Deep within the Pujie Dungeon, the cave passages wind and stretch.

Two rows of glowing mushrooms growing on the rock walls emit a ghostly blue and pale green light, providing an eerie illumination for this passage.

However, the cave at the end of the passage is shrouded in darkness, and the airflow coming from there seems to carry some nearly imperceptible moans.

Footsteps echo, and Norris emerges from the darkness, tightly clutching a jar of freshly squeezed "Blood Jade Wine" in his hand.

Recalling the glimpse he caught inside the dark cave just moments ago, he still felt a chill run down his spine.

Being the bad guy in the boss’s territory truly has severe consequences.

Passing by Ming’s arena, Ming, who was still fighting and covered in blood, greeted Norris, his elder, enthusiastically. The next moment, he was struck by a giant fireball technique, and the smoke and dust immediately erupted with the roar of battle and the cries of the dying.

On his way back to Fungus Castle, he smoothly pushed open the wooden door of an inconspicuous resting room in the administrative center area.

"Sister Blood, I brought you something to eat." He tried to make his voice sound relaxed.

He vividly remembered a few days ago when the boss suddenly summoned him, only to see Louisa lying in a pool of blood, which gave him a big scare; he thought he was there to collect a body.

After slightly understanding the situation afterward, he could only sigh at the Blood Race’s method of gaining power, realizing the price was truly dire.

On the bed in the resting room, Louisa lay with her eyes closed.

Norris tried calling out twice and, seeing that Louisa didn’t respond, could only sit beside her.

After waiting for a while, Norris, curious, reached out with a finger and pulled at the corner of Louisa’s mouth, revealing the unique crimson fangs of the Blood Race.

Although his blood had been sucked a few times, it was his first time observing the Blood Race’s fangs up close.

Then he saw Louisa’s scarlet eyes staring at him.

Norris jerked back his hand in a flash and shyly raised the jar in his hand.

Louisa, however, said nothing and didn’t even move her body.

But it wasn’t that she didn’t want to, she simply couldn’t.

The Blood Ritual, relying on the life water’s incredibly abnormal healing ability, did indeed succeed, but the side effects were not small.

Last time, she successfully seized the target’s power, and the moment the ritual was completed, she leveled up several times.

This time, however, most of the vast essence of Casinar’s blood was consumed in mutual conflict and erosion.

The ritual barely broke through the inherent limit of her bloodline power and didn’t directly bring a level leap.

Not only that.

Even though the life water repaired the horrific physical trauma caused by the conflict, that alien blood force was forcibly pressed into her body by the ritual, but the fundamental confrontation between the two powers didn’t cease, merely lowering in intensity to the point that it wasn’t enough to make her explode to death again.

This left Louisa in a nearly paralyzed state, her whole body unable to move due to ongoing inner energy loss, needing someone to care for her.

This task naturally fell to Norris, whom Lin Jun assigned due to his relatively good relationship with her.

Fortunately, Little Pig was still conscious and could continue helping Lin Jun navigate their entanglement with the Empire.

In fact, Lin Jun, with the "empathetic to subordinates" mindset, had initially offered to let Louisa rest and fully recover first before resuming her duties.

However, after seeing the battle damage data from the boss’s battle while she was unconscious for a day, Little Pig insisted on restoring command authority.

Just now, she hadn’t immediately responded to Norris because she was commanding a small battle.

"Here, Sister Blood." Norris skillfully inserted a slender hollow tube into the sealed mouth of the Blood Jade Wine jar, cautiously handing the other end of the tube to Louisa’s lips.

Regarding the task of taking care of Louisa, Norris felt no reluctance.

In the Mushroom Garden, there were only Dylan the elder and Louisa who wouldn’t deliberately set him up.

But Louisa didn’t immediately suck, instead, she slightly moved her eyeballs, looking toward the window of the resting room.

"What’s that?" Louisa asked.

Outside the window, a brand new towering building was rising from the ground.

It was a project that had started before Louisa awoke. From her lying position, she could just see Puki and the Fungus People bustling around.

In just a few days, the building seemed about to be completed.

What puzzled Louisa was that this building, located in the core area of Fungus Castle, had an extremely simple structure with almost no complex designs, only engraved with some basic stability runes on the exterior.

The construction speed was so fast largely due to this minimalist design.

But such an ordinary building in an important central location—what was it for?

Louisa pondered this question for two days without figuring it out, finally unable to resist asking today.

"Oh, that," Norris followed her gaze, "Xing Huo says it’s a clock tower. The boss personally ordered it, demanding an expedited build, it seems it’s due for its first formal operation by noon tomorrow."

"Clock tower?" A trace of confusion passed through Louisa’s scarlet pupils.

...

The next day, when Norris entered the resting room with a jar of blood again, the clock tower outside the window had already been completed.

The gray-white tower stood in subtle contrast to the other buildings of the Fungus Castle, and atop the tower, a massive clock face was in place, its hands reflecting the light of the forenoon sun.

Many Fungus Castle residents gathered to watch out of curiosity.

Most of the tribe-born Fungus People craned their necks, faces filled with wonder, as many of them had never seen a clock tower in their lifetime.

Meanwhile, the Fungus People who were formerly Empire slaves murmured in the Fungal Network, guessing whether this clock tower in the Northern Territory would differ from those in the Empire.

Norris handed the straw to Louisa’s lips again, and she slowly sipped [Delicious Level 10] Blood Jade Wine, her gaze still fixed on the clock tower outside the window.

At noon, on the clock tower, the heavy metal minute hand and the shorter hour hand overlapped at the twelve o’clock mark under the gaze of countless eyes.

"Click."

A crisp sound came from inside the towering clock tower.

Immediately afterward, at the twelve o’clock mark, a hidden compartment in the tower’s body slid open, revealing a square hole about half the size of a person, into which the noon sunlight poured.

"Ugh... ho... oh oh oh!"

Moans mixed with pain and pleasure suddenly erupted from the hole!

The sound was amplified by the special internal structure of the clock tower, echoing with a buzz, instantly spreading throughout the Fungus Castle’s central plaza.

This sound, for the Fungus Castle citizens gathered below, was all too familiar!

It was the voice of that first vampire outside the door.

"I wondered why it was so quiet over at the door today, turns out they moved here!"

The Fungus People below burst into lively discussions within the Fungal Network.

The painful yet pleasurable scream resonated for a full minute as the sunlight continued to shine down.

When the minute hand finally moved away, the hidden compartment on the tower body swiftly slid back in place with a "swoosh," sealing away the sunlight and the screams, and silence returned outside the clock tower.

The Fungus People engaged in spirited discussions, and some with free time did not leave immediately but instead stood expectantly, continuing to watch.

At one o’clock in the afternoon.

"Click." The hidden compartment aligned with the one o’clock mark popped open.

"No! Mercy... ho ah ah ah!" Another completely different, hoarser and sharper vampire wail rang out on time.

Lin Jun meticulously selected Blood Races with different tones, volumes, and screaming rhythms and placed them at the corresponding time slots.

This newly erected clock tower is a solar-powered, self-timed "crying clock."

Although initially intended to practice sunlight resistance, seeing that the vampire at the door had already become a source of spiritual support for the Fungus People, Lin Jun couldn’t bring himself to cut it off completely.

This way, it wouldn’t disturb the citizens, and it preserved the unique characteristics of the Fungus Castle, quite well.

As for the other vampire who didn’t make the cut... they’re placed far away from the Fungus Castle, continuing their efforts in advancing the [Sunlight Resistance] training progress each day.