The tides come in, then retreat.

Will stands on the shore.

Under the washing of the waves, the dirt on Will’s body gets cleaned away, leaving him feeling unprecedentedly relaxed.

Now, Will can’t remember the grim faces of the cultists, can’t remember those companions in the Mushroom Worship Sect, can’t even recall how he arrived on this coast.

He merely stands there, hesitating on where to go.

Behind him is the stretching beach, and further away, a vast expanse of emptiness.

He vaguely feels he should head in that direction, there is the end, the destination, where all who stand here eventually go.

Yet, the sea beckons him.

Wave after wave, each retreating more slowly, each curling deeper.

Will stands on the shore for a long time, finally stepping toward the direction of the sea.

Step after step, the seawater surpasses the calves, the waist, the chest.

He keeps walking, feeling neither cold nor suffocating, only feeling himself wrapped in seawater becoming lighter and lighter...

Will’s world falls into darkness again.

Puki—

...

"Didn’t expect a new mushroom to suddenly be born, that’s great, Shi Si, you’re no longer the youngest."

"..., so is this one called Shi Wu?"

"It’s moving, it’s coming out!"

The psychic conversation appears directly in Will’s thoughts, he knows this is Fungal Network communication, but the two thoughts participating are very unfamiliar to him.

Who are they?

Companions from the Mushroom Worship Sect?

Has he unexpectedly survived?

Will wants to open his eyes but finds he can’t.

Could he be blind?

This thought makes Will panic a little; losing an arm already makes life difficult, if he loses vision too... death at the hands of cultists would have been a relief.

But soon, Will notices something unusual.

Although he hasn’t opened his eyes, he can perceive his surroundings, as if encased in something.

Wait.

Right arm?

The right arm, supposed to be empty, has something slightly squirming.

"Tentacles?!"

Poof—!

A startled Will bounces out of the mycelium cocoon and lands on the ground, bouncing once, rolling toward Sword Saint and No. 7.

Not yet accustomed to his round body and four tentacles, Will on the ground flaps helplessly like a fish out of water.

No. 7: "What a lively new mushroom!"

Sword Saint: "Seems the body coordination isn’t quite there."

"Mushroom... Mushroom Envoy? Two? No..." Forget about No. 7, behind Sword Saint Puki casually wears four swords longer than its entire body, standing in a way that with overlapping tentacles suggests it’s clearly not a Mushroom Envoy.

Meanwhile, Will also realizes another thing: his mouth is gone too, he can only communicate via the Fungal Network.

Moreover, this round, tentacled form, looks unmistakably like...

"How have I become... Puki?"

"Become?" Sword Saint catches the word, steps forward, tentatively asks, "What’s your name?"

"I’m Will." Will honestly replies.

As soon as he answers, Sword Saint instantly understands most of it—probably just another fellow transformed like himself.

No. 7 is astonished at not being called Shi Wu, then extends its tentacles, comfortingly pats the mushroom cap on Will.

They were summoned by Lin Jun to guide the new mushroom, and thus lead Will on a tour around the Mushroom Garden while asking about his background.

"So it’s Mushroom Lord who upgraded him to Puki, no wonder there’s no number." No. 7 realizes.

Sword Saint obviously focuses in another direction: "Hand of Death... huh, can’t seem to cut them all clean."

Meanwhile, Will gradually comes to his senses.

Looking at this magical Mushroom Garden, recalls the line from the doctrine: Faith in Puki, attain eternal life.

Eternal life or not, at least he’s reborn!

Though in Puki’s form, compared to death, what’s there to be concerned about?

Thinking this, Will can’t help but pray devoutly: "Praise the Mushroom Lord!"

"Hmm." Another unfamiliar thought appears in his mind, "Adapt well in the Mushroom Garden first, send you back later."

Will is stunned.

He instinctively "looks" toward Sword Saint and No. 7: "Whose... voice?"

"It’s the Mushroom Lord! Weren’t you just praising the Mushroom Lord?" No. 7 finds this new mushroom’s intelligence somewhat lacking.

Will nods, but something still feels weird.

A deity... is this how they communicate?

...

Faith really works!

Strictly speaking, Will is the second person to transform into Puki through faith; however, the first was not devout enough, soul adhesion insufficient.

Upon accidental death, the soul merged with the world.

Will is different, his soul adhesion is much stronger.

Even though the pull of the world increases once the soul is taken out, left alone, it eventually would merge with the world.

But this adhesion allows Lin Jun enough time to calmly place Will into the mycelium cocoon.

This is truly a historic moment!

It’s important to know that despite being part of the Mushroom Race, unlike No. 7 and others, Will’s soul remains independent!

In other words, he can command a batch of Puki through the Fungal Network, just like other mycelium-parasitized people.

Unlike other hosts, if Will dies, as long as Lin Jun collects his body in time, he can be resurrected for reuse!

While the army at Fungus Castle looks quite impressive, beneath the surface one could view them as a summoner-formed army.

The sacrifice of summoned creatures doesn’t matter, deaths only consume magic power.

But if the summoner themselves dies, the loss of combat strength is real.

And if everyone turned into Puki, this less obvious weakness would vanish too!

Parasitizing a person can be temporary strength, but transforming one Puki equivalently permanently increases control over more than twenty Puki.

Thus, the importance of the Mushroom Worship Sect project undoubtedly greatly escalates!

Turning people into mushrooms, publicly revealing it would certainly attract many to join the Mushroom Worship Sect, but many would also fear it.

After all, strictly speaking, this act is similar to turning people into the Blood Race.

Lin Jun decides to increase support for the Mushroom Worship Sect, continue nurturing according to current plans.

Once the growth of this approach reaches its limit, then expose the transformation of Puki to expand the circle further.

As for what happens if everyone becomes Puki, what would the world be like?

A world full of Puki, from Lin Jun’s perspective, wouldn’t be bad either!

After all, all souls are the same; if souls could be humans, demons, elves, dwarves, goblins — why not be Puki?

If everyone turned into Puki, under the leadership of one as the Hero, united to save the world — wouldn’t that be wonderful!