the tower, it was indeed not a lone Magic Tower but the core tower of an entire array of Magic Towers.

However, Marco now had no time to marvel at the sight of a Magic Tower array in the Northern Territory, as the sight of Fungus Castle made him question if they were truly in the Northern Territory.

The silhouette of Fungus Castle in the wind and snow resembled a giant beast lying on the ice plains, and the towering city walls were evidently reinforced with Magic Power. Marco could even make out some Magic runes carved on the walls.

The tops of the walls were not flat walkways, but had undulating crenellations and observation platforms. The figures of sentries clad in leather armor were faintly visible, along with soldiers patrolling the walls in small teams along fixed routes.

Curiously, at regular intervals, the walls had uniformly sized round holes at low positions, through which round little Pukis could be seen taking synchronized steps, closely following the patrolling soldiers.

As they neared the city gate, an incongruous bustle hit them, at odds with the desolate Northern Territory.

Outside the gate, a long queue had formed. This winding line was itself the best testament to the city’s vitality.

What puzzled Master Marco was that despite the length of the queue, it was moving quite quickly, and the soldiers guarding the gate seemed not to conduct tedious inspections of those entering.

No goods were checked, no identity documents carefully verified, only occasional brief exchanges with some individuals or a lingering gaze on someone’s belongings.

If not checking, why make everyone pass one by one?

There was also a sense of discomfort.

Although Pollock had indeed mentioned the presence of many Demon Race residents within Fungus Castle, seeing it in person was an entirely different experience.

Besides Pollock himself, the other Dwarves tensed as they eyed the obviously horned and tailed figures in the queue, their hands inching towards their tools or weapons, the atmosphere becoming somewhat stagnant.

At this moment, from the direction of the city gate, a sturdy robust figure was waving its arm vigorously and running towards them.

As the figure came clearer, Master Marco’s eyes grew wider and wider.

"Tolin?!" He involuntarily called out the other’s name.

Marco originally thought it would take some effort to extract information about their target, but here Tolin was, appearing right before them as lively as ever!

He couldn’t help but think that without even risking entering the city, they could just take Tolin now, and their mission would be completed.

However, gazing at Fungus Castle, Marco was a bit reluctant to leave immediately.

Fungus Castle’s grandeur exceeded his expectations, and the massive Forging Factory introduced by Pollock along the way, and even the combat puppet technology mentioned in Tolin’s earlier letters, could they be true?

Gurgle—

Now that they’re here.

They had spent so much time coming here, a little more risk to take a look inside...

Obviously, Tolin too recognized this blacksmith master well-acquainted with the Deep Furnace Clan.

"Master Marco?! Is it really you?!" Tolin, instead of running to Pollock, turned his steps towards Master Marco, grabbed the master’s gloved hand tightly, shaking it vigorously, his voice tinged with excitement, "You... did you come because you received my letter? I knew it! I knew not everyone would think I’m talking nonsense! I sent so many letters back, to every master and craftsman I could remember... Only you, Master Marco, only you were willing to believe me, to come here and see it for yourself!"

His tone carried a long-suppressed grievance and emotion finally allowed to vent, tears almost slipping down.

Still holding his hand, Marco felt the other’s genuine excitement, and his gaze shifted away.

He opened his mouth, his throat somewhat dry, and the phrase "I was entrusted by your brother to bring you back" rolled to the tip of his tongue but never came out.

At this moment, Pollock coughed heavily beside him and stepped forward: "Tolin, Master Marco was invited by me. I was fortunate to meet the master at the Blackrock Tavern and introduced him in detail to the opportunities our Fungus Castle offers, only then did the master decide to come."

Although he had a good relationship with Tolin, an opportunity involving a massive amount of Contribution Points was not something to be shared lightly.

Tolin’s face flushed with excitement faded slightly as he loosened his grip on Master Marco’s hand, stepping back in a momentary daze, looking from Pollock to Master Marco, a clear trace of disappointment flashed across his face.

But this disappointment lasted only a moment; no matter who invited him, having the master come to assist him was enough!

He stepped forward again, this time grabbing Master Marco’s arm, the force almost dragging the master forward, his tone impatient: "Master, no more words for now! Since you are here, come quickly! I’ll take you to see those combat puppets, I promise, you will definitely be interested!"

"Rea... really combat puppets?" Marco didn’t even realize his voice was trembling slightly.

"You’re still doubting this?" Tolin looked incredulous, "Forget it, come on, come on, once you see it you’ll understand everything!"

Tolin tried to take Master Marco into the city, but was stopped by a few dwarf mercenaries.

While Marco was drawn by the potential large-scale Forging Factory and combat puppet technology in Fungus Castle, these dwarf mercenaries were not.

They only wanted to take Tolin back to complete the mission, rather than risk exploring the strange city mostly inhabited by the Demon Race.

"What do you mean by this?" Blocked by the mercenaries, Tolin finally sensed something amiss.

The lead mercenary captain explained: "Young Master Tolin, your family is worried about you, and your elder brother has commissioned us to bring you back."

"Brother? Return?" Tolin’s expression shifted from puzzled to realization, finally settling on complete resistance, "No, I won’t go back. Just tell my brother that I’m doing well here."

The dwarf mercenaries exchanged looks and, without further words, directly restrained Tolin.

"What... what are you doing? Let go of me! Let go of me!" With only Silver Level strength, Tolin was completely unable to resist.

Standing on the side, Marco was at a loss for words, Pollock anxiously looked on, unsure of what to do.

After all, Pollock had only been in Fungus Castle for two months and wasn’t familiar enough with it.

And familiar with it was Tolin, who had already raised an alert through the Fungal Network.

While the dwarf mercenaries tried to make Tolin stop resisting—due to his status, they dare not use heavy-handed methods.

On the other hand, inside Fungus Castle’s gate, a security enforcement team had already surged out, more than a dozen officers in unified blue uniforms leading a large crowd of hundreds of Pukis, charging towards them with a "Puki puki" noise.

...

Master Marco never expected that his first day at Fungus Castle would be spent in jail.