When Angel saw Regina, she was already outside the ruins’ gate.
According to Tree Spirit, he initially planned to invite Regina to visit the Mirror World since she is a member of the Research and Development Institute, a status that warranted special treatment. However, Regina declined Tree Spirit’s proposal, stating that she wanted to save the surprise of entering the Mirror World for the upcoming Tea Party.
That’s what she said, but Tree Spirit was well aware that the real reason Regina refused the visit was simply because she already knew Angel was staying at the nearby ruins.
To get in touch with those few mushrooms she’d never encountered before as soon as possible, Regina headed straight to the ruins as soon as she arrived at the Barbarian Cave.
The appearance of the Mushroom Witch was just as seen before on the light screen.
She had a very petite figure, an excessively young face, wearing a dress adorned with mushroom patterns, much like a cherished noble daughter in a family.
Sadly, the area around the eyelids of this young lady was somewhat bluish-black, as if she hadn’t rested in days, appearing extremely fatigued.
"Miss Regina," Angel greeted softly.
Regina glanced at Angel and asked somewhat puzzled, "Why are you dressed like this?"
Angel’s current appearance was still the red-haired, golden-eyed look, quite different from Regina’s memory of him.
Angel was about to explain when Regina waved her hand: "Never mind, it doesn’t matter what appearance you choose, let’s get to the point, when will you take me to see those mushrooms? Where will we work?"
Regina’s eyes were glowing, her impatience was evident.
Angel recalled hearing some students at Ashiliya Academy comment on Regina: she is someone with a keen interest in mushrooms but shows little interest in anything else.
Regina’s current demeanor indeed matched the rumors.
This personality can be seen in a positive light as devotion and focus, but it’s also easy to offend others. Angel, however, didn’t mind this straightforwardness.
Angel skipped any further pleasantries and directly nodded: "The laboratory is ready for you, right in the third basement of the ruins. You can start your research anytime."
"Then hurry up," Regina urged without delay.
Angel wasn’t upset, he nodded gently toward the Tree Spirit, who waved a hand and merged his spiritual body into the tree, as Angel led Regina into the ruins.
As they walked, Angel explained the layout of the ruins, but Regina seemed completely uninterested in listening, her eyes still shining brightly with excitement and anticipation for the unknown mushrooms to come.
Soon, they arrived at the third basement.
The laboratory had been tidied up by Baruba, looking clean and neat, although the lab equipment was somewhat outdated.
Regina looked at these nearly millennium-old laboratory tools that had fallen out of the mainstream, remained silent for a long time, and then asked, "You do research with these tools?"
Her words were normal, but Angel detected a hint of pity in her tone.
Angel: "I have recently become an Official Wizard and need time to settle; I haven’t had a chance to do any research. This laboratory belonged to the original owner of the ruins, so it’s a bit old."
Angel explained briefly and then continued, "Do you need new ones?"
Regina waved her hand: "No need, I have all the experimental tools in my Alchemy Workshop, I can do the research there just as well."
After Regina said this, she looked around: "Where is the main subject of the experiment?"
The so-called main subject, of course, refers to the mushrooms. Angel didn’t say anything, he simply took out a green mushroom, the Mysterious Luminance Spawn, and placed it on the workbench.
The Mysterious Luminance Spawn seemed quite unaccustomed to the surrounding environment and kept trying to move closer to Angel.
However, before it could reach Angel, Regina intercepted it halfway.
Regina carefully cradled the Mysterious Luminance Spawn in her hands, her eyes shining with a peculiar light, and murmured, "What a beautiful color, and such an interesting spiritual quality! Even the aroma is so enchanting, it’s the most perfect combination I’ve ever seen!"
The Mysterious Luminance Spawn was jumping up and down in Regina’s palms, trying to escape, but the more it wanted to leave, the tighter it was held.
This was a love that was suffocating to the extreme.
While Regina was admiring the spawn, Angel coughed a couple of times, trying to attract Regina’s attention.
Unfortunately, it had no effect, as Regina was now engrossed in the allure of the Mysterious Luminance Spawn.
"I need to say a few things about the mushroom," Angel stated.
Since it concerned important matters about the mushroom, Regina finally managed to reluctantly tear her attention away from the spawn and looked at Angel.
However, before Angel could speak, Regina interjected: "Besides the Mysterious Luminance Spawn, what about the other mushrooms?"
"I’ll give you the other mushrooms later," Angel explained as Regina frowned, "The Mysterious Luminance Spawn is the most threatening of all mushrooms, it can affect and even parasitize inside an Official Wizard, transforming them completely from soul to flesh, ultimately dragging them into the Abyss of death."
As Angel spoke, he cast an illusion, showcasing the terrifying state of Reeves after being parasitized, before Regina.
"Once the Mysterious Luminance Spawn matures, it will release a large number of parasitic spores. If these spores are absorbed by the human body, even an Official Wizard will suffer."
"The most crucial point is, these spores could erupt from that dangerous place at any moment, spreading like a living line, across every corner of the Pamiji Plateau, drifting to other countries, and potentially affecting the entire Wizards’ Realm."
Regina understood what a living line was, especially since she had sought intelligence related to it before heading to the Barbarian Cave. She knew well the impact the living line had on the Pamiji Plateau... If the Mysterious Luminance Spawn were like the living line, directly affecting all life and even Transcendent beings, the impending disaster would indeed be terrifying.
Moreover, from what Angel described, the Mysterious Luminance Spawn could release mist spores at any time, underscoring the urgency.
Added to that, with the Tea Party starting soon, if the Mysterious Luminance Spawn erupted during the Tea Party, the entire Southern Domain Wizards’ Realm would be in jeopardy.
With this in mind, Regina understood the urgency of the situation; Angel’s reason for not revealing other mushrooms was to ensure she focused all her attention on studying the Mysterious Luminance Spawn, to avoid distractions.
Even though Regina was eager to get her hands on the other mushrooms immediately, with Angel putting it this way, she couldn’t insist further.
"All right, I’ll focus on researching the Mysterious Luminance Spawn first, then we’ll discuss the others," Regina said, looking at Angel: "But I have one request."
Angel: "Please, go ahead."
"I can wait to get the other mushrooms, but I would like to at least see them now," Regina said, her eyes filled with anticipation.